#INTERVIEW: Sherry Truhlar, President of Red Apple Auctions, Conducts Benefit Auctions for Nonprofit Organizations
Sherry Truhlar, President of Red Apple Auctions, conducts benefit auctions for nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. She founded the company after more than a decade in corporate sales, marketing and event management. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: Did you grow up wanting to be an auctioneer?
SHERRY: No, not at all. I decided, wouldn’t it be fun to do that fast talk, the chant? I took a week of vacation from General Electric, where I was a global marketing manager, went out to auction school, and learned the chant. But I realized very quickly that only a small portion of school is devoted to learning the chant. The rest is teaching someone how to run a business. I thought maybe this was something I could do part-time. So I became a licensed auctioneer.
| Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Donor Acquisition, Event, Events, Fundraising, Gala, Grants, Interview, Nonprofit, Special Series | | Comments Off
Written by: Don Akchin
#HOWTO: Collaborate & Manage People & Projects Without The Need For An Office
This time last week we talked about the online scheduling convenience of Tungle.me, which offers subscribers the opportunity to block out available times on their calendars within which prospective colleagues or meetings can choose mutually convenient meeting times. This week, as promised, we turn to a web suite of scheduling materials that expands the elegant calendar of Tungle to include a suite of project-management tools: Deskaway. As the name indicates, the suite offers a number of tools that allow subscribers to carry out a number of organizational duties while away at from their desks.
| Category Communications, Desktop Apps, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Project Management Tools, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PUBLICPOLICY: Online Privacy Becomes Concern For Service Providers
Perhaps the most famous statement of internet privacy from 'The New Yorker' (1993)
Online privacy has been a notable concern for many citizens almost since the inception of the internet, and certainly we have often discussed the issue on our blog over the years. A decade ago, the question of privacy largely was answered with calm warnings to use common sense and with explanations of the averages working against anyone being able to assemble any meaningful aggregate of the real you.
But now not only do companies exist precisely to aggregate your online behavior, millions of us willingly offer our own aggregations via our social-network platforms of choice. Those who strive to ensure some privacy of individuals have been lobbying the federal government to block certain aggregations and pressuring companies to offer ever more powerful privacy controls to customers and members. What seems to be the state of the discussion now?
| Category Audio Interview, Blogs, Civics, Communications, Community, Facebook, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Politics, Public Relations, Site Administration, Social Media, Strategic Marketing, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Create A Tumblr Account And Why It Might Replace Your Blog
If you follow the tech developments and platform inventions of social media, you can get a headache. Facebook and Twitter seem to rule the net, but FourSquare and StumbleUpon are out there too, and many are wrestling with developing a presence on Google+. Et cetera! We want to help cut through that clutter for our clients and readers, and we hope to guide your nonprofit, small business, or charity toward the outreach and development and communication channels that can be most beneficial for you and your audiences.
One such channel that has been around for a while but is not high enough on people’s minds is Tumblr, a (micro)blogging site that offers wonderful ease of construction, numerous ways to customize and brand your site, and some of the easiest means to post quick stories or even audio messages we have ever encountered. Think of it as some of the most accessible features of Microsoft Word linked to the wide reach of Twitter with some of the under-the-hood muscle of a full-fledged website if you want to get your hands dirty. If not, you won’t be disappointed, or much limited, by your creation.
| Category Communications, Design, How-to, Public Relations, Reviews, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web and Print, Web Design | | 8 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#COMMUNICATIONS: Plan Your Nonprofit’s Story, Then Shoot The Video
Making a video is all the rage in the nonprofit world – and it should be. Videos can engage the eyes and ears and hearts of your audience in ways that can and should complement other means of outreach. Videos can also be presented in a myriad of ways: posting it on YouTube and Vimeo is a given, but with ever faster networks your organization can email them to donors, it can be shown on the big screen of a fundraising gala, and your charity’s website should include a copy as well.
But as video becomes the buzzword-du-jour, remember that it is one tool in the box and the point of all the tools is to expand outreach, interest, donations, and volunteer pools. What will make the video tool successful is not the fancy technology but the careful construction of a meaningful and touching story. Video should be perceived as a chapter of a larger book of outreach, and perhaps not the first chapter.
| Category Advice, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Fundraising, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Public Media, Storytelling, Technology for Nonprofits, Video, Video Interview | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Kivi Leroux Miller, Consultant, Trainer and Blogger on Nonprofit Communications
Kivi Leroux Miller is a successful consultant, trainer and blogger on nonprofit communications. She leads weekly webinars from her website. She also is the author of The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: What was your goal when you started the blogging?
KIVI: My goal from the beginning has really been to help the small nonprofit organizations that don’t have the money to hire staff or to hire big consulting firms, but because of the Internet – especially – can do some very powerful things with just a little bit of time and a little bit of creativity. The blog is just a really easy way to get that kind of content out there. On the business side, it’s been phenomenal for my search engine optimization. I say I owe 90% of the traffic to the blog.
| Category Blogs, Book, Communications, Cross-Post, Fundraising, Interview, Marketing, Newsletter, Nonprofit, Storytelling, Writing | | Comments Off
Written by: Don Akchin
#HOWTO: Schedule Staff & Manage Projects From Any Networked Device
Keeping you and your colleagues on schedule can be tricky if some of your organization’s work involves being on-site and meeting with donors. Add to that the annual fundraising gala or organizing staff for a booth at a fair and scheduling can become a nightmare. Thanks to ever growing wi-fi networks and smartphones, though, keeping staff aware of scheduling need not be so scary. We’d like to share two applications over the next week that are real lifesavers when it comes to keeping things on track around our office. Today let’s tackle Tungle.
| Category Advice, Branding, Communications, Desktop Apps, How-to, Nonprofit, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Technology for Nonprofits | | 2 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PHILANTHROPY: Google Can Give Time, Resources, & AdWords To Nonprofits
Google is the great behemoth of web searching and video hosting. Google.com is default homepage in millions of browsers and YouTube has inspired citizen journalists in war-torn Syria and video mashups of cute kittens in suburbia. Google.org is perhaps not as well known, but its philanthropic outreach is huge, and it offers that money and support numerous ways – some of which your organization can surely take advantage of!
| Category Advertising, Advice, Blogs, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Civics, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Desktop Apps, Development, Donor Acquisition, eNewsletter, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, How-to, Major Gifts, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Site Administration, Social Media, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Video | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: In Search For ROI, Can We Put A Number On A Relationship?
ROI can bring strong relationships as well as income to nonprofits
Who doesn’t want a high return on investment? Whether that investment is time or money, any business or nonprofit wants to see it put to good use and wants to see some reward for it. With the explosion of social media over the last five-to-seven years, we have watched a kind of bi-polar reaction to the development of an online/social media strategy. One tendency is to believe that with the new website and Twitter plug in, your organization’s work is done. The other is to strive to boost the number of Followers and Friends ever higher, though often be frustrated that each Facebook Friend is not donating each time he or she signs into their account. Perhaps we should envision a sweet spot between such extremes, for ourselves, for our clients, and for our constituents.
| Category Advice, Blogs, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, Internal Marketing, Interview, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Newsletter, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Site Administration, Social Media, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Technology for Nonprofits, Twitter, Video Interview | | 2 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PROAGING: Technology Improves Exercise of Body And Brain
Last week we introduced an AARP report encouraging the development of ‘Technology for All,’ namely, technology that includes the interests, expectations, and needs of Baby Boomers. Here is an example of how technology makes a common exercise machine that much more interesting and beneficial: a computer screen offering a virtual tour for a stationary biker.
Hans Villarica of TheAtlantic.com presented a report found in The American Journal of Preventative Medicine that brings computer screens and visual stimuli to recumbent bikers in elder-care homes. The experiment was to encourage exercise among residents on incumbent bikes – some used bikes with screens that monitored their effort and presented a ‘tour’ while others simply rode the bikes for the same amount of time.
| Category Aging, Assisted Living, Boomers, Fitness, GI Generation, Health, Healthcare, Independent Living, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Nursing Home, Resource, Retirement Living, Reviews, Seniors Life, Software Review, Study, Technology, Technology for Aging, Wellness | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Sybil Stershic, Consultant, Blogger, & Author of Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most
Sybil Stershic, founder of Quality Service Marketing, is a long-time consultant and blogger on internal marketing and the author of Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care. A former chairperson of the American Marketing Association Board of Directors, she continues to lead workshops fort AMA including its “Nonprofit Marketing Boot Camps.” The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: You’ve chosen to specialize in internal marketing. How do you see that different from marketing to the outside world?
Sybil: It’s not that different in the sense that it recognizes that you have a critical audience – only this time they’re your employees and volunteers. Basically you can use marketing to educate them, motivate them and persuade them, just as you use marketing to educate, motivate and persuade consumers from the external side. What’s different, however, is that most organizations don’t recognize employees and volunteers as an internal audience that needs to be addressed. (more…)
| Category Advice, Blogs, Book, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Development, Donor Acquisition, eBook, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Internal Marketing, Interview, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Resource, Special Series, Strategic Marketing | | 6 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#PUBLICPOLICY: Pressure Grows On Apple’s Supplier Foxconn
These are protestors of, not customers for, the new iPhone
The reputation of a nonprofit can make-or-break its efforts. Note the stunning blowback and reversal of the Susan G. Komen Foundation when it quietly tried to back out of its relationship with Planned Parenthood. For a business, the reputation can perhaps take more of a beating and still survive. Note BP’s expanding presence in the Gulf of Mexico despite the human and environmental costs of the corporation’s oil spill in 2010.
And then there’s Apple: perhaps the only company that can have a serious court case against its flagship product (the iPad in China), a publicity firestorm and protests over its (suppliers’) treatment of workers, and can still surpass the $500 share price. How is its PR responding to the oxymorons?
| Category Apple, Case Study, Civics, Communications, Community, Marketing Skills, Media Review, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Public Relations, Technology | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: Automate Your Google Searches To Follow Important Issues
Searching on Google is perhaps the single experience of the internet we all share. In the fine and flexible tradition of the English language, we turned the noun into a verb: to google (someone or something). The behemoth that is Google Inc. began over a decade ago (hint: Sarah McLachlan and Elton John won big Grammys that year) as a way to search for key terms on the net. Now it owns YouTube, has built its own social network, and created a smartphone operating system to rival the iPhone.
One of its underused developments, though, is the ability to automate and monitor specific terms or events or institutions on the internet for you. In a few simple steps, you can get an alert whenever your charity is mentioned or your plan-of-action praised.
| Category Blogs, Communications, Community, How-to, Measurement, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, SEO, Site Administration, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Time Those Tweets To Test And Build Impact
Earlier this week we introduced and reviewed a few social-media dashboards to help tame your organization’s streams of updates pouring in. Many platforms (like Hootsuite, TweetDeck, and SproutSocial) also offer the ability to schedule a series of tweets to go out over days, weeks, or months. This feature is obviously handy if your charity has a similar message or link that it wants to send on a regular basis (enter it once, schedule it for Tuesdays over the next month, done!).
But how does that timing feature work, and how could your nonprofit use it to your advantage?
| Category Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Dashboards, Desktop Apps, Events, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Twitter, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PROAGING: AARP Explores Benefits & Challenges of ‘Technology For All’
With much fanfare, the first babyboomers moved into the official era of retirement last year as they celebrated 65 years of life. They were the first ripples of a ‘Silver Tsunami’ of Boomer retirees who will bring changes to entertainment, to Social Security, medical services, to retirement life. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) released a report calling on entrepreneurs, developers, and service providers to take on the challenges of bringing the myriad technologies (some of which were built by the Boomers) to everyone – including those over 50 who want to use those technologies but might need them modified. Is your organization developing its strategy for the near future?
| Category Aging, Boomers, Community, GI Generation, Health, Independent Living, Internet, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Report, Resource, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Social Media, Social Media, Technology, Technology for Aging | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Christopher Davenport, Founder of 501 Videos, A Company That Makes Videos Exclusively For Nonprofit Clients
Christopher Davenport is the founder of 501 Videos, a company that makes videos exclusively for nonprofit clients. His experience includes years in Hollywood working on commercial films and, later, making documentaries. His website is home to Movie Mondays, a weekly series of short films featuring fundraising professionals in action. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: Did you always know you wanted to make movies?
CHRISTOPHER: Not always. When I was 5 I wanted to be a fireman, and then when I was 5 and a half, that’s when I knew I wanted to make movies.
| Category Communications, Community, Donor Acquisition, Grants, Interview, Major Gifts, Nonprofit, Sponsorship, Storytelling, Video | | Comments Off
Written by: Don Akchin
#HOWTO: Efficiently Monitor Your Organization’s Busy Social Networks
So many claims on the time of a nonprofit staff, and only so many hours in the work day. We might be temped to carry our work home with us, but aren’t the lines between work and family already blurred enough? If you want efficient tools for monitoring and updating your business’s social media, we’d like to suggest a few dashboards that can cull your various accounts into one place, allow scheduling of posts, and offer ways to save and/or reply to specific messages.
Let’s start with a couple of freebies, then move to some heavy-hitting services that require payment.
| Category Apple, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Facebook, How-to, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Media Review, Nonprofit, Public Media, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Twitter | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PHILANTHROPY: What Might Inspire People To Give To Your Charity?
The year’s fundraising drives are laid out before you and your colleagues. The sting of the Great Recession still hurst most Americans, even if the stinger is gone. The prospects can look intimidating. Even though your charity or nonprofit does good work and has the track record to prove it, this moment might be a good moment to look at a hard fact of fundraising: what will entice more donations, micro or macro, NOW?
| Category Audio Interview, Blogs, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Community, Crowdfunding, Development, Fundraising, Grants and Funding, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Sponsorship | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: Facebook Timeline Rolled Out-Nonprofits Roll In
Last week a much-anticipated feature was released by Facebook’s developers. No, not the stock IPO (Initial Public Offer), but the Timeline feature/app that can turn one’s activities online into, well, a timeline. In one sense, one’s posts and posts of one’s friends (including organizations) created a proto-timeline. What the new feature offers is the opportunity for one’s activities outside Facebook to be brought into one’s Timeline, a development of what the folks at FB call ‘The Open Graph’.
The paradigm, and the opportunity to develop applications to link your nonprofit/business/media conglomerate/reading circle/music application…, was first presented in mid-January and now some 80+ such organizations have developed apps (the numbers shift periodically as more organizations make such apps, but some are blocked after being reviewed by Facebook). The numbers of nonprofits taking advantage of Timeline are not yet huge, but many are discussing how they might in the near future.
| Category Advertising, Branding, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, How-to, Marketing, Measurement, Media Review, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Storytelling, Technology for Nonprofits | | 4 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: Beware Not Of SM But Of SM Snake Oil & Silver Bullets
Should you? Must you?
If we aren’t careful, we might be entranced to believe social-media networking platforms have been around for quite a while. I mean, if Facebook is valued at $5 billion in its Initial Public Auction, then surely it’s a tried-and-true company that still has room to grow. Right?
Before you jump over to your E*Trade account, you might ask yourself “What has Facebook (or Twitter, for that matter) done for me?” That query, if you are a nonprofit or a small business, can be tricky to answer, unless you started with a plan and with some measurable goals that can be stood next to what you have in fact done. And sometimes, what you want done can get a nice push from social media but social media won’t necessarily do the heavy hauling. And that’s ok!
| Category Advice, Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community Gardens, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, Interview, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Site Administration, Social Media, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Technology for Nonprofits, Twitter | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Christina Attard, Philanthropic Advisor, Blogger, and Development Director
Christina Attard writes the “Ask Better-Give Smarter” Blog. As a philanthropic adviser, she helps both nonprofits with their development programming and individuals planning tax-smart donations. She has been a Gift Planning Officer at two Canadian universities and is currently the Development Director for a Christian diocese in Regina, Saskatchewan. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: How did you manage to get to this place of semi-guruhood from a B.A. in mediaeval studies?
CHRISTINA: How it actually happened is that I was starting university and paying my own way. I had some money saved, but not enough. When I went to see my Dean, a Sister of St. Joseph, she said, how do you plan to pay for your year here? I said, I’ve been praying about that and hoping for an answer soon. She said, that’s very nice, do you have a resume? (Yes.) Go get your resume and go to the financial aid office. I’ll call ahead, go see a woman named Pauline and we’ll see if she can get you through with some cash from a bursary. Pauline saw me and said, we have this bursary and you’ll be eligible for it, it’s still not going to be enough, do you have your resume? (Yes.)
| Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Interview, Nonprofit, Resource, Special Series, Storytelling | | Comments Off
Written by: Don Akchin