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Thank-You Thursday: Take a Vacation

August 11, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Vacation proudlyThank you for taking a real vacation.

You will be happier and easier to get along with when you get back. Chances are, you’ll be healthier, too, and more productive.

But only if you take a real vacation. Not a “working vacation.” Not a “I’m splashing my kids on the beach and wondering if I should check my phone” vacation.

As Beth Kanter has pointed out, not all vacations are created equal. You only get the benefit of taking time to yourself if, first of all, you actually take it–and second, if you remove stress and replace it with something you really enjoy.

I’m in the communications business. I know how to plan my posts ahead. I could fool you into thinking that I’m at my desk today, and all the next week, instead of spending quality time with my wife.

I’m not going to do that. Know that today, this post is ALL you’re going to see from me. And for the next week, I’m going to be online less. If you write me, I’ll get back to you eventually.

Project Time Off is leading a national movement to transform American attitudes and change behavior. They hope to shift culture so that taking time off is understood as essential to personal well-being, professional success, business performance, and economic expansion.  You will find useful research, resources, and other information to help you make the case for taking your vacation time.

But if you work for yourself, don’t wait. Take a vacation. It’s the best way to say “Thank you” to yourself.

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Fundraising Tuesday: Stop Talking about You

February 2, 2016 by Dennis Fischman 2 Comments

Enough about me, what do you think of me

When it comes to fundraising appeals, too many of us in the nonprofit world are stuck on ourselves.

How can that be, we wonder? We’re not self-centered. We care about our mission. We care about our clients. We’re not in it for personal gain–or we surely would have chosen another profession! How can it be that we’re constantly writing about ourselves?

Yet take a look at the last appeal letter your agency sent out. Did it contain:

  • Statistics on how many people “we” helped?
  • Explanations of “our” programs?
  • Stories about what “we” did that changed client’s lives?

We, the nonprofit vs. they, the donors

What we’re trying to do with those letters is make a case for the donor’s support. What we’re succeeding at doing–far too often–is making them feel insignificant.

Saying “We need your help” is not convincing when the rest of the letter is about what “we” did without the donor even knowing. Worse, it puts us on opposite sides of the fence: “we” who do, and “you” who admire.

Yes, that organization sounds great, the donor thinks. So what? What’s that got to do with me?

That’s the question your ideal appeal letter must answer.

All of us, together

Think back to the end of 2015. At home, in the mail, you got a ton of letters asking for money. Was there one that made you excited about giving?

If so, I’ll bet it got the little things right. It called you by your name. It referred to your giving history. It packed some punch in the postscript.

But that’s only what it took to get you to read the letter. What made you remember it, and feel excited about it, and want to give?

The letter that makes you feel like you were there in the midst of the action all along.

The letter that says the success stories are your successes.

The appeal letter that makes the donor the hero of the story.

That’s the one that stays in the memory. That’s the letter that donors want to keep, and quote, and show to their friends.

And that’s the letter that your nonprofit organization wants to write.


Every Tuesday this season, I’m offering a tip on how to write better fundraising appeals. Find the rest of the series under Fundraising Tuesday.

 

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MLK, Pro-Choice Democratic Socialist

January 18, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

quote-call-it-democracy-or-call-it-democratic-socialism-but-there-must-be-a-better-distribution-martin-luther-king-112-87-29

This year as we celebrate the birth of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., let us remember him for the radical he was–and try to live up to that example.

 

Please read:

4 Ways Martin Luther King Was More Radical Than You Thought

 

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