Giving is Good
You need a case statement. Most development folk know this. They know they need a case statement which has been “tested” and is characterized by what I term the 3 C’s: clarity, concision, and compulsion. They know they need a case statement because: Every organization has a glossy, oversized, impressive case statement, and; Donors will…
This weekend I received a great little book – The War of Art – given to me by friend, Dave Jobe, CEO of Karmadillo. Dave works with professional service businesses – law firms, architecture firms, consultants, etc. – to help them grow their business through permission-based marketing and thought leadership strategies. Good stuff. The War…
If you’ve been to Santa Monica, California you are familiar with the Santa Monica Pier and the 3rd Street Promenade. Both are fun, bustling, outdoor gathering places which mimic ongoing carnivals, complete with barkers, street performers, and vendors of all sorts. Yesterday, on the 3rd Street Promenade I ran into one such carnival barker who…
I regularly get asked about social media donor engagement strategies as if social media (facebook, twitter, Google Buzz, etc.) is somehow so different from other mediums of communication so as to change the fundamentals of human-to-human interaction. True, the social media technologies provide free, powerful tools to reach, inform, interest, and engage almost endless numbers…
We know that the sound of our own name falls easily on our ears. We also know that receiving a sincere compliment brings a quick smile to our face. Apparently, all of us are physiologically hard-wired to enjoy both of these occurrences. Of course, in our work with donors, we understand the power of being…
I came across a list of Famously Wrong Predictions the other day. Read and smile: “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” –Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea…
Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities. – Frank Lloyd Wright This quote from the inspiring American architect has always intrigued. Interpretations vary but it raises the following question for me: Can the sexiness of the luxurious, the newest, or the latest encourage us to dismiss the fundamental,…
“When I buy businesses, it’s the same as investing in philanthropy. I’m looking for somebody who will get the job done and is in synch with my goals. You can have the greatest goals in the world, but if you have the wrong people running it, it isn’t going to work. On the other hand,…
Google is taking over. With an incredibly array of products – from Gmail, Google Earth, and cloud-computing Google Docs to the Google phone, Nexus One, to the new social networking offering Google Buzz, the number of ways in which Google now intersects with and impacts our lives is staggering. And to think that just a…
Have you been following the Pepsi Refresh Project? It’s the latest in a line of cause marketing strategies in which Pepsi is planning to pay out $20 million in grants of $5,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $250,000. Submit your idea online and then watch the vote totals go up. If your idea is a popular choice…