#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.
Popularity: 5% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Donor Acquisition, Event, Events, Fundraising, Gala, Grants, Interview, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Perspectives, Perspectives | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#Tech: Cloud Computing Campaign Highlights Benefits To And Concerns For Nonprofits
In technology terms, ‘the cloud’ is the internet used as storage space (space traditionally taken up on a hard drive in a computer) and as software server (software traditionally installed on that hard drive to run applications). The internet is not new, but using it in this way is because storing gigabytes of information for millions of users was not practical before a majority of them had access to fast wireless connections (Wi-Fi).
In practical terms, the cloud offers great potentials for nonprofits. Costs can be reduced as files and spreadsheets are stored on a secured server online rather than within the office on a series of drives taking up space and eating up electricity. Moreover, any staff member of the nonprofit can gain access to those files and spreadsheets from any wi-fi device while at a meeting or on the way to a conference.
But so to are there concerns about security and reliability. To help navigate the pros and cons of cloud computing for the nonprofit community, TechSoup and TechSoup Global Partner Network are presenting their ‘Cloud Computing Campaign‘ through the month of October. It is an online forum, so you can still join the conversation and catch up with discussions over the last week.
Popularity: 3% | Category Advice, Blogs, Communications, Conference/Congress, Event, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Resource, Site Administration, Social Media, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web and Print | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Communications: How Twitter Helped And Hurt The Spread Of Information In Two Recent Disasters
Which is not to say millions haven't tried it...
As social media become ever more deeply immured into our technology and information landscape, perhaps we should not be surprised that users of such media are starting to be held to standards once expected of reporters at TV stations and newspapers. On the other hand, some seemingly fine reporting about being a lesbian in Syria turns out to be written by a heterosexual male in the U.S. The swell of the swine flu back in 2009 seemed to be predicted by Twitter, until calmer heads pointed out that unfounded fears could spur twitterers to use terms like ‘#swineflu’ for anything related to pigs, pork, or travel to Mexico.
Recent events in the United Kingdom and here on the east coast of the United States has encouraged professional reporting institutions to reach out to the Twittosphere to try to bring some higher level of expectation to those claiming to report from the riots in English cities or through the mayhem of Hurricane Irene that soaked the eastern seaboard this weekend.
Popularity: 3% | Category Blogs, Case Study, Communications, Community, Environment, Event, Geo-Location, Marketing, Media Review, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Public Media, Social Media, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SN: Are Nonprofits Mellowing Their Expectations For Facebook?
News of its demise have been greatly exaggerated
Facebook hemorrhaged users last month: some 5% of its US, Canadian, and UK users left the service – some 6 million folks unfriended the social network in the US alone. The drop is statistically significant in scope, but not in time, because numbers of participants vary as wildly as the unemployment rate from month to month.
That said, the possibility of a Facebook IPO in early 2012 means investors, and thus the media, will be keeping an eye on those numbers to see if a trend is being established. A handy synopsis of reactions to the falloff from Facebook can be found by Richi Jennings at ComputerWorld.
What is better established through surveys of use of Facebook over a longer period of time is that nonprofits and charities are growing more nuanced in their understanding of what to expect with engagement with their donors and volunteers through the network. Idealware has just published the results of its survey of over 500 nonprofit staff members to get a sense of what they in their organizations’ Facebook activities. The premise of the survey and study was to see if the romance with the beauty of Facebook were already waning: “Nonprofits are increasingly told that they “need to be on Facebook,” and countless gurus and experts offer them advice for maximizing their Facebook presence to get the most return. But are nonprofits actually seeing results, or is Facebook just a bandwagon that’s not going anywhere?”
Popularity: 3% | Category Communications, Crowdfunding, Event, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, Marketing, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Social Media, Technology, Web and Print | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Enviro: Towsontown Spring Festival Rocks This Weekend
We continue our periodic series on upcoming festivals by directing you to the forty-fourth annual Towsontown Spring Festival, which runs this Saturday and Sunday (April 30-May 1) on the Towsontown Square north of Baltimore city. The festival began as an arts festival, but has branched into opportunities for local businesses, community associations, and charities to reach some 250,000 people who pass through the festival over the weekend.
We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Nancy Hafford, who as been the organizer of the festival for a number of years, and we asked her about the ways the festival staff have sought to grow the attendance and participation. She stressed the many ways people can get involved not only in the festival, but with events and philanthropic projects throughout the year. Not surprisingly, social media has played an important role in spreading the word. Nevertheless, they faced some unexpected challenges.
Popularity: 5% | Category Audio Interview, Campaigns, Communications, Community, Donor Acquisition, Event, Events, Fundraising, Interview, Nonprofit, Twitter, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Enviro: 8th-Annual Baltimore Green Week Starts Tomorrow!
Download Emilio Martinez's poster here
It started with a handful of volunteers hoping to draw attention to some of the environmental efforts in and around Baltimore city. It grew in scope to include the business and nonprofit sectors, as well as scores of neighborhood-based organizations. And now Baltimore Green Works is poised to give us the biggest, funnest, most colorful, and most informative Green Week ever. It kicks of tomorrow with “Plant A Vertical Garden” at 2:pm at the Kennedy-Krieger Institute’s Greenspring campus: “Join Baltimore Contained as we plant organic vegetables started from seed by the horticulture students at Kennedy Krieger High School. Using Woolly Pockets planters, you can grow vegetables on any supporting structure, including a chain link fence!” Read on to see the other green goodness coming our way.
Popularity: 7% | Category Community, Environment, Event, Events, Greening, Urban Farming | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Event: Youth Media Festival Performance Day, April 30th
Wide Angle Youth Media is a Maryland non-profit that provides Baltimore youth with opportunities to tell their own stories using video technology, public speaking, and critical thinking skills. Through after school programs, community events, their annual Who Are You? Youth Media Festival, and a youth-run television show, Wide Angle strives to make media make a difference.
Join Wide Angle in celebrating the accomplishments and creativity of over 300 Baltimore youth. See youth produced videos, experience performances by young people, hear original music and see the Youth Dreamers Fashion Show!
Festival Performance Day
Saturday, April 30th, 2011 at Centerstage
700 Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Tickets: Suggested donation of $10. Reservations are required.
Call Centerstage for tickets at 410-332-0033.
Popularity: 4% | Category Community, Event, Events, Fundraising | | Comments Off
Written by: Marco Kathuria