Bob Cargill, Author at Bob Cargill

15Sep 2005 by Bob Cargill

Blogging on Behalf of Women’s Legal Rights

If you’re interested in monitoring the confirmation hearing of Chief Justice nominee John G. Roberts, you may be interested in monitoring NominationWatch.org. But that’s not the only reason to check out this relatively new blog published by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), a group dedicated to advancing and protecting women’s legal rights. NominationWatch.org is also an excellent example of how a nonprofit organization can use a blog to get the word out about its cause. Take it from Nancy Schwartz, editor and publisher of Getting Attention, a monthly e-newsletter that helps nonprofits succeed through effective communications. She’s just written and posted an insightful case study of NominationWatch.org called "Three Steps to Launching Your Nonprofit Blog." According to Schwartz’s article, “Ranit Schmelzer, NWLC vice president for communications, says that for…

12Sep 2005 by Bob Cargill

A Great Opportunity for Shoestring Direct Marketers

Blogging, Direct Marketing, Fundraising

From the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), I recently learned about Word of Blog, a free service that “enables blog owners to spread ideas and influence throughout the blogosphere, promote causes or services that they believe in, recommend products and organizations they like, and create communities of like-minded blog owners, all through blog word of mouth.” To use this service, all a blogger needs to do is select any ad appearing on the Word of Blog site, then copy and paste the corresponding code into your template – like I did with ads for both The American Red Cross and Feed the Children, just two of the many organizations that are helping victims of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. On the other hand, if you yourself want to get the…

04Sep 2005 by Bob Cargill

How to Help the Victims of the Hurricane Katrina Disaster

Fundraising

Survivors of Hurricane Katrina are being evacuated away from the devastated Gulf Coast and food, water and thousands of National Guard troops have finally arrived on the scene, but a complete recovery from this disaster is going to take months, if not years, and an unprecedented outpouring of benevolence. Yes, we Americans are going to have to give more than we ever have before to help our brothers and sisters in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the surrounding area get back on their own feet. In the next few weeks alone, we’ll likely part with more of our charitable dollars than we ever have before towards one single cause. And, as a result, those nonprofit organizations that are not related to the hurricane relief efforts could very well see a decrease…

02Sep 2005 by Bob Cargill

Hurricane Katrina: A Reason to Give, A Reason to Blog

Blogging, Cause-Related Marketing, Fundraising

If you’re looking for a reason to blog, you need look no further than the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Florida, where Katrina’s fierce winds and brutal, punishing rain resulted in what could be America’s deadliest natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco fire and earthquake. As I wrote here back in December, 2004, “a blog makes it possible for the everyday communications professional to distribute newsworthy, thematic content to a large, like-minded audience – without many, if any, layers of approval – almost instantaneously. If timeliness is a critical element of your publishing plan, it’s an irresistible platform.” Today, there’s no valid reason for any organization involved in the business of providing disaster relief not to have a blog in its communications toolbox. A blog can be set…

26Aug 2005 by Bob Cargill

AFP Makes a Splash in the Blogosphere

Blogging, Fundraising

Why simply dip a toe in the water when you can make a big splash? I'm guessing that’s what the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) had in mind when it recently begun publishing not just one, but seven different blogs. In a press release on August 1, the association said it is “experimenting with blogs as a way of keeping members better informed about stories, events and trends in the charitable sector.” The AFP blogs (on such topics as youth and philanthropy, the Southeast Asia tsunami relief efforts, National Philanthropy Day and the 2005 International Conference on Fundraising) can be found here.

20Aug 2005 by Bob Cargill

Blog is Not a Pretty Word

Blogging

While we can safely say that business blogs have not only arrived, they’re here to stay, that doesn’t mean there are still not a number of good reasons why someone might not want – or be able – to establish a presence in the blogosphere. Indeed, even if you’re comfortable expressing yourself so openly to so many – think transparency (which, by the way, should be listed among every organization’s set of values, right up there with integrity, accountability, etc.) – there are still a few impediments to overcome (what I would call The Immutable Three T's) if you want to be a bona fide blogger... The Immutable Three T's of Blogging 1) Time – Most blogs take at least a few hours a week to write and maintain, the…

12Aug 2005 by Bob Cargill

Donald Trump Has a New Blog

Blogging, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing

The blog has come a long way in just the last year alone, but with Donald Trump now waxing eloquently in the blogosphere, a good argument could be made that this revolutionary self-publishing and marketing platform has gone from the outhouse to the penthouse. Read all about it here in Information Week. Elsewhere…DIRECT magazine reports that DM hiring is on the rise. The NonProfit Times issues its 8th annual Power & Influence Top 50. FundRaising Success magazine weighs in on the state of online fundraising today ("From Buttons to Blogs" by Paul Barbagallo). Bob Bly pits blogs versus white papers in his most recent reader survey. Mike Westfall, on Annual Fund Inc. (August 11, 2005), shares some best practices for e-solicitations to college and university alumni. And finally, for the…

04Aug 2005 by Bob Cargill

In Defense of Rubber Wristbands as a Fundraising Tool

Direct Marketing, Fundraising

In the latest issue of Details magazine (June/July 2005, p. 99), columnist Jonathan Sabin plays the devil’s advocate and argues that rubber wristbands – such as those ubiquitous yellow ones that have helped the Lance Armstrong Foundation raise so much money for such a good cause – should be banned. Who would have thought that one man’s solution to cancer prevention and survivorship would be another man’s problem with marketing and philanthropy? “Today nearly 50 million are looped around self-righteous wrists as the cheesy trinkets metastasize like the cancers they’re supposed to help cure,” writes Sabin, taking an unseemly, cheap shot – in my opinion – at not just one of the most popular charitable organizations going right now, but at the business of direct response fundraising as a whole.…

29Jul 2005 by Bob Cargill

Why Executives Should Blog

Blogging

Many executives should consider blogging, according to Ted Demopoulos, who’s not only an expert on information security and IT entrepreneurial issues but also a – surprise, surprise – prolific blogger himself. “It [blogging] helps publicize company news as well as executive viewpoints and opinions, and adds to a company’s personality. Executives can blog extremely effectively as their thoughts are usually well regarded and trusted, and their blogs tend to get an instant large readership,” says Ted. Naturally, I couldn’t agree with him more. A blog is tailor-made for storing and managing intellectual capital. It’s a centralized repository for experience and expertise, an incredibly easy way to disseminate key, timely information to an audience of readers who are already interested in what you have to offer. While I’ll be the first…

Author: Bob Cargill