Creative

6 Winning Types of Year-End Stories Nonprofits Need to Tell
October 16, 2015 at 10:19 am

Creating a year-end campaign is like telling an epic tale: There’s a beginning, middle and end to the story. There’s a noble protagonist. There’s something monumental that stands to be gained (or lost). Nonprofits use many techniques to engage audiences in their campaigns throughout the year, but successful year-end campaigning requires a unique type of…

5 Lessons Comic Books Can Teach Marketers
October 15, 2015 at 10:05 am

If you live in New York, you've probably noticed an influx of costumed pedestrians and strangers since last Thursday. Blame the 2015 New York Comic Con. The sold-out event is always a spectacle, which reverberates outside the Javits Center walls, and these events are only getting bigger. In many ways, the growth of these events…

Google and Israeli Nonprofit May Be Heading to the Moon
October 8, 2015 at 10:55 am

Tired of waiting for NASA to get its Apollo-era mojo back and start putting spacecraft on the lunar surface again? Then you’ll be happy to know that Israel—with some help from Google—is about to show the moon a little love. At a 12:45 p.m. press conference in Jerusalem Wednesday (5:45 a.m. ET), Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, along with…

100 Blog Posts: What Does the BS Meter Say?
October 6, 2015 at 10:01 am

Don’t be silly ... I’m not talking about my posts registering on the BS meter. But are you using words that register? Are you using a bunch of industry jargon instead of just saying things more clearly?

Beer and the Bay: A Cause Marketing Success Story
September 22, 2015 at 10:24 am

Cause marketing has been around for decades, but a clear formula for success is elusive. Often, conflicting goals and differing expectations between nonprofits and their for-profit partners lead to frustration and disappointment. Through an exciting project my organization undertook this year, we learned a few key lessons that can help others launch a successful partnership...

Shocking: Marketing Has Many Meanings
August 11, 2015 at 1:57 pm

Whether you are thinking about high-level concepts or laser-focused components—the evolution of marketing and what it means to a brand is occurring. Overall, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that marketing must be rooted in what the company or organization needs to be successful. Additionally, the value of its role in driving customer relationships, revenue/profit is something that must be understood...

16 Totally Whacked Shortcuts to Summon Your Fundraising Muse
April 13, 2015

Every so often you just get stuck when you need an idea. All writers know this. And we all know the standard advice for coming up with a creative inspiration: take a walk, sleep on it, put it aside and come back to it later, and all that.

4 Things I Know About Fundraising
April 2, 2015

This week, I want to talk about a few things I do know and how these things should impact our fundraising. Again, this isn't an exhaustive list, but rather what I recently have been grappling with.