First, a confession/disclosure: I buy from these folks. I’ve got some of their product in my home right now! Now, if you’re trying to tell the customer or donor a story about your product, about your organization, the most important thing is truth. That’s why a new PR campaign—from the folks who drown the world in […]
Flywheel your Nonprofit
Chances that you’ll soon find a way to raise giant sums for your cause are slim. Your chances over time to find a way to raise giant sums are actually good — if you keep at it. And one best ways to think long term is the flywheel, a concept from […]
Nonprofit Helps 2
New Year. New Habits. Ariel Schwartz in Fast Company describes Lift, a mobile phone app for tracking new habits. I just signed up. And you can understand how to create new ones by reading The Power of Habit. (I’m about half way through and definitely recommend.) Outrospection. An RSA animate explores Outrospection. Empathy helps us be […]
Nonprofit Helps
Small Business Blog. The small/mid-sized nonprofit can pick up some great ideas from The New York Times’s Small Business blog. They take on “issues and trends that small businesses need to understand. And our bloggers – most of whom actually own and run businesses – write about their experiences on the front lines.” […]
Patrick Rothfuss Raises Funds, a Mind Map
(Click on the above image or see the Patrick Rothfuss Mind Map here.) You never know where a video, a comment to a family member or a blog post will lead. Online fundraisers constantly ask each other whether you can truly measure the impact of social media. The answer: some you can, some you can’t. A […]
Landfill Harmonic
Yet one more example of a group that has accomplished a great deal with seemingly nothing. Every day 1,500 tons of solid waste are dumped in a landfill near Bañado Sur, in Paraguay. About 2,500 families make their living sorting the garbage for recycling and reselling, according to UNICEF. “Children are often the ones with the onerous […]
Musical Stairs
What do I get for helping your cause? Maybe it’s a cool holiday present. Maybe it’s a chance to win an iPad in a raffle. Maybe it’s a chance to rub shoulders with some local celebrities at a gala. Marketing folks talk about benefit exchange: what do I give you, and what do you give […]
Name Nonprofits and Programs — How-to
We named this dog Taz. If you’re moving forward, doing anything at all, sooner or later you’ll have created something needs a name. I’ve helped name nonprofits, programs, campaigns, books—plus pets and two boys. Never alone. Each time you name you really want to get it right; it’s exciting and seldom […]
NYC Carbon Visualization
How much CO2 do we spew into the atmosphere? The folks at Carbon Visuals tell us that in 2010 in people New York City generated about 54 metric tons, mostly from buildings. Their new short video gives us a sense of what that looks like. Actually, NYC residents have one of the smallest per capita […]
Rolling Jubilee
The biblical notion of Jubilee is both strange and radical: after the seventh cycle of seven years, economic chaos is unleashed, and it’s good news for people for whom justice is long overdue. “This fiftieth year is sacred—it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and […]