image via the Sparkologist As I’ve often written on this blog, human beings are inherently empathetic. Our brains are hardwired to relate to other people’s experiences. When we witness or imagine someone acting, our neurons fire the same way they would if we were undertaking the same action. That’s why your heart races when your favorite athlete soars toward the basket or why the sight of a mother struggling to save her child from floodwaters causes you pain. When we translate this empathy into helping another person, our brains have another reaction: We’re rewarded with happy…
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Most Topular Stories
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Help your corporate partners be brainiac cause marketers
Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog16 May 2013 | 12:20 am -
Get Attention With Your Next Multichannel Campaign
Getting Attention Blog22 May 2013 | 9:35 amThanks to co-guest-bloggers Amy Sample Ward and Allyson Kapin. Allyson is acclaimed for her leadership role in technology and social media, and runs Rad Campaign. Amy is the Membership Director for NTEN and blogs for Stanford Social Innovation Review. Getting the attention of your supporters and engaging them in your campaigns on one platform is hard enough. But the key to campaign success comes in engaging people across platforms—email, social media, your website, and even offline. In the just-released Social Change Anytime Everywhere: How to Implement Online Multichannel Strategies to… -
You Can't Efficiency Your Way to Greatness and Other Stuff I Learned This Week From Some Killer Fundraisers
Marketing for Nonprofits11 May 2013 | 7:56 amI had the privilege of spending Thursday with my fundraising and marketing peeps at Engage 2013: A Case Study Conference in Philly. (Thanks, Margaret!) It is always inspiring and validating to be with other practitioners in the field who are facing similar obstacles to fundraising growth. And I was thrilled to meet (if briefly) Roger Craver! OK, enough of the crowing... I was particularly impressed with the case study by the fantastic folks at Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Regardless of your politics, HRC is undeniably a fundraising and marketing powerhouse. … -
Five Mind Shifts That Boost Social Sharing
Social media marketing hacks for nonprofits | Powered by JohnHaydon.Com21 May 2013 | 6:07 amTechnology has blessed your community with more sharing power than ever before. The ability to retweet, like, and pin with increased ease is what helped launch the slactivist movement. But even though sharing has gotten easier, getting people to share still feels like pulling teeth. So how do you get people to share your content? Here are five mind-shifts to keep in mind: 1. Start with your database The people who are most likely to share your content are in your donor database and email list. Before you waste time trying to target specific audiences on Facebook (which you can easily do)… -
How to Involve Staff in Nonprofit Branding
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog22 May 2013 | 8:30 amWe've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/nonprofitcommunicationsblog Update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us.
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Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog
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Help your corporate partners be brainiac cause marketers
16 May 2013 | 12:20 amimage via the Sparkologist As I’ve often written on this blog, human beings are inherently empathetic. Our brains are hardwired to relate to other people’s experiences. When we witness or imagine someone acting, our neurons fire the same way they would if we were undertaking the same action. That’s why your heart races when your favorite athlete soars toward the basket or why the sight of a mother struggling to save her child from floodwaters causes you pain. When we translate this empathy into helping another person, our brains have another reaction: We’re rewarded with happy… -
Free marketing brainpower for your nonprofit
15 May 2013 | 12:30 amUpdate: I corrected the links to the webinar, and they should be working now. Some folks had trouble accessing them earlier due to a coding error on my part. Did you know that you could have fantastic pro bono marketing experts helping your organization? No? Then you should attend the next Network for Good webinar. Here’s the description. Effective marketing is absolutely critical for organizations to succeed in winning hearts, minds and donations for their cause—yet 68% of nonprofits lack a dedicated marketing role. Does this sound like your… -
Better meetings: BLUF and the three WHATs
14 May 2013 | 12:22 amLast year, I was talking about the critical importance of getting to the point quickly in meetings - and in messages - and a friend who is in the Navy taught me about BLUF. That’s the acronym they use in the military for Bottom Line Up Front. In a military setting, BLUF communications allow people to grasp the essence of a situation immediately and seek details only as necessary. It’s like a Cliff Notes for every situation. More recently, a reader wrote me with this nifty list, also from the military. Always describe: What’s what. So what. What… -
Why I helped start a magazine: Characters matter
13 May 2013 | 12:15 amI’m excited to announced that today, Characters Magazine is live. Master storyteller Mark Rovner and I founded this literary magazine to feature the writing of people who work for good causes and to inspire better storytelling in our sector. You can read it free online here. Thanks to everyone who submitted - as well as to the amazing editor and designers I highlighted in the following introduction included in the magazine. It was a labor of love to put this together, and I’m especially grateful to Mark for his partnership and creativity—as well as his… -
On a personal note: A moment that shaped me
10 May 2013 | 12:39 amI posted this on LinkedIn this week and thought I would share it with you. I was asked to write about what inspires me. I think “inspire” is perhaps not the right word given the tragedy I describe here. It was unspeakable. This is how it has shaped me, ever since. It held the fundamental lesson of life - one I should have known but just didn’t quite get till then. I used to have a recurring nightmare: I was a passenger on a plane that plunged downward in a sudden death-spin. I would awake from the dream breathless and stare at glow of the bedside…
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Getting Attention Blog
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Get Attention With Your Next Multichannel Campaign
22 May 2013 | 9:35 amThanks to co-guest-bloggers Amy Sample Ward and Allyson Kapin. Allyson is acclaimed for her leadership role in technology and social media, and runs Rad Campaign. Amy is the Membership Director for NTEN and blogs for Stanford Social Innovation Review. Getting the attention of your supporters and engaging them in your campaigns on one platform is hard enough. But the key to campaign success comes in engaging people across platforms—email, social media, your website, and even offline. In the just-released Social Change Anytime Everywhere: How to Implement Online Multichannel Strategies to… -
15 Fantastic Nonprofit Marketing Jobs: Movin’ Up Monday
20 May 2013 | 4:30 amPlease post your nonprofit marketing position here for full-time or part-time staff, consulting or internship opportunities. New Opportunities Associate Director of Integrated Content Management, The American Optometric Association (St. Louis, MO) Campaigns Communications Manager, Free Press (Florence, MA) Chief Marketing Officer, Malaria No More (Flexible) Communications Director, The Pachamama Alliance (San Francisco Bay Area) Director of Online Fundraising, Sierra Club (San Francisco, CA) Director of Web Development & Strategy, Applied Research Center (New York, NY or… -
Make It Easy to Spread the Word (Case Study)
16 May 2013 | 5:57 amYour supporters and partners are one of the most productive marketing channels you have, and one of the least expensive. But I see so few orgs that ask supporters to spread the word on vital asks, and even fewer who make it easy (and far more likely) for them to do so. This “spreading the word” strategy has been top of mind lately for, as it’s core to the program launch we’re marketing for a huge and complex New England human services org. I was surprised to learn that these folks had NEVER asked supporters to serve as marketing messengers. A huge opportunity missed… -
How Story Trumps Description (Nonprofit Storytelling #9)
15 May 2013 | 6:49 amNonprofit Storytelling #1-8 I’m a sucker for stark contrast. It’s one of the best learning tools ever, and today I’m drawing on examples from Mass Mentoring Partnership (MMP). The Challenge MMP supports and strengthens mentoring programs in Massachusetts and faces this marketing challenge common to every organization that doesn’t provide direct services: How to show the org’s unique value to current and prospective: Mentoring program partners—call to action (CTA) “strengthen your programor” Funders—CTA “get involved” Mentors—CTA… -
Escape from Fairy-Tale Fundraising—Roger Craver, Part I
14 May 2013 | 7:36 amWhat a week it was! Among other adventures last week, I met and learned with famed fundraiser Roger Craver at the fabulous Engage Conference. Roger is a guy who doesn’t hold back. He shares what he knows, sees and suggests with absolutely no restraint. You may agree with him or not, but his bold, evidence-based recommendations are a huge gift to the rest of us. Roger always gives you something that’s worthy of consideration. Whether you follow his guidance or not, the process of consideration itself will move your fundraising forward. Roger’s main message today is that…
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Marketing for Nonprofits
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You Can't Efficiency Your Way to Greatness and Other Stuff I Learned This Week From Some Killer Fundraisers
11 May 2013 | 7:56 amI had the privilege of spending Thursday with my fundraising and marketing peeps at Engage 2013: A Case Study Conference in Philly. (Thanks, Margaret!) It is always inspiring and validating to be with other practitioners in the field who are facing similar obstacles to fundraising growth. And I was thrilled to meet (if briefly) Roger Craver! OK, enough of the crowing... I was particularly impressed with the case study by the fantastic folks at Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Regardless of your politics, HRC is undeniably a fundraising and marketing powerhouse. … -
Be a Heretic. Choose a Cause You Love. Lead.
2 Mar 2013 | 8:44 amHere is another inspiring TED talk for you. I LOVE Seth Godin's humor and his call to DO SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD. I am trying to do this at The Global Fund for Children because I truly believe that ALL children deserve the right to be safe, healthy, happy, and productive, regardless of where they are born. Don't you? According to Godin, there are 4 things you need to do if you truly want to do make a difference in this life. Find something worth changing aka challenge the status quo. Find others who care as deeply about the issue/idea as you do (aka… -
Watch This Video if You Want to Be Happier and Enjoy a Good Laugh!
24 Feb 2013 | 3:24 pmI'm so happy to know that there is research-based evidence to suggest that being positive and happy is not only possible but an advantage to living a better life for yourself and others. I hope you will watch "The Happy Secret to Better Work" by Shaun Achor above, check out the infographic below, and PRACTICE being more positive in life and work. Enjoy! Jocelyn The Happy Secret to Better Work infographic -
This is a Sweet Contest. How Do You Share Your Heart?
18 Feb 2013 | 9:39 amThe post below is by Jamie Millard and the folks at CaringBridge.org. Whether it’s a heartfelt note before your first day at a new job or a declaration of love written in the clouds, people express their love and support for one another in big and small ways every day. This February, CaringBridge, the caring social network that keeps families and loved ones connected during any type of health event, invites people to submit those touching acts of compassion during the “Share Your Heart” contest. Watch the sweet video above and enter the “Share Your Heart” contest. … -
Be a Better Relationship Builder - Learn to ATTUNE
17 Feb 2013 | 8:35 amI came home from work on Friday and walked into a landmine. The atmosphere in my home was thick with emotional smog. My daughter and husband both looked at me with what appeared to be mixture of intense frustration and despair. My first thought was, UGH! REALLY? I don't want to deal with this on a Friday night. I wonder if they noticed me. Maybe I can just slip out the door and come back in an hour. :) My second thought (because I just finished reading Dan Pink's new book (Yes, I'm in love!)) was how can I best ATTUNE to this situation and these two precious…
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Social media marketing hacks for nonprofits | Powered by JohnHaydon.Com
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Five Mind Shifts That Boost Social Sharing
21 May 2013 | 6:07 amTechnology has blessed your community with more sharing power than ever before. The ability to retweet, like, and pin with increased ease is what helped launch the slactivist movement. But even though sharing has gotten easier, getting people to share still feels like pulling teeth. So how do you get people to share your content? Here are five mind-shifts to keep in mind: 1. Start with your database The people who are most likely to share your content are in your donor database and email list. Before you waste time trying to target specific audiences on Facebook (which you can easily do)… -
What are you building?
17 May 2013 | 5:00 amA long time ago in the city of Rome, there were several hundred men working on a large building. A little girl, who was very curious, wandered into the building site to see what she could learn. She noticed three men – each carrying a rock the size of a basketball. And being curious, she had to know more about what they were doing. The first man looked a little tired – even though he was fairly muscular. She asked him,“What are you doing?”, to which he replied “I’m carrying a rock.” That answer didn’t satisfy the little girl, so she asked the… -
Don’t Just Post Photos. Post Stories!
16 May 2013 | 5:53 amThe Internet is slowly but surely becoming one big picture book. Instagram and Pinterest have grown at astronomic rates precicely because they allow people to easily create, curate and share pictures. And Facebook has placed more importance on pictures, with cover images, full screen viewing, and newsfeed preferences. So photos are huge. But simply posting photos is not enough. You have to post stories! A powerful story in a photo earns every one of those thousand words: By making people take action. By getting people angry. By reenergizing volunteers. By moving the needle. Here are ten… -
[Free Webinar] Facebook for Executive Staff
14 May 2013 | 11:43 amTomorrow (5/15/2013) I presenting a webinar for Nonprofit Webinars called Facebook for Executive Staff. This webinar is designed to give you a framework for answering these questions: How are other nonprofits using Facebook? How does word-of-mouth marketing work on Facebook? Can you actually raise money with Facebook? What are the fundamental competencies for success on Facebook? How does Facebook fit in with my current marketing communications plan? Who should be managing our Facebook page? Interns? Staff? Volunteers? How can we develop a framework for content? Register now for this free… -
Three Instant Facebook Page Tweaks That Maximize Reach
10 May 2013 | 4:11 amMost of what you read about creating more reach for your Facebook Page either has to do with Facebook Ads or optimizing content. But these three little settings for your Page can also dramatically increase reach: 1. Turn On Posting Ability Allowing Facebook users to post photos and videos to your page increases exposure to their friends. For example, the friends of the Facebook users who’ve posted these photos of rabbits will see a story in their News Feed, exposing them to the National Wildlife Federation. To allow others to post photos, videos, text updates and links to your page,…
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Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
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How to Involve Staff in Nonprofit Branding
22 May 2013 | 8:30 amWe've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/nonprofitcommunicationsblog Update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us. -
I Love You, Katya Andresen
20 May 2013 | 11:01 amWe've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/nonprofitcommunicationsblog Update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us. -
Mixed Links for Nonprofit Marketers
17 May 2013 | 12:00 pmWe've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/nonprofitcommunicationsblog Update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us. -
How Often Should Your Nonprofit Send Email to Your List?
16 May 2013 | 10:15 amWe've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/nonprofitcommunicationsblog Update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us. -
IT Staff, Marketing and Leadership #13ntc
15 May 2013 | 9:11 amWe've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/nonprofitcommunicationsblog Update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us.
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Beth’s Blog
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Book Review: Cause for Change
22 May 2013 | 10:42 amI’m getting a jump on my summer reading! Colleagues Kari Dunn Saratovsky and Derrick Feldmann have published a new book called Cause for Change: The Why and How of Nonprofit Millennial Engagement. The book is based on their many years of research, convening, and consulting with nonprofits on how to engage with this younger generation. The book is a must-read and their annual conference, MCON, is a must attend – if you want the latest thinking about strategy to engage younger people in the sector – both inside and outside of your nonprofit’s walls. The… -
Heartland Pride: Winner of the #npfail Little Bets Contest
21 May 2013 | 9:21 amLast month, during the Nonprofit Technology Conference plenary session on placing little bets and learning from failure, we issued a challenge to 1,000 nonprofits in the audience. Let’s do more than just give failure lip service, let’s put it into practice and share learning from a failure or placing a “Little Bet.” A ‘Little Bet” as defined by Peter Sims, author of the book – Little Bets, is a small action that you can take to discover something new. It’s an affordable loss that leads to innovation. Place a little bet & or share… -
Trainer’s Notebook: The Art of Good Openings and Closings
20 May 2013 | 11:22 amSunrise on Sacred Maori Land outside of Auckland, NZ I’ve just returned from an amazing trip of facilitating workshops, discussions and master classes as well as a keynoting a conference on “Measuring the Networked Nonprofit” in Australia and New Zealand. It made me very happy to be teaching non-stop for almost two weeks. I’m always learning as I help others learn. Here’s a couple of reflections from my “trainer’s notebook.” I started with a full-day workshop outside of Auckland called “The Networked NGO in New… -
Get the Scoop at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Washington, DC in June #NCVS
15 May 2013 | 2:32 pmNote from Beth: I’ve just finished doing some social media workshops in New Zealand with Volunteering Auckland and now in Australia. Next month, I will be traveling to Washington, DC for the NCVS Conference and can’t wait. I will be doing a panel on using social media as part of volunteer recruitment. While I’m still “down under,” Michelle Nunn agreed to share this guest post about conference highlight Get the Scoop at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Washington, DC #NCVS guest post by Michelle Nunn I’m eager to let… -
A Dog Named Red Helps Best Friends Animal Society Get Results on Facebook
14 May 2013 | 2:28 pmNote from Beth: Greetings from the Gold Coast in Australia. I’m here to keynote Connecting Up Conference, While I am in OZ, I invited Jon Stahl to share this amazing case study. Enjoy For several years now, nonprofits have been investing time, energy and money building Facebook pages and working to engage supporters on Facebook. Unfortunately, as Beth has pointed out , Facebook doesn’t always make it easy to generate meaningful and measurable results that drive your mission or your bottom line. About a year ago, Facebook began rolling out a series of important changes, most…
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NTEN
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Donate to the NTC 2014 Scholarship Fund! (A Past Recipient Shares Her Story of Change)
21 May 2013 | 7:08 amIf you've been to NTC, you know that it can be an incredible event full of knowledgeable nonprofit techies. As Lyndal Cairns, a 2012 NTC Scholarship recipient, shares: Before I went to NTC, I was the only social media manager working in the HIV sector in Australia. In fact, I was the only nonprofit social media manager I knew; so I felt alone and rather adrift. I had reams of research and ideas aplenty, but I didn't know how to put it all together into a cohesive set of strategies. NTC taught me how to focus and evaluate our social media work, how to develop that into a set of actions, and… -
7th Annual Nonprofit Technology Staffing & Investments Report: A Closer Look (Staffing Levels)
20 May 2013 | 7:33 amLast month we released our seventh annual report on nonprofit investment and practices regarding technology. You can download the complete report here, and don't forget the companion online benchmarking tool, where you can compare some of your organization's data against your peers in our research.I'd like to take a closer look at one aspect of our research and organizational practice: technology staffing levels.In our latest survey, we decided to ask about technology staffing levels differently. Why? Because we know that the term "IT Staff" means something very specific to… -
Member Round Up: Fundraising tips, new research, and tools
17 May 2013 | 4:12 pmFlickr: W.D. VanlueFundraising tips, some new (and free!) research and tools, and a list of creatures that walk a fine line between ugly and cute bring this week to a close--check out what your industrious community has been up to! As you refine your fundraising strategy and explore new ways of connecting with donors, check out Blackbaud's 2013 Online Marketing Benchmark Study for Nonprofits to compare your organization to others and gather new ideas. You can also watch Farra Trompetertalk about three ways to keep your donors engaged so that they stay with you longer. If your organization is… -
Emerging Technology, Engaging Youth, and Your Mission: YOLO!
17 May 2013 | 7:46 amFlickr: jasonshimBy Jason Shim and Shubhagata Sengupta At Pathways to Education, we offer cross-cultural conflict resolution training called YOUCAN, and one of the first topics we cover with the students is that the analogy of an iceberg can be useful in understanding people.Typically, you only see about 10% of an iceberg above the water, and the remaining 90% remains submerged and unseen. We use this analogy to help students remember that when interacting and communicating with others, there is much underneath the surface that remains to be discovered through conversation and engagement.The… -
NTEN Case Study: Financial Management in the Cloud
17 May 2013 | 7:00 amKimberlee Roth Out-Word, LLC Jill Farrow, NTEN's chief financial and operating officer, quickly learned that "operationally, we at NTEN do everything in the Cloud," and that includes financial and operations management. When Jill Farrow, now NTEN's chief financial and operating officer, first toured the organization's Portland, OR, offices, she noticed something conspicuous in its absence. Puzzled, she turned to then executive director Holly Ross, who was giving her the tour and asked, "Where are the servers?"Farrow, who now laughs retelling the story, quickly learned that…
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Have Fun • Do Good
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Why "Be the Change That You Wish to See in the World” Really Works
9 May 2013 | 11:09 amYou've probably seen the Gandhi quote, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world,” somewhere. You might even have it tacked up on the wall of your office, or home. Well, guess what? It really works. Last week, I started a (free) Coursera class, Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence, which I'm loving. One of the modules is about emotional contagion. Basically, how you feel and manage your feelings affects other people. If you go into work feeling sad, or angry, your co-workers may start to feel the same way. Even if you put on a happy face, if you're feeling down… -
Celebrating Grandmother Power: Interview with my Gram
7 May 2013 | 11:38 amThe Grandmother Power Blogging Campaign is a collaborative effort of hundreds of bloggers writing about how grandmothers are changing the world from May 7-14, 2013. It's being organized by Tara Mohr (creator of the Ten Rules for Brilliant Women Workbook), and Paola Gianturco (author of Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon). You can read all of the Grandmother Power posts, and add your own on taramohr.com. "Some people don't even begin to use all the power they have." ~ my Gram "I think the answer to everything is education. You can try to re-educate some of the older people, but it's not an… -
Out of the Spiritual Closet: Organizers Transforming the Practice of Social Justice. Big Vision Podcast Interview with co-author, Kristen Zimmerman
29 Apr 2013 | 9:02 amThis month's Big Vision Podcast guest is Kristen Zimmerman, one of four co-authors of the Movement Strategy Center report, "Out of the Spiritual Closet: Organizers Transforming the Path of Social Justice," along with Neelam Pathikonda, Brenda Salgado, and Taj James. As a Senior Fellow at the Movement Strategy Center, Kristen leads the development of the Center's movement building practice and methodology. Her primary focus is the integration of transformative practice with strategy, movement building and alliance building technologies, and the use of story and narrative for movement building. -
Respectful Revolution's Video Portrait of My Do-Good Dad: Tom Aageson, Co-Founder, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship
17 Apr 2013 | 10:27 amShout out for my Do-Good Dad! He's one of the Respectful Revolution's video portraits. He is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship, founded a program for homeless veterans in conjunction with the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, and is involved with Santa Fe for Students / Communities In Schools of New Mexico. And that's only in the last 10 years. You'd need a feature film to document everything he has done to make the world a better place in his lifetime. You can watch the 5:40 video on vimeo, or on the player below. Tom Aageson and… -
How It All Vegan: Cook with the VegCookbook Club in April!
2 Apr 2013 | 9:19 amOn March 14th, VegCookbook author, Sarah Kramer, announced on her blog that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. I felt so sad when I read her post. As if I’d received bad news from a good friend. I’ve been cooking from How It All Vegan! and Garden of Vegan, that Sarah co-wrote with Tanya Barnard, for over a decade. Her cookbooks are a part of my daily life. I want to support Sarah during this challenging time, so the VegCookbook Club will be cooking from her first cookbook, How It All Vegan! in April. I hope you'll join us. You can read about how to participate on the…
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Wild Apricot Blog (RSS 2.0)
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24+ Free Non-profit Webinars for June 2013
22 May 2013 | 5:30 amHere's our round-up of free non-profit webinars that will be available in June. -
3 Ideas for Inspiring Member Loyalty and Demonstrating Value
21 May 2013 | 5:30 amHere are some ideas on ways associations can inspire mutual loyalty and demonstrate member value. -
Dear Board...Observations From a New Volunteer
17 May 2013 | 5:29 amHere is a letter to the board from a new volunteer offering some insight and advice Dr. Seuss-style. -
New Infographics Resource From Idealware
15 May 2013 | 5:30 amHere's an overview of a new resource from Idealware that can help you understand when and how to use infographics. -
Do You Have a Membership Content Strategy?
13 May 2013 | 5:30 amWhat is a content strategy and how does it apply to small membership organizations?
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FundraisingCoach.com
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Free fundraising tips and ideas in 3 podcasts!
21 May 2013 | 6:13 pmIn the past week, I was privileged to be the guest on three terrific podcasts! In each I was asked various aspects of fundraising. Ted Hart’s Nonprofit Radio On Ted’s show, about 15-20 minutes in, we talked about Ask Without Fear! and the ins and outs of major gift fundraising. You can listen in at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tedhart/2013/05/14/nonprofit-coach-marc-pitman-ask-without-fear–fundraising Blackbaud’s npVOICES On this show, Steve MacLaughlin and I talk about trends we’re seeing in the nonprofit sector. Steve also interviewed Allyson Kapin from Rad… -
Self talk, body chemistry, and being successful at fundraising
21 May 2013 | 2:00 amWhat we say to ourselves can sink our fundraising program. He’s probably not interested. I’m probably bugging her. They get “hit” by everyone so they won’t want to talk to me. When we say things like that, we think we’re being “honest” or “realistic.” But we’re actually creating a self-fulfilling prophesy. These thoughts often physically affect us, causing our shoulders to sag a little and our voice to lose some enthusiasm. Just trying to help us In his classic book Psycho-Cybernetics, Dr. Maxwell Maltz calls our brains… -
Fundraising for ministry support
16 May 2013 | 6:38 amA couple weeks ago, I gave a series of lectures at the Funding Your Ministry Symposium to over 100 coaches from around the world. These people represented 48 different missionary associations including large organizations like The Navigators, InterVarsity, Cru, YWAM, and Wycliffe. The people they coach are raising their own ministry support. They don’t have time to mess around, wasting time. But they aren’t often the most eager fundraisers. They know they have to ask for money, but they got into their position to do “ministry,” not raise support. Sounds like most… -
[Guest Post] Using Gallup’s StrengthsFinder to help your board fundraise more effectively
13 May 2013 | 2:45 amToday it’s my honor to introduce you to John Fulwider. I’m a guy who loves helping people find their strengths and talents. John is the first person I’ve met who teaches nonprofit boards how to use the Gallup StrengthsFinder to find their strengths. He’s a sought-after speaker, especially on nonprofit board and staff development and the author of two books: The Nonprofit Book of Awesome: 25 Tips for Achieving Greater Mission Impact and Personal Fulfillment, and the forthcoming Leadership Pairs for Mission Impact: Effective Nonprofit Board President-Chief Executive… -
Throw statistics out of your fundraising letters!
7 May 2013 | 1:59 amThese are the words that matter to us as fundraisers These are the words that matter to a donorA couple weeks ago, I was grounded in Newark, NJ so I got to listen to some NJ radio. One ad for a nonprofit caught my attention and then quickly failed. I blogged about it at Does the phrase “tax deductible” kill donations? And I gave some suggestions on how the ad could’ve gotten me to make a donation. That post is getting a lot of traffic and great comments. But why will thousands of nonprofit fundraisers use that phrase as though it were a “deal clincher” for a…
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Amy Sample Ward’s Version of NPTech
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New on SSIR: Should Nonprofits Act Like Businesses or People?
6 May 2013 | 5:00 amMy latest contribution to the Stanford Social Innovation Review opinion blog is up! You can read the post and join the conversation on the SSIR blog or below. The new book I co-authored with Allyson Kapin, Social Change Anytime Everywhere, looks at the way nonprofit organizations can use multichannel strategies for advocacy, fundraising, and community building. It’s a practitioner’s guide for planning, implementing, and evaluating strategies that engage constituents across many channels, wherever they may be, and how we as organizations need to structure our work to deliver that… -
3 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Next Fundraising Campaign (and free ebook!)
5 Mar 2013 | 8:03 amI’m honored to be included in a new ebook about marketing, fundraising, and social media. You can download the ebook, check out the various topics, and much more from: https://www.blackbaud.com/npexperts —– When was the last time you were approached by a stranger in the store asking for you to donate to a cause they cared about? Well, sure – it does happen. Especially around the holidays or for local events, but how often do you respond? For many people, the decision to give money is influenced by our peer networks and personal experiences. That’s why social media… -
Slideshare and Pinterest for Nonprofits
20 Feb 2013 | 9:00 amI’m a monthly guest on Tony Martignetti’s Nonprofit Radio (which you already know because you’re a subscriber, right?) and on this last episode we talked about two popular tools: Slideshare and Pinterest. There’s always more to say than just what we can cover on the air so I wanted to follow up with some infographics and highlights. Slideshare I use Slideshare for my presentations and other workshop or training materials. It’s easy to use, and it makes archiving and sharing materials with attendees really simple. Column Five has a new infographic about Slideshare… -
Taking Social Media to Saudi
18 Feb 2013 | 3:06 pmA few weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia to teach a course at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology as part of the Winter Enrichment Program. It was an incredible experience and I’m so glad I was able to be part of the KAUST program and meet so many different students, entrepreneurs, faculty and staff. As I reflect on the trip, the course specifically, and the conversations students and staff had with me, I am reminded in many ways of the event I helped with a few years ago in Romania. Those countries may not strike you as very similar at first, but… -
KAUST Winter Enrichment Program 2013: Beginner’s Guide to Social Media
23 Jan 2013 | 5:00 amDate: January 23, 2013 Location: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Topic: A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Description: Social media presents a confusing blur of personal and professional profiles. In a tightly integrated community like ours, social media use requires special consideration. This 3-hour course showcases real-world examples to help you discover how best to protect, positively promote, and selectively manage your online personal and professional profiles, all while maintaining your connections to family, friends, colleagues and networks. The course will…
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Frogloop
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Don't Let Endless Meetings Derail Decision-Making
20 May 2013 | 1:09 pmDoes your organization have trouble making decisions? Perhaps you have endless meetings discussing whether to launch a campaign? Or debates about that rapid response to a recent development around a core issue that your organization is working on. Sound familiar? Our discomfort with taking action and making decisions quickly stems from our desire to want everyone at the table to be supportive and feel good about the decisions being made within the organization. But having too many cooks in the kitchen and this desire to please everyone actually derails our progress to make decisions,… -
The Art of Petition Delivery
17 May 2013 | 9:14 amSo you got 10,000 people to sign your petition - awesome! Now let the fun begin... We all know that petitions are effective for list growth and influencing policy when combined with a strategic campaign plan. But really, what to do with all those juicy signatures to move your issue? Join Care2 and Salsa Labs on a 'tour de petition' as we explore how organizations like Protect Our Defenders, ForestEthics, Environmental Defense Fund and more are making the most out of their hard earned signatures. Join Care2, Salsa Labs and organizations from the Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign for… -
If You’re Going To Use Social Media, Do It Right
13 May 2013 | 6:26 pmLast week Amy Sample Ward and I held a webinar with Care2 on Social Media: You’re Probably Doing it Wrong. We had a terrific conversation about some of the themes we discuss in our book Social Change Anytime Everywhere such as how to manage an online crisis and avoid alienating your community. We also discussed how to foster meaningful conversations with your community. Here are three of our favorite tips that we shared. Don’t Rely On Automated UpdatesWhat was the first thing you did after hearing about the shooter that killed 12 people and injured 58 at the Aurora movie theater… -
Crowdsource This… and That: Getting Creative with Crowdsourcing Strategy (Internet Advocacy Roundtable, April 2013)
10 May 2013 | 7:56 amCrowdsourcing is all the rage. From micro-fundraising on Kickstarter.com to mapping craters on the Moon, people are coming up with creative ways to harness large groups of online volunteers. April's Internet Advocacy Roundtable featured speakers who’ve used crowdsourcing in some very creative ways to great effect. Crowdsourcing is not just a new idea born out of social media. It has deep roots in social science research. Every time you read the results of a scientifically rigorous opinion poll, you are learning from the crowd. Large, probability samples of citizens can accurately tell… -
New Data Shows Why Donors Breakup With Nonprofits
30 Apr 2013 | 12:36 pmEver wonder why your nonprofit donors decide to stop supporting your organization? Check out this data by Bloomerang and the Rockefeller Corporation that compares why donors leave compared to why customers leave commercial companies. One of the reasons I appreciate research like this is because it demonstrates the importance of providing the best constituent experiences no matter if you work in the nonprofit world or the for-profit world. If we don’t alwas focus our attention on building these strong relationships, we lose people. Thanks to Marc Pitman for finding this great gem of a…
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Step By Step Fundraising
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I Don’t Know Why We Didn’t Raise More Money
15 May 2013 | 11:44 amI can not tell you how many times we get extremely small orders from large groups that seem surprised when their participation is so low it should be embarrassing. When you’re the fundraising... [This is a summary only, click on the title to read the entire article.] -
Thinking about Disaster Relief Fundraising
24 Apr 2013 | 8:41 amHolding a disaster relief fundraising event is a good way to get everybody in your community involved in supporting a worthy cause. The money that you and your team raise will go toward helping... [This is a summary only, click on the title to read the entire article.] -
Green Fundraising for Church Groups
22 Apr 2013 | 9:57 amThere is a lot that people can do nowadays in helping to make the planet a better place. Many environmental issues have now been brought to the attention of the general public, and as a result of... [This is a summary only, click on the title to read the entire article.] -
Fast Adoption Fundraising Ideas
22 Apr 2013 | 7:13 amPlanning to adopt a child is a big decision for a couple to make. The couple may already have children of their own who have their own set of needs, or they may be going into parenthood for the first... [This is a summary only, click on the title to read the entire article.] -
Fundraising New and Exciting Again
27 Feb 2013 | 7:23 amWe have been following the fundraising industry for nearly 10 years now. It’s an industry that needs to change but at least in the product fundraising portion of the industry does not seem to... [This is a summary only, click on the title to read the entire article.]
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MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog
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Can Your Campaign Appeal to Millennials and Baby Boomers? (Maybe If the Karate Kid’s Mom Helps Out)
22 May 2013 | 7:01 amA recent Forbes article described Millennials as elusive, self-involved, opinionated, and impatient. The Millennial economy is a “participation economy.” In other words, Millennials want to play a role in every aspect of your business—from product development to marketing and the customer experience. Those folks born between 1980 and 2000 might be the toughest crowd for marketers to win over, but at 82 million strong, it’s imperative for companies to rise to the challenge. And what about Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) on the other side of the spectrum? Historically,… -
Looking to Hire or Be Hired? Turn to Social Media (Job Recruiters Love It, Too)
21 May 2013 | 6:42 amWith 98% of recruiters using social media in 2012 and the greatest opportunity for the staffing industry in 2013 being “access to passive candidates via social media,” the potential payoff for taking advantage of LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for recruiting has never been stronger. My company, Bullhorn Reach, recently published the 2013 North American Social Recruiting Activity Report, based on data culled from the activities of more than 160,000 recruiters in the Bullhorn Reach user network in 2012. Here’s what we discovered. Which Platforms Are Popular for Job Recruiters? -
If Gamification Can Make College Fun, Imagine What It Can Do for Your Marketing
20 May 2013 | 7:05 amGamification. If you hear the word and immediately think of points, badges, and leaderboards, don’t worry—you’re not alone. The almighty Wikipedia defines gamification as “the use of game design techniques and game mechanics in non-game context to solve problems and engage audiences.” The idea is to take something fun and apply it to a situation in order to influence a particular behavior. But how is gamification applicable for real life? Does it really have application in the “professional” world? The answer, dear readers, is a resounding YES. Allow me to expand on… -
The Psychology of Sales: Six Facts Every Brand Should Know
17 May 2013 | 7:02 amDiscount retailers, such as Target, Macy’s, and J.C. Penney, have tried various pricing strategies over the years to lure customers to buy more of their products. The primary tool in the competitive arsenal is to offer the best value because they know that customers are motivated to seek out price savings and great deals on frequently purchased products. Seems simple right? Just offer low prices and people will come. That is not necessarily the case, though. Feelings Affect Our Shopping Decisions An economist would say that customers are rational beings who try to get the most value for… -
iStrategy Miami: Crucial Takeaways From the Digital Marketing Event
16 May 2013 | 6:55 amiStrategy Miami in April brought together an all-star lineup, including Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith, business development and marketing media executive Dorothea Bozicolona-Volpe of Social Espionage, and Ken Segall, formerly of Apple. For those folks who couldn’t make it to iStrategy Miami, here are some key takeaways from an action-packed two-day event. Harness the power of simplicity. “Simplicity is instantly likable,” says Ken Segall. To best serve your audience, boil complex concepts down to simple turns of phrase, and use common words, familiar to your audience. This makes…
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Future Fundraising Now
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Junk mail for major donors?
22 May 2013 | 7:31 amHere's a question from the Veritus Group blog: should major/caseload donors get the mail and email appeals that others get? And here's their answer -- which, if you follow the advice, could rock your revenue world: Absolutely. Check it out at Major Gifts and Direct Response ... What do You Do? Here's the reasoning: ... I have seen some disastrous results where organizations have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because they decided for some reason that it was a good idea to stop mailing and e-mailing their major donors.... The combination of direct-response and MGO cultivation lifts all… -
How to be a better fundraiser
21 May 2013 | 8:22 amAre you getting better all the time? If you aren't, then you're effectively getting worse. Our profession is changing quickly. Sit around complacently for a few weeks, and you are left behind -- more ignorant than you were before. Here's some practical advice from npENGAGE: Five Ways to Become a Better Fundraising Professional. Read one thing related to your job a day (news article, blog post, or white paper) Participate in one webinar a month Attend one local networking event or conference each quarter Attend at least one national conference a year Participate in other fundraising events as… -
Let's talk about great nonprofit newsletters
20 May 2013 | 8:51 amSeattle-area friends: I'll be speaking at the upcoming conference of the Northwest Development Officer's Association, along with Jill Perry of Providence Hospice of Seattle Foundation on Friday, June 7, at the Lynnwood Convention Center. Our presentation: How to Create a Revenue-Producing, Relationship-Building, Donor-Centric Newsletter. We'll share the secrets of great nonprofit newsletters, including, how to write headlines, the right voice for a newsletter, design principles, and the common "money-saving" idea that kills newsletters. Information and registration here. Early bird (that is,… -
How to make your landing page a place that welcomes people
17 May 2013 | 8:10 amHave you ever walked into a store and immediately backed out because the place was a random mess, blaring music that was hostile to you, and you couldn't figure out where you should go? A lot of nonprofit landing pages are like that. And that's a big problem. Because more and more donors give online -- and not any other way. If your landing page isn't welcoming, clear, and easy -- you are losing more money than you can count. The Bad Language has some help, at 15 ways to improve your home page. Here are most of them: Attractive things are perceived as being easier to use. Consistency: do not… -
Mathematical proof that "donor fatigue" isn't real
16 May 2013 | 8:46 amIf you have ever cited "donor fatigue" as something that might be hurting your fundraising results, you need to read this article by Sean Triner at Pareto Fundraising: Donor fatigue fatigue. I believe donor fatigue is a pretend thing (used by unsuccessful fundraisers to cover their ... tracks). If you don't believe me, listen to Sean. He has mathematical proof that there's no donor fatigue. That proof: Good old RFV (recency, frequency, value) often called RFM or (recency, frequency, monetary.) A standard and time-tested tool from commercial direct marketing. Here's how it plays out for us:…
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NP Communicator
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Modern Mobilizing: Activism in the Digital Age
16 May 2013 | 9:34 amGuest post by Thom Clark The Internet brought more information to each of our desktops than we ever dreamed of 10, 15, 20 years ago. But in the last five years, the rise of social media and digital tools, like the tablet and smart phone, are transforming how many organizations get their work done, engage existing members and expand their base. “While engaging your current community is critical to fulfilling your organizational mission,” according to Tracy VanSlyke, co-director of The New Bottom Line, “Broadening your community to advance your work is equally important.” Effective use… -
Making Way for the Mobile Revolution
8 May 2013 | 11:13 pmThe Making Media Connections conference website boasts a responsive web design. Guest post by Marissa Wasseluk, opinions are that of the author. When a stranger asks you to use your phone, what are the chances you’d wholeheartedly pass it to them? Personally, I have trouble passing my phone to good friends without trepidation. A phone is an object with deep personal attachment. It’s your personal connection to the rest of the world – the communications tool you carry with you nearly all the time. If you’re reading this blog in America, there’s a 50% chance that… -
Lessons Learned as a Non-Profit Communicator
6 May 2013 | 1:13 pmGuest post by Community Media Workshop Board Member Gary Arnold Years ago, I moved into the communications role at Access Living, a non-profit service and advocacy organization for people with disabilities, with no prior communications experience. Stories I’ve heard from my peers tell me I am not alone. Out of necessity, non-profits often assign communications jobs to employees who typically don’t have a communications background. Like many of my peers, I turned to the Community Media Workshop for support, which helps bridge the gap between communications novices and the skill set… -
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a 6-second video clip worth?
30 Apr 2013 | 11:11 amGuest post by DeAnndra B. This is not an endorsement for Vine nor is it a step-by-step guide of how to use Vine. *cue dramatic instrumental movie music* This isabout my journey three weeks using the Vine app with iPhone. Let’s begin. Twitter’s Vine is a mobile-only app that allows users to create 6-second looped videos that are posted within the app. This concept seemed so cool to me, but I was weary of how the app would be used for good, and the not-so good that often exists in the social media world. Vine was introduced to the Apple App Store for iOS devices in late… -
How Do You Connect with the Workshop?
24 Apr 2013 | 12:43 pmSocial media strategy is ever-changing, and as we, at the Workshop, rework ours, we’d like to know your thoughts on our social web presence. Please take 15 minutes to give us your thoughts, and you will be entered to win a $150 credit to use on any Workshop product – from media guides to trainings! Drawing will be held at noon, May 20th. TAKE THE SURVEY
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seachangestrategies.com
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My own medicine: Research to kickstart a friendship revolution
21 May 2013 | 10:00 amI just got a taste of my own medicine. At Sea Change, we often tell clients, “that’s a good research question.” Or “what would your donors say?” Then we help them find out the answers so they can better communicate with their target audiences. Sometimes we corroborate something that was a hunch. Sometimes we’re completely surprised with what learn. During the last six months, I’ve had to take my own advice in a big way. As part of my passion project Lifeboat, which is dedicated to… -
The French Are Still French: Embracing Your Heritage
15 May 2013 | 12:36 pmI spent last week in the south of France. Lucky me! En route, I lamented to my partner the effects of globalization as we encountered countless McDonald’s, Starbuck’s and Brookstones on our three-leg European journey to Nice (We flew on points and thus took a roundabout route). Once we arrived and drove deep into the countryside, my laments ceased. I was in France. I felt it. I heard it. I tasted it. English vanished. Vineyards rolled on as far as the eye could see. Meals out took 3 hours with no pressure to turn a table from our waiters. Passersby gawked at me on my daily run… -
Why name changes suck and branding is hard
14 May 2013 | 5:12 amIt all boils down to three simple words. But first a story. In the late 1980s a furor erupted among the international leaders of World Wildlife Fund. The name issue. The work of wildlife conservation has always been about much more than animals. In the late 1980s, that prompted internal sturm and drang over the organization’s name. It stood to reason that since so much of World Wildlife Fund’s work was about people and places that a more accurate name would be better. That gave rise to a new, “improved” moniker: “World Wide Fund for Nature.” The new name let the… -
we are all characters — meet some great ones
13 May 2013 | 6:02 amWith a lot of help and guidance, Katya Andresen and I are happy to share the news that the inaugural issue of CHARACTERS magazine is live. You can download the magazine for free at www.charactersmag.com One of the ironies of storytelling is that it is much easier to talk about it than it is to actually do it. Both Katya and I have plenty of our own attempts that (happily) will never see the light of day. The stories featured in CHARACTERS share two qualities – they were written by folks who work in the non-profit sector, and they are all terrific. They span a host of genres – fiction,… -
Are you afraid of the F-bomb?
9 May 2013 | 9:41 amIf you are, do not click on this link. Erika Napoletano is one of a tiny handful of must-read bloggers in my life. Her choice of language is, um, salty. But she is also insightful, brilliant and funny. And full disclosure, I find her profanity to be highly entertaining. This short Erika video takes on the flap over the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch stating publicly that he doesn’t want fat or ugly people wearing his clothes. Erika points out that while this is despicable on a societal level, it is also disciplined, smart branding. Is this guy hateable? Yep. Does he represent a lot of what is…
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The Nonprofit Consultant Blog
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Giving With Impact - The Benevolent Way
30 Apr 2013 | 4:26 pmI've blogged endlessly about the importance of storytelling in fundraising. Last month I wrote specifically about the human need to feel and show empathy for others, and its relationship to fundraising.Yesterday the connection between empathy and giving was demonstrated again in an article on Bloomberg Businessweek about the online donations going directly to the victims and families impacted by the Boston Marathon bombing (Bombing Victims Get Millions as Internet Redefines Giving).I'd like to point out one quote from that article from Kevin Berg Kartaszewicz-Grell, a research director for… -
Empathy for Sale
15 Mar 2013 | 9:40 amI've written about the power of storytelling in fundraising many times over. I've also written about the ethical question of organizations sharing their client's stories (see Who's Story is it Anyway?). Well, here we go again...Last weekend, walking along Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, I spotted a gentleman behind a card table set up on the side walk. He appeared to be in him mid-50s, neatly groomed long gray hair, comfortably dressed, ready to be of service. The sign on the front of his table read, "Free Empathy."Certainly empathy is something that frequently seems to be in short supply… -
The Waiting is NOT the Hardest Part
5 Feb 2013 | 1:51 pm... A Proposal for Uniform Feedback of Grant Application DenialsFrom Guest Blogger: Brian Leitten. Mr. Leitten is an experienced non-profit leader and consultant, chief executive and attorney. He provides consulting services nationally to non-profit and healthcare leaders from his office in Port Orange, Florida. He can be reached at Leitten Consulting - consulting.leitten.com. Every year I assist clients in preparing grant applications that are submitted to 30-50 different private, community and corporate foundations and government agencies. The grant applications could be as… -
Three R's of Grant Writing
29 Jan 2013 | 9:43 amWe had a great turnout at yesterday's Basic Grant Proposal Writing workshop at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. The group asked a lot of great questions, and we covered a lot of material. Exhausting, but in a good way!At the end of the day, Community Foundation Communications Officer, Luis Chabolla, asked me to stick around and make a quick video for the Foundation's YouTube channel. Luis asked me for three quick grant writing tips in under two minutes. Here's the result: The Three R's of Grant Writing:Research - Stop sending proposals scatter-shot to every foundation in the book. -
Nonprofit Rescue: The Pitch
17 Jan 2013 | 12:02 pmWe all have dreams for the nonprofit sector: increased individual giving, more effective boards, simplified government grant applications, better trained staff... Well, one of my dreams for the sector is greater public understanding of the nuts and bolts of how nonprofits operate, and I've got an idea for implementing it: a reality TV show.So far the only time real, community, grass-roots nonprofits have been seen on reality TV is on shows like the Secret Millionaire. Each week a different successful business person gets in touch with the broader community by masquerading as a "regular…
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Jamie Notter
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Definition of Organizational Culture
20 May 2013 | 6:15 amI had the great pleasure of doing a webinar recently with Brad Palmer, the CEO of Jostle. We were talking about shifting your organizational culture from toxic to Humanized. For that webinar, I wrote up a definition of organizational culture, which is something I hadn’t done before. Well, that’s not entirely true. We define culture in Humanize (the human elements we talk about show up simultaneously at three levels: culture, process, and behavior), but we don’t provide a single-sentence version. So here is a first draft: Organizational culture is the collection of words,… -
Reminder: What I Do
17 May 2013 | 8:05 amJust a quick reminder to all my blog readers that in addition to all the thinking and writing I do, a also have a consulting and speaking business! My work focuses on helping clients improve organizational performance by strengthening their culture. There are a number of different ways to do that, of course, ranging from up-front culture assessment and action plans, to specific projects dealing with performance reviews, strategy, or team conflicts. Below are links to the specific projects I do with organizations. If you’d like to talk more about any of this, please let me know. Culture… -
Organizations are Flattening but Not Taking Risks
16 May 2013 | 2:51 pmSo I took a look at the data we’ve been collecting for the last year or so on the Humanize website through our Social Business Readiness Assessment. We took the ideas from Humanize and built them into a 60-question assessment that anyone can take individually online (and if you’re interested in having all your staff take it and getting a customized report, contact me). There are actually 120 questions, but it randomly chooses 60 for you. The questions measure how your organization is doing in the areas that social businesses need to do well, like decentralization, transparency,… -
Financial Sustainability is Not a Strategy
14 May 2013 | 4:51 amI suppose I don’t need ANOTHER reason to dislike strategic plans, but I was reminded of one the other day. I heard a volunteer of an association dutifully reporting to a chapter on how the national organization was making progress on it’s strategic goals. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but she eventually got to that fourth strategic goal: financial sustainability. Nearly every association I know throws this one in to their strategic plan. Universities like it too, according to my google search. And don’t get me wrong–financial sustainability is a good idea, but… -
Advice on Leadership, Conflict, and Diversity
13 May 2013 | 2:44 amI was interviewed by the folks at Reputation.com for their blog, including questions about conflict, trust, performance reviews, and culture. Check it out.
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About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs
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Don't Let Your Donation Page Suffer from Abandonment Issues
20 May 2013 | 6:05 pmThe last time I did a donating experiment was after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. At that time I donated a small amount to several charities working on disaster relief. I was particularly interested in how they thanked me after my donation. But, to my surprise, I often ran into difficulties just making a donation. One donation page did not load so I left; another required a registration process before I could donate so I left; and one organization did not have a donation page dedicated to Japan relief specifically, even though it had promoted that very thing. Big abandonment issues for… -
Best Links: IRS Mess, Social Media and SEO, Memorial Giving
20 May 2013 | 2:33 amNonprofit Blog Carnival Write a Letter to a Nonprofit Board. The Nonprofit Blog Carnival is accepting submissions until May 27th. Erik Anderson, at Donor Dreams, is asking for "Dear Board" letters. What would you like to say to a nonprofit board if you could? Of course, if you have a blog post about best practices for boards, but it isn't a letter, you can send that in too. Issues New Study: Low Nonprofit Overhead Does Not = Greater Efficiency - Nonprofit Quarterly. Welcome new light shed on the eternal battle over overhead. Maybe this new info will help free nonprofits from the tyranny of… -
Why High Brow Doesn't Work for Fundraising
14 May 2013 | 6:05 pmI've been reading the most recent book by Jeff Brooks, The Fundraiser's Guide to Irresistible Communications: Real-World Field-Tested Strategies for Raising More Money (Emerson & Church, 2012). I'm not surprised that I agree with him about everything. I follow Jeff's blog religiously, and you should too. It's Future Fundraising Now. Jeff's blog is infuriatingly plain. So is his book. Really, his core advice for direct mail fundraising, "make it plain, make it corny, make it obvious," is a sort of mantra for everything he does and writes. That's because it works. How does he know? Because… -
A Love Letter to My First Board of Directors
13 May 2013 | 6:05 pmThere is a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth when it comes to the subject of nonprofit boards. And it's true that many nonprofits have woefully inadequate boards that don't understand their fundraising duties nor even want to engage in helping with fundraising. This month's Nonprofit Blog Carnival host, Erik Anderson of Donor Dreams, challenged us to write a letter to our board members (or a fictional board) that expressed all that we ever wanted to say...good or bad...to them. I am lucky. The boards I've worked with have been pretty terrific, especially that first one when I was new to… -
Older Americans Month and Volunteerism
12 May 2013 | 6:05 pmMay is Older Americans Month (its 50th anniversary!), a great time to thank your older donors and volunteers, and to simply appreciate the rich diversity that older people bring to our organizations. This year's slogan for the month-long celebration of older people is "Unleash the Power of Age." How will you do that? Check out the official website (sponsored by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration for Community Living) for lots of ideas that you can jump into immediately. Volunteerism is one of the hallmarks of aging. People simply do more of it as they age.
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AFP Blog: Recent News of Note
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Growing Gifts, Shrinking Match Imperil Pittsburgh Giving Day - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas
22 May 2013 | 8:47 amGrowing Gifts, Shrinking Match Imperil Pittsburgh Giving Day - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: The Pittsburgh Foundation might end its annual online Day of Giving, which has raised $21-million for local charities since 2009, because donations are outstripping its ability to provide matching funds, writes the Pittsburgh -
Is Hosting The Olympics Good For Local Charities? The Psychology Of Philanthropy
22 May 2013 | 8:43 amIs Hosting The Olympics Good For Local Charities? The Psychology Of Philanthropy: It is often believed that mega-events like the Olympics are good for a city but though many of the benefits are implied they get a monetary value attached; 'leadership','world-stage', etc. The hangover that occurs economically afterward often leave countries wondering who did the math. -
The Global Afterlife Of Your Donated Clothes : Parallels : NPR
22 May 2013 | 5:29 amThe Global Afterlife Of Your Donated Clothes : Parallels : NPR: "It's a scene played out across the U.S.: people donating their old clothes, whether through collection bins or through large charities, to help others. Melissa Vanouse donates clothes a couple of times a year. "I think it all pretty much stays local — that's kind of the idea," she says. But it doesn't. Martha's Table, like other -
A small big thing… | Hands-on Fundraising
22 May 2013 | 5:01 amA small big thing… | Hands-on Fundraising: "First lesson – an open mind, even when you just don’t know enough to know you don’t know enough – can be a good thing. We hired consultants to help us get started. One guy was the outward face of the team. He had lots of experience in politics. He was polished. He knew people and dropped a name or two. He hooked us up with a good copywriter." 'via -
Half of Americans Say Giving Is Best Part of Wealth - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas
21 May 2013 | 9:33 amHalf of Americans Say Giving Is Best Part of Wealth - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Giving money away to good causes is the most satisfying part of life for at least half of America’s millionaires and billionaires, according to a survey released Tuesday. Philanthropy ranked highest for a bigger share of the rich than the
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Fired-Up Fundraising | Gail Perry Associates
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Two Things Smart Fundraisers Always Do
17 May 2013 | 7:30 amFundraising can be a lonely business. You know it. And I know it. There we are – facing doubtful board members and CEO’s who think they know better than we do. And there we are — trying to convince decision makers to follow smart strategies that we know will pay off. And trying to get them to abandon tired old strategies that don’t work. And there we are – trying to learn and master new skill sets that are now required to be really successful. All the while trying to enhance and grow our professional fundraising skills. Keeping up with a changing fundraising skill set and donor… -
Make Your Donors Choose YOU as Their Favorite Nonprofit
9 May 2013 | 7:31 pmAre your donors choosing your organization as their favorite nonprofit? Wish they would, don’t you? How creative can your thank you be? I bet you are spending lots of time on planning those terrific solicitations to them. But I bet you are NOT spending enough time communicating with your donors in between your solicitations. Here’s our huge problem: we are overemphasizing the Asking, and we are neglecting the Communicating. I think it’s time fundraisers and board members tackled this issue head-on. Why You Need a Donor Communications Plan RIGHT NOW How we communicate with… -
Don’t Make These Mistakes At Your Next Event!
3 May 2013 | 6:08 amIt’s party time! Do you enjoy putting on your organization’s events? Better yet, do you think your guests like to attend them? Why don’t you focus a bit on the “experience” your guests are having. Because if they are enjoying themselves, wonderful things might happen for your cause. If your guests are NOT enjoying themselves, you just might not see them again. Then where would you be? You might also enjoy this post about turning your “events” into “parties” and my Top 10 Party Tips. And also getting the most out of your auction here, here… -
Board Members’ #1 Job: How to Be A Personal Advocate For Your Cause
26 Apr 2013 | 4:30 amIf you are a board member, I bet you are excited and passionate about your favorite organization. I’m willing to bet that you joined the board because you really, really believed in the cause. It meant a lot to you. But when you try to talk to your friends about your organization’s workdo you know what to say? Maybe yes, maybe no. I find lots of board members simply don’t know what to say when they have the chance to spread the word about their organization. They would love to help, but many are not quite sure how to do it. On my part, I think this is the ONE JOB ALL BOARD MEMBERS… -
36 Fundraising Tips to Provoke Your Point of View, Sharpen Your Focus and Make You Laugh
19 Apr 2013 | 7:37 amSo many very smart people spoke last week at the AFP IHQ Conference in San Diego! I hated that I couldn’t attend EVERY session I wanted, but I clung to the twitter feed to find out what was going on. Rowdy bunch of #AFPeeps at the #AFPIcon in San Diego last week! Sandy Rees, Tammy Zonker, Dave Tinker, Susanna Shumate These tweets from the top #AFPeeps at the Conference share what I think are key takeaways for YOU to know and remember about where fundraising is today. These tips cover the entire range of fundraising. From social media (of course) to online giving, to newsletters and…
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Withisms from Lori
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Where Do Bequests Come From?
22 May 2013 | 9:02 amI saw this article by Jerold Panas in a recent issue of the Institute for Charitible Giving newsletter and knew I had to share it with you. Jerold writes: "So often, a bequest comes to you from a source you knew nothing about. And, by the way, the largest percentage of bequests come from those with a net worth of $3 million and less. As I recall, it's about 82% of the bequests. Here are some characteristics of those who are most likely to think of you in their estate plans. Length of giving to your organization (5 or more years of regular giving) Giving to you over a long period of time… -
5 Questions Every Board Should Ask
14 May 2013 | 10:00 pmI recently attended a training session for ArtsLab, an amazing capacity building project by Arts Midwest. I'm honored to be on the curriculum team. At the board leadership session we referenced a powerful white paper by Sam Pettway with five questions every board should ask In my experience, I find staff sometimes grumble about what the board is focused on. On the flip side, the board sometimes grumbles about what they are supposed to do or the many reports they are having to read each month. These five questions are incredibly helpful in helping both the board and staff stay focused… -
Are You Ready for Mobile?
7 May 2013 | 10:00 pmA recent NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network) post asked readers to think about a world where computers had been outlawed. The post starts like this: "Effective immediately, PCs and computers will no longer be manufactured, nor supported worldwide. I repeat, effective immediately, PCs and computers will no longer be manufactured, nor supported worldwide. With a unanimous, although abrupt, decision, the Federation voted today to prohibit any further manufacture or support of non-mobile devices by any hardware and software providers worldwide." This post, and I, ask you: Are nonprofits and… -
Practical Leadership: Leave Out the Golden Rule When Supervising Others
30 Apr 2013 | 10:00 pmGuest Post by Lisa Negstad, Negstad Consulting, LLC This week I’m pleased to have a post by Lisa Negstad giving good advice about working with your employees. Lisa was the featured guest at last month’s Ignited Online Fundraising Community member’s only webinar. Have you ever made the fatal error of following the Golden Rule? No, that’s not a typo. I did call the Golden Rule an error. As a supervisor, following that Rule can get you in trouble. I have made this error more than once when I treated my employees how I wanted to be treated. For example, I followed the Rule… -
Introducing a New Step-By-Step Storytelling System
23 Apr 2013 | 10:00 pmFor years I've been telling you that THE most powerful way to connect people to your mission is by sharing a story. By telling a real-life example about how your work affects one man, woman, or child you cause listeners to feel something and to take action. I know you've been listening because every day I'm contacted by people who want private coaching or storytelling workshops. While I'm honored to have so many requests, I simply cannot physically visit each of your organizations! And so, I have taken your desire for more storytelling coaching seriously. I've developed a system that is…
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Wild Woman Fundraising
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NEW Webinar! Moving on up in your fundraising career June 4th 2013
21 May 2013 | 2:18 amDate: June 4th, 2013 Time: 1pm EST, 12pm CST, 11am MT, 10am PST Cost: $89.97 Buy now Webinar Description Have you ever wished there was a clear blueprint for your career success? Do you have a new fundraising job and want to start out on the right foot? Or are you stuck in a job with no upward mobility? You’ve waited long enough. Why settle for your current title and wage for the next two years when you can have a better title and more money in a new job? It’s hard to find useful nonprofit career advice. Many people just say “Stick with it! You’ll be rewarded!” But according to the… -
Reader Questions: Raising money for kiwanis clubs
20 May 2013 | 2:23 amI love my subscribers and readers, and I’m always looking to them to tell me what they want to learn about next. Luckily, tons of people responded to my recent survey. If you’ve got a question you’d like answered, go here to tell me what you’d like to learn about next! One reader asks, “What are the best ways to motivate key business and civic leaders of a community service membership organization (Kiwanis Club) to make annual and major gifts to our Foundation when they serve on so many other local nonprofit boards? Our mission is to improve the lives of local… -
A nonprofit anthem by Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu
16 May 2013 | 2:51 amJanelle Monae is incredible. Are we a lost generation of our people? Add us to equations but they’ll never make us equal They keep us underground working hard for the greedy When it’s time to pay they call us needy I’m gonna keep leading like a young harry grubbin You can take my wings but I’m still gonna fly I’m gonna keep singin and I’m gonna keep writin songs I’m tired of Marvin askin’ me what’s goin’ on March to the streets cause I’m willin’ and I’m able Categorize me I defy every label While you selling dope we… -
Reader Questions: What needs to be done the first 90 days in a fundraising position
14 May 2013 | 2:12 amToo many conflicting priorities! What to do first? A reader recently asked me, what are the first things that need to be done in the first 90 days of a fundraising position? I LOVE this question! The first three months are crucial in a new job. You will be under intense scrutiny to perform, especially if you have a boss who doesn’t understand development. Square your shoulders, take a deep breath, and learn to manage expectations. First of all, Get Confident! Remember your skills stories. You are talented! You are a fast learner! You can do this. You can learn as quickly as you can by… -
NEW Webinar: Advanced Nonprofit Annual Reports for Print and Web
13 May 2013 | 2:07 amDate: May 16th, 1pm ET, 12pm CT, 11am MT, 10am PT Cost: $89 $69.97 until May 14th! Buy now Are you working on your annual report right now? Do you want to have a nonprofit publication that has sponsors and foundations sitting up and taking notice? Do you want to have an annual report that works FOR YOU? Do you want to get more donors? Do you want to help corporations and foundations trust you? Do you want to appreciate the donors you have? You need a better annual report NOW. Take Advanced Nonprofit Annual Reports for Print and Web, a 90 minute webinar on May 16th, 1pm ET, 12pm CT, 11am MT…
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Seth's Blog
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Let's start with "sorry"
22 May 2013 | 2:43 amBy the time the phone rings, there's already trouble. When that manager is called or this department is reached, it's because someone is disappointed, angry or stuck. Illness, broken promises or a real urgency have led to this new conversation even taking place. So don't start with, "[Name of company] mumble mumble" as if there's a blank slate just waiting to be written on. There's already a lot of writing on that slate. Don't demand to know the record number or begin with doubt and an edge of dismissal. Be on our team. "It sounds like we've got a situation on our hands..." is a fine way to… -
Levels of marketing magic, the placebo effects of desire
21 May 2013 | 2:45 amANTICIPATION: Before the product is released, the true fans are buzzing and speculating and waiting in line. The anticipation is self-reinforcing, a placebo effect of desire. UTILITY: The album is good, the software is useful, the book changes things. It works better than we hoped. Exceeding expectations pays significant dividends. REMARK: It's purple. Remarkable. Worth talking about. The word spreads. Ten people tell ten people and suddenly, it's abuzz. Not because of PR or hype, but because the remarkability is built right into the product or service itself. And more people enjoy things… -
You should buy the book
20 May 2013 | 8:33 amMitch Joel is a generous and perceptive blogger. Well worth the daily read. He has a new book. You should buy it. David Meerman Scott writes an essential blog, daily. His book is a classic. You should buy it. Tom Asacker writes a very thoughtful blog about marketing. Worth the read. He has a new book. You should buy it, too. Every day, Mark Frauenfelder and Corey Doctorow blog tons of goodness at Boingboing. They each have books. You should buy them and share them. Bernadette Jiwa's blog keeps getting better and better and you are probably already reading it. She has a new book on the way. -
No Signal
20 May 2013 | 2:00 amAt a party the other day, I saw a dead TV monitor. On the screen it said something like, "No signal... check power, cable and source selection..." It doesn't matter at all how hard the DVD player was trying to put on a show. It is irrelevant how good the show on cable was. If it's not getting through, no one sees it. All of us own our own media companies now. We each have the ability to speak up, to tell our stories, and if we're good and if we're lucky, to be heard. Too often, though, there's no signal. You may be pumping noise through your social media outlets, but noise isn't signal. It's… -
Learning by analogy
19 May 2013 | 2:36 amThe story of Hansel and Gretel is not actually about Hansel or Gretel. You are surrounded by examples and lessons and case studies that clearly aren't exactly about your project. There's never been a book written precisely about the situation you are facing right now, either. Perhaps one day they will publish, "Marketing Low-Cost Coaching Services to Small Businesses Specializing in .Graphic Design in the Upper Peninsula for Dummies" but don't hold your breath. Marketing, like all forms of art, requires us to learn to see. To see what's working and to transplant it, change it and amplify it.
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MarketingProfs How-To Articles
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The Nitty-Gritty of Brand Story Power
20 May 2013 | 7:00 amUnderstanding the power of stories is one thing; knowing how to craft them is another. So, let's delve into some practical applications of story. I'll use case studies, annual reports, and video as examples. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Social Media Delivers Highest-Quality Users in Ad Campaigns
20 May 2013 | 6:00 amSocial media delivered the highest-quality users in ad campaigns during the first quarter of 2013, performing 65% better than the industry overall and 33% better than the next best channel, according to a recent report. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
The State of Digital Content [Infographic]
18 May 2013 | 7:00 amIn light of the increasing popularity of digital devices, video, and social networks, how has digital content readership changed? To answer that question, Uberflip researched key usage data from February 2010 through February 2013 then created the following infographic. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Wherefore Art Thou, J. Peterman? The Quest for Social Engagement
17 May 2013 | 7:00 amJ. Peterman is a brand with far more personality than most. However, somehow, it got lost along the winding road to the social Web, and it's a tragedy that's costing the cataloger. Here are our ideas to engage the J. Peterman fan base. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
#SocialSkim: A Real Kitchen (and Social Media) Nightmare, Facebook Fan Value, Pinterest Stress
17 May 2013 | 7:00 amThis week, a Scottsdale bakery made social headlines. Find out why. And get to know the (new) value of a Facebook Like, how brands can use SnapChat, how to set up marketing analytics, and why preppies want to give the homeless a makeover. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
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SSIR Articles
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The Power of a Simple and Inclusive Definition (Blog)
22 May 2013 | 9:30 amBy Elizabeth Garlow & Rich Tafel -
Impact Investing: New Enterprises and Collaborations (Blog)
21 May 2013 | 2:31 pmBy Jenna Nicholas -
The Commodification of Architecture (Blog)
21 May 2013 | 8:40 amBy Michael Murphy & Alan Ricks -
Mandatory CSR in India: A Bad Proposal (Blog)
20 May 2013 | 9:49 amBy Aneel Karnani -
It Can Be Smart to Dumb Things Down (Blog)
17 May 2013 | 6:41 amBy Doug Hattaway & Jenn Henrichsen
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Brian Solis
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Getting Back to Basics: Why Brands are Getting it Wrong in Social Media
21 May 2013 | 8:29 amQuestion: What is your #1 advice for social media strategists and managers? Answer: Stop talking about social media Type “social media” into a Google search bar and you’ll find roughly about 4.7 billion results in .30 seconds. Next, try “social media conference.” You’ll see something along the lines of 1.2 billion results in .25 seconds. Social media is important but I’d argue we aren’t celebrating it for the reasons we should. Instead, we are forcing social media to conform to traditional thinking and processes rather than adapting business philosophies and supporting… -
Internal social networks improve communication + collaboration when empowered to do so
17 May 2013 | 4:49 amI received an email from my friend at CIO Journal just as I boarded a United flight from Mexico City to San Francisco. He was on deadline and the topic was too good to miss. I’ve spent more than a fair amount of time studying and reporting on the social landscape as it pertained to internal engagement, communication and collaboration. I frantically typed on my iPhone with my thumbs before the door closed. Time was.running.out. With the hit of the send button, the door closed, and I was relieved to know that I made the deadline. Fast forward….the article recently ran in… -
New Digital Influencers: The Coming Youthquake
14 May 2013 | 7:32 amElements of inspiration that went on to become my new book, What’s the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences Blame it on the youth they say. Indeed, there’s a great assumption that the future of technology falls in the hands of emergent generations. The youth of today will someday represent the majority of consumers, employees and citizens. That’s always the case, but what we don’t yet fully appreciate is just how different young adults think today. We don’t yet understand what it is they value and why. We’ve not yet assimilated how they make decisions… -
Part 2: The Broken Link of Social Customer Service
9 May 2013 | 8:05 amPart Two. An edited excerpt of What’s the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences In Part 1 of this series, The First Mile: The Broken Link of Social Media Customer Service, we reviewed the opportunities and challenges that face any business seeking to engage customers in social networks. To become customer-centric requires a culture that supports customer-centricity and an active investment in defining the first mile experience. The first mile of customer engagement is a post-commerce or post-transaction strategy that invests in an ongoing experience to keep… -
The First Mile: The Broken Link of Social Media Customer Service
7 May 2013 | 7:03 amPart One. An edited excerpt of What’s the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences For all that social media is doing to change business for the better, it’s not yet enough. Interview any executive and ask them what their priority business goals are for 2013 and I’m sure you’ll see some element of customer-centricity on the list. Yet the challenge that exists for any organization trying to get closer to customers lies in the definition of customer-centricity. If getting closer to customers is a key objective, why do many businesses neglect the…
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@ProBlogger
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7 Questions to Ask Yourself to Bring Clarity to Your Blogging
22 May 2013 | 8:28 amDo you feel like you’ve lost clarity around what it is that you’re trying to do with your blog? I’ve recently bumped into a few bloggers grappling with this idea. Some were new, even ‘Pre’ Bloggers, while a couple had been blogging for a while but had lost some direction. Out of these conversations, I put together a set of questions to help them think it through. The questions revolve around asking: What are YOU About? While I won’t guarantee you instant clarity on answering these questions I hope that putting a little time aside to work through them… -
7 Steps to Proofreading Like a Pro
21 May 2013 | 9:37 amThis is a guest contribution by Charles Cuninghame, website copywriter and owner of Text-Centric. I’m sure we can all agree that proofreading is the least fun part of blogging. But while it may be tedious, it’s well worth the effort. Typos are not only embarrassing, they can also cost you money. In a widely reported study in 2011, British entrepreneur Charles Duncombe found a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half! If you don’t have a product, then you could be missing out a blog subscriber or repeat visitor! Here’s a tried and tested proofreading process that I’ve… -
Are You Balancing Emerging Technology with Effective Strategy?
20 May 2013 | 8:21 amLast week I was asked at a conference to reflect upon the future of digital and among other things I made a reflection that seemed to resonate with those gathered. It was: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. As online publishers we see a steady stream of articles being written about new and future technologies, companies and trends in the online publishing space. It is certainly an exciting time to be doing what we’re doing with such amazing development happening all around us and some amazing projections being made about what is ahead of us – however in the midst… -
How to Blog Like a Pro: Workshop on the Gold Coast Australia – Next Week
19 May 2013 | 7:56 pmNext week (29th May) I’m running a special workshop at the Internet Conference on the Gold Coast here in Australia. The workshop is titled – How to Blog Like a Pro – and you’ll get 4 solid hours of teaching in it – all delivered by me in a workshop limited to 40 people only. The workshop has only previously been available to those signing up to the full 3 day conferences as an add-on but there are a few tickets still available and so I asked the organisers if we could sell them as a stand-alone ticket (i.e. you don’t have to come to the full 3 day event). -
How To Use Auto Responder Emails to Boost Your Blogging Efforts
17 May 2013 | 8:22 amThis is a guest contribution by Asher Elran of Dynamic Search. I thought emails were a waste of time and that they are ignored, but then I learned how to do it right and watched the numbers flip. After you published a great post and pushed it through your social network, the third step is to leverage your email list too. This is where the auto-responders can help you gain new subscribers while you’re busy writing your next blog post. The majority of email marketing services are the same. I prefer Constant Contact or Mobilizemail’s new email feature. Following the steps below…
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Church of the Customer Blog
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The best customer service is invisible
20 May 2013 | 2:47 pmI am huge fan of Nordstrom. They have famed customer service and that is one of the reasons why I shop there. But even I was surprised by this. Last week I was shopping at Nordstrom and bought merchadise at a few departments. The strip on my Nordstrom VISA card had apparently stopped working because each cashier had trouble swiping the card and had to resort to typing in the numbers into the register. I made an offhand comment to one of the cashieres that I would have to call in to the card customer service later and request a new card. Of course that became just one more thing on my to-do… -
#MonsterLoyalty book tour and other speaking events
7 May 2013 | 10:37 pmHi there! Here's my speaking schedule including book tour events. If you live in one these cities, I looking forward to seeing you!! May 8: Austin - book tour event (private) May 10: Orlando - book tour event (private) May 21: Chicago - WOMMA WOMM-U Conference. Use my discount code WUSpeak50 to get $50 off registration. Jun 2: Orlando - book tour event (private) Jun 12: Milan, Italy - private event Jun 20: Salt Lake City - book tour event (public) sponsored by SoulSalt. Get tickets here. Jun 27: Las Vegas - Confirmit Conference Jul 11: Chicago - book tour event… -
The winners of the Monster Loyalty pre-order giveaway are....
2 May 2013 | 4:24 pmThanks to all who participated in the Monster Loyalty pre-order giveaway by purchasing a book before launch. The winners are: 1st PRIZE: Joey Coleman, Chief Experience Composer at Design Symphony 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics 2 Lady Gaga art prints by rock and roll pop artist Kii Arens, signed and numbered 2nd PRIZE: Shep Hyken, New York Times and WSJ best selling author of The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer Experience 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers… -
Monster Loyalty is now available!
2 May 2013 | 8:52 amI am excited to announce that Monster Loyalty is now available! This is a book that I am extremely excited about because it argues that Lady Gaga didn’t become the success she is today based solely on her talent. She did so by engendering immense loyalty from her fans – not just through her music – but through the message she embodies and the community she has built around that message. In four short years, Lady Gaga has built an army of passionate fans that numbers in the tens of millions around the globe. My book explores how she did it, uncovering seven loyalty… -
Monster Loyalty Ball Benefiting Equality Texas 5/1
29 Apr 2013 | 8:49 amIf you live in Austin, Texas, or will be here on May 1, I hope you will join me for the launch party for my new book, Monster Loyalty. The Gaga-themed party is also a benefit with 100% of ticket sales going to Equality Texas which educates and advocates on behalf of LGBT Texans, a non-profit doing amazing work to fight for a cause that I, and Lady Gaga, believe in. We will also have: A Gaga-themed performance from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4 finalist Phi Phi O'Hara Showcasing your Poker Face at the Gaga Photo Booth Gaga-themed cocktails And more surprises! If you can't make it…
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Mashable
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Samsung Galaxy S4 Sales Hit 10 Million in 'Record' Time
23 May 2013 | 12:23 amGalaxy S4 sales have topped 10 million in "record" time, Samsung announced Thursday. Less than a month after its global release on April 27, Samsung's flagship smartphone surpassed 10 million units, according to a release. SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S 4: Everything You Need To Know "The Galaxy S4 sets a new record for Samsung, generating sales quicker than any of its predecessors," the Korean electronics giant said, adding that it estimates the phone is selling at a rate of four units per second In comparison, it took 50 days for the Galaxy S3 to reach 10 million. The S2 and S waited five… -
Foursquare Debuts 'Super-Specific' Search Filters
22 May 2013 | 11:57 pmFoursquare has refined its search capabilities to make it easier for users to look for particular venues. The location-based social network unveiled what it's calling "super-specific searches" for iOS and Android on Wednesday "With today's update ... Foursquare helps you find exactly what you want, whatever that may be," it announced in a blog post Users can filter their searches based on the following criteria: "I've checked in before," "I haven't checked in," "my friends have checked in," "offering specials," "open now" and "I've saved." Users also have the option to choose the amount of… -
New 'The Wolverine' Trailer Shows Hero Facing His Mortality
22 May 2013 | 11:16 pmAnother full-length trailer for The Wolverine has debuted online, and it shows our surly superhero facing his mortality. Posted to YouTube on Tuesday, the two-and-a-half-minute video features Hugh Jackman playing the title role, Wolverine's love interest Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), as well as villains Silver Samurai (Will Yun Lee) and Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova). SEE ALSO: Watch Hugh Jackman Answer Twitter Users' 'Wolverine' Questions The sixth installment in the X-Men film series previously released its first full-length trailer in March. It shows Wolverine, who is distressed by his… -
4 Ways to Find Your Brand’s Voice
22 May 2013 | 9:56 pmReady to start marketing your new company, product or brand? Before you create a blog, draft content for your brand-spanking-new website or start tweeting, first define your “brand voice.” In a nutshell, this is the heart and soul of your communications. More than specific words and phrases, your brand voice is the tone in which you speak to and connect with your audience. Your voice can be authoritative, informative, fun or just plain witty, but regardless, it must be authentic. As one blogger wrote, “trying to fake your voice is like putting lipstick on a pig.” In… -
HP Thinks Giant Tablets Are a Good Idea
22 May 2013 | 9:04 pmWindows 8 has officially created a new category: the monster tablet. Last fall's Sony Tap 20 could have been dismissed as a one-off aberration, but others have since launched giant screens equipped with batteries, including HP, who just unveiled the Rove 20. Why Rove? Because it can do exactly that — the 20-inch display is fully portable with almost 4 hours of battery life. Although its mobility, along with the 10-finger multi-touch display, technically makes it a tablet, it's really better thought of as an all-in-one PC that you can move from room to room when you need to. Much like…
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chrisbrogan.com
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Be Open to Inspiration
10 May 2013 | 8:41 amI’ve been in a bit of a fog the last week or so. Nothing worth talking about, really. Depression stuff. But then it lifted. What’s interesting to me is how I found my footing and how I got back on track, and so there are two items I want to share with you from this: the actual learning, and more importantly, the realization of what got me there. Be Open to Inspiration Humans have this way they deal with too much information. They discard tons of inputs and keep what they feel is important. This is necessary, by the way. Can you imagine how busy your brain would be if you thought… -
Do Local Businesses Deserve Your Money?
7 May 2013 | 1:38 pmI sat at the counter at my local restaurant the other day and waited for over 7 minutes without anyone bothering to acknowledge that I was there. And then I walked out. And so did my money. For good. In fact, I drove to McDonalds, got some scrambled eggs and an iced coffee, and was in and out of the system within the same 7 minutes. (You can save your comments with disdain for McDonalds. If you’re a parent, you go there, unless you don’t. Either way. It’s not the point.) Now, before you try to defend this other place, no, it wasn’t busy. Yes, at least two employees had seen me, and… -
Why Use These Outlier Social Media Tools?
30 Apr 2013 | 4:21 pmWhy should you bother using tools like Vine and Instagram, and the like? That question was asked to me by Pam Vitaz, and she asked it somewhat in this context (my words not hers): Vine’s interesting, but you basically just shot a funny video. Why do that? Here’s the video she meant: Can’t see the video? Click Here. Can’t hear sound? Hover over it and click the little sound thingy. On the surface, it’s the kind of question you can answer with “why not?” But that’s not good enough. Why Use These Outlier Social Media Tools? First, it’s your… -
Can You Work at Being Fearless?
29 Apr 2013 | 7:03 amFear is at the heart of most of our worst choices. I read this facebook post by James Altucher and it really punched me in the stomach. But that’s just one punch in a series, because every time I question how I ended up somewhere, the real answer (underneath all the bull answers) is fear. It’s why most stupid things happen, why all bad things happen (when humans are involved), and is even worse than you think. I’m afraid of a weird collection of things. I’m afraid of sharks (ever since seeing Jaws at a very young age – because I pestered my parents tirelessly til… -
Sponsored Post – Mobile Productivity and the Future
24 Apr 2013 | 4:53 amCan you be productive while on the road? I say yes. In fact, I’m writing this from a hotel room before heading off to a meeting with a client. The following is sponsored by Cloud Powered Work, which is a project with IDG, LinkedIn, and Microsoft’s Office365. Everything in this post is mine, and my opinions are my own. I just produced an episode of my radio show from my hotel room, because I realized that an episode was due and I hadn’t done the work before I took off for the day. Last night, while I waited for my slightly delayed airplane, I cracked open SkyDrive pulled down…
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TechCrunch
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OtterBox Acquires Rival Protective Case Maker LifeProof After Settling Patent Lawsuit
22 May 2013 | 10:41 pmOtterBox, which makes the top-selling protective case for smartphones, has announced the acquisition of LifeProof for an undisclosed amount. News of the acquisition comes one day after a lawsuit filed by OtterBox against LifeProof for patent infringement was dismissed. OtterBox told the North Carolina Business Report that the acquisition was not related to the lawsuit or any settlement. Headquartered in San Diego, LifeProof also makes protective cases and accessories for smartphones and tablets. Over the next 30 days, OttberBox will beginning incorporating the LifeProof brand into… -
Samsung Galaxy S4 Shipments Hit 10 Million One Month After Release
22 May 2013 | 9:39 pmSamsung’s Galaxy S4 has hit 10 million channel sales one month after its release. The company announced its latest milestone today just eight days after confirming that it had shipped over 6 million units of the S4 since its international launch on April 26. According to Samsung, this is the fastest ever sell rate for any of its smartphones. The latest entry in the Galaxy series–meant as Samsung’s iPhone challenger–has sold much more quickly than its predecessors. The Galaxy S4′s milestone beats the record set by the Galaxy S3, which reached 10 million channel… -
Why Does Hollywood Hate The Future?
22 May 2013 | 4:46 pmA few weeks ago, Chris Dixon tweeted something thought-provoking: What were the last Hollywood movies you saw about technology & the future that were optimistic? They seem to be systematically dystopian. I happened to be sitting in a movie theater waiting for Iron Man 3 to start, so I tried to come up with a good counter-example. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. Then the pre-movie trailers starting playing. The new Will Smith (and son) flick, After Earth: dystopia. The new Guillermo del Toro flick, Pacific Rim: dystopia. Even the new Superman flick, Man of Steel, could be… -
Kim Dotcom Claims He Invented Two-Factor Authentication, Has A Patent To Prove It
22 May 2013 | 4:19 pmOh, Kim Dotcom. You just never stop surprising us. Just hours after Twitter finally rolled out its long-awaited Two-Factor authentication feature to protect accounts, the Megaupload founder is claiming to have invented the entire mechanism… and he’s got a patent to prove it. “But they won’t even verify my Twitter account?!”, he says. The patent in question can be viewed here. Filed for in 1998 and published two years later, it lists a Kim Schmitz — Dotcom’s name before he changed it in 2005 — as the sole assignee. For the unfamiliar, two-factor… -
LinkedIn Has Definitely Acqui-Hired Maybe, Omar Hamoui's Polling Startup, Minus Hamoui Himself
22 May 2013 | 3:39 pmFresh from closing its purchase of newsreading app Pulse, LinkedIn has made another acquisition to dive deeper into the mobile space. TechCrunch has found out, and confirmed, that the social network has aqui-hired Maybe, the social polling startup founded by Omar Hamoui — the man who set up, ran and then sold mobile ad company AdMob to Google for $750 million. All staff from Maybe, except for Hamoui himself, are now at LinkedIn and working in its mobile division. That includes four engineers and one designer, LinkedIn has told us. Meanwhile, Maybe itself has now shut down. Financial…
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AFP Blog: Nonprofit Technology
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Oklahoma governor thanks media for tornado coverage | Poynter.
22 May 2013 | 6:55 amOklahoma governor thanks media for tornado coverage | Poynter.: The Vital Role of Online and MobileWhen I spoke with him Tuesday morning, an exhausted-sounding KFOR Interim News Director Steve Johnson was juggling the demands of coordinating another day of storm cleanup and what will likely be another afternoon of heavy storms. At the moment we spoke, he said 2,200 people “are looking at our live stream; 213 are looking at a video story from Moore.”KWTV’s VP of Digital and Social Content Billy Hendrix said his station set a new record for online traffic, 2.5 million page views. “We… -
Tornado Facebook Group Reunites Oklahoma Victims With Belongings
21 May 2013 | 12:25 pmTornado Facebook Group Reunites Oklahoma Victims With Belongings: "Hagelberg logged into Facebook and found that many of her neighbors had reported finding items, so she decided to start a Facebook group to reunite victims of the tornado with their missing belongings.The Facebook group was expanded Monday, to help people who were affected by the devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., killing dozens of people."'via Blog this' -
Social analytics are fueling a more predictive model | TMA Resources
21 May 2013 | 8:12 amSocial analytics are fueling a more predictive model | TMA Resources: Social media has played an increasingly important role in organizations' client engagement strategy as firms look to monitor interactions on these channels for valuable insight and foster new relationships. -
Willis Turner-So ... Is Social Media BS or Not? : FundRaising Success
20 May 2013 | 9:25 amWillis Turner-So ... Is Social Media BS or Not? : FundRaising Success: Sitting onstage in his wingback chair like a crusty old grandfather (or like the beguiling iconoclast he is), reading from an oversized fairy tale book to a room full of wide-eyed prot�g�s and sharp-witted peers, he reinterpreted Snow White as a modern fundraising fable.It was a tale of vanity, hubris, black knights, white knights, short-term thinking and good intentions gone wrong. -
American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation Award $1 Million in Grants to Restore 13 Washington, D.C. Metro Area Historic Places - MarketWatch
20 May 2013 | 5:35 amAmerican Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation Award $1 Million in Grants to Restore 13 Washington, D.C. Metro Area Historic Places - MarketWatch: WASHINGTON, May 13, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation today announced the Washington National Cathedral as the winner of Partners in Preservation, the region's first-ever preservation effort powered by social media. For earning the most points, the Washington National Cathedral will receive its full grant request of $100,000.
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HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Blog
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Twitter Introduces Lead Generation 'Cards' to Collect Leads From Tweets
22 May 2013 | 2:22 pmHold on to your hats, marketers, because we’ve got some exciting news that’s going to transform the way you use Twitter Ads. A little background first: back in June, Twitter rolled out Twitter Cards, their name for the multimedia you sometimes see in expanded tweets on Twitter.com, Android, and iOS applications. Fast forward to today: Twitter released the Lead Generation Card, a new type of Twitter Card that will allow marketers to collect leads directly within the tweet. Users don’t even have to fill out a form -- since their information (Name, email, and username) is… -
22% of Salespeople Don't Want to Make Money
22 May 2013 | 9:30 am“Two roads diverged in the social media wood, and I, I took the one less traveled,” said 21.7% of salespeople. In a recent survey of 511 predominantly B2B sales reps and executives published on A Sales Guy Consulting, approximately 22% of salespeople claimed they didn’t use social media to close deals, while an overwhelming 78.3% said they had used social media to sell. Are you, or someone you know, part of the 22%? If so, it could be impacting your career, your business, and your paycheck. But there's good news -- there's still time to join the 78%! Allow me to try to make the case for… -
A Chat With an Internet Addict Who Was Forced to Go Off the Grid
22 May 2013 | 6:00 amMy fellow inbound marketer Sam Mallikarjunan is an internet and social media junkie -- always connected, always checking in, always tweeting, always emailing. He went on a cruise with no internet for a week, and had to leave his cell phone and computer at home. Here's how it went. Me: Hey Sam! Thanks for talking with me. You just got back from a vacation, so I know you're probably quite busy catching up on stuff. Where'd you go? Sam: Hey Corey! Took a cruise to the Bahamas. I needed the laws of physics to separate me from my phone. Me: Haha yeah, sooo, that's the reason I wanted to talk to… -
The Future of Inbound: Shel Israel Looks Ahead to the 'Age of Context'
21 May 2013 | 1:00 pmShel Israel writes The Social Beat blog column at Forbes.com and has authored four books about digital media's impact on business. He's now working on his fifth book, The Age of Context: How it Will Change Your Work and Life with Robert Scoble, due to be published in October. I got a chance to catch up with Israel to talk about the latest trends in marketing: context, personalization, and the debate over tracking cookies. Here's what he said. Q. Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming book, The Age of Context? What are some examples of "context" we… -
Only Marketing to the Top of Your Fundraising Pyramid Is Hurting Your Nonprofit’s Future
21 May 2013 | 9:30 amThe top of your fundraising pyramid is just that -- a small, concentrated piece of your whole universe, made up of older, rich donors who, though important, won't be able to add to the strong foundation of your future fundraising efforts. While they’re reliable for contributing large sums of money to help you reach your yearly goal, they are high risk, high reward from an investment of time and resources perspective. The question to ask yourself, your team, and those at the top of your organization is, “Do we have the base (occasional donors), and more importantly, the reliable core…
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99U
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Home Bases and Outposts: The Smart Way to Manage Your Online Presence
22 May 2013 | 7:30 amThe age-old saying goes “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Many of us have been told this since we were kids, and some of us even tell it to our own kids now. It’s an explanation for why we should dress presentably, speak politely and possibly obsesses about the firmness of our handshake. The trouble is that it’s just not true anymore. Like so many other common sense maxims, the internet has challenged its validity. Today, before you meet a potential client or interview with a prospective employer, your whole digital life is being examined. You’re being… -
In Defense of Dumb Questions
22 May 2013 | 6:53 amProgrammer Chris Maddox writes about the time he realized the benefit of expressing his opinions, even when he knew he had a lot to learn. He recalls a college economics class where Christina Romer, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, was guest a lecturer: Far too often, I have seen peers cowed in the face of brilliance and, as such, failed to leave with any useful knowledge. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure if sending checks to Americans during the recession was a good idea. But I bet that if I told Christina Romer that the economics taught in our ivory tower ignored… -
When Stuck, Talk It Out
21 May 2013 | 12:00 pmThe difference between success and failure often lies in bouncing back and re-igniting the artistic fire we need to work. So how exactly can we bounce back into creating? Fred Waitzkin, author of Searching for Bobby Fisher, says bouncing ideas off his wife (or anyone, really) helps: I have a couple of friends that I rely upon. They are very perceptive about the human heart. I’ll talk quite specifically about what isn’t working in a section of my book. I listen closely to what they think. I’ve done this many times. My wife Bonnie has helped me many times like this. Here is the curious… -
How To Talk To Important People
21 May 2013 | 8:30 amIt doesn’t matter how creative you are, if you can’t communicate your vision to decision makers, you’ll forever be relegated to a supporting role. Like all communication, talking to busy people is all about empathy for the other person’s goals and priorities. Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins write about the issue for the Harvard Business Review, using a client named Jason as an example: Jason often got mired in the details when communicating with higher level colleagues, and therefore missed opportunities to share his insights. To stop this from happening, he… -
Manage Your Day-to-Day, the New Book from 99U, Is Now On Sale!
21 May 2013 | 6:17 amToday we’re thrilled to announce that our first book in a new 99U series, Manage Your Day-to-Day, is officially on sale! In the spirit of going behind the scenes on idea execution, I’d like to share the thinking behind how (and why) we built this book. Plus, some gorgeous detail shots of the book’s design… Manage Your Day-to-Day is not your typical “productivity” book. Based on our 5+ years of research here at 99U, we proceeded from a handful of counter-intuitive premises about what works—and doesn’t work—for creative professionals as we crafted…
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gapingvoid
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Damn. Here We Are.
17 May 2013 | 11:23 pmSend to Kindle [buy the print etc] [newsletter] A CEO would need a lot of cajones to hang this one in the office. It’s pretty contentious. Culturally speaking, its nitroglycerin. But the thing is, there are two ways of reading it: [One:] Oy vey, this company is a mess. Somebody please shoot me. [Two:] Guys, becoming a company where this KINDA stuff happens is JUST not an option, and if I hear about it, I’ll be really pissed off. How it got interpreted, good or bad, would all depend on the company culture. A junior who hung this in their cube without permission would probably get fired. -
gapingvoid Business Cards
17 May 2013 | 10:02 pmSend to Kindle Link: gapingvoid business cards now available on moo.com! -
How Most Marketing Works
17 May 2013 | 9:59 pmSend to Kindle [Originally sent out in the newsletter etc.] There is a popular idea that everyone hates marketing. So much so, my Twitter buddy, Scott Stratten has built an outstanding business out of the idea. Of course, it all depends how you define “marketing”. Making sure you hire really nice, friendly, chirpy people. Well, that’s marketing, but no one is going to hate you for that. Few people begrudge you for building a better mousetrap, especially if they have a mouse problem. Whether you invade their chill time with a loud, obnoxious commercial, well, that’s different. The… -
Career Hierarchy
17 May 2013 | 9:55 pmSend to Kindle [Originally sent out in the newsletter etc.] I don’t know about you, but it took me twenty years to get from the bottom to the top of the pyramid. And I don’t think that’s outrageously long compared to most people, I really don’t. Was it worth it? I don’t know, is being alive worth it? It’s sometimes tempting to think that somehow it would be easier to think of your life not as an adventure, but as something else to be gotten on with, endured. But it wouldn’t be easier, our spirits weren’t designed that way. And no amount of boozy late nights on the weekends… -
“Everyone Hates Our Idea”
14 May 2013 | 7:52 pmSend to Kindle [Originally sent out in the gapingvoid newsletter etc.] No one is going to like your idea at first. Again, it’s all got to do with change. New ideas, good and bad, mean change. And people are hardwired to fear change. It’s what kept our species alive for so long. And then on top of that, there are the haters. They need something to do to fill the time in between watching Gilligan’s Island reruns and taking trips to the liquor store. And hating your idea fulfills that need, sadly. That being said, just because people aren’t hating it, doesn’t mean your idea is a good…
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IttyBiz
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How To Set Goals Without Screwing It Up, Part 1
21 May 2013 | 4:50 pmThose of you who have been following IttyBiz over the years probably know how much I winced typing the words “How to Set Goals.” Goals drive me crazy, because people tell you how they set goals and assume what worked for them will (naturally!) work for you. Well, it might work, but it probably won’t work for you as smoothly as they promise it will. Let’s think about any piece of advice out there on the “best” way to set goals, given by any well-meaning blogger, author or motivational speaker who’s dishing it out. As we think about what they’re telling… -
The Cereal Box (Or, How To Be The Smartest Person You Know)
7 May 2013 | 5:14 pmA very long time ago – yes, even before the internet, if you were to allow yourself to believe that such a time existed – a certain author was asked what one book he would take with him if he were stranded on a desert island. Normally a question like that is designed to see how sophisticated the askee’s tastes are. Will he say the Bible? The Complete Works of Shakespeare? Great Expectations? What profundity awaits us today? In this case, the answer was a little more prosaic than that: “Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuiding.” Indeed. Let’s start with a story. A little while back… -
How (Not?) To Choose Your Marketing Strategy
5 May 2013 | 8:36 pmWe get a lot of questions from clients asking whether or not they should hop on the bandwagon for some new marketing initiative that, by all rights, seems to be a Legitimately Big Thing. The question is essentially “Should I put all (or most of) my eggs in this basket? It seems to be extremely popular, and a lot of people say I’m missing out if I don’t get on this now.” The answer is – well, it’s what we always say. It depends. Why this choice is difficult in the first place. When something seems to be extremely popular right now, it’s really difficult to figure out whether it… -
Ask fewer questions. Get better answers.
2 May 2013 | 10:35 amAs we finish up the last two weeks of our Let’s Fix Your List class, we’ve received enough questions on the “What do I ask for on my opt-in / contact form?” front that now would be a good time to talk about that in a bit more detail. When someone signs up for your list, or fills out a contact form, quote form, or a “schedule a phone call” form, it’s natural to want as much information about them as you can get your hands on. However, it is not natural for them to want to give it to you. This is why you tend to hear marketing types tell you to ask for as little information as… -
SHOULD you jump? WILL the net appear?
10 Apr 2013 | 11:19 pmEvery now and again, you’ll hear the expression, “Jump, and the net will appear.” This is meant to mean that when you are in a situation where you want to make a big change and that big change involves a lot of (real or perceived) risk – such as jumping off a cliff – you should take the risk. While you cannot see a net now – and indeed, the net is not there now – it will “appear” when you take the jump. (Causality, while unstated, is implied.) For obvious reasons, some people have trouble with this advice. I was asked the other day by a person…
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Charity Navigator
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Ensuring Your Oklahoma Tornado Donations Get to Those Who Need it
22 May 2013 | 1:43 pmSee the footage of our President & CEO, Ken Berger, on Fox Business News discussing on how to vet charities to ensure the money you donate gets to the right place. Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com -
How to Help Oklahoma Tornado Victims
21 May 2013 | 10:42 amMoore, OK Tornado Relief Find out which charities are responding to the devastation caused by a massive tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.View The List Now -
Exclusive Offer for Donors to Attend 2013 Conference on Scaling Social Impact
20 May 2013 | 10:04 pmAre you a donor interested in increasing the effectiveness of your giving and supporting high-performing nonprofits that are scaling their impact? If so, you don’t want to miss the Social Impact Exchange’s fourth annual Conference on Scaling ImpactJune 18-20 in New York City. The Conference is focused entirely on innovative methods to support scaling the impact of effective nonprofit initiatives. Approximately 400 foundation officers, philanthropists, corporate executives, wealth managers, and philanthropy advisors will gather at the event to share knowledge, learn about… -
Inefficient Charities and a Professional Fundraiser that Goes on the Record
17 May 2013 | 9:50 amThis should come as no surprise to readers of this blog, but for many donors, they simply don't know that when a 'charity' calls for a donation, it is often a for-profit telemarketing firm calling and that firm typically keeps the bulk of that donation. This fact is why we tell donors it is best not to give over the phone (just hang up). And why WXYZ's Ross Jones' did two stories on the topic.In the first segment, Ross Jones' explores some of the most inefficient charities that spend a lot of money on fundraising, such as Cancer Support Services and the Law Enforcement Education… -
It's Raining Nonprofits
13 May 2013 | 12:51 pmPhoto via BigStockCan you guess how many charities are currently registered with the IRS? I bet you didn't think it was over one million!As of the end of 2012, there were 1,081,891 charities(501(c)(3)’s) in the United States. Based on the July 2012 Census figures, the population is 313, 914,040. This translates to about 1 charity for every 290 citizens. This does not include other tax exempt groups that bring this total up to 1,614,762. In other words, 1 tax exempt organization for every 194 people. This begs the question: Is it too easy to set up a nonprofit? While everyone…
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The Nonprofit Facebook Guy
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9 Big Differences Between Facebook Groups and Pages
16 May 2013 | 6:00 amA slide from a recent webinar I conducted: Here’s a full-screen version you can download. -
Boost Your Facebook Page Reach With Three Three Tweaks
13 May 2013 | 6:56 amMost of what you read about creating more reach for your Facebook Page either has to do with Facebook Ads or optimizing content. But these three little settings for your Page can also dramatically increase reach: 1. Turn On Posting Ability Allowing Facebook users to post photos and videos to your page increases exposure to [...] -
How to Optimize Images for Facebook’s News Feed [Infographic]
8 May 2013 | 2:00 pmPostRocket created another entertaining infographic on optimizing content for Facebook . This one focuses on photos. -
Three Ways to Instantly Boost Engagement with Text Updates
8 May 2013 | 7:10 amIt seems like all the “experts” tell us is to post photos on our Facebook Page to get more likes, comments and shares. Text updates aren’t as sexy, but they can be equally as effective. Why bother posting text updates on your Facebook Page? Why should you care about posting text updates when the research [...]
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Socialbrite
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What nonprofits can learn from public radio about storytelling
22 May 2013 | 5:11 amPhoto courtesy of CubaGallery via Creative Commons Should your organization incorporate audio into your digital communications toolkit? Guest post by Will Coley Producer-Founder, Aquifer Media If nonprofits want to learn how to create content that both engages audiences and creates devoted supporters, we need look no further than the gold standard offered each day by public radio. Think about it: Radio producers can create stories that keep us in the car for “driveway moments” even when we’ve reached home, just so we can hear the ending. Public radio has created legions of… -
Create exclusive events to reward key supporters
21 May 2013 | 5:00 amHow the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum uses exclusive tweet-ups to engage supporters Guest post by Annie Lynsen SmallAct I‘ve written before about the importance of engaging key supporters (heck, we wrote a white paper with Blackbaud and the National Wildlife Federation on that very subject last year). The other day I got to experience a fantastic event geared toward doing just that. Earlier this month, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum posted an invitation to an event built around the new movie “Star Trek Into Darkness.” But this wasn’t… -
3 Facebook page tweaks that maximize reach
20 May 2013 | 5:11 amAllow posting, tagging and replies to increase engagement Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers, Facebook page administrators. Most of what you read about creating more reach for your Facebook page either has to do with Facebook ads or optimizing content. But there are three little settings for your Page that can also dramatically increase reach. Turn on posting ability 1Allowing Facebook users to post photos and videos to your page increases exposure to their friends. For example, the friends of the Facebook users… -
How to embed a Web page in a Facebook custom tab
16 May 2013 | 5:11 amHere’s an easy step by step to glossy custom tabs Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers, Facebook administrators. If you’re looking to create a custom tab for your Facebook page that has complex features, like a donation page or petition, watch my 5-minute video above for an approach that’s fairly easy. All you need to do is: Create a secure Web page on your website that includes the features you want to render in a custom tab. Eliminate your website header and navigation menu on that page. Add the Static HTML… -
Infographics: Not your grandmother’s pie chart
15 May 2013 | 5:11 amInfographics & data visualization turn data into stories Guest post by Julia Reich Principal & Creative Director, Julia Reich Design Most organizations have important data to present to their clients, members, boards of directors and other constituencies. Yet who has time to read or understand the reports, charts and diagrams created by your overworked staff? Infographics are a communication trend that’s all about displaying data in an attractive, easily digestible format. With their unique combination of images and words, infographics are a powerful storytelling tool. It’s a…
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The Fundraising Authority
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Conversation is the Foundation of Fundraising
21 May 2013 | 8:37 amI want to tell you about the most important lesson I’ve learned in my fundraising career. It’s not something that I learned overnight, or in one big “A-ha!” type moment.It’s a lesson that has sunk in gradually, as I have engaged in varied fundraising strategies and worked with countless organizations. The lesson is this: Conversation is the Foundation of Fundraising.Actually, it might be better to say that having a conversation is the foundation of fundraising. This might seem like a self-evident maxim, but it’s really not… at least it wasn’t to me. Over and Over Again… I… -
Finding More (and Better) Fundraising Prospects
17 May 2013 | 8:52 pmDoes your non-profit have trouble finding and approaching new fundraising prospects? Are you tired of begging your board for names and sending out cold prospecting letters to major donors in your town? Do you wish you had a system for reaching new prospects every day, week, month and year? If the answer to any of those questions is “yes!” then please join me for our first ever online Fundraising Authority Workshop: The Non-Profit Prospecting Formula: How to Find and Approach New Donors for Your Organization Written Guide, Webinar, Sample Materials and More… Qualified… -
How to Write Better Fundraising E-Mails for Your Non-Profit
16 May 2013 | 12:16 pmRaising more money online is an oft-quoted goal for non-profit organizations. Most charities are using their websites, e-mail, and some social networking sites to stay in touch with donors, but many are not raising any significant revenue online, and the ones that do often feel that the amount of time they are investing is too great for the small financial return. In this article, I want to hone in on one of the best ways to raise money online: e-mail. Let’s talk about how you can write fundraising e-mails that produce great results for your non-profit. What do good, high-producing… -
The Five Keys to Successfully Raising Money on Social Media
1 May 2013 | 12:40 pmSocial networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ can be extremely helpful in your non-profit’s efforts to raise money online. In our class Mastering Online Fundraising, we spend a lot of time focused on using social networks the right way to raise money and build your online profile. Today, let’s take a look at the five keys to making sure that your social networking activity successfully helps generate new gifts for your organization: #1 – Be Active You have to maintain an active presence on each site you are targeting, or else you won’t be successful. This… -
3 Thought Provoking Non-Profit Resources
23 Apr 2013 | 10:59 amOver the past couple of years, I have spend a good deal of time trying to get non-profits to think big about fundraising. In my view, far too many organizations are wimping out and failing to make as much of an impact as they otherwise could because of faulty notions about development. This includes everything from underpaying development staff to forgetting that without fundraising, there is no mission-related work… none at all. Today, I want to connect you with three great resources… both individuals and organizations… who are speaking up about the problems modern…
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The Agitator
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One Today … As In $1
22 May 2013 | 10:00 pmI’ve generally been skeptical of fundraising/giving tactics that create a wall between donors and recipient causes and organizations. Primarily because I was raised in the church of ‘relationship-building’. But I’m coming around to the belief that any giving is to be encouraged, because the world needs as many givers as we can possibly motivate and enable, through as many channels as we possibly can. And because I believe giving is habit forming. So today, ‘hats off’ to Google’s One Today program, a mobile app (only available now in the US) that… -
I’m Perplexed And Confused
21 May 2013 | 10:00 pmYesterday, Roger summarized a rant on donor ‘conversion’ by our colleague Kevin Schulman. Just to establish that dissent is alive and well within The Agitator ranks, I’m here to tell you that Kevin’s rant was nothing more than a triumph of obscurantism. Kevin (and Roger), were you trying to play with our heads? Now, if Kevin was deliberately setting out to confuse us, with some sort of semantic gymnastics, he certainly succeeded in my case. On the one hand, he talks about a number of ‘conversions’ we should not attempt — e.g., event donors to mission… -
The Foibles & Follies Of Donor Conversion
20 May 2013 | 10:00 pmA quick Google search for “converting donors” turns up all kinds of sage and not so sage advice on how to do it. But ‘conversion’ is a mis-used term tossed around with far too much abandon and far too little real understanding. The result? Tons of false and unrealizable expectations and far, far too much wasted money on efforts that should never be thought of as ‘conversion’ in the first place. Why am I about to climb on this soapbox? At last week’s Engage Conference presented by Fundraising Success (you can see the presentations here), my colleague Kevin… -
Wear Your Donor’s Shoes
19 May 2013 | 10:10 pmDoes your nonprofit have fundraising rules that would bewilder your average donor? From Gayle Gifford at Cause & Effect, here’s the kind of story about donor-nonprofit mis-interaction that makes The Agitator’s hair curl. To sum her story up: She the would-be donor: ‘Please let me give now!’ The nonprofit: ‘You can’t. You can’t.’ And then, about eight months later, the nonprofit re-contacts her with a friendly reminder (I paraphrase): ‘In case you forgot … You didn’t. You didn’t.’ Please tell me your organization… -
Fairy Tale Fundraising
16 May 2013 | 10:00 pmRoger recently presented at Fundraising Success’ Engage Conference. Now, he undoubtedly said many, many wise things, but he read the following fairy tale, which arguably contains the nub of his message. Enjoy! Snow White and the Seven Small Woods People There was once an evil fundraising queen. So vain and out of touch was she that she could not bear to think that anyone could do better. Although she didn’t believe in comparative data, KPI’s (something she thought you drank at the Renaissance Fair) nor benchmarks. And she sure as hell would never have…
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TheBloggess.com
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Me and the internet
22 May 2013 | 9:42 amThis cat = me trying to actually get work done. This weasel = my brain trying to destroy me: Me: I have work to do. Weasel: You should check the internet because remember yesterday when that one person on the internet was wrong and it made you so mad, but not actually mad enough to register to leave a comment. Go see if someone else left a comment calling them out. me: No. I don’t care. Weasel: LIAR. And check your blog because there might be a secret comment from Doctor Who asking you to go time-traveling with him. me: That’s not...possible. weasel: You… -
Do they even *have* pheasants on the Jersey Shore?
20 May 2013 | 7:04 amYou know when you’re antique shopping with your husband and you pick up a dead animal and shove it around the corner of the booth while yelling a really well known meme, but then you’re met with silence and you start to think that maybe your husband just needs to get on the internet more often, and then you poke your head around the corner and turns out your husband is in the bathroom and instead you’re talking to an elderly lady who is very confused that a dead pheasant just threatened her? I hate it when that happens. Related: I did not buy the pheasant because I spent… -
Two uncomfortable truths: New Merida looks a little whorey. Fewer people care about this than you would think.
16 May 2013 | 12:25 pmUgh. I sort of already hate myself from weighing in on this but people keep asking me to tweet about it and forward their petitions, and I really thought it would quiet down by now but it hasn’t, so I’m going to give my big, fat, stupid, irrelevant and probably wrong opinion on the changes Disney made from the original I-might-trust-her-to-babysit-my-kid-when-she’s-a-little-older Merida to get-the-fuck-away-from-my-husband Merida. There are all sorts of calls to action to get Disney to admit that the new Merida looks a bit skanky and they’ve met with some success… -
Hunter S. Thomcat is possibly possessed.
15 May 2013 | 1:12 pmA series of texts I sent to Victor today: me: Hunter is acting insane. He just put Ferris Mewler in a headlock. You can't see it but I suspect he has a tiny switch-blade. Victor: They’re fine. Ferris looks sleepy. me: I’m pretty sure he was blacking out from the lack of oxygen. Victor: You’re overreacting. me: Then he stalked me all day. "You do not see me." Victor: I don’t see him. me: HE’S HIDING BEHIND THE COBRA. Victor: Oh yeah. He’s adorable. me: He just set fire to your office. Victor: Stop texting me. -
Any publicity is…um…you know what? I’m not even sure anymore.
14 May 2013 | 9:38 amA friend of mine just told me that if you search for “giant dildo” on Amazon you get something very unexpected on the very first page of results. So I tried it. And she’s right. I don’t even have the words, you guys.
