As I write this, I’m sitting in a house surrounded by boxes and furniture that’s not quite in the right place. So much to do and no idea of where to start. By the time you read this Tuesday morning, I’m hoping to have my office in the final stages of being reassembled. I’d forgotten how much work it is to move!
When everything is in disarray, it is often essential to get some distance so you can gain perspective. It is when we step away that we are better able to objectively prioritize the list of items that all seem urgent in the moment. For many of my clients, taking a three hour block of time to plan can provide that needed perspective. You can certainly do that on your own, but if you’d like someone to walk you through creating a fundraising plan or just prioritize what you’re working on, let me know. My new office number is 502-509-5004 (or you can just reply to this email).
Quote of the week: No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, sailed an uncharted ocean or opened a new doorway for the human spirit. - Helen Keller
Kind regards,
Kirsten
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Here’s a summary of recent articles and blogs related to fundraising and nonprofit organizations. As always, please forward this to others who might benefit from the information. Thanks again for reading!
Awareness / Communications
- Benefits of Sending a Nonprofit Email Newsletter It’s easy to put writing your email newsletter on the back burner. Well, I’m here to tell you that there are a whole lot of reasons why you should put some extra love and tenderness back into your nonprofit email newsletter. @wiredimpact
- Have Nonprofit Videos? Use Them to Increase Email Click-Through Rates Have you checked your email today? Have you checked it in the past hour? Email is now a vital part of our personal and professional lives. In fact 9 in 10 people check their email daily. @stayclassysd
- Setting Up Your Blog? Use This Checklist to Start Off on the Right Foot The hardest part of starting a blog is writing all of the content, right? Not necessarily. Before you even begin brainstorming topics and creating content, there's some work to do. So where do you start? @HubSpot
- The Indispensable Power of Story Some people have a way of making the complex clear. They speak in simple, relatable terms. And they can get a lot accomplished. Making your words understandable and inspirational isn’t about dumbing them down. @HarvardBiz
Fundraising Planning
- 5 Tips for Making Your Donors Love You Your donor has just sent in another gift! Hurray! So you reply with a wonderful, personal thank you note. And then you call her to say thanks. In addition to the paper letter that you send. Then what? @GailPerrync
- Powering an Urgent Campaign with Deadlines Nonprofit development professionals are a lot like long-distance runners. They have to plan ahead, stay focused, and never give up. And even when you finish a long run (secure a big donation or complete a great campaign) you will be back to work tomorrow. @stayclassysd
- Fundraising Lessons from a Con-Man What’s the difference between a fundraiser and a con-man? There could be a joke there, but I think I’d be asking for trouble, and anyway, I can’t think of a funny punch line. It’s a bit close to the bone perhaps, given sensitivities about face to face, door to door and...@101fundraising
- What “We Can’t Afford Fundraising Software” Really Costs You As I talk with hundreds of nonprofit organizations, I often hear “we just can’t afford a fundraising database right now. What we are using now isn’t costing us anything!” Have you ever made that statement… or thought it? @BloomerangTech
- Prefundia predicts likely success of Kickstarter campaigns Prefundia is a new site that claims to be able to predict the success of upcoming product crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter.com and IndieGoGo. Here is Mashable.com’s view of the service. @howardlake
Online
- 5 New and Quirky Nonprofit Social-Media Tactics Everyone knows promoting your nonprofit’s events, services and fundraisers on social media is a good idea, but many don't know why, or more importantly, how, to do it. @Tech_Impact
- Heartbleed, the Branding of a Bug, and the Internet of Things One week later, and the Heartbleed Bug news cycle is winding down without any known reports of catastrophic damage. A case of security wonks crying wolf? @HarvardBiz
- Top 5 Instagram Best Practices for Nonprofits Owned by Facebook, Instagram is the largest mobile social network in the United States. With more than half its users outside the United States, Instagram is well-positioned to become more broadly used worldwide. The predominant age group of users is 18–29. @nonprofitorgs
What Others Are Doing
- How a Food Bank Keeps Volunteers Happy and Coming Back for More If you stumble upon the Facebook Page for the Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado, you might be amazed that it is so active, with over 4,000 likes, 28 talking about, and 463 "were here." @joannefritz
- Cash-strapped charities embrace Highmark walk for health - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fundraisers at the Community at Holy Family Manor tend to be simple, traditional endeavors that don’t require a lot of planning and that generate modest proceeds. @PittsburghPG
- Project Renewal Raises Over $77,000 on Giving Tuesday With more than $77,000 raised, Project Renewal will be able to feed and shelter and empower homeless men and women out of poverty. How was this nonprofit able to break through the noise of a festive yet busy holiday season on Giving Tuesday? @CauseVox
Leadership
- Connecting Healthcare to Underserved Communities with Crowdfunding & Mobile In Nepal, an estimated 75 infants and 12 women die in childbirth every day, many of them needlessly due to inadequate care. The problem isn’t care. It’s coordination. @NTENorg
- United Way May Urge Congress to Reverse Federal Charity-Drive Rules United Way Worldwide may ask Congress to overturn new rules announced this month to modernize the government’s annual charity drive, saying the changes will hasten the continuing decline in donations from federal workers. @Philanthropy
- The Importance of the Daily Check-In On LinkedIn, entrepreneur Joris Toonders shares why taking 15 minutes a day to ask yourself these four questions — two first thing in the morning and two just before bed at night — is exactly what we need to improve ourselves. @99u
- Are nonprofits recovering with the economy? Survey says… The Nonprofit Finance Fund’s 2014 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey is out and the report has some sobering insight on how nonprofits have fared during the economic recovery. @Network4Good
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