Ten Things Legislators Can Do to Help Small Nonprofits
For my state reps: Next time the crazy lady with the pink hair (that would be me) wants to know what you think can be done for small nonprofits, here’s what you can say: 1. Use meaningful incentives. Every job creation or infrastructure bill needs to include an area addressing the fact that tax incentives […]
When is It Fundraising and When is It Marketing?
I just spoke to an old friend, who wanted Juno Consulting to help her implement a terrific idea for building traffic to her organization by linking the organization’s project to a middle school curriculum. She knows the teacher, the principal, and a couple of board members at their foundation. But she called me, because she […]
Another Proposal Writing Exercise
Did you enjoy “tweeting” your last proposal? Here’s another one, based on a branding strategy that focuses on the compelling difference that separates your product from the herd. Make no mistake. No matter how vital your social mission is, you are selling a brand. Called the Unique Point of Difference (UPOD) it hones your message […]
The Virtual Office
I work from home. Working out of your house sounds like a great gig, and in many ways it is. I can get chores done while waiting for a file to print out, and wander in the garden while conducting business on the phone. I don’t have to start dinner at 8pm unless I want […]
6 Unacceptable Reasons for Submitting at the Last Minute
Yes, you can print your proposal out on your little desk top printer, then hop in your car and spend 2 hours driving to the funder’s office to drop it off. Or you can plan to get the thing done with enough of a margin to print it on the high quality machines at the […]
The Tenth Muse
Artists work for other people. Entrepreneurs work for themselves. If you’re an artist, working for yourself through your own business or nonprofit organization, you’re a hybrid beast: the Artist Entrepreneur. The Artist Entrepreneur is still selling their own art, or dance, or music to someone else, don’t get me wrong. The difference is they’ve cut […]
When They Come to You
The foundation rep is coming to see your program. Now what. For most proposals, even the ones that get funded, you’ll never so much as see the eye color of the program officer (and decision committees are pretty much the Illuminati in terms of how easy it is to meet them in person). But there are […]
Money Goes In, Money Goes Out: You Can’t Explain That!
Actually you can. Budget writing is one of the minefields for start-up nonprofits, where you probably don’t have seed money, savings or an endowment, and need to run the business on current revenues. But writing a budget doesn’t have to be a scary or onerous proposition, although you should be prepared for a lot of […]
Shanksville
What strikes one first about the site of the crash of Flight 93 is how remote it is. A reasonable drive from Pittsburgh, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., set among forested hills full of resorts and towns, the plane came down in the open fields of a former surface mine, safely […]
Family Photos
When I was growing up, in the 50s and 60s, middle class families always had a camera. Just one. In my later childhood, as the consumer revolution started kicking into gear, simple cheap cameras started being available to the kids as well. But most families had just one camera, and a designated photographer, in our […]