I think you’ll want to know about an email I received last week from the communications coordinator of a small, vibrant nonprofit based in San Francisco.
She was ramping up to develop new messages for her organization and, as part of that process, asked her colleagues to vote for the best taglines in the 2012 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards. (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tagline-awards)
“I just voted and learned I like those with clever wordplay or are short and pack a punch,” she emailed to them. “Let me know if [your voting inspires] any thoughts about our future tagline!”
One colleague realized she preferred “taglines that are tied to an image/metaphor and that have cadence/rhyme.”
Another wrote, “I’m less drawn to the tag lines that list three phrases separated by periods. They read (in my head) like that deep voiced guy who narrates trailers for action movies.”
Then, in signing off, the communications coordinator shared with me how the concreteness of the voting process spurred her colleagues to think and talk about messages in a way they hadn’t before. They “got it.”
You can get your colleagues thinking about messages too by asking them to vote for the strongest taglines.
Here’s a cover note you can use or revise:
A strong organizational tagline is vital. It’s the anchor for every organization’s name, and, next to its name, the marketing message most heard and repeated.
I’d like you to take 5 minutes to see what other organizations have done with their taglines by voting for the 2012 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tagline-awards
By voting, you’ll have a chance to reflect on what works and what doesn’t, and to consider how our messages stack up.
Voting closes October 5, so please vote now.
It’s too easy and too productive NOT to do.
Ask your colleagues to vote today; it’ll take them 5 minutes or less.
And if you haven’t voted yet, please vote yourself, right now. Thanks!
Note: If you’ve already voted, you won’t be able to click through to the survey. Just one vote per voter.
But be assured, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tagline-awards is the correct link to the poll.
