Transformational Giving

Be sure to check out Peter Deitz’ related sites on micro-philanthropy and aggregating social actions…

http://www.foik.org/

http://www.socialactions.com/

Both sites add nicely to the discussion about giving circles built around Web 2.0 technology. One certainly gets the impression from both sites that there is much more to be written and that we have only scratched the surface, but there are some nice new tools here for the diligent explorer…

During today’s PDX seminar someone asked me how to stay on top of all the relevant sites with the limited time we all have each day. Furthermore, they were worried about the inevitable barrage of spam that could be generated from releasing their email address into the wilds of the web. The answer is simple – RSS.  Props to Copyblogger for a fantastic RSS mini-tutorial (after the jump).  Not sure which RSS Feeders to get started with, here’s a couple suggestions – and they’re FREE! GreatNews; SharpReader; and NewsGator.  There are others, so feel free to look around and use which ever one works best for you.  And happy reading – you might be surprised at what you were missing.   http://www.copyblogger.com/what-the-heck-is-rss/

How timely! A full article in the 9/12 New York Times detailing how older people are congregating on social networking sites especially built for them. Especially if you’re doing ministry with older adults, you’ll want to check out this link:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/technology/12social.html?ex=1347249600&en=437a4c72f256fa39&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

Greg Stier and his team at www.dare2share.org and I have been working on a transformational giving strategy that I think nicely illustrates the point we discuss at the seminar that we need to encourage “multimedia-ism” (engaging our champions in a variety of media, online and off, in order to increase their long-term value and retention):

 http://www.gregstier.org/rants/fundraisingi-love-it

Thanks to Kirsten Grubb from www.pacific-lifeline.com (who attended the Long Beach seminar) for this great link to a site offering a free e-book on using the Internet for advocating causes:

 http://www.issuemarketing.com/

Kirsten notes that it’s not a 1:1 crossover to Christian ministry champion development using Web 2.0, but, man, it’s pretty darn close.

 Thanks, Kirsten! And if you see a great link related to something that we talked about at the seminar, do let me know.

When you do an e-mail series (like a weekly devotional or a daily tip e-mail), you need to make sure that the ask is completely consonant with the overall content, i.e., that the ask isn’t one topic and the devotional e-mail that it sits in, another.

Here’s a great example of that truth in action! Check out the following link to learn how one nonprofit combined activism with a financial ask–and far exceeded their goals by doing so! When you do things this way, 1 + 1 can equal 10!

 http://www.nonprofitintegrator.org/?cat=6

(By the way, why not sign up for The Integrator while you’re there? It’s another great resource on e-fundraising and e-marketing for your regular review.)

Haven’t had too many seminar participants voice concerns over the obvious yuckiness of certain parts of the MySpace universe, but, just in case, here’s a self-proclaimed Christian version of MySpace that may end up featured less on 20/20…

http://www.xianz.com/

Today’s a travel day to SEA, Lord permitting, in my week of e-fund raising seminars.

Had a great time in COS yesterday and in LA the day before. The lunch-wrap-bar in CO beat the sandwiches-in-clear-plastic-casing in LA; the weather was a push (great in both places); and the groups gathered were both inspiring to me.

So far the stupidest thing I said by far involved cats no longer able to smile.

The best site for any kind of marketing or PR, really. I read David’s new book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, and it fundamentally changed the way I thought about PR. Definitely a must-visit site (and a must-read book!)

 http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/