A few months ago I decided to try out google analytics and I added this tracking tool to my blog and website. Wow! I can't believe all the data - much more than just the number of visitors - that I can get about the traffic to my blog and website. I am fascinated that people from all over the world from Africa to Vietnam have visited my blog. You can see if people came via search engines, were referred from other sites or came directly. If they came from search engines you can see the keywords they searched on.
I have found the differences in the traffic on my blog and on my website also very informative. People who visit my website have had a much lower percentage via searching and the searches have had relatively little variation. But people have visited my blog on a very wide range of keyword searches. Its true that I blog on varied topics but I think it is useful to know this information.
Another surprise to me was that many people (1/3) visit my blog via referral from other sites. A fair percentage of traffic is from people clicking on my link at nonprofit blog exchange and other individual blogs.
I noticed that a popular referring site was Nonprofit Leadership 601 so I decided to check it out. What a great blog! This is Heather Carpenter's blog. She is an experienced nonprofit manager who is studying for a Ph.D - 600 level courses - hence the 601. Heather's blog is full of useful and interesting posts and she has a sidebar list of blogs she likes - and there is mine on her list.
Thanks Heather - for the compliment and for generating traffic to my blog.
So in summary -
1. Check out adding google analytics to your blog or website. It is free and will provide rich, useful information about your site.
2. Check out Heather Carpenter's blog for nonprofits - one of the best I've seen.
Non Profit Leadership 601
Marion Conway Consulting
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Opportunity To Earn Up to $10000 at SixDegrees.org with Charity Badges
I've written about sixdegrees.org and charity badges before, but I am posting again about it now because of the newest campaign that has just been launched. Sixdegrees.org is a project of Network for Good that was initiated by Kevin Bacon and has just received funding from Hanes. You can design your own charity badge in a few minutes and you get the html script to be able to place the badge anywhere you want on the web - your website, blog, MySpace page, etc. The badge has a brief description of the charity that you support and a donate button. Someone can click on the donate button and make a donation through Network for Good. You can scroll down and see my charity badge in the sidebar.
I think that this is a great idea to garner some new young donors at places like MySpace and Facebook. There really is this whole group of people (Lets say those under 30 for the sake of conversation) that the internet is the only way we will realistically reach. No matter how much thought you put into wonderful newsletters and appeal letters - even the most philanthropic are not set up to read snail mail and write checks. Why not provide sample copy to your young volunteers and supporters and encourage them to participate with a charity badge!
There is a special promotion that makes this worth looking at right now. Hanes is supporting people who create badges by awarding up to $10,000 to the causes of the six people most successful at connecting with friends and family to raise funds for their favorite charities. In addition, anyone who gets six people to donate to their badge will receive an official Six Degrees t-shirt from Hanes. The six non-celebrity badges that have the most unique number of donations* between July 19th and September 16th will get a matching grant of up to $10,000 for their charity from Hanes. To qualify for the grants, all you need to do is create a new charity badge on or after July 19th and you will automatically be eligible to receive the matching grant.
Oh....and feel free to click on my badge and if so moved, contribute.
SixDegrees.org
Marion Conway Consulting
I think that this is a great idea to garner some new young donors at places like MySpace and Facebook. There really is this whole group of people (Lets say those under 30 for the sake of conversation) that the internet is the only way we will realistically reach. No matter how much thought you put into wonderful newsletters and appeal letters - even the most philanthropic are not set up to read snail mail and write checks. Why not provide sample copy to your young volunteers and supporters and encourage them to participate with a charity badge!
There is a special promotion that makes this worth looking at right now. Hanes is supporting people who create badges by awarding up to $10,000 to the causes of the six people most successful at connecting with friends and family to raise funds for their favorite charities. In addition, anyone who gets six people to donate to their badge will receive an official Six Degrees t-shirt from Hanes. The six non-celebrity badges that have the most unique number of donations* between July 19th and September 16th will get a matching grant of up to $10,000 for their charity from Hanes. To qualify for the grants, all you need to do is create a new charity badge on or after July 19th and you will automatically be eligible to receive the matching grant.
Oh....and feel free to click on my badge and if so moved, contribute.
SixDegrees.org
Marion Conway Consulting
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Board Recruitment - Know What You Need and Have A Game Plan
Since I am the board development chair of a nonprofit and we are beginning the board recruitment/nomination process for our elections in December I have been thinking about this subject. As usual we have the people who are completing their terms and the people who have not been active at all to replace. Our by-laws also have flexibility in size allowed so we could even add more people if we wanted to. But where to begin?
We do have detailed board job descriptions and have hosted a successful board recruitment event. Subsequently, I wrote an article about Hosting a Board Recruitment Event for my newsletter and it was published in Charity Channel's Nonprofit Boards and Governance Review (see the link below).
Here are our issues right now - the same as most other nonprofits. We are stepping up the fundraising by Board members so need people who are willing and able to be involved in fundraising. We expect all Board members to be active on committees. We would like to have some people who could open corporate doors for us. Yes, it is a tall order. Here's the game plan right now.
The most important credential for a Board memeber to have is a passion for our mission. We all have too many tugs at our time and resources and if you are not near the top of an individual's list you probabaly won't be satisfied with the person as a Board member. This is the most important thing for the board recruiting team to remember.
Our first step is to provide Board members with a detailed job description and actively solicit recommendations from them. This should be done one on one, especially with people with certain skills that we must have - finance and law. These Board members have colleagues that they can recommend but may not pursue recruiting them without a specific request to do so.
We have some large corporate sponsors and we will be asking our contacts there to identify a potential board member for us. But first, we will try to identify particular skills we would like to have such as marketing or technology.
We will plan tours and invite potential Board members to our events especially those that involve the inner city children we serve.
We will definitely have a Board Recruitment Event which will have social and information components.
We have a desire to have more diversity on our Board and that will cause us to recruit in some places that we have not in the past.
Although we want people to be involved in fundraising and to make a personal financial commitment we realize that this is something that is learned and grows over time. So our initial expection will be an "entry level" of involvment that we will cultivate.
Board recruitment should start with your needs/desire assessment. Next is targeted marketing to attract appropriate candidates. Be honest about what your expectations are rather than complain later about what you get. When all is said and done we hope to identify board members who are committed to our mission and will go the extra mile for us.
Host a Board Recruitment Event Article Fall 2006 Newsletter
Marion Conway Consulting
We do have detailed board job descriptions and have hosted a successful board recruitment event. Subsequently, I wrote an article about Hosting a Board Recruitment Event for my newsletter and it was published in Charity Channel's Nonprofit Boards and Governance Review (see the link below).
Here are our issues right now - the same as most other nonprofits. We are stepping up the fundraising by Board members so need people who are willing and able to be involved in fundraising. We expect all Board members to be active on committees. We would like to have some people who could open corporate doors for us. Yes, it is a tall order. Here's the game plan right now.
The most important credential for a Board memeber to have is a passion for our mission. We all have too many tugs at our time and resources and if you are not near the top of an individual's list you probabaly won't be satisfied with the person as a Board member. This is the most important thing for the board recruiting team to remember.
Our first step is to provide Board members with a detailed job description and actively solicit recommendations from them. This should be done one on one, especially with people with certain skills that we must have - finance and law. These Board members have colleagues that they can recommend but may not pursue recruiting them without a specific request to do so.
We have some large corporate sponsors and we will be asking our contacts there to identify a potential board member for us. But first, we will try to identify particular skills we would like to have such as marketing or technology.
We will plan tours and invite potential Board members to our events especially those that involve the inner city children we serve.
We will definitely have a Board Recruitment Event which will have social and information components.
We have a desire to have more diversity on our Board and that will cause us to recruit in some places that we have not in the past.
Although we want people to be involved in fundraising and to make a personal financial commitment we realize that this is something that is learned and grows over time. So our initial expection will be an "entry level" of involvment that we will cultivate.
Board recruitment should start with your needs/desire assessment. Next is targeted marketing to attract appropriate candidates. Be honest about what your expectations are rather than complain later about what you get. When all is said and done we hope to identify board members who are committed to our mission and will go the extra mile for us.
Host a Board Recruitment Event Article Fall 2006 Newsletter
Marion Conway Consulting
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Summer Workshops - July 10th and July 24th
Summer is a great time attend a workshop. In July I will be offering two workshops which are sponsored by the United Way of Passaic County:
The Non-Profit Board: Responsibilities, Leadership and Emerging TrendsJuly 10th 5-8 PM Pizza and soft drinks included
Technology Planning, Funding and Resources for Non-ProfitsJuly 24th 9 AM - Noon Continental breakfast
Location: United Way of Passaic County Conference Room
8 Mill Street, Paterson, NJ
Cost: $40 for each workshop
To Register: Call Karen at 973-279-8900 or email info@unitedwaypassaic.org
Marion Conway Consulting
The Non-Profit Board: Responsibilities, Leadership and Emerging TrendsJuly 10th 5-8 PM Pizza and soft drinks included
Technology Planning, Funding and Resources for Non-ProfitsJuly 24th 9 AM - Noon Continental breakfast
Location: United Way of Passaic County Conference Room
8 Mill Street, Paterson, NJ
Cost: $40 for each workshop
To Register: Call Karen at 973-279-8900 or email info@unitedwaypassaic.org
Marion Conway Consulting
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