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Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012
In a previous post I said I would write a couple of tips on good storytelling. Here’s the third of three.
Facial expressions, body gestures, and vocal tone add character to telling a tale. However, the size of an audience dictates the amount of body language you might use in your account of a story. With a large audience distance can be a problem. So what can you do? Pulling out a power point is not the answer if that’s what you were thinking. Short of jumping up and down, with arms waving frantically to keep an audiences attention, the other choice is vocal animation combined with those carefully chosen words that I talked about in a previous post.
Combine your words in ways that perhaps your audience has never heard them before. Think about giving your words certain tones and pitches. Enunciate your words to match their meaning. Volume is your best friend and inserting a whispering sentence to a large audience while bending forward just a little adds an unexpected dynamic to your presentation. Of course it should be appropriate to your content. I use this technique almost every time I am public speaking. You have to give it a try. It’s so much fun to watch your audience lean forward and even sit up straighter in their seats. Use a rhythmic cadence and change it up. That adds more color in your words. Don’t forget that silence is a beautiful thing. Add pauses or even stop in mid-sentence. Animation engages and mesmerizes your audience. It may even get you a standing O!
Tags: public speaking, stage presence, storytelling, words
Posted in Speaking Engagements, Stories, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 7th, 2012
You’ve heard of the largest online newspaper in the world right? The Huffington Post on Friday featured me in an article in the small business section. Need I say that I spent a good part of my weekend and all day today responding to the crazy activity that the good PR created for my business. Weather you are a business or a NonProfit PR is something we all want and need. So how do you get it is the question and the answer is real simple. Tell your compelling story. Every person, business, and nonprofit has one but many people don’t know how to tell a story well enough to get the attention they deserve. Check mine out. Let me know how I did telling the story. In an upcoming post I will share some tips on how to tell a captivating story. Maybe it will help you to get the Huffington in your back pocket!
Tags: business, huffington post, nonprofits, PR, storytelling
Posted in Marketing, Personal, social media, Stories, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Today, I want to share with you a couple of patterns and pins I created this week. These whimsies come partly from childhood experiences and memories to create new and never seen before patterns and colors that mimic the beauty of nature for my fundraising Butterfly Pin designs.
Here’s a peek at little Lucinda.
Running and chasing until breathless in hopes that a butterfly’s flight would come to rest; usually on a flower or goldenrod weed is how I spent many summer days growing up in Maine.
Only as quiet as the grass under my feet would allow, my tiptoe approach to the butterfly would start. With as much patience as a 9 yr old girl can summon, a staring waiting would begin. The anticipation welled up inside of me, a hope that I would get a glimpse of the open and closed fanning wings bearing their perfect symmetrical patterns. Watching without blinking, even holding my breath not to disturb them, my fingers would cross and I would silently pray that before they took flight again a color not found in my Crayola box would be revealed. I memorized every detail as best I could during the length of our time together.
Dashing home and eagerly searching through my butterfly book to confirm I had just seen something I had never seen before and proudly announcing its name made me an adventurer, an explorer conquering my own backyard!
Oh a Maine summer memory, my heart’s all a flutter thinking of you!
Tags: butterfly, butterfly pin, design, maine, Patterns, summer
Posted in Patterns, Personal, Pins, Stories, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
The Play it Forward Lulu cube has been launched! It happened in the small town of Peoria, Illinois on April 17th. That’s the day that the YWCA’s Leaders Luncheon was held. The YWCA is the largest provider of homeless services in the community. The average age of a homeless person in Peoria is 10 years old; a hard truth to accept.
It was my privilege to be the keynote speaker.
Not only was I excited about being able to share my personal story of homelessness but I was also able to revisit how Designs by Lucinda was born in 1989 as the creator of pins with purpose that helped the homeless. The YWCA had 3 wishes. More volunteers, more people talking about their cause and more donations.
As the keynote unfolded it became clear that the audience held the hope for changing the lives of the homeless in Peoria. They learned that they are part of the solution. As the speaker, I wanted to give them MORE than something to think about as a take away. I needed to give them some thing to do, a simple and easy call to action. An action step that would satisfy the 3 wishes of the YWCA. Ah! I knew just what to do. I would give them a physical take away, something they could actually hold in their hands. My newest fundraising idea, LULU Cubes would be perfect!
The Play It Forward LULU Cube is designed as a fundraising donation bank to be passed along from one person to another until the bank is filled with coins or bills. As the cube is passed along the organization also gains exposure and visibility. The donors become engaged with the organization. YWCA, all 3 wishes are your command! As the final note to my keynote the LULU Cube was launched right then and there!
The audience left with LULU Cubes in hand and I wondered how many other hands they will reach, how many new people will learn that the new homeless, 10 yr olds and about the services the YWCA is providing to those children and their families. I said a silent little prayer “let the LULU Cubes be filled”. As I watched my ever so attentive audience depart one by one toting their LULU Cube, I smiled as I realized that was my applause!
You can see what happens and follow the LULU Cubes in Peoria on this Facebook Page.
Tags: Fundraising, homeless, LULU cube, speaker, YWCA
Posted in Fundraisers, Fundraising Events, Fundraising Products, Giving, Personal, Speaking Engagements, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, August 12th, 2011
Why, allow me to introduce myself; my name is Jessica. I am a jack of all trades here at Designs by Lucinda but where I shine the most is creating all of our custom designs. I have been working here for nearly 7 years. I’ve had my hand in almost everything we do here; from assembling to shipping. While working hard on new designs to add to the line up I have been going to college for Arts and Entrepreneurial Studies, with a concentration in Sculpture and Jewelry Design. I love working with my hands and taking separate entities and working with them so they become a single union; whether that be soldering a band and stone setting to form a ring or combining a square and a triangle and watching it evolve into a house pin! To me jewelry is not just a way for people to adorn themselves (sure, that’s a perk) but what truly excites me about jewelry is the human connections that are linked because of it. I am about to enter a new frontier with my family and become an aunt. My bother and sister in law are expecting a little boy and the little guy is due on my birthday! To celebrate and commemorate the date I am designing a pendant for my brother with the baby’s name and its actual birth date. It’s these moments that give my art life. We don’t know the name of the baby just yet; right now we fondly refer to him as alien. Don’t fret, Alien will not be the name on the pendant! When I’m not out and about creating and melting metals with my torch I spend my time supporting other local artists by going to music shows and exploring northern Maine on a whitewater raft with my boyfriend who is a licensed guide at Crab Apple White Water.
Tags: art, custom pins, designer, Lucinda Pins, sclupture
Posted in The Staff, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Have you heard of the latest epidemic? It’s infecting a large number of people over an even larger area. Word has it that it has spread to 90 countries. Luckily, they have identified the source; it’s called Positivity Nation™. A Maine based non-profit, Positivity Nation™ was established just over a year ago by Lanette Pottle. The mission of the non-profit is to create a world-wide epidemic of positivity…one small act at a time.
For Lanette, positive action takes many forms. She shares positive thoughts on her website (http://www.positivity-nation.com) and Facebook page but she is also very active in her community. She has a particular passion for working with youth and has taken Positivity Nation™ into her local elementary school. In 2011, in celebration of the one year anniversary of Positivity Nation™, Lanette announced the creation of The HAPPY Grant (Helping & Acknowledging Positive, Purpose-led Youth) a funding program for youth ages 12-17 in Washington County, Maine who desire to make a difference in their communities.
To kick start The HAPPY Grant program, Lanette turned to Designs By Lucinda. She discovered Designs By Lucinda while visiting a local business that had the pins on display. She was quickly drawn to the beauty of the pins but more so, she was moved by the story included on the pin card. She thought it was brilliant marketing to attach the pin to a card that shares Lucinda’s story from homelessness to successful entrepreneur, helping thousands of non-profits worldwide. After reading the story, Lanette thought that the pins were a perfect fit for her cause – the same values and a very similar mission to make a change, one small act or pin at a time. She placed an order for 40 Butterfly Pins to help raise money and credibility for Positivity Nation™ and specifically The HAPPY Grant program.
The HAPPY Grant was launched following a pilot classroom program where students were asked how they would use $10 to make the world a better place. With financial help from her facebook friends, she facilitated the execution of 15 student-led projects that helped veteran homes, nursing homes, food banks, animal shelters and the Special Olympics fund for The Beckett Center , a day program in a neighboring city. (…a must read article on two passionate 8th grade boys who developed a basketball event to raise money for the Special Olympics Beckett Bombers Link).
Lanette relies not only on monies raised through pin sales to support this program, but from donations that are made to Positivity Nation™. She receives a great deal of exposure through her website, word of mouth and her Facebook page. In a year’s time she has over 4700 fans! We asked Lanette if she had ever thought about what would happen to Positivity Nation™ and The HAPPY Grant if every Facebook fan purchased just 1 pin to support her program. There was a pause on the other end of the phone and then she replied “that’s an interesting thought”. Perhaps in the moment of hesitation, she was processing what over $75,000 would do to create Positivity….
How you can help.
The beneficiary of Fundraising Friday on June 24th is Positivity Nation™ and The HAPPY Grant. Positivity Nation™ will receive 30% of all individual sales placed on Designs By Lucinda’s website this Friday. Please share this with everyone you know. Let’s all do our part to help! Together we can Change the World One Pin At A Time! Please Share, Care & Give!
Tags: Facebook, Fundraising, Giving, Lucinda Pins, POSITIVITY
Posted in Fundraising, Giving, Non Profit Profiles, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 2nd, 2011
It is always prudent to research the topic you are writing about. So I went to the Harbor House Crisis Shelter (HHCS) website http://www.harborhousecs.org/. An impressive shelter with a very useful website. What I found to be very relevant was the content of the website’s “needs.” On the top of the need’s list is a powerful request for volunteers. A perfect tie into last week’s blog (Whose valued more? Volunteers or Donors?).
The organization’s mission is to provide shelter and transitional services for homeless women and families. Not only do they provide safe shelter, food and clothing but they dedicate much of their financial and personal resources to educating and preparing their guests to live independently.
We interviewed Rev. Barbara Certa-Werner to gain an understanding of their experience with Designs By Lucinda pins. Keep in mind, HHCS just started selling pins in 2010. They have already purchased 660 pins including Crosses, flowers, hearts with houses and butterflies. Barbara noted that the pins are a great additional revenue source. She noted that the pins open the doors for them to discuss their organization’s accomplishments, goals, needs and the range of services they provide. They are able to leave a bigger impression of the organization’s work and the customer leaves with a beautiful reminder of HHCS.
Barbara noted that although they have only been fundraising with the pins for 1 year, they are already a line item in the budget. The revenues from the pin sales are used wherever they are needed. Whether it is to run the shelter, purchase food, diapers or pay for case workers to ensure that all guests receive transitional assistance. HCCS sells the pins at several different venues including the Wisconsin United Methodist Women’s Annual Conference, the Women’s Expo and craft shows. They rely on board members to promote the pins and they highlight the pins on the front page of their website.
HCCS also taps into the pins cause- related marketing aspect. Barbara noted that they use the pins to draw a connection between Lucinda’s story of homelessness to successful entrepreneur to the very goals of their organization. They even use the pins to honor a guest that has achieved a considerable goal while at the shelter.
In wrapping up our interview with Barbara, we asked if she had a really good pin story. A woman came to the booth at the Annual Conference for Wisconsin UMC, she saw the pins and was so excited about them but she didn’t have her checkbook. She called her husband who drove 2 hours to bring her checkbook. She ended up purchasing 18 pins as Christmas presents for her family and friends. Truly a great story….
The Harbor House will be the beneficiary of this weeks Fundraising Friday. HHCS will receive 30% of all individual sales placed on our website on Friday May 5th.
Tags: fundraiser, Fundraising, fundraising ideas, Lucinda Pins, nonprofit, Tags, Volunteers
Posted in Fundraising, Non Profit Profiles, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, April 11th, 2011
This week we are highlighting a wonderful non profit not too far from us located in Montpelier, Vermont- Prevent Child Abuse (PCAVT). The organization was founded over 35 years ago and continues to help kids by educating parents and bringing to light child abuse issues.
Proactive education is a key to the organizations success in preventing child abuse. PCAVT invests a significant amount of resources both human and financial into Shaken Baby Syndrome training. Training is offered to nearly all parents of newborns in Vermont. PCAVT provides information on how to safely handle stressful moments with infants and the dangers of shaking a baby. With knowledge the organization feels that their will be less cases of shaken baby syndrome. Given the number of training courses that are required (in 2010 they held 169 courses); a large percentage of their budget is dedicated to this cause. PCAVT has formed a powerful partnership with Designs By Lucinda. They sell our Little Pal Pins to help fund the Shaken Baby Syndrome program and to raise recognition for children. They are an ideal image that connects the organizations cause to a pin that is not only worn by women but by men as well.
It is a great communication vehicle that has outreach to both genders. Men love the Little Pal Star pins as they associate them with wearing a sheriff’s badge. Both men and women think the pins are unique and increase visibility for PCAVT. When we inquired further into how the pins have helped their organization, they noted that because of Lucinda’s story, the pins have much more impact and have led to more support for their organization. PCAVT said that there is greater connection between their donors when they hear how Lucinda was once homeless and went on to create an organization with a mission to give back. The organization says that the people who wear the pins become ambassadors for Prevent Child Abuse Vermont through the conversations they start. One teacher even said that “The Kid Pins are getting to be Vermont’s jewelry of choice.” Given this, we asked what outlets they use to sell the pins. PCAVT said they use several distribution channels including stores, restaurants, conferences, schools, through volunteers, at their physical location and on their website www.pcavt.org.
One final statistic that the organization left us with was the number of Vermonters who have been impacted through their training programs in 2010- 37,532. Quite a substantial number of people share their stories and life experiences so the trickle effect was far greater. Thank you PCAVT for your good work and for partnering with us so that we can help in growing the number of people helped by your program.
Tags: fundraiser, Fundraising, fundraising ideas, Fundraising Products, kids, Lucinda Pins, non profits
Posted in Fundraisers, Non Profit Profiles, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 14th, 2011
Tags: domestic violence, Fundraising, Fundraising Products, nonprofit, Volunteers
Posted in Donor, Fundraisers, Fundraising, Non Profit Profiles, Uncategorized, Volunteers | No Comments »
Friday, March 11th, 2011
Too many times I hear from executive directors, volunteers, and development staff that they are restricted by board approval to move forward with fundraising ideas. It is always a board’s responsibility to ensure that a non profit has the funds to provide services. So what’s the hold up? I have no idea but there is a fundraising diet that all non profits can use for maintaining a healthy, balanced social network and financial foundation for their organizations.
Gala events, annual dinner, and auctions. These are a tremendous amount of work and the ROI has been proven to be poor. However, there are benefits such as the relationship building opportunities that can be developed in the planning of the event and at the event as board members mingle and work the room. These venues are usually a fantastic platform for story telling which, as we know, is one confirmed way to connect with the donor. The monetary ROI may not be great but the PR, marketing, and networking is. I give these events a thumbs up. I’m also a bit of a party girl!
Then there’s the physical activity fundraiser. The bike-a-thons, walk-a-thons and tri’s for this and that are a staple fundraiser. However, not everyone wants to get up off the couch to support a non profit so it might be a good idea to include a lounge-a-thon in your line up. ”Thons” are very effective for increasing community exposure especially through social media.
Bring on the ask letters, annual appeals, and the death bequest category. These are great because if you are asking for money through a letter it isn’t your first contact with the donor. If it is, you should be ashamed of yourself. The up front relationship development will have been done, therefore, the ask and appeal letter is like a maintenance donation.
Grant writing cannot go unnoticed. I will call these “bonus bucks” since grants need to be found and re-written in most cases year after year.
Finally a fundraising revenue stream must include the selling of products. This is a category that is overlooked. Products can be sold year round and generate more than %100 ROI. In the case of fundraising products the donor actually gets something for their contribution and believe it or not they like that. Their take away from a donation is long lasting. Depending on the product you choose to sell, each time the donor sees their purchase they are reminded of your non profit. See my post on (choosing the right fundraising product).
Out of sight out of mind does not apply here!
Happy Fundaraising,
Lucinda
Tags: Ask Letters, Donor, Fundraising, Fundraising Products, Fundraising Tips
Posted in Ask Letters, donations, Donor, Fundraisers, Fundraising, Fundraising Products, Uncategorized | No Comments »
