FREE FOOD - 10 Tips for Mobile Apps

A conversation with a friend leads to this "helpful hint" post.

I usually only eat "fast food" as a last resort, rushing to or from an airport, or stuck in one. But McDonalds promoted their mobile app with the offer of "download the app and get a free sandwich." Not bad. How many apps offer to pay you the equivalent of $3 - $5 to download their app. I thought I'd download, get the freebie and delete it. But... so far, it's paying off... A few weeks ago Alice got to use her app (scan) coupon twice, scored about $8 free. (Mine only worked once. $4 for me.) But I noticed they had two offers expiring today, "buy one, get one free" breakfast and regular sandwiches. So, for dinner...I got a Quarter Pounder Deluxe, Buttermilk Fried Chicken Club, 2x Sausage McMuffins, large order of fries and a large Diet Dr. Pepper.... for $10.29! 4 meals for under $11. I enjoyed the Quarter Pounder, most of the fries, and half the drink for dinner. I stuck the rest in the fridge for later.

Here are a few tips if you download this, or similar apps...

1. ONLY buy when it's a “true” 100% discount value (or better value). "Buy one, get one free" with no other strings attached. You aren't getting a deal if they make you buy a drink, etc.

2. Don't be a sucker. Avoid the "Buy 5 get one free" deals. (Like the lame McCafe offer.) That is only a 20% discount at best. It costs them about $0.25 to sell you each $3 drink.

3. Want to redeem more than one offer on the same visit? Then make more than one transaction. Place your first order, pay for it. Then get back in line or simply say "I changed my mind, I want this other thing too." If they say no, find a different franchise because a manager that won't take your money in this circumstance is likely such a cheapskate that he/she underpays and mistreats their staff as well. *This does not apply to the unfortunate managers and teams whom work for a "cheap jerk" owner. I'd still leave, but be nice to the team. They’re just trying to pay the bills.

4. Never pay for something that is not properly prepared. Don't be afraid to ask for a "do over." Tonight my fries weren't sufficiently fresh. I only eat those things piping-hot, fresh from the frier. So, I drove around from the drive-through and stepped inside and asked for a "do over." I waited about 3 minutes to get the fries replaced, fresh from the frier. It is...always...worth it. 

5. If you go to any chain restaurant (or store) EVER, understand that you rarely have to pay full price if you educate yourself before you pull up to a drive-through or step through their doors. There is a deal offered every week. If you don't have their app, just ask if they are running any specials.

6. Cognitive Dissonance: I have great disdain for fast food restaurants in particular and chains in general. And I "know," yes, it's McDonalds...and yes we should stop eating beef altogether...and yes I loathe their scary marketing in schools, etc. but I'll fight those battle separately.

7. Read "Fast Food Nation." (yes, there's a movie too.)

8. Watch "Supersize Me."

9. Cook. Try to eat food that takes more than 5 minutes in your kitchen to un-package and heat.

10. Make an effort to enjoy food in an environment that allows you to look into the eyes of the person you cooked for, or who cooked for you. (If you live alone like me, don’t do this. It’s incredibly weird eating soup in the bathroom.)

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Connect with GoalBusters     

Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris      alice.ferris

Fast Food Nation (book)

Fast Food Nation (film)

Super Size Me (film)

Outside Looking In - 6 Exercises for Finding Common Ground in Diverse Groups

A fundraising colleague, Dave Tinker, CFRE was asked to lead an educational session for refugee teens primarily from Nepal, Bhutan, and the Middle East to introduce them to fundraising as a profession.

He asked the #AFPeeps, an Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) volunteer Social Media group for recommendations for activities he could do with the refugee teens. I was excited about his project because it reminded me how often I work with groups that I am not, nor will ever truly be a part of. Alice Ferris, ACFRE and I have and continue to work with numerous culturally diverse groups; Native American, Latino, Rural, African American, Afghans, Iranians, and others. We find some of our greatest satisfaction working with people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

I created the following list of suggestions for activities that I think can work for any group, but will be especially effective if working with a diverse group. I think they can build trust and relationships among participants while delivering insight about your audience that you can draw upon while presenting for both humor and education. 

ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS:

1. "I Am, But I Am Not" (Defy stereotype exercise) Participants work in small groups to share what "other" people's stereotypes are of them, their culture or their country. They then share how they do not fit within those stereotypes. They report out to the group. This can be a verbal/written or drawn exercise.

2. "This is America?" (Cognitive dissonance exercise) Ask them to draw 2 things. What they thought America, Americans or other American students were going to be like and then to draw what they've learned "we" are really like. Goal: getting them to share their surprises and open up about their "American" experience.

3. "Good Heart, Bad Idea" (Critical thinking exercise) Ask them to draw or perform short skit about how they see people from other countries try to help through philanthropy in their home country but in ways that are misguided, clumsy or uninformed. Then ask them to provide solutions or advice for people who still want to help. This one will have to be delicately presented or they might be reluctant to share perceived criticisms.

4. "Sesame Street - One of these things is not like the other" (Breaking down barriers) Ask them to group themselves by different criteria; physical, demographic, geographic, cultural, religious, etc. They report out after each grouping about why/how they grouped themselves. The goal is to identify sub cultures that they share with "some" others but to finish the exercise where everyone is in the same group to identify that ultimately we all share some common culture regardless of resources, education or circumstances.

5. "The ONE Thing" (Self-awareness exercise) They work in small groups and explain to each other "The One Thing" they wish people understood about them, their country or their cultures that most people have a hard time comprehending. They report out why this is important to deeper understanding, trust and progress.

6. "Why Should I Care?" (Justify support exercise) Break them up in groups of 4-5. Try to mix them so they are with people they don't know. Provide a list of causes they can choose from. Make it about causes, not organizations. arts, education, health, social justice, animal protection, hunger abatement, clean water, etc. Do a random drawing after the groups are established to determine which group gets to pick their cause first from the list you create as a flip chart exercise. This will generate initial excitement and disappointment. Every person gets $100 in play money and 1 week of "virtual" volunteer time to give to a cause. They can give both to one cause or cash to one, time to other. Report out the winning cause and "You" make an actual $100 donation to a local cause in your group's name.

Regardless of the exercise you choose. At the end I encourage "You" to make a contribution to a cause that your group chooses and have them participate by signing a card that will accompany that gift. 

Be sure to provide a signup sheet and send contact information about how the participants can become more involved with causes they want to support either financially or through volunteer work.

Good luck! And have fun learning while you teach!

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Connect with GoalBusters     

Jim Anderson, CFRE      GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris, ACFRE, CFRE, MBS      alice.ferris

Social Media Management in 15 Minutes or Less a Day

At the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference on Fundraising in San Antonio, Texas, in March, I did a very short presentation on how to manage your organization's (or your) social media presence in 15 minutes or less. My presentation was actually 9 minutes long, and they started shutting off the lights in the exhibit hall as I wrapped up!

So, now here's the presentation in blog form. The video presentation is even shorter than at Conference: it's FIVE minutes. So there.

Here are the primary tools I mention:
Content aggregator: Feedly
Content queue: Buffer
Feed management: Hootsuite
Follower management: CrowdFire
Email filters: I don't go into a whole lot of detail here, so check out DottoTech for great tutorials on Gmail.

And the deck was created in HaikuDeck.


Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app

Enjoy!

The Best Way to Use Social Media in Fundraising

By ALICE FERRIS, CFRE, ACFRE 

This was a "Guest Blog" originally written for AFP Toronto

Social media is not the best tool to solicit a gift. There. I said it. So what’s all the fuss about? Social media is a very good tool for cultivation and stewardship. It has been said that social networking has created the largest cocktail party in the world and you can interact with any number of people without an invitation!

Here are some quick tips on what to do with your online presence:

• Plan your content. You don’t want all your messages to be about selling something or about you—the majority of your posts should be information that establishes you as an expert in your sector. Your posts should also, on a regular basis, include references from other content sources so you don’t sound like you just talk about yourself.
• Be consistent. Post something every day. There are many free apps available to streamline and schedule your posts, so you don’t have to be tied to the computer every day. If you’re not in someone’s stream on a regular basis, they will forget that you are there.
• Establish your voice. Show some personality so that people want to be connected to you! Remember, you’re cultivating a relationship—try to make your organization likeable online.
• Use positive reinforcement. If someone in your online network shares your information or advocates for you in some way, thank them for it. You don’t have to do this for every post, but periodically call attention to the fact that you’re paying attention. Also, regularly interact with people online. They need to know that you’re interested in them too.
• Use calls to action sparingly. If you have a well-established relationship with your online connections, you can mobilize them, but if you’re asking all the time, they will tune you out. Calls to action should be time sensitive—deadlines that aren’t too far away will be most effective.

Most organizations cannot afford to ignore social media, but understand that no one will “get rich quick” using these tools. Position online networking tools to augment your existing marketing, cultivation and stewardship programs.

Alice Ferris is the founding partner of GoalBusters, providing philanthropic leadership services such as outsourced development operations for small shops; strategic, development and marketing planning; board development and staff training. Join her session at Congress 2012 and follow her on twitter @aliceferris

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Connect with GoalBusters     

Alice Ferris, ACFRE      alice.ferris
Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim