Non-profit gossip

And here's another you may find interesting.

Don't Tell the Donor

Don't Tell the Donor

News and opinions from the world of nonprofit fundraising... ripped from the headlines and passed as gossip through development offices... these are the stories you might not want to tell the donor.

For my non-profit friends

Here's a blog that will help you make connections and stay up-to-date. They started a pretty impressive blog roll that is growing rapidly.

Nonprofit Blog Exchange

Other People's Spread Sheets

I'm a pretty private person.  I guess it comes from my traditional New England up-bringing.  But that means that I don't know a lot about other people's personal lives.  So I found this site pretty interesting.  Who'd have thought people keep spread sheets about so many things?

Sure, budgets, CD & record collections, even mileage calculators.  But some of this stuff is really beyond my imagination.  I couldn't stop reading it.  I wish I'd thought of this one-

I have an 20-year-ongoing Excel spreadsheet, updated quarterly, called
"My Life" with the following columns: Date, Address, Job, Monthly
earnings, Boyfriend (5 years for the current one, but amusing
information before that), and notable events during the quarter. Only
the Monthly earning is graphible, but it's a handy chart at times.

To read what some people track on spread sheets:
Anil Dash: Excel Pile

Copywriting Commandments

Here's a concise guide to writing copy- easier said than done - from Gail Goodman, Constant Contact CEO.

Writing Compelling Promotional Copy - 10 Commandments for Great Copywriting

Freelance Writing Tips

Yes, I wish someone had passed these along way back when.

10 Tips I Wish Someone Had Given Me Before I Launched My Freelance Writing Career By Patty Harder

Thanks, Patty Harder

Cool Tool: Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Cool Tool: Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Kevin Kelly at Cool Tools provides the links to this wallet-size guide and a similar one, "Seafood Watch" from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

I can never remember what I should and shouldn't eat from the good-for-you food list. These guides are small and useful.

Seth Godin's e-book- Who's There?

Have you read Seth Godin's latest? As usual, it's thought provoking. He's so good at articulating the changes that the web makes in our lives.

And in the best web tradition, his ebooks are short, sweet, and free. (Isn't he the one who started that tradition?)

This one focuses on blogging. It's must reading if you have a blog. Think about having a blog. Think you ought to have a blog. Or can't figure out what it's all about.

What Effect Reading Has on Our Minds - MSN Encarta

Well, this tidbit made me feel a bit better about having a birthday yesterday.

What Effect Reading Has on Our Minds - MSN Encarta: "How reading protects your mind
When you pit senior citizens against college students in general knowledge and vocabulary, the oldsters win out.
But college students beat their elders when it comes to memory and tasks that involve logic and deductive reasoning*. Except, that is, when controlled for the amount of reading those people do. There, the results pointed toward the notion that reading a lot can compensate for the wear and tear time can put on a mind. "

NationMaster.com - Where Stats Come Alive!

Here's a wonderful site to bookmark. NationMaster provides a quick way to explore those 'I wonder ...' questions when you're reading the newspaper or researching a topic.

NationMaster combines a massive statistical data base with some great tools to compare nations. Interested in murder rates? The per cent of people who will die before turning 60? Tax rates across the world? You'll find it all here.

NationMaster.com - Where Stats Come Alive!

They've just, in April, introduced a companion site with state statistics. The range here is still sparse, but these folks have proven they have what it takes to build a useful, interesting site.

By the way, if you'd like something interesting to do, they are looking for volunteer editors for both sites.

The secret to reaching a live customer rep

gethuman - advocacy for high quality customer service for consumers

How long did it take you to snake your way through a series of telephone menus the last time you called customer service? Well, here's something you can do about it. Get Human is a simple, wonderful site run by volunteers and 'powered' by you and me - if we will just take a minute to give them some feedback.

You can rate the companies you call; feed their data base with company name, number called, minutes on hold, and your rating of their service quality. They plan to publish the best and the worst.

And, amazingly they have a page you'll have to bookmark -- a directory of the phone numbers and/or shortcuts for reaching a human customer rep at a wide range of companies. Check there before making your next customer service call.

Thanks, Gethuman!

LiveScience.com: The Most Popular Myths in Science

LiveScience.com: The Most Popular Myths in Science: "
Chickens can live without a head

True, and not just for a few minutes. A chicken can stagger around without its
noggin because the brain stem, often left partially intact after a beheading,
controls most of its reflexes. One robust fellow lived a full eighteen months.
Likely he was a real birdbrain, however.

While I was noodling around on the Live Science site, I found this interesting fact. Well, it may not be important in your business, but it made me chuckle.

If you've got a few minutes check out the most popular science myths. Pretty interesting.

Happiness in Old Age Depends on Attitude

LiveScience.com - Happiness in Old Age Depends on Attitude: "'In fact, optimism and effective coping styles were found to be more important to successfully aging than traditional measures of health and wellness,' Jeste said. 'These findings suggest that physical health is not the best indicator of successful aging--attitude is.'"

Ain't that the truth! This report confirms my life experience. When my attitude deteriorates into self-pity or when I let the blues take control, life spins downward. Fortunately that doesn't happen too often.

AOL Offers Goodmail Service Free to Nonprofits

DMNews.com test News Article

"There will be no requirement, ever, for not-for-profits who deliver e-mail
to AOL members to pay for e-mail certification and delivery," AOL postmaster
Charles Stiles said.

Good news for my non-profit clients. We've all been nervous about what the cost of AOL's e-mail delivery system would do to budgets and fundraising plans. The new arrangement is slated to go into effect within 90 days. I'll keep you posted.

"On Friday, AOL said qualifying not-for-profit organizations and
not-for-profit advocacy groups would "receive the full functionality of AOL's
e-mail system, including having images and Web links enabled in mail, and
delivery to the e-mail inboxes of AOL members, at no charge to either the sender
or the recipient."

The Dilbert Blog: Wisdom for Grads

This is the cynical view of life in big organzations - but there's always a grain of truth.

Doug Adams has been compiling this advice for new grads. Lots of folks have added their comments.

The Dilbert Blog: Wisdom for Grads: "There's no such thing as good ideas and bad ideas. There are only your own ideas and other people's. If you want someone to like your idea, tell him he said it last week and you just remembered.

Teamwork is what you call it when you trick other people into ignoring their priorities in favor of yours.

Leadership is a form of evil. No one needs to lead you to do something that is obviously good for you.

You can estimate the time for any project by multiplying the number of idiots involved by one week and adding the number of capable co-workers times four weeks. (The competent ones are busier.)"

Pew Research Center: Are We Happy Yet?

Pew Research Center: Are We Happy Yet?: "Several of them [correlations] stand out: Married people are happier than unmarrieds. People who worship frequently are happier than those who don't. Republicans are happier than Democrats. Rich people are happier than poor people. Whites and Hispanics are happier than blacks. Sunbelt residents are happier than those who live in the rest of the country."

Whew! I didn't know I was so unhappy -- an unmarried, non-church-going, middle class, northeastern Democrat. Well, if this is misery so be it. I'm pretty content.

It's an interesting study, even if it isn't personally relevant.

OSHA Ergonomic Solutions: Computer Workstations eTool - Index for Computer Workstations

OSHA Ergonomic Solutions: Computer Workstations eTool - Index for Computer Workstations

When you spend as much time as I do sitting in front of a computer screen writing and researching, comfort is critical. There's nothing worse than neck pain when a deadline hovers.

This OSHA site provides some interesting information on equipment, position, and environment. It's prompted me to move my monitor -- closer and lower. I'll let you know whether I find it an improvement.

Thanks, OSHA.

Stanford iTunes

Stanford iTunes
I've been downloading the audio from Charlie Rose and NPR's This American Life and recorded books from audible.com for a monthly fee and from the local library system for free. I've spent hundreds of dollars over the years buying tapes and CD's from the Learning Company.

Now, I've discovered that Stanford University has a new service, originally targeted to alumni, to download faculty lectures, interviews, music and sports. All free.

I can hardly wait to explore it!

Miami in summer?!?

Family business offered me another opportunity to test out my skills at 'working on the road.' I want my business to be portable, but that takes practice, foresight, and creativity.

I was surprised at the number of unsecured wireless networks my laptop identified in the area where we stayed. Do you know who's accessing your network?

On this trip I found I worked best in the local café that offered a free wifi hotspot. The folks at Solero on S. Miami at 10th Street were gracious and welcoming. The café con leche was great, the sandwiches excellent, the atmosphere comfortable. I felt a part of the Miami scene and still got a good deal accomplished.

I printed the few materials I had to have in hard copy by emailing them to local family and picking them up at lunch or dinner. It took a bit more planning, but it worked.

Not everyone would find working in such a public spot energizing. I did and that was a blessing. The change of scenery refreshed my psyche. All that Spanish made me feel I had traveled to another country. New ideas flowed.

I think I'll keep practicing. Working on the road is great fun. Even in Miami in summer.

Gen X & Gen Y Profiles

Whether or not you're interested in marketing, you may find this article profiling Gen X [27-39]and Gen Y [14-26] folks intriquing. Jane Buckingham, author of "The Modern Girl's Guide to Life," and a Gen Xer, paints an interesting picture.

Of their noted slacker image, Buckingham explained that Gen Xers "went through their midlife crises 25 years too early."

Now that they are emerging from those midlife crises, they are remarkably susceptible to marketing that "helps them figure out what is happiness..."

Take a look at the article. Does this fit your experience with Gen X & Y?

Take a Breather

I finished the last grant in the current queue - finally no deadline hanging over my head. I love the work, but the pressure of drop-dead deadlines takes a toll when you roll from one to the next. It's nice to take a breather.

And, my in-box brought great news. The NY Center received the award for the YABC and Learning-to-Work Center for Staten Island. It's a joint project with the Department of Education. They worked hard on the proposal (and I wrote the application) -- it's a contract worth $1.8M, so they're very pleased.

This break gave me a day to work on my own site. Finally. Take a look.