The fourth-annual DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference will be Friday, May 18, 2012, on the TCU campus. Registration starts at 8:45 a.m. and the last session ends at 3:45 p.m.

Workshop topics include:

• Recruiting Volunteers from Diverse Communities
• Protecting Your Organization in the Online World
• Making Mobile Meaningful and Manageable
• Creativity & Innovation
• Five New Channels, Five New Metrics for Success
• Working in Cause Partnerships & Networks
• Social Media and SEO
• Media Relations and Internal Communications
• Branding Workshop with Jacque Lambiase and Stacy Landreth Grau, TCU

Cost: $30, including lunch

REGISTRATION: Please go to http: www.lifelong.tcu.edu, click on “courses” tab, and then type in course code 12NPCC. Questions? Contact Jacqueline Lambiase, j.lambiase@tcu.edu.

Place: TCU, Dee J. Kelly Alumni and Visitors Center, 2820 Stadium Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76109; parking next to the Kelly Center.

1. “Juvenile slide transition to spice things up”
2. “Snide remark about how Macs are better than PC’s”

One comment I was waiting for at the end -  “Here is me not asking a question for fear this presentation goes on any longer…”.

What other presentation FAILS could they have added?

Go Mavericks!

Through a generous donation, Wesley-Rankin is selling Mavericks tickets for the current 2012 season! Tickets are available for the entire season, or for individual games!

Individual ticket prices vary per game. Minimum ticket purchase is 2 tickets. All tickets are sold at first come, first serve basis.

You may purchase 2 to 6 tickets for an individual game, or purchase 2 to 6 tickets for  the entire season!!

Season Tickets:  $1,964 for 2 season tickets and  $3,928 for 4 season tickets.

Buy all 6 season tickets for $5,892!

Individual ticket prices are listed below – you must purchase in multiples of 2.

The price of the ticket is not tax deductible, but will go to support the work of Wesley-Rankin Community Center.

To purchase tickets, call or email carrie@wesleyrankin.org or (214) 742-6674

Wednesday             January 4           7:30pm                  Suns                                    $31

Saturday                  January 7           8:00pm                  Hornets                               $31

Friday                      January 13         7:30pm                  Bucks                                 $31

Saturday                  January 14          8:00pm                 Kings                                  $20

Monday                  January 23           7:30pm                 Suns                                    $20

Wednesday             January 25          7:30pm                 Timberwolves                      $31

Friday                     January 27           7:30pm                 Jazz                                     $31

Sunday                   January 29           5:30pm                 Spurs                                   $45

Wednesday             February 1           7:00pm                Thunder                               $31

Friday                     February 3           7:30pm                 Pacers                                 $20

Saturday                 February 11          7:30pm                Trail Blazers                       $31

Monday                  February 13          7:30pm                Clippers                              $31

Wednesday             February 15          7:30pm                Nuggets                              $31

Monday                  February 20          7:00pm                Celtics                                 $31

Wednesday             February 22          8:30pm                Lakers                                $75

Tuesday                  February 28          7:30pm                Nets                                    $31

Saturday                  March 3               7:30pm                Jazz                                     $31

Tuesday                   March 6               7:30pm                Knicks                                $31

Tuesday                   March 13             7:30pm               Wizards                               $31

Thursday                  March 15             7:30pm               Bobcats                               $31

Saturday                   March 17            8:00pm               Spurs                                   $45

Wednesday               March 21             8:30pm               Lakers                                $75

Tuesday                    March 27             7:30pm               Rockets                              $31

Monday                    April 2                  7:30pm              Clippers                              $31

Wednesday               April 4                  7:30pm              Grizzlies                             $31

Friday                       April 6                  7:30pm              Trail Blazers                       $31

Tuesday                   April 10                 7:30pm              Kings                                 $31

Wednesday              April 18                 7:30pm              Rockets                              $31

Friday                       April 2                 7:30pm              Warriors                              $31

To purchase tickets, call or email:  carrie@wesleyrankin.org   214-742-6674

There is an adage in the nonprofit fundraising world that you should thank a donor seven times before asking them to donate again. The purpose of the adage is to ensure people feel appreciated for their gift, are told how their money is being used, and will look upon communications from the charity as chances to inform and engage, not just ask for more money.

Thanking people is also helpful for your business. It shows you care about your customers and staff, appreciate everyone’s hardwork and hard earned money, and are thinking about more than just your bottom line.

Using “Thank You’s” as part of your content schedule for posting online is also a great way to build in content that you don’t have to write a whole lot about. Each day of the week you could designate to thank someone by telling us who they are, why you are thanking them, and you are done. Be sure to let the person know you’ve thanked so they can share it with friends, and so that you know they have seen it.

There is also a subtle subliminal message that comes along with thanking someone online.  You are letting the reader know, the one who has not been thanked, that they could be thanked too someday.  Everyone likes to be appreciated and some of us like that appreciation to be public. People will be more motivated to help, be involved, and ask for that thanks because they saw someone else being thanked.

So who should you thank? The image above has a few ideas, but there are plenty more.  Leave your ideas in the comments below  about who else a business or nonprofit could thank.

Thanks for reading this article!

Since starting the book I’ve been motivated to run more and I look forward to it. It started becoming more enjoyable when I let running be fun, and not work. Running at a pace that feels good and not hard lets me run for longer periods and get a better workout.I’ve noticed I sleep better, have more energy during the day, and am in a MUCH better mood, as my wife will attest.

I hope to keep up the motivation to run after reading this book, and after the upcoming White Rock Lake Marathon Relay, that I am running, in a few weeks. After that I plan to start barefoot running, or with the rubber feeties. I’ll let the book explain why we should chuck the running shoes and go barefoot, for you to understand why I want to try it. If you know of anyone that runs barefoot, I would love to hear from them.

Watch the video below for more about this ancient running tribe, then pick up the book soon.

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

The Hobbit as Nonprofit Manager: How to Do Great Things without Forgetting the Good Things

In a hole in the ground, there lived a fundraiser.

Two things have defined a large part of who I am today: the career I chose as an adult, and the books that I loved as a child..

The first is that I have spent my entire career in the Land of Non. All but one month of this time has been spent focused on fundraising (oh, woe! the sad moment when I parted from those first 30 days!). I have worked for organizations large and small, and wear the scars of many a battle to make payroll.

I have seen lives broken, and I have seen them rebuilt. My eyes have been rivers of tears; my throat, a furnace erupting in the flames of their stories.

And yet my lungs have been stretched with furious laughter, my tiny mind enlightened with the brilliance of my comrades and my soul enlarged with the selfless love of our donors. In short, my career has been an amazing and unexpected journey of self-discovery and definition.

Yet this journey itself has been largely defined by something else: the first books that I remember reading as a child were the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. When I became a father, one of my greatest joys was the day when my daughters were old enough to sit through readings of The Hobbit.

As we finished the last chapter of that book, it struck me that I have learned a great deal from Master Baggins about how to cope with the pressures and strains of a career dedicated to solving the world’s greatest problems. To wit, here are the lines that end that text, starting with the words of the wizard, Gandalf:

“You don’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”



“Thank goodness!” said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar.

Nonprofit managers, take heed. The problems that you face – generational poverty, incurable disease, an almost systemic form of despair sown into distressed communities – are vast. And yet you have seen how the work of your hands has made progress against them. You have been held in the embrace of a life changed through the workings of your own ministry and the services of your organization.

How easy it is to think that these moments came through your own virtue. And worse, how easy it is to allow these moments, this work in which you are engaged, to define you. Indeed, to consume you.

Let us not forget that we are among the most privileged people on earth. We have a front row seat to the greatest story being told: the tale of the rise of the social sector in the midst of society’s swelling concerns. Yet we are rarely Bard the Bowman, felling the dragons that threaten to destroy our world. More often we are little Bilbo, there mostly to serve as a vehicle for forces larger than us to weave their work through our words and deeds.

Simply because our lives are the vessels through which great things are done, let us not presume that we are similarly great. Let us sit back, pull out our pipe, and wonder in amazement at our own good fortune for being in this place and time in history.

Work hard. Do great things. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad.

—————————-
Jeremy Gregg is a happily married father of two, serial social entrepreneur and furry-toed fundraiser working in Dallas, Texas for the PLAN Fund. Read more of his ramblings at www.JeremyGregg.com.

There is a whole lot of online marketing going on in this one flyer.  An eagle-eyed supporter shot this image for me recently when dining at Great Outdoors, a sandwich shop chain in Dallas/Fort Worth.

The main part of the flyer promotes their paperless rewards program, which allows customers to tie their debit/credit card to the system so they don’t have to bring in a separate reward card everytime they come in.  Saves on clutter and printing costs, although it does require the customer to always use that one card.

It also contains a “daily deal” like promo, buy a gift card for $3.25 and get $7.50 worth of products at the store.

All told there are five calls to action in one flyer

• Join the rewards program
• Buy the “daily deal”
• Find them on Facebook
• Visit their promo website (at this writing, the URL did not work)
• Use the QR code to find them elsewhere online

That many calls to action begs the question: Are multiple calls to action more effective than just having one?

An argument could be made for this helping the business, since it cuts down on printing, they only need to print one type of promo flyer.  It also takes a shotgun approach to satisfying all of their customers. Some may want a deal, others a rewards program, and still others to like them on Facebook.

The argument against a multiple call to action is that with so many options to choose from, customers might be overwhelmed and choose none. Or they could choose the easiest to do right away, and not complete the others actions that would create a better ROI for the store.

So what do you think? Is this multiple call to action piece effective, and what other information might be needed to determine that?

Hi everyone,

If there is anyone in the N. Dallas or Richardson area that can swing by and get a carwash on Saturday and make a donation to help out a heroes family, it would truly be appreciated.

There is a Richardson resident, Marine Corps veteran and Dallas Police Officer who is having some hard times.  He suffered a head injury as the result of an exploding mine, and recently has had to stop working with the Dallas Police Dept. because of seizures that are taking place quite often.  Below is a story that Fox News ran on him.   

Point of the story, there is a carwash in Richardson on Saturday to help raise money for this man’s family as he cannot work anymore, is not getting help from the VA and they are having a hard time paying their bills.  If anyone can help, please go down and get your car washed to make a donation.    

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/072511-dpd-cop,-war-veteran-suffering-from-brain-injury

 If you happen to be in Richardson on Saturday and would like to donate and get your car/truck washed they will be at 525 W. Arapaho Rd. from 9-3 (Arapaho & Custer).

 Thanks to any of you who can help this man and his family.  Being a Marine and a police officer, he is obviously willing and has already sacrificed for us all.  It is unfortunate that someone this honorable is in a situation like this.  Please do what you can to help.

Thanks so much,

Ryan

Google Places has made several changes recently that will affect what customers see when they search for your business.  Previously, Google pulled in third-party site reviews to supplement your reviews on Places. Those third-party sites are now history. Reviews your business received on sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, or CitySearch will still be on those sites, but will no longer appear on Google. Since your business is more likely to be seen through Places when being searched, having a large number of positive reviews helps your business. Here are a few ways you can get positive reviews using the resources you have already.

1. Repeat Customers – Most stores have a “Norm from Cheers”. The man or woman that visits often enough the store staff knows them by first name and has their order ready before they sit down.  Ask these die-hard fans to write and post a review on Google Places. If they don’t know what it is, show them.  Bring a computer out from the back, set them up their own google account, and have them write it in store. Reviews that start with “I’ve been coming here for 35 years…” will be highly sought after and appreciated.

2. Empower Your Staff – Spend some time coaching your staff on the importance of Places.  Explain how the system works, how people can submit a review, and why its important.  Then empower your staff to mention these reviews to the right customers. If a customer has had a great experience, and is thanking everyone in the store, this is the time to step in and say: “If you enjoyed your experience today we would love to get your feedback on a Google Places review”. Reward employees for mentioning reviews and your business will be rewarded with more customers who came because of the large number of positive reviews.

3. In-Store Signage – Place signs throughout your store that mention Google Places and ask for a review.  Keep it upbeat and honest. Mentioning that you welcome ALL types of feedback should encourage everyone to participate. While positive reviews are the most sought after, your business may benefit from hearing constructive feedback on operations that no one else has mentioned. A well-trained staff should be available to answer any customer questions about the signs and reviews.

4. Send Out An Email- If your email list subscribers are still opening your monthly emails, you must be doing something right. Include an article in your emails about Places reviews and ask for their feedback.  You may want to include it several times in a row, or every other month, in case some customers open one email but not others. Include a link directly to your Google Places page so they don’t have to find it. After each email goes out, track the click-through rate to see if people are participating.  If not, move the article around in the email, feature it more prominently, or drop it and try it again in a few months.

5. Twitter Search – People are talking about your business on Twitter, and hopefully you are listening.  If not, here is a great tool to start doing so.  Each time someone mentions you on Twitter with a positive comment, you could reply and ask them to write a review on Google Places. Even if very few do it, you are still actively recruiting comments from people who have taken the time to Tweet about it in the first place. Hopefully they will write a review and Tweet about that as well.

These are five ways you can use the tools and resources at your disposal to accumulate more Google Places reviews. If you think of others you would like to share, please do so in the comments. Or write a review of what you think about this article!