2 Jul
4 Jun
Weekly Wrap Up June 4, 2010 – must see blogs and web sites
Nonprofits Face Moment of Truth
Technology Toolkit for Start-up Nonprofits: Part Two
Don’t Flunk Online Fundraising 101
Wake-Up Call: Your Supporters Expect More
How to Create an Entire Fundraising Strategy Around Thank You Notes
How To Set Up A Free Non Profit Website
How Strong is Your Nonprofit’s Message?
2009 Nonprofit Benchmarks: How Does your Organization Measure Up?
30 Apr
Weekly Wrap Up April 30, 2010 – must see blogs and web sites
5 Step Small Business PR Plan for Today
Nonprofits Need to Make Their Case
Top E-Mail Subject Lines Focus on ‘You’
The Many Faces of Social Media Content
Achieving Success with Social Media
How to Be Effective on Facebook: Tips for Nonprofits
Principles of Social Media Fundraising
Share your love for your favorite nonprofit
Nonprofit Website Effectiveness
10 Donations. 3 Thank-Yous. 7 Failures to Communicate.
12 Apr
The Trade Show Experience Part 2: “What are these booths doing in the way of my lunch?”
In Part 1 of this discussion, I explained my perspective on the difference between retail shows and industry specific trade shows. I want to offer one person’s opinion on why various people attend the shows.
Let’s take the Association for Fundraising Professionals. Every year they throw an annual conference where thousands of people get together with one main thread in common – philanthropy. Hospitals, Schools, Museums, Human Services agencies, camps, religious organizations and more are represented. The people come to listen to hundreds of conference sessions and can follow specific “tracks” in development, technology, social media and more.
Here’s what you don’t know: in order to maintain reasonable costs for the attendees, the conference people put together what they call a “Marketplace” – an exhibit floor containing hundreds of vendors from database management, to web site design, to donor recognition gifts. The vendors pay hefty sums to show their wares to the thousands of attendees that pass by. Without the exhibitors, the costs of the conference would skyrocket!
From the attendees perspective they are given a chance to see a new city, engage like-minded people in thought-provoking discussions about relevant issues, network, listen to some speeches from well-known people on philanthropic topics, and eat out for a few days.
From the exhibitors’ perspective, we’re standing between you and the guest speakers, your sessions, and your lunch.
Trust me. We don’t want to waste your time and more than we want to collect useless leads in a fishbowl for an iPod Shuffle. You have a need. We can fill it. This is the only forum where we can say that to thousands of you at a time. Face to face.
We understand that we aren’t the perfect solution for everyone (as much as our sales people would hate me for saying that). But we know we can offer you peace of mind for your donor recognition gifts, fundraising programs, and merchandise for your stores, both brick and mortar and virtual.
We believe it is these gatherings, these trade shows, which offer us the best bang for our buck. Are we right? Or are we a nuisance? Is this something on your tick list of “to-do’s” when attending a conference, or a necessary evil on the way to the snacks?
I can think of no other forum where there is a congregation of so many people who truly want to come away from their travels having learned something, met a new person in their professional network, and having found an answer for a problem plaguing their development team all in one short span of days.
What do you think? Tell me why YOU go to these conferences? Help me spend my marketing money wisely!
