Fundraising . . .

For this month’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival, Nancy Schwartz shares the path to year-end communications and fundraising success.

Network for Good has published a free guide called “25 Steps to Fall and Holiday Fundraising Success.”

America’s Giving Challenge is back on. In addition to the big prize, they are also awarding daily prizes, so rallying all of your supporters to give on one particular today could be fruitful. What counts is the number of donors, not the total amount raised. That means small gifts ($10 min) are just as meaningful as big gifts. It’s all being run through Facebook Causes this year, wrapping up November 6. Katya Andresen shares some great tips on doing it right.

Jeff Brooks, formerly of Donor Power Blog, is now blogging at Future Fundraising Now.  Jeff is one of my favorite bloggers and when he left one job for another, the old employer insisted on keeping ownership of what always appeared to be a personal blog, at least to me.  Weird. Anyway, change your blogrolls and your subscriptions to keep up with Jeff’s witty take on fundraising today.

Convio has ranked the most generous small and big cities, based on the $777 million dollars in online donations they processed in 2008.

Blogging . . .

Abny Santicola at Fundraising Success Magazine did a great job summarizing my webinar on nonprofit blogging.

Beth Kanter offers seven tips for measuring the success of your blog. I just signed up for PostRank’s Analytics package based on Beth’s recommendation.

Want to listen to some of the hot young voices in the nonprofit blogosphere? Check out the new Nonprofit Millennial Bloggers Alliance.

More on Social Media and Online Marketing . . .

Nedra Weinreich recently shared this link to a long list of social media policies on the Social Marketing listserv. If you are trying to create a social media policy for your organization, no need to start from scratch.

The Agitator is reviewing nonprofit online marketing strategies. Here is the review of Habitat for Humanity’s website, etc.

Upcoming Webinars & E-Clinics . . .

And finally, a quick reminder about our upcoming webinars and a special e-clinic on online fundraising:

October 15: On-the-Spot E-Newsletter Makeovers: Get Your E-Newsletter into Shape

October 28:  Focusing on Photos: From Cool Composition to Rock the Stock

October 29: Better Ways to Use Statistics in Your Nonprofit Marketing

November 4: Special E-Clinic: Online Fundraising Bootcamp (only 13 spaces left!)

November 12: Getting Media Attention for Your Good Cause

November 18: Quickie Annual Reports: Simple Ways to Share Results with Supporters

Webinars are $35 each or included with your All-Access Pass. The Online Fundraising E-Clinic is $75.

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

Next month the Carnival travels to Getting Attention with Nancy Schwartz. I’m sure Nancy will be putting out a call for posts soon on some interesting element of nonprofit marketing, so keep an eye out.

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

Heather Carpenter at Nonprofit Leadership 601 has posted the current edition of the Nonprofit Blog Carnival on nonprofit leadership issues. Check it out for posts on how nonprofit organizations are dealing with change, turning around their organizations, and more. The next edition of the Nonprofit Blog Carnival will be hosted by A Small Change. If you are interested in having your blog posts included in the Carnival, join our contributors’ email list for reminders about deadlines, etc.

Here are some other links I recently found interesting, insightful or otherwise helpful. I think you’ll enjoy them too . . .

I Gave Your Organization $500 and All I Got Was This . . . (Sea Change Strategies)

Don’t Be Afraid to Tell It Like It Is (Big Duck)

First Step in Strategic Communications Planning: Communications Audit (IMPACTMAX)

Thought Leadership on the Social Web: Six Traits that Draw People to Your Ideas (Public Relations Society of America)

Six Online Fundraising Campaigns That Work (video from the Chronicle of Philanthropy)

Social Media Experts Don’t Understand Social Media (TippingPoint Labs)

You Probably Make These Email Deliverability Mistakes (Chief Marketer)

The Role of Email in Your Communications Mix (Idealware)

Making It Easier for Donors to Give Monthly (Chronicle of Philanthropy Chat Transcript)

And now this question I’m wrestling with. I receive many requests from various people, companies, and nonprofits to pass on information to you on this blog. I ignore most of them because they aren’t related in any way to nonprofit communications programs. But sometimes I get requests that do have a marketing angle. Here are two examples.

The CTK Foundation Philanthropic Fund is running a project called the Heart and Soul Grant Award Program. Nonprofits submit a 4-8 line poem that represents the “heart and soul” of their mission.  The winner will get $10,000 and have their poem put to song by Los Lonely Boys. GreatNonprofits is running Youth Thrive Awards. Youth-focused nonprofits with the most positive reviews in their category will be announced as winners and receive media coverage and promotion on GuideStar.

Do you want to hear about these types of contests and similar opportunities from me? I’ve leaned against posting most of them, but what matters most is what YOU want. Leave a comment on the blog and let me know if you want me to pass this kind of stuff on to you or not.

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

The Nonprofit Blog Carnival is supposed to a monthly roundup of some of the best blogging on a particular topic of interest to nonprofits, and Rebecca has created a stellar example!

Next month the Carnival will be hosted by Heather Carpenter at Nonprofit Leadership 601, where the theme will be Nonprofit Leadership and Professional Development.  Watch Heather’s blog for her take on what she’s looking for this month, and I’ll post the link for you once she’s published her edition.

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

First, you’ll find this month’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival at the Nonprofit Congress Blog. The next edition will be hosted by Wild Apricot and they are seeking great blog posts on nonprofit technology. Deadline is June 26.

Next, check out the new Nonprofit Email Marketing Guide from Network for Good. It’s free, and I know it’s an easy read, because I wrote most of it!

Nancy Schwartz (Getting Attention), Danielle Brigida (National Wildlife Federation) and Felicia Carr (National Parks Conservation Association) answered questions on how to use online social networks to promote your cause during a Chronicle of Philanthropy chat. These weekly chats are usually really, really good. Join the Chronicle’s group on Facebook and you’ll get regular reminders about them.

Fundraiser extraordinaire Gail Perry has a new free e-book out: Seven New Rules for Fundraising in Changing Times

So you are checking your web analytics, right? But not sure what the heck to do with them? FutureNow offers you some action steps. This is written for a commercial site, but nonprofits can still learn from these suggestions.

In the Cool Tools Department, we have KnowEm, which lets you check the availability of a username on 120 popular social media sites. Once you set up your presence on a few sites, you’ll see the merits of using the same username.

Gayle Thorsen asks you to move beyond the PDF for information sharing and think more creatively about how to get all that good information you are sitting on out to people.

That should hold you for awhile! I’m off to the pool . . .

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

This month’s edition is on online fundraising, hosted by Get Fully Funded Blog.

Check it out for some great blog posts on how to raise money online.

A blog carnival is a roundup of recent posts on a particular topic. The hosts rotate to different blogs. This carnival used to be called the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants, but I changed the title to be more inclusive.

Next month’s edition will be hosted by the Nonprofit Congress Blog. They are looking for great posts related to anything in the nonprofit sector. Learn more about how to get your blog included.

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

The next edition of the Carnival will be hosted by Joanne’s Nonprofits Blog at About.com and will cover “New Year’s Resolutions for Nonprofits.” Have some you’d like share? Write a post on your blog and submit it to the Carnival. (You don’t have to be a consultant to participate; you only need to have good words of wisdom to share with nonprofits.)

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

The next two editions will be hosted by The Hatcher Group (theme is “best practices for nonprofits using social media” - deadline for submissions is December 1) and by Nonprofits at About.com around December 15.  To submit a blog post for consideration by these hosts, send your post permalink to npc.carnival@yahoo.com or use the BlogCarnival submission form.

P.S. Claire Meyerhoff and I will be doing a “Give Thanks” edition of Magic Keys Radio & Podcast this Friday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. We’ll be talking about what we and other nonprofit communicators should be thankful for.  Come call in what you are thankful for, whatever that may be . . .  certain people, resources, situations, trends, you name it. Listen to the Show

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

On the same topic, you might also be interested in these takes on the question . .  .

The Chronicle of Philanthropy asks, “What do you do when you lose a grant?” Don’t whine about it. And should you talk about your financial woes on your blog? Only very carefully, I say. I’m all for transparency, but begging isn’t attractive and talking about being in the red isn’t particularly inspiring for donors either. Tread lightly. 

JVA Consulting offers a few tips on how nonprofits can cope during tough times and GiftWorks talks specifically about how you should change your fundraising appeals (and not change them) given the economic crisis. Their last tip is to keep up with your continuing education (All-Access Pass to Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com anyone?)

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.

Here’s what’s coming up for the next two editions. Remember, if you’d like to submit a blog post to the carnival host, simply email your permalink to npc.carnival@yahoo.com or use the form at BlogCarnival.com.

November 3 - Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Tech

Theme: ”Is your work changing because of the economy? How? What adjustments are you making?”

November 17 - Social Butterfly

Theme: “Give thanks! Tell us which tools, resources, mentors have aided you or what you are thankful for.”

Get All of Our Webinars & E-Courses for $97. With the All-Access Pass, you can attend all of our live webinars, watch recordings, and take on-demand courses whenever you want for 12 weeks. Get the details.