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It’s been feeling a little like spring here…I know we are not there yet, but a nice thought considering it is the first week in Feb This week’s theme seems to be fundraising.

1. 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising from Social Velocity, By Nell Edgington

The good news is that there are lots of other things board members can do to bring money in the door. And remember, if you are financing not fundraising your organization, your definition of “bringing money in the door” should be very broad.

Here are 9 things you could ask your fundraising-shy board members to do

2. 5 Ways Your Brand Can Destroy Your Fundraising Results from Fundraising Fundamentals by AndrewOlsenCFRE

I’ve been talking about nonprofit branding a lot lately with organizations all over the country.  Seems brand strategy is top of mind once again for organizations trying to raise their community profile and generate more money for their causes.

There’s only one problem.  Brands  and fundraising don’t always mix.  In fact, often when a nonprofit makes changes to their brand strategy, it ends up killing their fundraising results.

Don’t let this happen to your organization.  Watch out for these five ways branding can kill your fundraising results.

3. 5 Tips for Successful Nonprofit Fundraising in 2012 from Marital Solutions

…there are steps nonprofits can take – regardless of size and scope – that will optimize their engagement and contribution opportunities in 2012 while remaining true to their cause and keeping their mission at the forefront. I have compiled the following 5 tips through my ongoing research of the latest studies, reports, podcasts and webinars relating to nonprofit and (to a lesser degree) for-profit business and marketing strategies that are worth considering.  

4. Nonprofit Governance: What Are Your Three Duties? from scHammond, by Susan Hammond:

True of all nonprofit boards our legal responsibilities can be defined as:

• Duty of Care
• Duty of Loyalty
• Duty of Obedience

5. Just in case you haven’t heard:  Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers [INFOGRAPHIC] from Mashable

The site’s popularity is quickly growing. Pinterest’s traffic increased more than fourfold between September 2011 and December 2011, bringing in 7.51 million unique visitors in December alone, data from Compete indicates. The amount of traffic Pinterest sent elsewhere has risen accordingly, becoming a top five referrer for several apparel retailers, according to internal data from Monetate, which provided the infographic below.

Related articles

• Around the Web Jan 27 (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the Web Jan 21 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

Practical seems to be the theme for today:

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1. Board Governance Resources great list of eight resources from Susan Hammond, sc Hammond Advisors

2. Free nonprofit tools from 10 different experts! from the Fundraising Coach

10 of us have gotten together to offer:

• 5 free ebooks including the Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising and my own Ask Without Fear!,
• 2 free workbooks,
• 2 free trainings, and
• one free Donor Map.

On the Nonprofit Goodies Giveaway site there are tools to help with your major gifts, annual fund, grant fundraising, storytelling and presentations. There’s even a training to help you with your benefit auctions.

But hurry these goodies are only available until January 31!

3. 22 Must-Circle Nonprofits on Google+ from Non-Profit 2.0

To me, the Google+ Stream  feels like a mixture of Twitter and Facebook. Like Twitter, you have to post or share content frequently to get exposure in the feed since there is no Edgerank-like algorithm to filter out (boring) posts/tweets.

4. Facebook Timeline Apps are Ultimately About The Future of Mobile Devices from John Haydon

Last week, Facebook announced the release of more than 60 new Timeline apps which allow Facebook users to automatically share application actions on their timeline.

5. 7 Totally Surprising Brain Tricks to Sell Your Cause from N-Ten:

Neuromarketing experts like Roger Dooley (author of the new book Brainfluence) want to change all that. They have studied how to appeal to the massive subconscious mind, and there are some interesting and sometimes bizarre takeaways for those of us engaged in social good. Here are seven of the most surprising ways to sell your cause.

Related articles

• Around the Web Jan 21 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

I wrote this article for the local newspaper to help her get some contributions…we will see if she gets some more traffic to her indiegogo site or to her blog.

2001 Norwell High School Grad to Become  Kiva Fellow

Since 2007, Kiva, a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty, has offered only 400 individuals the rare opportunity to work with microfinancing through the Kiva Fellows program. Fellows work directly with microfinancing institutions around the globe to increase Kiva’s impact. Kiyomi Beach will be in their 17^th class, and will be working with the Huatusco Coffee Cooperative located in Veracruz and Huatusco, Mexico for four months starting in February.

“One person can make a difference, and every person should try.” ~ John F. Kennedy

“After six years of working in the financial services industry I have decided to take time to give back,” says Kiyomi . “In 2012 I will be working as a volunteer to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses by supporting Kiva’s mission of “connect[ing] people through lending to alleviate poverty” by working at a partner microfinance institution.”

Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. They are the leaders in leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, allowing individuals to lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. To learn more please visit http://www.kiva.org/about. Microfinance institutions provide loans to low income borrowers and small business owners who would not have access to funding otherwise.  These loans provide critical capital that helps these business owners run their business.

Because this is an unpaid, volunteer fellowship, your financial support would be greatly appreciated. Kiyomi estimates that her trip will cost between $4,000 and $4,500, which will include the cost of attending training and all living and travel expenses in Mexico.   You can contribute to her work by going to: http://www.indiegogo.com/Support-Kiyomi-Support-Kiva.  Any contribution is greatly appreciated as it will go a long way to helping support Kiva’s mission.

Kiyomi spent much of her youth in Norwell, and has always enjoyed “giving back.”  She volunteered at the South Shore YMCA, Mill Pond, and through high school and college worked at the Y every summer.

This fall she spent 6 weeks in Cuzco, Peru, volunteering and taking Spanish classes at a non-profit agency: Fair Play (http://fairplay-peru.org) where she worked analyzing research on poverty, education and healthcare in Cuzco. You can follow her travels at: http://kiyomibeach.com

Charity How to is helping you get your year started off right!Marc Pitman (one of our Non-profit speakers at Tech Day Camp)  is offering two webinars that I thought you’d be interested in:

• Thursday, January 5, 2012 - Ask Without Fear! a simple guide of ideas for connecting donors with what matters to them most.
• Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - Who is Telling Your Nonprofit Story?

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Aha, December is in full swing.

1. 3 Nonprofit Lessons from The Princess Bride a fun post from Marc Pitman

But did you know there are nonprofit lessons embedded in the story? Here are three I’ve identified

Read the comments for more

2. Why your nonprofit needs a personality and NOT a brand from John Haydon

People are friends with people, not brands

Most of the people you connect with on Facebook and Twitter are your friends. They’re people. They have personality. And I bet that you spend 95% of your time connecting with people – not companies.

3. Social Media for Social Good: 3 Secrets to Raising Big Bucks Online from Frogloop: Frank Barry

In fact, 87% have raised under $1000 on Facebook since they began using the platform. Yet despite the lack of wide spread fundraising success, social media is clearly a hot topic in the nonprofit space.

4. November’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival | The quintessential guide to giving thanks from Pamela Grow

This month we asked bloggers to offer up knock-your-socks-off ideas that they’ve used to thank donors.  The entries poured in

5. Best Web analytics tools for nonprofits from Socialbrite By Laura S. Quinn and Kyle Andrei Techsoup article courtesy of Idealware

…which Web analytics tool should you use? Data-tracking needs are similar for all organizations, including nonprofits, libraries, small businesses, and corporations. But given the vast array of analytics tools out there, selecting the right package can be overwhelming.

Idealware talked to six nonprofit experts about the Web analytics tools they’ve seen work well. We also consulted postings on a number of nonprofit listserves and scoured reports on the topic. In this article, we summarize what we’ve learned to help you understand what to consider when choosing an analytics package and identify free tools and applications to help you better monitor your site’s visitors.

At the beginning of the week, this was our last stubborn tree…still holding onto fall…today it is 90% barren. This tree is always the last to shed, and once it starts to go, I know winter is around the corner, time for change. What signals are around you that make you realize that a change is coming?

1. Why Your Non-Profit Needs to Stop Ignoring LinkedIn from Mashable…if Mashable says you shouldn’t be ignoring LinkedIn, maybe you should find out why

LinkedIn is no longer just a place to post your resume and look for a job. It’s become a vital business tool for professionals and companies. Forrester Research recently ranked LinkedIn as the second largest social network behind Facebook. That’s a lot of potential audience going to waste.

In many ways, starting your non-profit’s company page on LinkedIn legitimizes your charity with professionals and corporations.

2. Google+ is now open for businesses….so?? You finally have a Google Plus Business Page for your Nonprofit… Now What? from John Haydon: he talks about Google+ vs. Facebook pages, and 8 tips for success, with links to others that have some ideas also (Marc Pitman for one: Google Plus is awesome for nonprofits. )

3. Want to Live Long and Prosper? Donate More! from the Nonprofit Quarterly: Kathi Jaworski

No matter what the motive, research shows that generosity directly benefits the well-being of those who give. For example, several studies, including one sponsored by the University of British Columbia, provide evidence that people who give are happier than those who don’t.  In the UBC study, donating as little as $5 helped people feel better.

4. 11 Holiday Gift Programs That Benefit Nonprofits and Make the World A Better Place :: 2011 Edition from Nonprofit 2.0: some included are: 10,000 Villages, CARE Package, Kiva Cards, Save the Children Gift of Joy

Many of us will purchase hundreds of dollars in holiday gifts over the next six weeks, and with some conscious consumerism those dollars could also help some of your favorite nonprofits continue their work in 2012. Now in it’s third year (View the 2009 Edition and2010 Edition), the 11 holiday gift programs listed below benefit nonprofits and thus help make the world a better place.

5. 5 Last Minute Creative Ideas for Holiday Fundraising from Inspiring Generosity: by geofflivingston

Allyson Kapin at the Frogloop blog wrote a great post with some web site optimization tips for year-end fundraising. We’d like to add some more from a creative marketing standpoint. Here are five tips to build a holiday outreach campaign on the fly…

Related articles

• Around the web Nov 11 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the web for NPO’s Oct 28 (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

Image by Sam Howzit via Flickr

Just finished reading a post from Geoff Livingston: 5 Ways to Engage Online Ambassadors where they talked about influencers, people that will spread your word to others.

The five are:

• Host a schwanky event
• Highlight their work
• Make Advocacy Fun
• Create an Advisory Board
• Put them on a wall

I think all these work for both on and off line, and hopefully you are doing those things for your donors already, is it time to make sure you online community feels the love too?

Image by lu2shoot via Flickr

Fall is creeping in, today in New England is a bright crisp day! We are about to announce the schedule for Tech Day Camp, and we have a whole series for NPO directors, staff and volunteers!! Hope you can make it Saturday, Oct 22! Now on to the picks for the week.

1. From our favorite  advisor, Susan Hammond: Advisory Boards Can Improve Fiduciary Boards

Many problems in governance start with uneducated people getting onto a board, corporate or nonprofit.  They are asked by a trusted colleague because they are successful in business or some other endeavor.  That success in turn is seen as preparing you to serve on a board.  Wrong!

One of the easiest ways to get familiar with board service is serving on an advisory board.

2.  Are you on Facebook? Christine Pilch, one of our fantastic speakers at Tech Day Camp: Facebook compromised your privacy this week, and you probably didn’t even notice it Thanks for watching out for us Christine!!

In the way of a great illusionist, this week Facebook got so many users worked up about the loss of easy access to recent posts that they were able to slide in much more significant changes that altered the privacy control that every Facebook user had over his own information.

3. More about changes on Facebook and Pages from Beth Kanter about: Facebook Changes for Organization Pages: Focus On Results

The discussion about the recent changes on Facebook has focused mostly around what it means for individuals, particularly the tension between openness and  privacy.    Many people are wondering what it means for nonprofit brands  using Facebook as one of their marketing channels.   So are people like me who do coaching and training on how to use Facebook effectively.     It makes no sense to freak out.

4. From another presenter, John Haydon, a regular here on Friday: The most important question you could ask a new donor

What made you donate to our organization?

5. What we all want to know: 5 Tips to Make Donating Easy from Inspiring Generosity

A few weeks ago we asked our Facebook friends what obstacles they saw in online fundraising. One friend noted that some nonprofits make it hard for donors to donate on their website, with too many clicks in the middle.

There are simple solutions to this, so if you’re thinking about revamping your nonprofit’s website, take these tips into consideration…

Related articles

• Around the Web Sep 23 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the Web Sep 16 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Non-profit people don’t miss Tech Day Camp (thenon-profittoolbox.com)