Get Your Copy Early Before the Rush

Every NonProfit wants to learn how to fundraise well and this new resource from Scott Michael Ringo is just the ticket. Just being released in August is his new book “Simple Fundraising”. This book will teach you how to develop step-by-step fundraising strategies and formulas to create and maintain a stable donor base. Never before has the processes to develop continual and simple funding for a nonprofit been broken down so simple that anyone can do it. Scott brings his 12+ years in the developing successful nonprofits and 26+ years in the business arena to the forefront to present easy to understand, and simple to implement fundraising strategies.

As the founder of Ocean Grand, his hands-on approach to helping nonprofits all over the world raise the funds they need is is written so anyone can understand and implement it.  Instead of wonder where the funding  you need is, a few hours in “Simple Fundraising” will help you instantly discover and begin receiving it.

After reading “Simple Fundraising,” with basic effort any nonprofit can finally tap into the funding they need.  Every nonprofit needs this book in their library.  A simple read and you gain over a decade of experience in nonprofit fundraising.

Act now because the first 500 copies of the book that are ordered in advance as PDF books are discounted to $19.95. Once ordered and paid for you will immediately be emailed a link to download your copy.

Once the book is released to book stores and internet June 1, the price of “Simple Fundraising” will be $29.95. Get your copy now in PDF format by clicking the button below.

NonProfit Set-up

Are you interested in starting your own nonprofit? Ocean Grand can help you get your very own nonprofit set-up in about 3 weeks very affordable. Then help you to find the funding you need and run it successfully. Click this link to get all the information www.oceangrand.org/start-501c3

Corporate Design Solutions

Running and funding a nonprofit can be an easy task but much like building a house without a hammer and nails, attempting to build a successful nonprofit without the proper tools is just as crazy.  Because we are dedicated to helping nonprofits become successful, Ocean Grand gives every nonprofit the ability to obtain these important tools at up to a 60% discount. Email Ocean Grand Design Studios to get more information at www.oceangrand.net

Every NonProfit needs professionally designed and printed marketing materials to make your nonprofit a success.  Why not get those materials designed now at a substantial discount and start your marketing efforts from the beginning looking your best while attracting serious donors.We know from the hundreds of nonprofits we have helped all over the world, there is no better investment or a better price in which to get your nonprofit’s image looking its best.  Ocean Grand Design Studios is a state-of-the-art professional design studio that has designed for top names.  In addition to the 60% savings on the complete design package, Ocean Grand will give you tremendous savings on all your print needs as it is a professional print house as well. Email Ocean Grand Design Studios to get more information at www.oceangrand.net

With professionally designed and printed marketing materials it only takes one (1) serious donor to donate back in one month the investment you made in your marketing materials.

It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who They Know

It makes a huge difference in the caliber of donors your nonprofit attracts as to how your nonprofit image looks. When you ask CEOs and successful people to pass on the information about your nonprofit, you want them to have great looking material they are proud to pass on. Handing out professionally designed marketing materials can make the difference, and there is no better time or better price to get those created than with this offer. You are going to need everyone you know talking about your nonprofit, and just like any business, being able to equip others to retell your story right is key. Get a complete corporate branding solution including:

• Logo
• Business Card Design
• Letterhead Design
• Envelope Design
• Website
• Tri-fold Brochure
• Glossy Presentation Folder
• Social Media Package (Twitter and FaceBook)

Some of Ocean Grand’s other services:

Some of our products:

• Custom Photo Books (any amount of pages)
• Wedding Albums
• Graduation Announcements
• Baby Announcements
• Wedding Invitations
• Wedding Announcements
• Personalized Stationary
• Photo Enlargements (canvas, print, framed)
• Photo Packages
• Photo reprints
• Personalized Christmas Cards
• Personalized Holiday Cards
• Family Greeting Cards
• Portrait enlargement and framing
  

Other Services:

• Logo
• Business Cards
• Customized Thank You Cards
• Customized Greeting Cards
• Customized Christmas Cards
• Corporate Letterhead
• Corporate Envelopes
• Flyers any size edge to edge printing
• Brochures any fold
• Postcards with customized mailing services
• Magnets
• Banners
• Websites
• Counter cards, Business Cards, Referral Brochures
• Ongoing Flyer Creation
• Double-sided PDF Brochures for emailing
• Interactive Online Brochures
• Corporate Style Sheets
  

Anything graphic design, branding, and print media related!

Email Ocean Grand Design Studios to get more information at www.oceangrand.net

You are walking on the beach, and there in front of you is a genie lamp.  The inscription reads, “Rub me”.  So you rub the lamp and out pops a genie and says, “I will grant you one wish, any wish. But there are two conditions.  Your wish has to be focused towards helping others and not yourself, and you have to be committed to seeing your wish come true.”  Of course, you are wondering what happened to the other three wishes, since isn’t the offer supposed to be for three wishes?  However, the genie explains that even his economy is tight right now but he should get the benefit of the doubt since, “When did anyone ever offer to grant you wish in the first place?”  Today your wish is granted, read on to learn how to get your wish.

I spend a lot of time talking with people about cool ideas they have come up with to make the world a better place.  Many of them are amazing and I am privileged to be one of the first to hear about them and spur them onto success.  This day and age anyone can have a great idea to make the world a better place, but the process to take that dream and make it a reality is often confusing.  Ocean Grand has made a commitment to help those who have a dream, a wish, and turn it into reality and we are counting on the rest of the technology, nonprofit and philanthropy world to join us in seeing dreams come true.  Continue on and find out how you can be part of a new revolution.

From extreme makeovers, building homes for those that need them, losing excessive amounts of weight, to even finding the perfect job, television is transforming peoples’ lives by giving them the once-in-a-lifetime chance to change their world.  Many times these complete solutions are the collaboration of hundreds or even thousands of people all bringing a piece of the puzzle to the table to make the dream come true.  Granted, most of the time these transformations are created in the form of a competition and while some win, many lose.  But for that one lucky person, their life could be turned upside down for the good.

Perhaps more than ever, with the aid of the internet, more and more people are finding that it only takes a little collaboration from a few others to make another person’s dream come true.  It no longer takes meeting in person, complicated meeting schedules or years to create a strategy for success.  For years I have run companies virtually and outsourced highly technical solutions to enable companies to run smoothly and much more efficiently.

One Lucky Person

What if I said, “Come up with an idea for a project to make the world a better place and no matter what your idea, I would help you put it in place?”  In addition, I would not only help you put the project in place, it is yours to keep, and I will help you learn to easily fund it and make it a stunning success.  You might think you stepped onto the stage of a TV reality show and all your dreams are coming true.  In reality, (not reality TV), that is what I have the joy of doing each and every day.  If you need someone to help you put your nonprofit project in place, learn for free how to fund it and have support in making it a huge success, then this invitation is open to you.  It all begins with a short application to start a nonprofit and I will step you through the rest of the process.

Your Wish Granted in One Step

1. Decide whether or not you’re committed once and for all to seeing your wish granted.
2. If you are still committed, and want to make your wish come true.
3. Take a minute and make sure you know what your wish is.
4. Say your wish out loud 3 times and click the button below.

Most Popular Posts of February

February has been a big month for great posts that help nonprofits learn to fundraise, brand their image, and use social media to get their messages out. We thought a nice post to round out February would be a link to many of these articles on the same page for easy reference.  Maybe you dream to start a Nonprofit but don’t know how.  There are even links to great articles on how to start a nonprofit.  Whatever your depth of knowledge in the nonprofit arena, there are quick and timely articles for everyone below that are sure to help you increase the success of your nonprofit.  Read on and enjoy the free information, all we ask is that you pass the web site address on to at least one other nonprofit that could benefit from the information also.

Fund Raising

Every Nonprofit wants to know more about how to fund raise successfully.  The 4 articles below will guide you with step-by-step instructions on how to build stable and dependable financial support even in a challenging economic economy.  Great articles for the beginner to the expert.

• Simple and Effective NonProfit Fundraising
• A Simple Fundraising Formula
• Fundraising Ideas
• $2K in 2 Hours

NonProfit Branding and Design

Nothing increases your success in running a successful nonprofit more than its image.  A great looking image and professionally designed marketing materials helps retell a nonprofits story with class.  A professional image is one of the keys to running a successful nonprofit and the articles below can help you step through that process with ease.  Whether you are a church or other type of nonprofit, these articles can help you.

* Is Your Image the Problem?
* The Secret to NonProfit Success

Philanthropy

These are great articles to get to your donors and those interested in your nonprofit, as well as great encouragement to you if you’re involved in a nonprofit. These articles will help your donors and supporters understand the importance and best way to get involved with your nonprofit.  Hopefully we have made your job a little easier just by having your supporters read these articles.  Feel free to direct those involved in your nonprofit back to these articles.

• What Have You Done Lately That You’re Proud Of?
• 6 Steps to Making a Bigger Splash
• The Wonder of a Star
• 401K Alternative

Social Media

Never before has it been so easy to connect with ongoing relationships and build new ones with a couple clicks of the mouse.  The 5 articles below give you step-by-step instructions on how to use the internet and social media to connect better to your supporters and donors while

easily finding 1000’s more who would enjoy being involved in your nonprofit.  Read the 5 articles below and apply them, and you will be on your way to connecting your nonprofit to others in a highly visible way.

• Tweet or Not to Tweet
• Building NonProfit Relationships Equals Success
• Tweet Tweet Nonprofit
• Top 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Blog
• 14 Advanced Twitter Tips

Start a NonProfit

Have you dreamed of starting a nonprofit but don’t know how to get started?  You might already have a nonprofit but are not seeing the success you had hoped for.  Either way, the articles below will guide you step-by-step through the process of easily starting, funding and running a successful nonprofit. Starting a nonprofit does not have to be expensive, and funding and running it does not have to be hard.  The articles below take the guess work and difficulty out of starting and running a successful nonprofit.

• Rebranding the NonProfit
• The Secret to NonProfit Success
• 3 Most Common NonProfit Hurdles
• 6 Steps to NonProfit Freedom
• NonProfit One Stop Shop
• NonProfit Job Listing
• Start a NonProfit | Medical

Types of NonProfits

There are hundreds of charitable causes that nonprofits address.  In the articles below, we explore 5 charitable causes that you may not have thought of as being a cause to start a nonprofit around.  While reading the articles you may think of friends, family or acquaintances that could enjoy the benefits of having a nonprofit directed toward one of these causes.  We would be glad to help them start, learn to fund and run a successful nonprofit directed toward one of these charitable causes.

• Actors Are People Too!
• Medical Foundation Success
• Start a NonProfit | Medical
• Family Foundations
• NonProfit Adoption
• NonProfit Memorials and Tributes

We Are Committed to NonProfits

As always, Ocean Grand is committed to helping those around the world who dream of starting a nonprofit do so with ease and efficiency.  Likewise, we are committed to those that run nonprofits to better fund and run successful nonprofits. For the last 12 years, we have helped thousands of nonprofits make their dreams a reality and in the next years we will help thousands more.  Join the Ocean Grand Network and let us help your nonprofit connect better, be better funded and see the success you have always hoped for.

If your dream is to start, fund and run a successful nonprofit and want to do it in the least expensive, most efficient and quickest way, while having the most support, get started today by visiting us on the web http://oceangrand.org/start-501c3/

Don’t Forget

Make sure you take a moment and subscribe to our RSS Feed or by email subscription so that you do not miss another article.  Our subscribers get timely articles delivered to them for free plus other information and tips that help them to implement strategies to make their nonprofit as successful as it can be. Subscribe to our blog and get a free bonus copy of my book – “Simple and Easy Fundraising” once it is published.

The last two articles Tweet or Not to Tweet and Tweet Tweet Nonprofit should have gotten everyone up-to-date on the basics of Twitter.   Now that you have your twitter account set up and hopefully following a few people as well as being followed I wanted to take this space to give you some tips to get you tweeting like a pro as well as being well mannered in the twitter arena (etiquette).  Read on to get some more advanced Twitter tips.

1. Hashtags

Hashtags (#) are a way to create or follow a stream on Twitter.  By typing a word with a hashtag in front of it (#airplane), your twitter message can be followed and added to by anyone who is also interested in that particular subject.  Thousands of hashtags are already established and are easy to join into or add to conversations about a particular topic or industry.  For example, if you’re interested in fundraising, #fundraising is a hashtag you can add into your twitter message and can be followed easily by anyone else interested in fundraising.  The same goes for thousands of topics.  Many times fast breaking news can be followed more closely on Twitter than even news channels.  Because millions use twitter, eyewitnesses can tweet details, pictures or information quicker using Twitter than it takes for a news crew to get to the scene of the story and get information to the TV or internet.  The way you follow hashtags is either by creating a search on tweetdeck with the hashtag you want to follow or following it on http://search.twitter.com ,  http://twemes.com/ or http://hashtags.org/

You can create your own hashtag to tweet about your live fundraiser or event so that others can follow the developing story from anywhere in the world.  You need to make sure the hashtag you create is unique and not already being used or else your tweets will be mixed into another ongoing conversations.  This way everyone can stay up-to-the-second connected to what is happening at your event.

2. Following Keywords

To follow topics you are interested in, it is not necessary to even find a hashtag for the subject. Many times you can go to http://search.twitter.com and type in the subject or word (i.e. giants, newborns, etc.) and instantly see all the tweets that happened around the world that include those words and subjects.

3. Etiquette

This is a huge topic and to my knowledge there is no definitive guide to the etiquette on twitter.  There are some things you should and should not do as a manner of politeness and to make Twitter a better experience for everyone.  I will list a few obvious ones below.

Ongoing Real Conversations- Twitter is meant to be a tool to facilitate real-time ongoing conversations.  Engage in getting to know those you follow and let others that follow you get to know you.  Twitter can be very fun and engaging; however, if you follow too many people there will be no way to keep up with all the conversations.  A good rule is to follow 250 or fewer people and to keep your posts and replies real.  Your posts should be like you’re having a conversation, not like your posting billboards.  The reason you want to keep who you’re following down to a number of people you can actually know is because think if all 250 people all posted one tweet during the day, that’s 250 tweets you have to keep up with.  Follow some people you find interesting and if you find later they are not interesting, unfollow them and follow some that are.  Your tweets do not have to be profound, instead make your conversations and tweets like real conversations.  Imagine you answered the phone and your friend asked you “What are you doing right now?”

No spam- Keep your conversations real and try hard not to always be focused on getting your message in everyone’s face.  Once you build some relationships there will be plenty of time to let them know how they can help.  Sometimes it is unavoidable to send people to your web site or info if they ask for it.  It is important they know what you do and why you do it, just don’t plaster them with that type of information.  Remember, Twitter is supposed to be a social conversation and many are following you because they want to get to know you and even your nonprofit.

Following and Being Followed- Do some searches on http://search.twitter.com for subjects that you are interested in.  Find those that seem interesting and follow them.  As you get involved with conversations others will follow you.  Above all enjoy the conversations.  Make it a habit to tweet several times a day and let people know (what you are comfortable with) what you’re doing, thinking, information you found interesting, etc.   Don’t worry if those following you, unfollow you.  They simply moved on to other conversations.  Another way to find interesting people is by looking at the profiles of the people that follow you to see who they are and might be interesting to follow.

Virtual Water Cooler- Remember that Twitter is like a virtual water cooler.  You don’t have to camp out at it all day spouting off everything that is going on in your life and listening to everyone else.  It is a good way to take breaks throughout the day and talk with a few people.  It is also a great way to ask questions about things you need answers to.  For example, “Where is the best place to eat in Dallas?”  People will let you know what they think.  Throughout the day I tune in for a couple minutes as I am taking coffee or water breaks to see what everyone I follow is up to, then it is back to business.

Here are 101 great dos and don’ts from Lauren Rothwww.laurennroth.com/?q=node/227″ target=”_blank”>

4. Twitter Clients

There are a lot of Twitter apps that can make your Twitter experience a lot more pleasant and you may want to take a look at each of them and decide it they are for you.  I will briefly go down a few and let you make your determination on whether they are helpful to you or not.

Tweet Deck- This is one I highly recommend.  Once you begin using it I believe it will make the whole twitter arena more interesting and manageable.  In a future post I may do a video of how to use TweetDeck.  Tweet deck will even translate tweets in other languages if you have friends in other countries.

Twirl- another desktop app for Twitter.  Very simple but keeps you from needing to go to the web to tweet.

Twitpic- is an app that is quickly accessible in TweetDeck or on its own.  It allows you to share pictures of anything on a tweet.

5. Tweet From Your Mobile Phone:

iphone:

Twitter Mobile- straightforward interface
PocketTweets – robust application
iTweet- good straightforward application
Hahlo 2.0- Great robust application

Blackberry

Twitterberry- Hands down the best on the blackberry (if you can’t afford an iphone)

6. Posts, Replies, and Direct Messages

When you post a tweet, the tweet goes out to everyone that is following you and can also be searched by searching your username on sites like http://search.twitter.com. Likewise when you reply (@scottringo), the message still goes out to the public but the person you replied to will receive it as a reply. If the recipient is using TweetDeck, they will get the reply in a separate window that is easy to identify.

However, there is another way to send and receive messages that are not so public- Direct Messages.  If someone is following you and you want to reply to their tweet only to them and not in a public way you can Direct Message them.  This is accomplished by putting a “D” in front of their user name (D scottringo).  If the recipient is using TweetDeck, the Direct Message (DM) shows up in a separate window from public messages or replies.  Many have their DM messages set to also come into their email or phone.  So a good rule of thumb is only to DM if it is confidential or urgent.  This way your conversations stay more public, but if you need to get a sensitive message to someone, you can.

7. Search

There are a lot of ways to search topics, subjects and messages on Twitter from the web.  If you use TweetDeck, the search can be done right in the application.  By far one of the easiest searches is done on search.twitter.com; others are twitscoop and twemes.com.  Play around with the searches and see what you can find.

Twitter Search – search for topics, subjects and areas of interest
Twitscoop -search for topics, subjects and areas of interest
Twemes -search for topics, subjects and areas of interest

Some other searches to explore:

TwitterFall- TwitterFall is the coolest way to read all or filtered posts on Twitter like a waterfall. BEWARE addictive
Retweetist - the freshest, most often Retweeted items
Twitt(url)y – Twitturly counts links posted on Twitter and then ranks the content.
Tweetmeme – shows Blogs, Images, Video and Audio that are linked to popular tweets
TweetLists - the most popular links over the last 24 hours
Twitter Search – most popular way to search for anything Twitter

8. Twitter in FaceBook

If you are a FaceBook fan, you can automatically update your Facebook account through Twitter which keeps you from going back and forth between accounts.  By updating your Facebook account with Twitter, your friends on FaceBook will know what you are doing throughout the day.

9. Blogging for Nonprofits

If your nonprofit has a blog, which I highly recommend, http://oceangrand.org/top-10-reasons-nonprofits-should-blog/, you can post your blog articles automatically to your twitter account using twit_this and then also updates your FaceBook profile.  That’s three “birds” with one stone.

10. Upload All Your Friends

Twitter is way more fun if all your friends, supporters, donors, board members, etc. are on Twitter so that you can tweet back and forth.  From your Twitter settings, click on “Find Friends”.  Once there, you have the option to find friends who are already on twitter by typing in their name.  With the next tab “Find on Other Networks” you can upload you address book by first importing your address book to gmail if it is not already there and then Twitter will check that against all the people in your address book.  Once found, you can add who you like or everyone.  With the third tab, “Invite By Email”, you have the option to invite all those you know who are not already on Twitter by entering their email addresses.  Adding your friends to Twitter will make Twitter a blast and easy for you to keep everyone you know and those interested in your nonprofit up-to-date.

11. Pace Yourself on Your Posts

Too many posts promoting yourself, your organization, or your nonprofit and people will get turned off.  Also, spending too much time on Twitter can wreck havoc on your work ethic.  Take it easy and find your groove on Twitter.  Beware- it is addictive.

12. Retweet

Retweet (RT) is a way to tweet again a post that someone tweeted that you think is interesting.  By putting a RT in front of the tweet either by copy and paste, or if you’re using TweetDeck, there is a button that automatically fills it all in, you can retweet others’ posts.  People love it when you retweet their posts.  It is a way to gain people’s affection and loyalty.

13. Spend Time on Your Profile

Spend some time on your profile and make it interesting so people will want to follow you.  You might also want to get a customized Twitter background on your profile which will give you more room to give people information, plus it just makes you look cool.

14. Have a Blast!

So now you have some advanced techniques and how to get the most out of Twitter.  This is certainly not an exhaustive list of ways  you can use Twitter, but it is a good start.  Above all, have a blast and don’t get overwhelmed.  Twitter is a powerful application that when used consistently  and with moderation can get you well connected to those you love and those you may not yet know you love.  Once you get connected, follow us at @scottringo and let the games begin.

Subscribe to our RSS feed or email subscription to learn more about how to start, fund, and run a nonprofit successfully.  We will be giving you some tips in the coming weeks about how you can do a “Tweet Up” as a fundraiser for your nonprofit.

Other Articles on “How to Be a Social Media Pro:”
Tweet or Not to Tweet
Tweet Tweet NonProfit
10 Reasons a NonProfit Should Blog

On a phone call today I was asked what I believe was the most important factor in the success of a nonprofit that most forget. For me that is an easy question and one I believe is also the same for any business. In this day and age of email addresses, usernames, and twitter accounts many forget that relationships are golden. Whether you are in business for profit or not-for-profit, if you are not devoting a large percentage of your business toward building relationships, you are missing one of the most important aspects of marketing. If you build the relationships with your volunteers and donors and forget the rest, the finances, programs, and success will fall into place. Read on and let me show you how to build loyal relationships that can make all the difference in your business. I will start out with explaining the why and give you practical how to at the end.

The Missing Puzzle Piece

In this day and age more than ever people want to be known. It is a need that we are all born with, that we want people to know who we are. Think about it for a minute, when you walk into a room of strangers, doesn’t it feel great when someone knows you? Sure it does, it feels awesome. It does not matter whether you are in a room of strangers, in the cyber world, or walking into a restaurant for lunch. When someone knows you or wants to get to know you it makes you feel really good. Imagine what it must feel like when you are in one of those venues and everyone in the room or restaurant knows you. Everyone wants to be known and it feels even better when they know you because of something good you did.

I believe it was the main reason that the sitcom “Cheers” was so successful and intriguing to America. The tag line was “Where everyone knows your name.” When I used to watch “Cheers”, I too wished I had a place, even if it was a bar, where everyone knew me and I could share life with them. In the age of suburbs and cyberspace, it is getting tough to get to know people and for them to get to know you. We get up in the morning, jump in our car, drive out of our neighborhood to work without encountering even one person we have to say “good morning” to. We arrive at work and spend most of our day in a cubicle, eat lunch at our desk and have few conversations even emailing the person in the cube next to us. At the end of the day we jump back in our car, drive into our neighborhood and into our driveway, walk into our house and still rarely have to encounter another human being outside of our immediate family. Sure you say “hi” to the neighbor across the hedges, which will be tall enough next year that you can ignore them, while you’re cutting your grass on the weekend. However, it is possible to go an entire week with very little interaction with others. It is one of the huge reasons that facebook, twitter and online chat rooms are so popular. People are searching for a way for others to know them. Do you really think that people would put up personal profiles with all types of information and jot 140 characters about their lunch fare on twitter to thousands of complete strangers if they were not screaming out for someone to know them? Those that are involved in your business or nonprofit also have a need to be known and it is your job to see that they are. I will give you some tips below on how you can attract and keep loyal clients and donors by simply taking an interest in them more than the other guy.

Building Relationships that Stick

Building relationships can be simple. However it is an art that is quickly being forgotten, especially in the business world. Starting from the premise that most people in this world want to be known, we can focus a majority of our attention on building relationships, even if it is through social media, to form strong loyalties. Relationship building should start immediately when someone shows interest in getting involved with your nonprofit/business. Each person is different in the level in which they want to build a relationship and respect should be given to them to build that relationship to the level of their expectations. True, if you have thousands involved, there is only so much of you to go around but there are easy ways to make more of you go around than you may have thought. The key is to extend yourself out to others in as many avenues as you can and let each individual choose the level and avenues that are comfortable to them. However, most of your volunteers, donors and grantors of funds want to be acknowledged at some level and most likely want to form more of a relationship than you will ever realize. Now your challenge is how can you acknowledge those involved in your business enough while still having enough of yourself and organization left to do the projects that you are involved in. If someone does not want the acknowledgment or relationship, they will make that apparent by giving an anonymous gift or letting you know up front.

Likewise, the amount an organization or individual gives should not be a consideration for how much they need acknowledgment or desire relationship. For many a little is all they have but is proportionally bigger in their finances that the large gift from a wealthy individual. Everyone should be treated equally regardless of their gift or the time they donate to your organization. When the “rubber hits the road” the person that is willing to donate their Saturday to you may be worth all the finances your nonprofit has in the bank when you really need the help but have few to turn to.

Gloat!

A good rule to apply and hardly ever go wrong with is gloat continually on your donors and volunteers. If, by some strange reason, an individual want you to rant about them less they will let you know. However, in all my years in business I have rarely had someone say to me that I needed to notice them less. People love when you notice their efforts, donations and involvement and by doing so you secure people falling all over themselves to do things that you will gloat about.

Some things You Should Know

I will give you some basic things you should know about all your donors and then some ways that you can make yourself more accessible to them to allow them to decide for themselves the level of relationship they want to establish with you. You can never know enough about your donors and volunteers, period. Asking about these things I will list below will establish that you care enough about those that get involved in your nonprofit work to build relationships with them. Granted this is only a few things you can know and do to begin to establish rapport with them, but it is a fantastic start.

Things you should know about your donor and volunteers:

• Spouse and Children’s names and ages
• Birthdays- Spouse and children’s birthdays and acknowledge them on or before the date
• Special Interests – When you come across those hockey tickets you can’t use, give them to the one it means the most to.
• Special Skills- You may need to call on their special skills (construction, fundraising, scrap booking, making blankets, computer).
• There are a ton more but that will get you started.

Open the Relationship Avenues

There are many levels that relationships can happen on. Your responsibility is to open as many avenues to relationships that you can, then let your donors and volunteers choose the ones that best fit their lifestyle, technical skills and comfort level. Below are a few to get you started and then add more as they become available or you are comfortable with. Remember, you are now a public figure and when serving your community you are going to need to be somewhat open with the public about who you are and what you stand for. It may get scrutinized, but hey, how important is the work to you that you are doing? You will find that by being open you will gain loyal supporters and allies that will help you accomplish your dreams.

Avenues you should make available for your donors and volunteers to get to know you:

• Quarterly get-to-know-you lunch where people can “touch and feel you”
• Ability to “Follow you on Twitter” if you don’t know what this is, see http://oceangrand.org/tweet-or-not-to-tweet
• Ability to be your friend on Facebook- yes if they give blood, sweat and tears they are your friend
• Ability to subscribe to weekly or monthly email updates- yes, you need to have a monthly email newsletter
• Ability to subscribe to RSS feeds about your nonprofit
• Ability to give you feedback either by email or forum
• Consider consistently blogging about your nonprofit on your own blog

Your Touch

Now that your volunteers and donors can “touch and feel” you there is a minimum touch that you should extend to them. These are only minimum guidelines and the more you get to know them and they know you the better the support for your nonprofit you will have. Don’t put these primary “touches” off until the end of each month but do them immediately each time you have the opportunity.

Ways to reach out and touch your supporters when they have donated or put forth and effort to help your nonprofit:

• Personal handwritten thank you notes for any donation or effort to help your nonprofit
• Public acknowledgments for donations and efforts to help your nonprofit
• Periodic person-to-person lunches and meetings with each donor and volunteer
• Simple thank you gifts go a long way – nothing fancy just small inexpensive gifts
• Ongoing acknowledgment in newsletters of donations and volunteer efforts

Building Relationships is Easy

The ability to build relationships is something that we are born with; however, many times while growing up we forget the fundamentals. Relationships are the life-blood for your nonprofit and to dismiss them as unnecessary is a fatal mistake. Everybody wants to be know to some degree and it is the nonprofit’s job to cultivate the relationships and bring value to those people’s lives who are involved and giving their hard earned time and finances to it. No matter how hectic things get or how bad the economy becomes, when all the cards are down, if you have good relationships your going to be OK.

I am writing this after spending the morning on Twitter and FaceBook.  You may not have any idea what I am talking about or know just enough to believe it is a waste of your time.  That is the whole reason we at Ocean Grand have decided to put together a series of ongoing articles around “social media” for non profits.  Read on to learn how social media is here to stay and how you can get on board to help your nonprofit become more successful.

The key to getting, keeping and engaging donors, funders, and corporations is by building a relationship with them.  There is no alternative to building relationships, the relationship comes first and always first.  There is also no alternative, not even through social media, to engage your non profit supporters in the “flesh”.  However, social media is a great platform to tell and retell your story (read more about “your story” here).  The more ways you are able to get the information and successes out to people who are interested in them the farther your reach.  Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) is another way to get your story and successes out to those that want to know about them, plus find some others that maybe interested in the mix.

Social media is also a way to keep donors and others up-to-date with your cause and what you’re doing to impact the world in a simple and easy way.  A couple “tweets” (tweets are short messages on twitter) a day will help all those following the progress of your non profit to know what you’re doing today to help the cause.  Likewise, it is a great way to invite people to your fundraisers, events and projects.  By using Twitter, others who get your tweets can pass the message along very easily, possibly generating lots of buzz about your upcoming function.  If those tweets are also posted automatically on your FaceBook “wall”, then you have reached two audiences that otherwise would have had no idea what you were doing.  For example, maybe you are holding a fundraiser or event in Virginia.  Several tweets throughout the day from your mobile phone and everyone around the world knows how it is going.

This morning I wrote an article on “What Have You Done Lately That You Are Proud Of?”  When I posted the article from the Ocean Grand blog http://www.oceangrand.org the post was tweeted and then also sent to our FaceBook wall.  Almost instantaneously several people joined our twitter following who were not following before.  The link to the article in the tweet was also clicked on and read by many from our twitter following.  It was a quick, easy and effective way to let those that were interested know there was a new article.

The Virtual Water Cooler

Social Media is the present day water cooler and unlike the water cooler in your office, it is an ongoing global conversation.  If you want to be more successful in the non profit world, you want your non profit activities to be a part of that conversation.  From Twitter and FaceBook conversations I have connected to other non profit organizations who were ecstatic to find out about all the free information and help we provide to non profits at Ocean Grand.  Through those same social media channels I have also made new friends and reacquainted myself with old friendships halfway around the world.

The Afternoon Coffee Break

As I’m going throughout the day I hit points where I need a pick-me-up and many times caffeine does the trick.  However, while I am getting my afternoon infusion I also check in on my FaceBook and Twitter accounts to see what is happening around the world.  Inevitably I run across a quick conversation or am able to offer some input that renews my inspiration to motivate me on to the end of the day.  It has been well documented that the human brain needs breaks throughout the day and can be much more productive once given one.  You would be surprised at all the little notes of encouragement you can get on Twitter and FaceBook that can get you through the day.

Each platform of Social Media has its own nuances and particular use, but the lines quickly become blurred once you start integrating them together.  We will show you how to get the best use out of each in further articles.  We are going to focus on FaceBook and Twitter below and give you some quick instructions on getting started.

FaceBook

The simple explanation: FaceBook is a platform where you can add “friends” old and new to your profile.  Then you can message each other back and forth, add video and share pictures.  You are able to keep tabs on your “contacts” and and they can do the same with you.  It’s a quick glance at what everyone you know around the world is doing, interested and involved in.  As a nonprofit, you can also create a “cause” page where people can join to be involved and even donate online to your nonprofit.

FaceBook Steps:

1. Sign up and create an interesting profile. Add a photo and definitely put up a “cause” page so others can join into your non profit work.
2. Use the site’s feature to search your email address book for people you know.
3. Each time a friend adds, look at their friends for others that you may know and add them as a friend.
4. Use your existing friends as a way to find more friends. Try to stay within the boundaries of people you actually know and have some type of relationship with.
5. Create a “home like” feel to the information you put on your site.  You want people to get to know you better or all over again if it has been a while.
6. There are a ton of “applications” you can use that will allow you to share books your reading, videos you like, blogs you read etc.
7. The number of “friends” you have depends upon you but the more friends you can connect to the farther your message will go out to the masses.
8. Keep in mind, as a non profit you want people to both get to know you and your non profit so try to think of ways that you can introduce what your non profit is doing.
9. Make sure you are actively getting your donors and those interested signed up and promote, promote, promote your FaceBook link so people can connect to you.
10. Focus your efforts on building relationships and letting people know what you are doing.  A few “What am I doing” updates a day goes a long way.  Likewise, reply and respond to other people’s updates.

Twitter

Twitter uses quick posts of 140 characters or less to let people know what you are doing throughout the day.  The same goes for your responses to others’ posts.  Unlike FaceBook there are not pages or places to put video and “causes” but instead you do short updates, “tweets”, throughout the day and reply to others’ tweets.  In some aspects “less is more” and keeping track of your and other people’s tweets can be managed easily by using TweetDeck http://www.tweetdeck.com.  Throughout the day  “tweet” several times and let people know what you’re up to; you will be amazed at how interested they are in the little things you do each day.  Respond to a few tweets.  You can find others to “follow” (when you follow someone you are able to see their tweets) that you may have interest in and again you will be amazed at what you learn.

Twitter Steps:

1. Sign up and create an interesting profile. Add a photo.
2. Use the site’s feature to search your email address book for people you know.
3. Find people you maybe interested in following at Twitscoop http://www.twitscoop.com/ by searching topics you’re interested in.
4. You can always find more people to follow by reading the posts of those you are already following that seem like interesting conversations.
5. The number of people you follow or allow to follow you depends upon you but the more people following you the farther your message will go out to the masses.
6. Keep in mind, as a non profit you want people to both get to know you and your non profit so try to think of ways that you can introduce what your non profit is doing without giving a sales pitch.
7. Make sure you are actively getting your donors and those interested signed up and promote, promote, promote your Twitter link so people can connect to you.
8. Focus your efforts on building relationships and letting people know what you are doing.  A few “What am I doing” updates a day goes a long way.  Likewise, reply and respond to other peoples updates.

Remember that all the information, pictures, video and updates are able to be seen by all your friends or followers so keep that in mind when you put information on the internet.

If you contact me I can help you integrate your tweets to automatically be posted to your FaceBook which keeps you from needing to update two different places.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet, That is the Question

Social Media is a great way to get your message out and also connect people across the globe to your non profit cause.  It is time well spent if you keep focused while using these media.  It is easy to get caught up in it; however, now is the time to get involved because Social Media looks like it is here to stay. This is just a brief introduction to the Social Media arena and we will cover each separately and give more detail on how to use these great platforms to your advantage other posts.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, sign up for an account and begin getting a feel for them.

Don’t forget to add us as a friend on FaceBook and follow us on Twitter.  The links are to the right of this post and also below.

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32978279968
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ScottRingo

What Have You Done Lately That You Are Proud Of?

I was wondering to myself the other day… what have I done lately that I am proud of?  Sure there are the usual ongoing things like being a good husband, a good father, my daily work, and of course taking out the trash.  However, I am talking about an accomplishment that is not in my usual routine, something that sets me apart from a major part of society.  To be proud of an accomplishment I will assume I would have put a fair amount of time into it.  I would also assume that if I shared the accomplishment with other people they too would agree that it was something I could be proud of.  So with those three assumptions “What have you done lately that you are proud of?”  If something comes to mind while you are reading this article, post it in the comments below.  However, if you are still mulling that question around read on and maybe I can help you come up with something.

Daily Routine

Many times I can get so caught into my daily routine that months or even a year can go past without reevaluating what I am doing apart from my family and employment that makes a significant impact in a way I can be proud of.  I am not talking about a boastful and arrogant proud, but instead a feeling of satisfaction in accomplishing something I set out to do to make a positive impact in the world.  Then as I pondered the question, I began to realize that an accomplishment of significance does not necessarily have to be something I’ve never done before but instead why I do something.  I could refocus the way in which I do something or reengineer the outcome of what I do and gain the same goal in accomplishing something I can be proud of.  You may already be doing many things in your daily and weekly routine that could be proud accomplishments with just a little tweaking.  Read on and I will explain how in just a short time you can have an endless list of things you’re doing daily that you can be proud of.

Hobbies and Activities

Most of us have hobbies and activities that are part of our normal routine that could easily be turned into something we could be proud of.  For example, take training for a marathon.  Every day you run there is satisfaction in that, right?  When you complete the marathon there is satisfaction in that, right?  Well, what if every day you ran you were actually running for an even bigger cause than the daily and finish line satisfactions?  The steps to making that happen are below.

Maybe your activity is working out, playing softball, snowboarding, bike riding, taking your child for a walk, or even parachuting, all these and anything else can be turned into even something bigger and impact the world in a positive way.  Let me show you how.

Take the Plunge

Here in Virginia Beach we have an annual event called the Polar Plunge where everyone raises pledges and then dives in the ocean (some only up to their ankles) to benefit Special Olympics.  I have nothing against Special Olympics and really think they are a class act and great cause.  Instead, what I am trying to explain here is the only activity you have to be willing to do is get your toes wet and you can raise money to help a great cause.

Now let’s say you figure out a great cause for which you would like to raise funds and awareness.  Although there is no special event scheduled (or even if there is) you could create your own very easily.  Take the running for example.  Pick a Saturday, commit to running 10, 15 or more miles and contact everyone you know to pledge money toward the cause you want to support.  If you have your own non profit (which is becoming very popular), you could raise donations for it.  You can make a great opportunity out of an event of any kind, even the “Plunge” mentioned above and raise pledges for the Special Olympics and another cause simultaneously.

Proud As a Papa

Now back to the activities that are a part of your normal routine.  Take any one of them, let’s take ironing shirts, and organize a shirt iron-off right at your own house or even better someplace more public.  The pledges could be donated per shirt you iron.  You could ask all your friends to bring their shirts that need to be ironed or even open it up to anyone that needs their shirts ironed.  I believe you get the point, anything, including things you do in your daily routine can be reengineered into an accomplishment you can be proud of because you turned an ordinary event into something extraordinary.

Moms and Pops of Non Profits

You should take careful notes while reading this article.  You can be raising donations for the non profit you watch over by doing just about anything.  As a non profit you should take advantage of events that are already planned and organized in your area and make them into fundraisers for your organization as explained above.  Just about any activity could raise money for your favorite charity even if the charity is not a charity that is officially recognized for the event.  Why not raise money for your favorite charity through events that are already happening all around you.

So You Want to Be Proud?

Organizing even your routine activities (and yes it could be walking your daughter around the neighborhood, comment below if you need and explanation) around something you could be proud of does not have to be a daunting task.  Doing so will give you a constant source of things that you can look back on and know you can be proud of.  Then the next time you might have an instance to wonder if you have done anything lately that you are proud of you will have an endless list.

If you are an actor, actress or know an actor or actress, you need to read this article on how you can better launch your career by focusing on what many actors do once they are successful.  Read on and I will show you how you can begin to network like crazy in circles of successful actors like you never thought possible.

We have all seen the commercials and ads when a famous actor or celebrity jumps onboard with a charity or “save the world” cause.  Suddenly that actor seems more “touchable” and real.  It helps us consider what we could do to make a difference in the world and focus our attention on those that need our help.  The fact is, lots of well known actors do all types of non profit charity work and not only does it bring awareness to the cause, but helps them network with others in their field.  Many successful actors actually own non profits which promote their cause and accept donations.  Why then, if successful celebrities and actors can own their own non profit, promote great causes, take advantage of the high-end networking, and accept loads of donations, don’t up-and-coming actors take advantage of these same opportunities?  Most simply do not know how easily it is to jump-start their career and influence by doing so.  In this short post I will explain the benefits that every actor or person in the entertainment industry can leverage by owning their own non profit and shift their entertainment career into high gear.

The Power of Networking

Everyone knows that networking is powerful in any career or endeavor.  Sometimes the toughest decision is where and how to network the most effectively.  In the world of entertainment, competition is fierce and “who you know” is many times critical to getting the gig, the audition, or being cast.  Sure, once you get the part or gig then you must turn on your best social skills and network like crazy with those for the short time you are working with them.  However, what if there was an easier and more effective way to network 24 hours a day with actors, directors, producers, and support staff even when you are not on the set or even employed?  What if that networking tool could even financially support you while you were between gigs?  How exciting would it be if you also learned that the same avenue of networking could be highly satisfying in itself, and help make the world a better place?  The type of networking I am talking about can do all that plus include you in circles of influence and contacts that you never thought was possible until you were walking the red carpet.  What is this amazing tool?  Read on.

When the Director says “Cut”

Even if you were on a set or playing a gig there is work to be done and little time to network and when the director says “cut” everyone is in a hurry to get to their family, gala, fundraising dinner, etc.  Wait, what if you could be involved in those people’s lives and interests after the final scene of the day?  You can and its not hard.  What if you were off to the same galas, fundraising dinners, and nonprofit volunteering that the other stars were off to?  That is where the “real” mingling takes place.  Even if you were between acting or music gigs you could still be off to the same events.  There are two easy ways to do that and one that assures you more success than the other.  Follow along.

Scenario One

Say there was a particular actor, director, producer or casting director you knew being associated with would give you much better exposure?  With very little research you could find with which non profit causes and charities they were involved.  If they are involved with a cause then most likely others are also involved that are in your industry.  If those charities and causes are something that you are interested in then simply get involved with the cause.  Here is where you need to check your heart and integrity because if you are not sincerely interested in those same causes there is no integrity in you being involved.  Once involved, focus on helping and being involved with that non profit, they will appreciate your help.  Stay involved to help the nonprofit and you never know, you might find yourself networking with those in your industry that will give you a leg up.  See http://oceangrand.org/6-steps-to-making-a-bigger-splash/ on how to get seriously involved in helping a non profit in the right ways.

Scenario Two

Most people in non profit work associate with others in the non profit arena.  Instead of waiting until you are famous to find a cause you could help to make the world a better place, start now.  You could easily start, build stable funding, and run your own successful non profit.  I am sure you are saying “Yeah, if I had that kind of time.”  You eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, right?  Then you have time to create and manage a well funded and world-changing non profit.  Really.  Once you are finished reading this article jump over to http://oceangrand.org/6-steps-to-non-profit-freedom/ for all the information you need to, step-by-step, get a non profit successful over breakfast, lunches and dinners.

By starting your own non profit or charity you get to decide what world-changing task you are going to focus on.  You create the non profit around your passions and interests.  Then you start networking with all the other non profits in your city attending their fundraisers, benefits, and likewise them attending yours.  If you have a world-changing non profit cause and you begin to network, it does not have to be long before you are in the same room and at the same events that those you would like to network with about your career.  However, this time you are the one with whom they are wanting to be involved.  Now you have two levels in which to network with them.  You would be amazed at who you might have involved in your non profit.

No More “Starving Artist”

One of the great advantages of the second scenario is that your non profit can employ you.  Yes, say goodbye to the days of the starving artist.  Once your non profit has steady donations coming in it can employ you with a salary for the work you do on its behalf.  Not only are you building a successful non profit that can change the world, but it can provide you an income while you are between or in addition to gigs.  Now you get paid on and off the “clock.”  Meanwhile your non profit cause is networking for you 24 hours a day as those involved are telling others about the great charitable cause of yours that they are involved in.

Why Not “Arrive” Through the Back Door?

While many are trying to network, get auditions and gigs through the front door, by starting a non profit you may just find that you “arrived” through the back door.  You can change the world even before you become famous, supplement your income, and be working on your career all at the same time.  If nothing else, you can leave a legacy for your family and friends to carry on when you depart.  You may have noticed that a lot of charities are focused around the arts and could be an easy passion for you to discover.  We at Ocean Grand would enjoy helping you start, learn to fund, and run a successful nonprofit.  You never know, you might be starring in your own movie one day that documents the success of the non profit you started.

Everyone is involved in non profit work, however, some are more focused on changing the world with their involvement than others.  Read on and figure out how you can make a lasting impact in that which you focus your charitable giving and involvement.
We all give money to charities and we all volunteer doing charity work, some just have more to show for their giving and time than most.  You may not have even realized you had even been involved charitably.  Let’s face it, whether the most you’ve done is give someone holding a sign a dollar, let all your friends know about a benefit walk-a-thon or volunteered some time to help a friend, we have all been involved in charity work.  The fact is, unless you live under a rock you are going to be involved in charity work again one day.  Wouldn’t it be great if you focused your involvement in a way that had a measurable impact?

Many people get to the end of a year and receive a few statements from charitable organizations that show a few dollars here or there that they contributed charitably and can count on their taxes.  However, to most it seemed like we gave money and time in more ways to make a difference in the charitable arena, didn’t it?  There are a couple easy ways to start focusing your efforts this year on making a bigger and more meaningful impact on the charitable things you do, while knowing exactly what you did and the significance of that impact.  I will show you 6 simple steps you can take to make the most of your charitable efforts.

Stop Shrugging Your Shoulders and Make a Difference

1. Focus Your Non Profit Activity

While being involved in random charitable activities is good, focusing your nonprofit activities and giving to one or two causes helps you make a larger and more memorable impact.  Being focused on a few charities can help you keep focused and plan out your year and involvement.  Likewise, the charities that you focus on can better count on you for your involvement making it easier for them to plan budgets and events knowing they can count on you for your contribution and volunteerism.  Focused involvement can also help you get excited about the significant difference you are making in the world by your charitable activity.  There are some easy steps to help you discover what you might like to be involved in and then how to focus your efforts on those charitable causes.

Steps to Better Focus Your Non Profit Involvement

1. Take a week and decide what you are passionate about being involved in.
2. Narrow your passions down to a couple that you would be excited about pursuing this year.
3. Do a google search, ask friends or contact us to find charities that you could make an impact in around your passions.
4. Look at your budget and decide what you would like to designate financially to making an impact this year.
5. Look at your schedule and figure out how many weekends or evenings you could devote to helping those charities.
6. Contact the charities and let them know of your desires and availability to help.
7. Stay focused and make your giving and volunteering a priority by putting it on your calendar and following through.

2. Streamline your Giving

Many times, people fail in their commitments to give to charities because they simply forget to write the check.  Likewise, many non profits fail to make it easy for donors to make financial gifts by not setting up online giving.  Make your giving automatic by setting up reoccurring gifts online either through your bank or the charities online giving.  By setting up automatic payments you will be assured that your financial gift is not forgotten and always delivered right on time.

Another way to make your charitable giving more significant is to save up your weekly or monthly contributions and purchase or give toward more tangible needs that the charity has.  You could even save up your charitable contributions for several months or the year and give toward something with which you can feel like you made a memorable impact.  For example, saving up several months and paying for the entire roof for an orphanage may be a better way for you to see your financial gift at work than giving a few dollars here or there.  Plus it is more fun to give to items or projects in which you can look back and see you had  more tangible impact.  Ask the nonprofit what significant items or goals you can give toward in larger chunks to develop more excitement in your giving.

3. Volunteer Intentionally

Volunteering spontaneously when a charity needs help is great.  However, you will be able to account for your impact and make your efforts count more if you intentionally volunteer for specific events during the year or consistent weekends.  It will be easier to volunteer and be involved if you can look back at the year and know for example that you volunteered one weekend a month or for two significant events during the year.  You will be able to look back at the year and know you had a consistent impact by the events or weekends for which you volunteered.

4. Multiply your giving by getting others involved

Your personal involvement in a charity is a great starting point, however if you had friends, family or even neighbors involved in the work with you, you can have a larger and more fulfilling impact in your efforts.  Organizing a simple fund raising dinner at your home, or even a larger event and inviting friends, family and neighbors to attend can be a great way to make a huge impact  You will develop stronger relationships and be able to use your influence to impact your charitable projects by simply getting others involved with you.  It can be a lot of fun when you have many you know involved in changing the world as a group rather than attempting to stay involved with the efforts by yourself.

Matching gifts are also a way to multiply your contribution’s impact.  Let the nonprofit know that you will match other’s gifts up to the amount you can afford, and you will give the nonprofit the motivation to find others that will give, which will double your giving efforts.

Some Ideas that can get others involved:

• A fund raising dinner at your home
• Matching gifts of either equal or double amounts
• Benefit Concert
• Organize a Car Wash
• Walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, running and swimming events
• Craft Festivals
• Rummage Sales
• Golf Tournaments
• Tennis Events
• Bingo and Casino Nights
• Wine Tasting Parties
• Auctions

Any non profit should jump on the opportunity to let you organize and hold any of the events above.

5. Start Your Own Nonprofit Focus

While it can be very satisfying to give your time and finances to any number of great non profits, nothing is as exciting as custom tailoring your charitable activity directly toward one of your own passions.  Many spend time raising funds, giving financially and volunteering their time to a nonprofit that has a great cause. However, they wish they could spend those resources and time on a non profit that matches exactly their passions.  Creating and running your own non profit cause and organization is not as hard as it may sound.  Imagine making an impact in the charitable arena custom tailored to fit your lifestyle and passions exactly.  I know from experience that it is highly satisfying and not at all hard.  Everyday at Ocean Grand, we enable and empower individuals to create their own non profit focused on the charitable activities that they are willing to invest their time and resources in and many even employ themselves it its full time work.  For more information see http://oceangrand.org/6-steps-to-non-profit-freedom/ for how easy it could be for you to create your own highly focused non profit.

6. Social Networking

Facebook and other social networking sites provide you an easy way to let others know what you are focused on, recruit friends to help, and let them know how they can get involved.  By setting up a “cause” or page associated with your social media account, you have an easy way to get those you know involved and contributing to the charitable organizations and activities you are passionate about.  If you have a facebook account you can see http://apps.facebook.com/causes/201049 for an example.

Conclusion

Most everyone can make a bigger splash with their charity involvement and charitable giving.  Whether you simply focus your giving better or start a non profit to benefit the causes you’re passionate about, we can all do a better job of supporting charitable activities.  A non profit could be the beginning of a world wide revolution, a great alternative to a 401K, the answer to a person’s medical bills, or an honorable memorial to a love one that has passed away.  There are non profits focused on just about every type of challenge you can think of.  The question that remains to be answered is what are you going to do to change the world to be a better place?

Regardless of whether you believe you are involved with charity and nonprofit work, you are in some form or fashion, it may be hard to pinpoint your impact.  Why not take a couple minutes, implement a couple of the ideas above and make your impact measurable this year?  Believe me that it is a highly satisfying activity to get to the end of a year and be able to quantitate your impact in changing the world to be a better place.

For me gazing at the stars puts many things back into perspective because of the magnitude of the universe and the realization of what you’re actually gazing at.  Standing on a planet that is spinning about 1,038 miles per hour on the equator or if you live in the U.S. and Europe the speed is around 700 to 900 mph.  The earth is also hurtling through space at 67,000 miles an hour around the sun.  When we look into the sky, we are looking into the endless vastness of space and some 9800 stars are visible to the naked eye at any one time.

I am reminded of the hope that the rhyme, “Star light, start bright, the first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight” gives us.  There is a magical thing that happens in our minds when we believe there is hope that someone or something cares about giving us a break of unprecedented magnitude.  For many that hope that someone cares is what gets them through the cold winter nights, the time to the next hot meal, the pain of a medical condition, or even the death of a loved one.  Some non profits even encourage our hope by touching us with plays, the arts, music and stories of hope found.

Though many have never had the wish granted they wished on a star, millions have been touched by the kindness of a non profit and its volunteers that cared about them.  For many in need, with hurt, sorrow, or even requiring counseling to get through trauma, the people involved in a non profit cause became a star that granted their wish.

The people involved in non profit work and those who donate to it are stars that shine beautifully even in the darkest night.  Rarely are they thanked, and many work in obscurity but the twinkle in their eye is far more brilliant than any star in the night sky.  For many, their involvement starts with seeing a need that requires a solution For others, their passion stems from a need in their own life, and countless others the dream to be a part of a story that is bigger than themselves.  Whatever the motivation, the results are the same- a light streaming from the darkness of time and space to bring hope to someone who needs it.

Just like the star that I was gazing at, many who are involved in nonprofit work are never recognized until their life has passed away.  However, the light that their life shined on others continues long after they are gone, brightening lives and restoring hope.

While reading a book last week, it posed the scenario that in 100 years no one that remembers you would still be alive.  Few will remember your name, what you did for a living, or even how much money you made. That is an interesting observation and while I have as many ancestors as you, how many of those ancestors left a lasting legacy?  The majority of people that have lived life upon this earth have left without anything to show for their life other than a few memories they have left their children- some good, some bad.  Unlike the star whose light continues to shine well after its gone, rarely do we find individuals who are willing to focus their lives or assets on legacy-building tasks.

Making a legacy-building difference in the world is a task which we should all be willing to engage in and teach our children to engage in.  Just a few hours a week or even a month can make a memorable difference to the lives of people you touch.  Anyone can leave a legacy; it simply takes the desire and willingness to care about others.  Why not commit this year to begin to build a legacy for you and your family?

Here are some simple steps you can take to begin building your legacy:

• Volunteer with a non profit or ministry.
• Start a non profit of your own.

Starting and running a non profit does not have to be difficult; see