Category Archives: Marketing Communications
For Marketing Writers Only
by David Tandet A colleague told me about a client he was about to start working with. I asked who their target audience is. My friend had an answer. Then I asked if the client expected to attract – 1) A greater number of similar individuals; 2) An additional group of somewhat similar, yet different,
Peter Bowerman’s Well-Fed E-Pub: It’s Nourishment To Go
by David Tandet Ever wonder why some onliners succeed and others don’t? Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed E-Pub is going on a couple of decades. And from the look of things, it’s set for the third just fine http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine.shtml. Here’s one of many reasons readers stay interested: Peter Bowerman stays interested. A couple of his opinions
Be Concise
by David Tandet This is a short post. Appropriately. Because the subject is being concise. One day my grant mentor gave me a four pager Letter of Inquiry. “Make it two pages,” he said. The two-pager ended up getting the grant. Say what you need, then say “So long!” Contact Us
Ann Wylie . . . Again . . .
by David Tandet Ann Wylie gives great advice. A classic: Graphic storytelling teaches better than text. Some of what she talked about? Photos Graphic design images Cartoons She doesn’t mention it, but I think she’d agree – Punctuation (. . . ! ” ” : etc.) can be pretty powerful all by itself. Punctuation marks,
New Funding Models
by David Tandet Are grants for operating expenses the new funding model? Short answer: not by a longshot. Long answer: In some instances. The bottom line is that the funding agency is awarding a grant to the nonprofit that gives strong indications it can do what it says it’s going to do. And what it
Follow the Funding
by David Tandet The other day I was talking with an old friend about the topic of raising money. My friend is a fundraising consultant – and she’s very good at it. Anyway, at one point I happened to make the supreme verbal boo-boo. I referred to her work as “funding consultant.” “It’s never ‘funding
Nonprofit Mission Integrity
by David Tandet When a nonprofit positions itself as the best organization to provide the solution to a problem, it means staying the course for the distance. Three elements should be present for the agency to accomplish its goals and achieve mission integrity. These elements are fluid and can quickly disappear. Organizations that make attaining
Jon O’Brien’s Advanced Storytelling for Advancing Nonprofits (Adapted from “Parallel Turns”)
by David Tandet “See ya,” Ziggy Void hopped off the ski lift chair he was sharing with Marcia Tomberlin as he continued blabbing away, “at the bottom, slowpoke.” Ziggy veered to the left and began skiing down the trail without waiting for his partner. Even for Void, it seemed like obnoxiousness to the nth degree.
How to Use and Abuse a Good Grant Writer
(if you can find one) by David Tandet PART ONE Finding a great grant writer is like winning the grand slam . . . . . . because there really is no training ground for grant writers out there. There are no minor leagues, and relatively few decent classes. The process of training a grant
The Donut Rule
by David Tandet The most profound grant writing rule I ever learned is “the donut rule.” A long time ago, an interviewer asked William Rosenberg, founder of Dunkin’ Donuts, the secret of his success. Rosenberg answered, “Give customers what they want, not what you want.” Actually, that’s similar to an idea echoed by grant guru