Who’s Ready To Be Back?
July 7th, 2008 § Leave a Comment
A Few Fundraising Ideas
April 23rd, 2008 § Leave a Comment
One of my many jobs is working for a homeless services agency in Pasadena. After our last development staff meeting, in which we all seemed down regarding the financial outlook for the coming year, I did some thinking. The following are a few of the thoughts I have been playing around with in my head on ways to potentially increase revenue and awareness, even if it just helps ever-so slightly. Some of these thoughts aren’t completely fleshed out and are merely extensions of some things we already do, but I wanted to share them. Send any additional thoughts my way. I’d appreciate them.
More grassroots fundraising
- Firstgiving – We already have an account with them that we use for our Bowl-A-Thon. For no additional cost we allow individuals to create their own fundraisers, we just need to promote it.
- Facebook – We have a Facebook page that we update occasionally. It wouldn’t take much work to encourage staff to create their own profiles and promote the heck out of us to friends and family.
- Encourage participation in outside events such as marathons, etc.
- Promote our services and provide our wish list to local churches and businesses during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week in November, and year round.
Additional resources for driving new, and repeat, visitors to our website
- Create a weekly blog featuring program updates, client success stories, an update from the Executive Director, etc.
- Place client success stories in a more prominent place on the website to show that we are making a difference
- Start an e-Newsletter
- Use Google Adwords
Increase size of donation link on website so that it is more visible
Santa Cruz Island
March 19th, 2008 § Leave a Comment
A couple weeks ago I attended a conference up in Oxnard, CA at the Embassy Suites Hotel Mandalay Beach Resort. During that conference I enjoyed a little side trip to one of the Channel Islands. It was awesome. Check out my pictures from Santa Cruz Island below.
When Worlds Collide
March 4th, 2008 § 1 Comment
As I mentioned yesterday, the conference I'm attending this week is
being put on by the company that does the direct mail for my
organization.
Specifically, this conference is for all of their mission clients.
And while the organization I work for isn't a mission, per se, we are
lumped into that category because we provide similar services. The
reason they lump us together with other missions is to save us money
on our campaigns. By putting us all in one big group they can get
lower print and mailing costs, but that's another story.
Now, what I find interesting about this conference is that since most
of their clients are missions they have geared the conference toward
those organizations. Each day starts with worship and a devotional.
And throughout the day it isn't uncommon to hear words like
"ministry," and "blessed."
For the Christian in me this kind of interaction is great, but as an
employee of a non-religious organization, it is a little confusing.
I'm so used to being torn between those two worlds. With them
colliding here I don't know what to do with myself. In some ways I
wish they were kept separate. It would be more applicable to my
situation. However, I realize that I am probably in the minority. I
may, in fact, represent the only non-religious organization here,
which leads me to wonder if this is really the best fit. More on
that another time.
As for now, it's time for this break to end and the next session to
begin, so I'd better sign off.
Live from beautiful Oxnard
March 3rd, 2008 § Leave a Comment
It should be an interesting week. I came to this conference last year and had a good time. This year I am the sole representative for my organization. In some ways it’s nice to be by myself, but it is a little lonely, and I don’t have a built in meal partner, which makes things a little tough for someone who’s a little shy, like me. We’ll see how it goes. Tonight wasn’t too bad.
Check out a couple pictures I took this evening of my home away from home.
And here’s the place where I’ll be sleeping. Hopefully it’s a comfortable bed. I’ll let you know.
