New Guest Podcast: Attracting Donors with Your Unique Authority and Brand Visibility with Bofta Yimam
You’ll hear me talk a lot about budgets and really understanding the financial needs of a nonprofit organization. While “money talk” is a significant portion of nonprofit strategy, it’s certainly not the only focus point.
I recently had Bofta Yimam on my podcast to share her expertise on why visibility through storytelling is so important for nonprofit success. And she definitely knows her stuff! Bofta was previously a news reporter and anchor (Emmy-award winning). After many years of working in that industry, she realized she found a new calling: helping brands better tell their stories, align their messaging, and ultimately grow their brand presence.
The following represents a few highlights from our conversation, which you can find here.
Overcoming the Fear of Sharing
Bofta and I wholeheartedly agree that many nonprofit leaders, board members, and staff are fearful to put themselves “out there” on public platforms like LinkedIn, organization website, or email. I hear them protest all the time, “What if I say the wrong thing?” or “What if this doesn’t work?” As Bofta so wisely states, “You have to believe you are powerful; that your story matters and that it’s going to make a difference.”
There is great power in sharing lived experiences that connect to your donors—when communicated in a compelling and authentic way. It’s effective because you’re leveraging your personal brand to drive the nonprofit’s mission.
“There are a lot of missed opportunities when we’re not sharing. Of course, you don’t have to share everything. But there are key pieces of why you started doing what you do,” notes Bofta.
Metrics Matter, But So Do Connections
It’s tempting to get wrapped up in metrics and analytics when trying to measure engagement. While it can be helpful to review the data, there are other ways to approach an engagement strategy. For example, consistency. If you go to my LinkedIn profile right now, you’ll see I post or engage at least once a day (this alone has grown my business tremendously).
Now, I understand that may seem overwhelming for many nonprofit leaders whose days are full already. But the more you consistently post, the greater reach you’ll have, and the more connections you’ll engage.
Bofta explains this strategy also allows you to understand what your strengths and weaknesses are in your messaging. For instance, if someone comes to you with a problem you can’t solve or to do something you don’t do, well that’s a pretty good indicator it’s time to reassess messaging and potentially revise to better align with your organization’s mission.
“If people know who you are, everything else comes to you. Meaning, they start to see your power, they start to see your visibility, they start to see your message. You’re more likely to get referrals, donors, partnerships.”
Putting a Storytelling Plan in Place
There’s clearly benefit to infusing storytelling into a nonprofit’s marketing strategy and fundraising strategy. If you have the budgetary bandwidth to outsource some creative help, that’s terrific. That is exactly what Bofta’s company StoryLede does. Not everyone has that luxury and perhaps would rather focus money elsewhere. In that case there are three very important steps to take.
Make a commitment and stick to it. Make sure you define how often you will create/post or deploy messaging (e.g. twice, three times a week). Not every post has to be a novel (in fact, it shouldn’t be). If possible, have someone hold you accountable.
Think about what is most accessible to you. Maybe you have a lot of videos or photos in your library, or a bunch of notes you’ve taken. Are you a great writer but not very skilled in video editing? Start with the written word.
Make sure you’re connected with every donor (or potential donor) you’re trying to reach on LinkedIn. By the time you have the really important conversations about fundraising, they’ll already be warmed to you. They will have gotten to know you, if you present your stories in an authentic, humanized way.
In Bofta’s experience, she has seen engagement skyrocket more than 60% among nonprofit leaders who have taken this approach—even if they were nearly starting from scratch from a brand presence perspective. In my own experience and efforts, I witnessed a very dynamic shift from me reaching out to people, to people reaching out to me.
Are You Up for the Challenge?
I could go on and on about visibility through storytelling, and the power of LinkedIn to raise nonprofits’ brand presence. It works, it really does. It generates revenue. But it does take that commitment, the consistency, the authenticity—and, underlying everything, the mission. Are you up for the challenge?
To learn more about what Bofta does for her clients, please visit her website. And, don’t forget to check out the podcast episode!
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn here where I share the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and adding 7-figures + to their bottom line.
🍎 Read my GUIDE! THE TRUTH ABOUT GIVE/GETS :: Top 5 Reasons Your Board’s Give/Get Is Leaving Thousands (Sometimes Millions) on the Table. See how limiting board members to the Give/Get model restricts gifts and keeps your staff from reaching their full fundraising potential. Here to get it.
📈 Work with me to scale your org's revenue by 2-5X and fund your organization’s Strategic Plan // If you’re a business-minded CEO already raising MILLIONS but need to diversify revenue and secure more general-operating dollars to invest in growth, you can apply to work with me here.
