Author Archive
Friends of the Arizona Pop Culture Museum
The first meeting of the new board for the “Friends of the Arizona Pop Culture Museum” was this past Sunday. Five amazing professionals gathered together to lend their support to the vision of founder John Edwards. This was a getting to know you session during which John was able to share the spark for his vision and each of the new board members was able to share what part of board service on this particular project resounded for them. It was a great meeting and everyone we left feeling energized. This group is definitely moving forward!
Progress Report
This month we’ve seen amazing growth for all three of our incubator participants. The Friends of the Arizona Pop Culture Museum are diligently working to recruit board members, the Institute for Comic Studies is working on a new website design and Kaity’s Way has had two successful fund raisers in two months and is currently working on grants to expand their Ajo initiative. Part of what I love about this project is that these organizations are at different stages and the support they need is diverse. I love the challenge of finding the resources they need. –KellyAnn Bonnell
Tweeting for a Cause
Tweeting for a Cause: A Nonprofit’s Guide to Getting Started with Twitter
Sumac Research. August, 2011.
While Twitter may not be ideal for every nonprofit organization, it has the potential to be a powerful marketing tool for some. It can help spread the word about a need, your cause, or a particular campaign to thousands, even millions of people. If your organization has decided to take the plunge and give Twitter a try, here are the basics you’ll need to know: from creating an account and getting followers to what to tweet about.
Step 1: Creating an Account
When you create a Twitter Account, you’ll have to pick a Twitter username and write a bio. Be sure to pick a username that is associated with your organization. We are @SumacTweets. When you write your bio, try to make it short and sweet. You want to tell people what you do and why it’s important in a sentence if possible. Here’s a good one from charity: water:
“charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. http://www.charitywater.org”
The next thing you’ll have to decide on is an avatar. Whatever you do, don’t keep the default Twitter egg: no one trusts the egg. You’ll have to decide whether you want to use an individual’s picture or the organization’s logo. There are some benefits to both. Often times people feel more comfortable speaking to an individual, but a logo is good for branding. In the end, some organizations end up with multiple accounts – one for the organization and others for individuals associated with the organization.
Lastly, you’ll want to choose a background for your account. If you’re not too worried about branding, you can get a free background from TwitBacks. If, on the other hand, you want something more professional and branding is important, you can have one custom made for $89 from Twitr Backgrounds.
Step 2: Follow and Be Followed
Now that you have an account set up, you’ll want to start following people. Follow people who might be interested in your organization and from whom you might be able to gain some knowledge and insight. With any luck, they’ll follow you back. You can find people using Twitters “Who to Follow” tool or you can find and follow lists of people. There are several websites that group Twitter users into lists, so you can easily find who to follow. wefollow is one of them. Don’t go overboard with following though. You should try to stay at at 1:1 ratio for who you are following vs. who’s following you.
2011 Incubator Class
We are pleased to announce the 2011 class of nonprofits. This year we will be supporting three amazing social entrepreneurs and the missions to which they are committed.
Returning to the incubator for a second year is Bobbi Sudberry. Bobbi is the co-founder and Executive Director of Kaity’s Way. Their Mission is to promote understanding and educate the community to lessen the instances of violence among or against children through P.E.A.C.E. (Patience, Empathy, Acceptance, Caring and Equality). Bobbi spends her days telling the story of the worst day of her life, the day her 17 year old daughter was murdered by the boy she had recently broken up with. Bobbi’s passion protect other teens has already resulted in Kaity’s Law and legislation requiring AZ School Districts to address the issue of teen dating violence. Last year Bobbi and Kaity’s Way received technical assistance in relation to infrastructure. This year the focus will be on the creation and implementation of a comprehensive development plan.
New to the incubator this year is John Edwards and the Arizona Pop Culture Museum. This is a new organization that we have already assisted in finding a fiscal agent. This year we’ll help them develop the Friends of the Arizona Pop Culture Museum from filing documents to board recruitment and initial development plans.
Also new to the incubator this year is Dr. Peter Coogan and the Institute for Comics Studies. The Institute undertakes its mission to promote the study, understanding, recognition, and cultural legitimacy of comics through communication within the scholarly, professional, and fan communities, and with the general public. The Institute holds academic conferences and brings scholars and professionals together to discuss comics in public venues such as comic book conventions; indexes scholarly and other secondary materials; promotes comics scholars and their work; coordinates and enables comics research collection development; and acts as an umbrella organization for other comics-oriented organizations, institutions, and academic programs. This is our first out of state organization and we are excited to explore e-mentoring.
All three organizations will receive technical assistance and resource and referral services through July 31, 2012.
Arts Insights – Creating a Superb Board
coutesy of the Arts Consulting Group
Laurie Dowling and Susan Trapnell, Senior Consultants
Kathryn R. Martin, Vice President
Although many factors contribute to the health of cultural organizations, the effectiveness of the Board of Trustees is often the single most important internal determinant of an organization’s ability to effectively pursue its mission and serve its community. The nonprofit Board, as a unit, is an organization’s ultimate governance authority and thus sets the standard for its culture and ideals. When a Board of Trustees expects a great deal of itself, it sets the tone for everything that impacts organizational health, including problem solving strategies, resource development, strategic thinking, and adherence to mission and vision. Artistic and administrative professionals can be inspired to extraordinary excellence by Board vision, spirit, and responsibility, or they can be reduced to mediocre performance or stagnation by myopia, group think, and lack of accountability. Ultimately, the Board of Trustees holds the cultural institution “in trust” on behalf its community and is meant to protect the organization’s legacy for future generations.
WHY CAN BOARD EXCELLENCE BE SO DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE?
In every way, volunteer nonprofit Trustees have a very complex set of duties. They are asked to: …Read More
One Great Signature Event
Bobbi Sudberry has learned the importance of a signature event to the fund raising success of a nonprofit. Take a look at what Kaity’s Way is doing!
http://www.azfamily.com/good-morning-arizona/Help-end-teen-dating-violence-126023718.html
The event was held on July 23, 2011 this year and was a resounding success.
Kaity’s Way on Channel 3
Brandi Aguilar did a wonderful story on Kaity’s Way on channel 3 today. Here is the link to the piece.
http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Kaitys-Way-124101664.html
Congratulations to the Winners of the AZ Student Film Festival
Congratulations to Festival Director Gene Ganssle for successfully administering another student film festival!2011 Arizona Student Film Festival Award Winners |
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June 8th and June 9th, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
Phoenix Art Museum’s Whiteman Hall
1625 N. Central Ave. (at McDowell)
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Grade School
Middle School
High School
College
Screenplay Contest
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Average Donation $22
Wikipedia is ringing in the New Year with $16 million in donations collected this holiday season.
Founder Jimmy Wales said in a post today that the fundraiser was the most successful in the history of the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, parent of Wikipedia.
Wales also offered up some other numbers, saying the foundation and its ad-free sites had enjoyed more than 500,000 donations, nearly 130,000 donations to local Wikimedia chapters worldwide, two of the largest fundraising days in Wikipedia history, and an average donation size of about $22.
“This fundraiser had all the ingredients of what we love about Wikimedia projects: people come together, contribute what they have, and together we do something amazing,” Wales wrote. He also pointed out that it’s not too late to pitch in.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20026914-93.html#ixzz19qhJ9fWu
Is Microphilanthropy Here to Stay?
It’s been more than 230 days since Carlo Garcia bought a cup of coffee.
That’s because in April, the Chicago resident realized that he could change lives and inspire others to do the same — all for the price of his morning joe.
“One day this idea popped into my head: How hard would it be to give back to charity every day? What’s stopping us from doing that?” said Garcia, who catalogs his daily donations on his blog, Living Philanthropic.
“Because I don’t make a whole lot of money, I had to look at my finances and see what areas of unnecessary spending I could cut,” he said.
That’s when Starbucks got the boot in favor of free coffee at the ticketing company where Garcia works.
“That’s five dollars right there that could go to charity,” Garcia said.
serendipityeducation 