Mark Rovner at Sea Change Strategies, wants to know what books I would recommend this summer for nonprofit marketers and fundraisers. He is the host of the next Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants.

I am an avid reader, especially when it comes to nonprofit marketing and fundraising. The books I enjoy and recommend tend to be easy to read, understand and implement.

It was difficult, but here are my top seven books for nonprofit markers and fundraisers:

1. Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes
   If I was to recommend one book on marketing for nonprofit organizations, this would be it. After reading this book by Katya Andresen, you will think differently about how to engage your target audience.
2. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
   You may have a great mission, but your organization won't last if you can't get others to support it. This book by Chip Heath and Dan Heath will have you telling your stories in a way that will maximize your ability to get the support you need for now and in the future.
3. Ask Without Fear!: A Simple Guide to Connecting Donors With What Matters to Them Most
   This book by Marc A. Pitman should be read by everyone who is involved in any way with fundraising. It provides a step by step method to ask for funds that is not only effective, but also removes much of the fear that is attributed to fundraising.
4. Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits: Real-World Strategies That Work
   This is another great book by Ilona M. Bray that covers the basic elements of fundraising. It not only discusses one-on-one requests from potential donors, but also covers requesting grants.
5. Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits
   Whether you are a nonprofit marker or fundraiser, it is important to understand the qualities of a high impact nonprofit organization. This book by Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant is the result of a multi-year study that discovered those practices common across high impact nonprofit organizations.
6. Grassroots Philanthropy
   This is another great book by Bill Somerville and Fred Setterberg on ways that nonprofit foundations can be more effective. Again, understanding those wallet ease that make a nonprofit organization effective will help in developing an effective message to be used for marketing and fundraising.
7. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
   We all have challenges in getting things done in a busy world. This is a fun book by Brian Tracy that shares an important technique. It has helped me tremendously, I hope it will help you just as much.

Enjoy your summer with one or more of these books. Please share your opinion regarding the books you read in the comment section below.

Kivi Leroux Miller and Claire Meyerhoff have started a new show on BlogTalkRadio called Magic Keys Radio. The purpose of the show is to unlock the secrets of nonprofit marketing and fundraising.

I have been a fan of Kivi's nonprofit work for some time, so my expectations for Magic Keys Radio is high.

I listened to their first podcast this morning and I was not disappointed. The topic was primarily on annual reports.  One question Kivi suggested a nonprofit organization should ask when considering material for an annual report was:

"If your organization didn't exist, what good things would not have happened?"

What a powerful question!

Nonprofit organizations should be asking this question on a regular basis. Not just when the annual report needs to be produced.  Also, the question shouldn't be limited to nonprofit organizations. You and I should frequently ask this question about ourselves.

"If I didn't exist, what good things would not have happened?"

If we don't have a good answer to this question, then it is time to get realigned with our purpose and take action to make the world a better place.

Sandy Rees at the Get Fully Funded Blog did a great  job hosting the Carnival for Nonprofit Consultants this week. The purpose of this blog carnival is to highlight some of the best blog posts from nonprofit bloggers.

You can check out this week's summary at http://www.getfullyfundedblog.com/?p=94. I especially liked the post Developing Philanthropic Children published at the Connection Cafe blog.

Thanks Sandy!

Photo by Roland

Changes in our lifestyle and advances in technology are forcing nonprofit organizations to communicate differently. Traditionally, many organizations have used a blast of letters and/or emails to regularly solicit support. I believe these methods will still be effective in the future, but only for a portion of the population that needs to be reached. Now and in the future it is going to be critical that nonprofit organizations use multiple channels of communication to reach their target audience.

The need to use multichannel communication was a topic addressed by many of the speakers at the Converging Campaigns panel discussion.

The following list discusses just a few of the things panelists mentioned during the event:

• E-mail has been the workhorse of the industry for some time according to Vinay Bhagat, Chief Strategy Officer and Founder at Convio. However, the trend is now "one size doesn't fit all." Multiple methods of communication will be required In the future to be effective.
• Adam Conner, Associate for Privacy and Global Public Policy at Facebook, said organizations need to start repurposing their content. Repurposing content is the practice of modifying and reformatting the same basic information to publish it in a variety of ways. For example, a nonprofit organization might write a story to distribute through email.  That same story could be posted on social networking sites and used to create a video.
• According to Nicco Mele, Progressive Online Strategist at EchoDitto, video technology is an area where the most innovation will happen in the near future. Vinay Bhagat made a point during this discussion that very few nonprofits have embraced the use of video as a means of communication.

Advances in technology have brought many communication channels within reach of even the smallest nonprofit organization. What are some of the communication channels that should be considered today? The following are just a few to consider:

• Letters
• Newsletters
• Brochures
• Books and reports
• E-mail
• Photos and slide shows
• Online video
• Social networking sites
• Forum discussions
• Corporate web sites
• Blogs/microblogs
• Text messages
• Podcasts
• eBooks
• Press releases
• Television/radio advertising and interviews
• Speaking engagements

There are many people who are not hearing about your cause and organization because the message is not reaching them. Consider expanding your marketing to include some additional channels of communication that you are not using today.

Can you think of additional communication channels that should be considered? Let me know by submitting it in a comment below.

Related post: Converging Campaigns: How the Internet is Changing Philanthropy, Advocacy and Politics