January is a great time to set plans for the new year. I know many of you are using my MagnetGoals Program or something similar.
If raising more money this year is one of your goals, one of the most important things you can commit to is investing in learning. Learn all you can about fundraising. In subsequent fundraising secrets, I’ll talk about books, CDs, listservs, and seminars.
But for today, I’ll recommend a free learning opportunity: read blogs.
Blogs are a great source of free education. Some of the best practitioners in the field have blogs. Read them. Learn from them.
I’m currently subscribed to 108 blogs. Even with most of them being pretty inactive, I couldn’t remember to go to all these sites! So I use Google Reader to pull all my feeds in one central place. In the past, I used Bloglines.com which is a good option too. Google is easier for me since I’m already using Gmail for all of my email accounts and the Google Calendar for church events.
Even with a feed aggregator like this, you won’t be able to read every article in depth. That’s not the point. Keeping a pulse of the blogosphere is a great way of hearing what’s news out there. And can be a great way to learn about new tools to help you do your job better.
Since you’re reading this, I’m assuming you have some level of comfort with blogs. If not, there’s a lengthy article on blogs at Wikipedia.
Here are some of the fundraising blogs–and a few other–I keep up with (in alphabetical order):
- AlumniFutures.com: I just found this blog last week. For years, I’ve benefitted from Andrew Shaindlin’s comments on a listserv we were part of. I’m looking forward to being a regular reader of his blog!
- BlogBaud.com: a low traffic pilot from Blackbaud employees.
- [chrisbrogan.com]: I’ve got no idea how he does it, but if you want to learn about Web 2.0, Chris is your man.
- ChurchMarketingSucks.com: Great insights on how to make marketing better.
- Creating the Future!: Hildy is a change agent par excellence
- Donor Power Blog: Jeff Brooks’s blog on fundraising. He definitely "gets" it.
- Give and Take: The Chronicle of Philanthropies round up of blogs on philanthropy. Be sure to check out their extensive blog roll. They have links to dozens of blogs (including yours truly!).
- GuidingVision.com: I always benefit from learning what Sandra Sims is thinking.
- Hopecaptive: My wife’s blog. Keeps reminding me why I do what I do. (Read this gem for a chuckle: From Caleb This Morning)
- LizStrauss.com: Liz’s thoughts on business and life consistently spark ideas that improve my life.
- MarcPitman.com: Hey, how’d this get in here? 🙂 This is my other blog, one I’ve been writing since 2000. This is where I put my thoughts about church, family, life, coffee, and beer.
- Mashable: This group posts way too often. But if there’s anything you want to learn about the latest advances (and retreats) in social networking and Web 2.0, this is the blog to read.
- never eat along blog: I loved Keith Ferrazi’s book Never Eat Alone. His blog keeps up his great tips on networking and connecting with others.
- Nonprofit Marketing: Katya has the ideas I wish I had!
- Seth Godin: Seth Godin’s thoughts on marketing are amazing and easily applicable to fundraising.
- The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy: Maya is prolific when it comes to Jewish philanthropy.
Hi Marc,
I love the title of this article. It makes me feel in the know, which is a great draw.
Thanks for quoting me. Also, a belated happy birthday to you, hope it was wonderful.
By the way, I didn’t answer an e-mail you sent me regarding the Giving Carnival, so let me remedy that now. Personally, I didn’t get more hits from the November carnival than for a regular blog post, which was disappointing because that was one of the reasons I did it. On the plus side, I did make a few new connections in the nonprofit blogosphere, which was nice for me because although I think of myself as a nonprofit blogger, my networking leans toward Jewish philanthropy as it is a distinct area with specific needs and priorities.
I think it was a bit of an off month as well as many people were traveling and Thanksgiving fell early in America. Also, I volunteered when it was obvious they needed a host, so I would suggest to others getting the information out earlier than I did, which can be done by volunteering a couple of weeks, or even months, ahead of time.
The bottom line is that I would definitely recommend it. I know you are on the e-mail list (because that’s how we connected), so definitely do check out Gayle, Arlene, Christopher, and Trista’s blogs as examples as well.
I’d say the biggest obstacle is that there are about 200 people on the contact list, but I only heard back from about 15 of them and maybe 8 sent in responses. That ROI is too low and we should figure out how to change it. It may be something about the questions as well, which are challenging to formulate.
Was my answer worth the wait? 🙂 (Say yes.) Please e-mail me if you have further questions. I’ll respond right away.
Maya
The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy
Great list Marc! Thanks for including me; I’m honored.
I just unsubscribed from a ton of feeds in my Bloglines… now I’m down to only 81. Here are a few of the best:
Gayle Roberts has a lot of great ideas on fundraising
God’s Politics from Jim Wallis & Sojourners
Moms Speak Up group blog on variety of hot topics
Thanks for sharing the list of blogs. I have added two that I wasn’t aware of to my list.
Marc, thanks for including Alumni Futures! I hope people from other professions and non-profits find that the topics I cover are relevant to them as well. Online communities, digital relationships with constituents, non-profit governance, fundraising, volunteerism – this all can be applied elsewhere with a little imagination. Keep up the good work! – Andy
Andy, you’re absolutely right!
So much of alumni relations is transferable to non-school settings! (Of course, I’m biased as a former Alumni Director my self!)