October 2015 – Management Library

October 30, 2015June 14, 2022

Zendaya, Modeliste, and a Lesson in Reputation Management

customer-evaluation-feedback-smiley-emoticons

A public call-out and quick resolution

Nineteen year-old entertainer Zendaya has a reputation as being an outspoken champion of positive body image, and she lived up to it when she realized that L.A. fashion magazine Modeliste had done significant digital plastic surgery on images of her used in the publication. Showing off the power a simple message holds when it comes from someone with a rabid following, the singer/actress/model shared from her @Zendaya Instagram account:

Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love. So I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side) and I love it??

This of course put Modeliste under the microscope, and the magazine’s editors did some smart reputation management of their own, releasing the following statement via the same platform their issue was brewing on:

As Modeliste Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, I would like to send a message to all of @zendaya beautiful, shining and loyal fans: We hear you and thank you for your outpouring support of the issue and this talented and inspiring young woman that we are all blessed to have as a role model and who will continue to inspire us through her artistic talents, intellect, creativity and honesty.

I am compelled to publicly address this situation which was brought to my attention yesterday, personally by Zendaya, prior to the issue’s anticipated premiere. Upon review of the final edited images which had been submitted to us by an independent editing company, together as a collaborative between myself, Zendaya and her parents, we concluded that the images had been retouched to an extent that was not acceptable and not true to the values and ideals we represent and promote in our publication I, therefore, made the executive decision to immediately pull the issue in order to have this rectified and have the images restored to their original, natural state which will reflect the true beauty and radiance of Zendaya. We look forward to sharing these shortly upon the issue’s re-release.

Although this was fairly well done, placing responsibility on the editing company felt like a bit of a cop-out, and overall left the statement less effective than it could have been. It begs readers to ask, “Are they dumping blame or is an outside organization really left 100% responsible for decisions that can drastically affect the organization as a whole?” Neither one is a positive conclusion, and frankly leading your stakeholders to decide whether you’re incompetent or lying is a dangerous situation to be in.

In the end major controversy was avoided by all parties. Zendaya further cemented her already strong brand by sticking to her guns, and Modeliste was able to get back to “business as usual” after a brief hiccup. With how fast your average person is to leap into outrage mode, near-misses are a common occurrence today, making constant monitoring of sentiment both on and off-line and the ability to immediately leap into action a must to protect your reputation against the constantly growing number of reputation threats that do exist out there.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2015/10/25/is-the-us-china-cyber-espionage-agreement-making-a-difference/#sthash.JhWGuYNX.dpuf

October 28, 2015February 22, 2023

Major (and Other) Gift Prospects: Creating the Relationship

Shaking hands while smiling with a potential donor

To paraphrase a posting from a listserve: “If you are going to get someone to want to become a (major) donor to your organization, you have to start with ‘where they’re at,’ and ‘where you’re at.‘

[I put “major” in parentheses because I want to be sure that it is
understood that the concept applies to all potential donors …
more so the larger the gift being sought, but it does apply to all.
See previous posts on Donor Acquisition and Donor Retention.]

We each/all go about connecting with others by showing different parts of who (and what) we are. Different things are important to each of us, so we focus-on and talk-about those things that have significance for us.

In Development, the primary focus in the creation of the relationship (that will, ideally, lead to significant support of the nonprofit) is an understanding of the needs of the (potential) donor – where she/he ‘is at.’

On August 5th, I posted a piece on “Establishing the Right Relationships.” In that posting I noted that, “If you want the major gifts, there has to be a one-on-one relationship with the (prospective) donor; and that, typically, said relationship is with a current major donor and/or a board member.”

I also discussed the Cultivation (getting to know you) process that takes place between the “Cultivator” and the “Prospect.”

What was not discussed was the selection of the “Cultivator.”

In most cases you could assign almost any board member or major donor to be the point-person for the cultivation of a prospective major donor, but why leave to chance any factors that you can “control” from the beginning??

“Compatibility” is the key.

It would be best to pair up cultivators and prospects who have similar likes, dislikes, backgrounds, attitudes, etc. With the appropriate pairing, relationships are likely to “happen” more quickly than if just “any” cultivator is assigned to a prospect.

And, to state the obvious, you (should) already have all the information you need about the likes, dislikes, etc. of your board members and major donors. This is where “you’re at.” This is where you start.

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Want to learn more about Major Gifts Fundraising?
Book Four in The Fundraising Series:
Major Gifts: Planning & Implementation
will provide the direction for creating/expanding Your Major Gifts Program
and it’s only $3.99
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We’ve been posting these pieces for the last five years,
and we’re now at a point where, to keep this “blog” alive,
we need your questions/problems to engender further discussion.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Comments & Questions

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program?
AskHank
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Fundraising Series of ebooks?
are easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99-$4.99)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

October 25, 2015March 27, 2023

Is the US-China Cyber Espionage Agreement Making a Difference?

American-male-and-female-hacker-on-a-firewall

Short answer: No.

While the U.S. and China now have an official agreement that both nations will refrain from cyber espionage intended to steal intellectual property or trade secrets, experts are saying it’s all hot air.

Citing findings from the time period immediately following the announcement of the new agreement, security services provider CrowdStrike published a blog post accusing actors believed to be affiliated with the Chinese government of continuing their steady stream of attacks:

Over the last three weeks, CrowdStrike Falcon platform has detected and prevented a number of intrusions into our customers’ systems from actors we have affiliated with the Chinese government. Seven of the companies are firms in the Technology or Pharmaceuticals sectors, where the primary benefit of the intrusions seems clearly aligned to facilitate theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, rather than to conduct traditional national-security related intelligence collection which the Cyber agreement does not prohibit.

The very first intrusion conducted by China-affiliated actors after the joint Xi-Obama announcement at the White House took place the very next day – Saturday September 26th. We detected and stopped the actors, so no exfiltration of customer data actually took place, but the very fact that these attempts occurred highlights the need to remain vigilant despite the newly minted Cyber agreement.

With many other U.S. security firms echoing these claims, one thing is clear – the rampant attempts at corporate espionage via digital avenues are not stopping anytime soon.

It is more important than ever to take the proper steps to prepare your organization to prevent, and where you cannot prevent to mitigate, the damage that can result from a hack. Investment in security, as well as preparing important aspects of crisis response such as stakeholder communications and internal protocol in advance of facing issues, is the very best way to protect your organization from the threats cyber attacks present.

You can prevent many, but you can’t stop them all. Be ready.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2015/10/19/crisis-document-audits-to-determine-flaws-in-crisis-planning/#sthash.ZHCp1W5w.dpuf

October 23, 2015May 30, 2022

An Exclusive Report From The Editors Of Internet Retailer

An Exclusive Report From The Editors Of Internet Retailer

THE NEXT DIGITAL MARKETING WAVE

Breaking News!

Internet Retailer has issued a new industry report covering their predictions for retailers’ and brands’ online spending in 2016. Below, I’ve highlighted some of the points and graphs that are relevant and vitally important to all online retailers, from solopreneurs to major brands.

According to Zak Stambor, Editor of Internet Retailer, “In (our) first-ever digital marketing survey, the results of which are included in this special report, we find that many retailers are boosting their digital ad spending, and they’re spreading those dollars around to a variety of channels. As they do so, they’re also looking for ways to make their messages more relevant to shoppers.”

Image Source: THE NEXT DIGITAL MARKETING WAVE, Internet Retailer

Ads Get Personal

“While digital ad budgets are growing,” Zak says, “marketers still must spend wisely. Increasingly that means tailoring just about every digital marketing campaign to individual shoppers.”

For example, men’s apparel retailer Bonobos Inc. sends a lot of emails, between one and five acquisition and retention messages a day. Email is their main thing. And it is clearly targeted based on segmented email lists.

The segments are based on likelihood of purchasing specific products, colors, styles or sizes.

In 2014, the company ran a test to determine how effective its targeting strategy really was in increasing sales. It sent the same email to two different lists – one email list that was determined to be inclined to buy an item promoted through the email, and one email list that was a completely random cross-section of all undifferentiated email addresses. The result? The segmented list was four times more likely to purchase than the random list.

As a strategy to increase revenues, targeting and retargeting are the focus of Bonobos online ad spend, consistent with other online retailers.

Digital Ad Spending

“And it isn’t just email where retailers are spending more; 66% of respondents increased their overall budgets this year— including 24% of all respondents who boosted their spending more than 20%. That growth continues an ongoing trend. U.S. retailers’ digital ad spending jumped 14.4% last year—from $9.574 billion in 2013 to $10.957 billion,” according to eMarketer Inc., who expects spending to rise another 16.8% this year to $12.802 billion.

IMage Source: THE NEXT DIGITAL MARKETING WAVE, Internet Retailer

The Power of Digital Referrals

According to a recent Nielsen Co. survey, 92% of respondents said they trusted referrals from people they know, and that same study found that shoppers are four times more likely to buy a product when a friend has referred it.

Additionally, the lifetime value of a customer who has been referred by a friend is 16% higher than that of the average customer, according to a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business report. So why aren’t more retailers deploying customer referral programs? “Retailers have an awareness of referral programs, but there is a lack of clarity around the potential impact of referral on their business,” says Chris Duskin, vice president of marketing at Extole, a referral marketing firm. “Many retailers aren’t yet dialed into the fact that there is a marketing platform for customer referral programs that has the same power that marketing platforms have for search and email, for example. Refer-a-friend isn’t merely a widget or a homegrown effort anymore.”

As more retailers begin to implement digital marketing campaigns that take an integrated multichannel approach, Duskin says they should expand those efforts to include customer referral programs. “Today, many retail marketers are utilizing vast amounts of data to very specifically target their customers,” he says. “That’s where the opportunity lies.”

“To be successful in referral, retailers need to get started quickly, take advantage of the immediate opportunity, and expand to grow the program beyond what most people even realize is possible,” Duskin says. “They need to shift to a ‘customer journey’ way of thinking and fully understand the much more complex relationship they have with their customers today. It’s not as much a challenge as it is an opportunity.”

Image Source: THE NEXT DIGITAL MARKETING WAVE, Internet Retailer

Retargeting

Retargeting consumers across the web via display ads—which 27% of Forrester respondents listed as one of their five top customer acquisition channels—can be one way to stretch a budget because the consumers a retailer is targeting have already expressed interest in a brand’s products, says Courtney Lear Wallace, director of digital marketing and e-commerce at online-only apparel retailer Unique Vintage.

“There’s so much noise out there that you have to be relevant,” she says. “A message that’s based on something a shopper looked at can be incredibly effective.”

This post is courtesy of Internet Retailer and THE NEXT DIGITAL MARKETING WAVE.

For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Lisa Chapman helps company leaders define, plan and achieve their goals, both online and offline. After 25+ years as an entrepreneur, she is now a business and marketing consultant, business planning consultant and social media consultant. Online, she works with clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa (at) LisaChapman (dot) com. Her book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:

October 21, 2015March 1, 2022

The Gift Table … Chiseled in Stone ??

Contemplative male manager at his office desk

A couple of weeks ago, in response to the posting “comparing” a Capital Campaign to the Annual Fund, I received the following, multi-part question:

I am part of a capital campaign now and we had a donor ask why the gift table does not change for a gift that comes in that is not listed on the gift table. For instance, if a gift comes in at $150K but the gift table lists $100K and then $250K next.

There isn’t one answer to that question.

From the “academic” perspective, once the Planning Study is over and the Gift Table is printed in various campaign materials, that’s pretty much it. No more changes to the Pyramid.

BUT, since development/fundraising is about the needs of the donor, looking at it from the perspective of a major donor, where the donor’s ego requires a change to the Table, You Change The Table !!

I’d expect that you can’t change the Gift Table in all the publications you’ve produced for the campaign, but the “Master Gift Table” in the Campaign Office, and the one on-line (if there are such) can/should be changed to reflect the “realities.”

It would not be very costly to create a 3’x4′ Table to hang on a wall – with boxes to fill in when a commitment is made for one/any of the listed amounts … and to have that chart reprinted if/when “required.”

I also think that it could be awkward or misconstrued if several donors have already seen the set table to have other versions floating around, no?

Whatever is decided, it must take the needs/sensitivities of your constituents/donors into consideration.

That’s actually my answer to most issues in development 🙂

Realistically, if your Gift Table was constructed based on the results of a Planning Study, then the commitments at the top of the pyramid would have been fairly well assured, and adding another level shouldn’t bother/annoy/impact those other major donors … especially since, for most major donors, this would not be their first ride on the carousel.

And, if anyone asks, you can always respond that the Gift Table was modified based on information received after the Planning Study was completed and after the initial Gift Table was constructed.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
We’ve been posting these pieces for the last five years,
and we’re now at a point where, to keep this “blog” alive,
we need your questions/problems to engender further discussion.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Comments & Questions

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating
or expanding your fundraising program?
AskHank
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have you heard about
The Fundraising Series of ebooks?
They’re easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99-$4.99)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you’re reading this on-line, and would like to comment/expand on the above piece, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply.” If you’re reading this as an email, and you want to comment on the above piece, email Comments to offer your thoughts. Your comments, with appropriate attribution, could be the basis of a new posting.

October 19, 2015June 14, 2022

Crisis Document Audits to Determine Flaws in Crisis Planning

Just how good ARE your crisis prevention and response-related plans?

We were once asked to analyzing the crisis planning done by a large private college. What we found was that they had a half-dozen plans which all fell into the general category of “crisis management.”

▪ A crisis communications plan.
▪ A disaster response plan.
▪ A shooter-on-campus plan.
▪ A facilities emergency plan.
▪ A laboratory accident plan.

All written by different people who didn’t talk to each other. Some of which would be implemented concurrently without coordination between the two. None of which dealt with the most common types of crises, i.e., ones that are primarily a reputation threat. The holes in planning were many – but also quite fixable by bringing the plans together into a unified Campus Crisis Management Plan, supported by training.

At a not-for-profit organization we audited, the plan didn’t provide for a critical component of all crisis response in our Digital Age – social media monitoring and response.

At another, for-profit client, planning failed to account for communicating with stakeholders who had widely differing cultural backgrounds and language preferences.

A Crisis Document Audit is the solution – an independent review of existing plans to determine their flaws and provide recommendations for improvement. Here at Bernstein Crisis Management, we do such audits for a very low flat fee, but whether it’s us or someone else you use for this purpose, be sure that the “auditors” have the depth of experience necessary to accurately evaluate your planning, along with the ethics to be honest with you about their findings.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2015/10/10/social-media-crisis-management-advice-and-examples/#sthash.DA9ZLRTH.dpuf

October 14, 2015March 1, 2022

What Nonprofits Should Know About Bequests

Unlike all of the other planned giving mechanisms, a bequest program doesn’t require major technical expertise and specific financial instruments. It’s easy, it’s fast, it can pay off substantially, and the dollars from bequests comprise close to 90% of all planned gifts.

Many non-profit organizations refuse to get into planned giving because of the perception that it’s all about technical wording and/or complicated financial instruments. That’s a misperception.

Most planned gifts mechanisms do require some degree of technical expertise, possible registration/approval by States, and a legal contract between the donor and the non-profit organization, BUT NOT BEQUESTS!!

Bequests are simple, and should be a standard item in every organization’s development toolbox. Simply worded, a bequest is a gift left to you in someone’s will.

A “donor” can leave you a specific dollar figure, a percentage of their estate, a percentage of what’s left over in their estate after other gifts/provisions are executed, a specific gift depending if anything is left in their estates after other gifts/provisions are executed, or the entire estate. The actual wording however, is a topic for discussion between the prospective donor and their attorney.

Your job is to get those who might name you in their wills to want to do that.

What do you have to do?
1. Reach out to folks and get them involved with you and what you do.
Involvement means working on committees, being asked for advice, helping to provide service
2. Be creative, think of how to get people so excited about being part of who you are and what you do that they’d want to help continue that work, even after they’re gone.
3. Let them know how easy it is to leave you a bequest.
4. Let them know of the recognition they’ll get — the appreciation they’ll be shown — while they’re still here.
5. Create a named “society” just to honor those who name you in their wills.

Recent figures show over $16 billion in bequests given to non-profit organizations in just one year. Do you want some of that !?

Consider, those who (first) name you in their wills are more likely to make major and planned gifts to you while they’re still with us. And, many Board Members find it easier to ask someone to name an organization in their will than they do to ask someone to write a check.

October 13, 2015May 30, 2022

Tips On Communicating Your Business Case (Part Two)

In continuing the topic of business cases, here are some tips on creating a Business Case.

How do you begin to create your business case? A business case justifies the value of a project by defining the goal and scope of the project. It will describe the usefulness of the project and the consequences if the project is not approved.

As with any document that needs to prove a point, research has to be first done and then the findings studied. As previously stated in the prior article (Part One), a business case generally provides a solution to a problem, so include details from meetings of problems that currently exist. Note down all the core requirements gathered from meetings, hands-on work, or practical experience needed to resolve a problem. From your gathered information, you will now know what content needs to be written.

To Begin

Use an outline as a starting point and include a Table of Contents or at minimum an outline of the contents up front.
Break up the outline into logical sections, e.g., Introduction, Research, Problems, Resolution, Recommendation, Strategy and Risks, Costs, Benefits, and Time.
Create an introduction to the project and be specific. State the reason (justification) behind the business case and the goal(s).
Describe the research and findings that were done.
Describe all the problems that currently exist and the solutions that have been derived.
Create a chart if needed, and point out relevant data by highlighting it.
Denote only the important ‘must have’ items within the business case to validate a point.
Include all the data that is needed to prove your case. Numbers are always beneficial to proving a point or making a justification.
For lengthy documents, break it up into sections and include a Table of Contents or break it up into several documents; one for each department or subgroup, and show the relevance for each department or subgroup.
Keep it organized and break it up into subject matter if you need to.
Note the benefits such as ease of use, long term usage, better monitoring, etc. Prove its value.
Provide a cost analysis (if needed) and make it visually appealing and not complex.
Show, e.g., customer satisfaction benefits (if needed) – easier to access information. – saves time and energy.
Describe how to handle marketing and distribution (if needed).
For readability, apply bullets to outline lengthy text or explanations.
Double check your grammar and spelling to ensure the validity of the document.
Remember to communicate well through written material. You have to work as an editor, illustrator, and designer to get your information across.

Once the document is completed, send it to the client and respective project managers for verification and approval. If the document is of considerable length, indicate what sections should be read by which party. As always, write for the intended audience. Make it accurate and precise to prove your point and to get your recommendation approved.

If you have previously written business cases, please add to this content or leave a comment. Thank you.

October 10, 2015February 13, 2023

Social Media Crisis Management Advice and Examples

Tips for tackling crises on Twitter

What defines a “crisis” on social media is still murky to many. Is it one furious stakeholder speaking their mind? Is it an offensive post going out from your account? Truth is there are different levels of threat you’ll see on all types of social media, and each calls for a different degree of reaction.

This ActOn infographic does an excellent job of explaining that in a visual way, which is why we though we’d pass it on to you:

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2015/10/07/a-closer-look-at-car-hacks/#sthash.m8hu0023.dpuf

October 7, 2015June 14, 2022

A Closer Look at Car Hacks

Educating the public about a rising threat

Car hacks have been making headlines recently, and for good reason. It’s scary to think of the damage a malicious hacker who takes control of one vehicle’s electronic systems can do, let alone many, and considering the vast majority of people aren’t quite sure how these hacks even work there’s a lot of room for those fears to grow.

As part of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Arxan Technologies has created an infographic educating the average person about how they work and how they can minimize the risk involved:

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2015/10/02/t-mobile-does-crisis-management-the-un-carrier-way/#sthash.DBc0dr0m.dpuf