We're now entering the fourth year of creating our "Smiles" videos. Above is Smiles 2016. We have a lot of fondness for the folks we work with, often because they are a great deal of fun. So it's not hard to go back through a year's footage and find plenty of nice moments to splice together and create a happy, joyful montage. Previous versions were 2015, 2014, and 2010. We hope this will make...

It’s hard to know what the filmmakers’ intent was in making Before the Flood, a documentary about climate change. For those of us who already believe scientists’ claims of climate change, we don’t really need to see the rising waters in India or shrinking glaciers in Greenland to be convinced. For those who believe that 97% of climatologists are engaged in a grand conspiracy and that climate...

I attended a great panel presentation at Cape Cod Philanthropy Day entitled, "The View from the Other Side: Corporate Support on Cape Cod."  Rana Murphy from Eastern Bank, Kara Boule from Nauset Disposal and Beth Marcus from Cape Cod Beer shared three common mistakes nonprofits make when approaching companies for support.  I thought I would pass along their feedback in case you or folks in your...

Recently, I attended a session about “Using Google Analytics & Google AdWords” hosted by the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. While we have a basic knowledge of Google AdWords and Google Analytics, this presentation was helpful in reminding us how marketing online is changing everyday. Here are a few of my takeaways: 1. Google Dominates the Search Space It’s true. Google has become such...

Source: Clickbidonline.com I attended a great presentation on event planning offered by Women in Development of Greater Boston.  Here are some key takeaways from Brianna Boggs, Director of Development at GLAD and Kelly Lepley, Associate Director of the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.   Event Planning Tips on How To Be Inclusive Around Giving Opportunities...

A few weeks ago I gave a brief overview of the app Snapchat. And as promised, here is a follow-up post on Snapchat Geofilters. (Yes, they are a thing) What are “geofilters”? Geofilters are “stickers” or a “filter” you can use to show where your Snap was taken. I created one recently for a birthday party. Pretty snazzy! Yeah, this is all cool stuff, but I’m sure you’re asking...

I recently attended “Development in the Digital Age” hosted by Women in Development of Greater Boston.  Giving Tuesday, matching challenges and other blitz campaign ideas were batted around by fundraisers from small and large shops. Here are some takeaways and resources that may be helpful to check out: Blitz Campaign Strategy Robert Caldwell, Chief Advancement Officer, from the Holderness...

You may have heard of the app called Snapchat. I have a couple of other blog posts in the works about certain Snapchat features, but we decided to give an overview of this app for those of you who have not been introduced to it. So what is Snapchat? TechTarget provides a short and sweet definition: Snapchat is a mobile app that allows users to send and receive "self-destructing" photos and videos....

Over the past year we have been working with Music & Memory, which is an organization we really admire. We thought it would be a neat idea to showcase them a bit, so Geoff had a short interview with Justin Russo, the Communications Director of Music & Memory, who explains what they do.   Geoff Birmingham: What is Music & Memory and whom does it serve?  Justin Russo:...

Why should I give again? A phrase that runs through a lot of donor's minds when asked to give again and again and again. What we're really asking is "What impact does my dollar have?" Key word: IMPACT! That's what we need to hear about. It's the results we want to see. But it's not easy to show results of donor impact. Collecting proper data is difficult and can run up a hefty price tag. Especially...