Media Maven: Finding Your Tree in the Web Forest a/k/a SEO for Nonprofits Made Easy

May 17, 2012 – 3:14 pm

Gahlord Dewald of Thoughtfaucet laid out the basics of optimizing your website so that it is easier to find in the web forest at CCTV/ Common Good Vermont’s  May Media Maven Lunch in Burlington.

Gahlord described how to increasing Google’s chances of finding your website and giving it a high ranking. High ranking depends on how many people get to your site using important key words and how many times  key words appear within your sites. Of course there is unknown magic in how Google ranks your website, but these are important factors.

First, you identify important key words that you think people will use when looking for your organization, campaign or activities. Then you make sure that your key words appear in important locations on your web site (“on-page”) or on other web sites (“off-page”).

  • On-Page SEO: Make sure that your key words appear in the URL, in your Title Tags, in your Page Descriptions and in your Headline (H1) tags.
  • Off-Page SEO: Back links connect your web content to other people’s sites. This is important because Google measures the number of hits on your page.

Gahlord also cautioned the group to think strategically about your SEO strategies. He made the distinction between Tactics (the things you do to raise your visibility and achieve your business goals), Plans (a set of tactics that will help you achieve one part of your strategy) and Strategy (the big picture of what you are trying to accomplish).

While you might employ a Total Saturation Strategy or a Precision Strategy, he recommends the Listening Strategy.

The Listening Strategy involves:

  • Hearing: Including observing online behavior (great free resource: Sparkwise), monitoring social media and gathering customer experience data (off-line).
  • Reflecting: The digestion phase where you put things into context and discuss it with your team.
  • Helping: This includes having courage and generating satisfaction.

You can learn more about this work by watching the full Media Maven presentation on SEO. (It will be up over the weekend!)

Did you attend the presentation?  Did you complete your post-event survey?  If  you answered yes…and then no, we’d love to hear from you and greatly appreciate your feedback!  Take the survey here:

Click here to take survey

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Job Alert: SEIU Seeks Union Organizers in Vermont

May 17, 2012 – 12:51 pm

Thanks to Tara O’Dowd for passing along this employment opportunity!  If you have a nonprofit position open and would like us to help publicize and fill, please email coordinator@commongoodvt.org or give Eli Harrington a call at 802.862.1645 ex 21 and we’ll help get the word out!

The Service Employees International Union is looking for Union Organizers-In-Training to Help Rebuild the Middle Class in Vermont. To apply: http://bit.ly/ICIBlH

This is an important opportunity to work on innovative campaigns to empower workers in the 99 percent to take on the power of the 1 percent. We need  creative electoral campaigners, social and environmental  activists, community organizers, labor organizers, students interested in  starting social justice careers  to work alongside low-wage workers as they speak out together for good jobs. Must be willing to work in stressful, hectic campaign environment and bring strong field and relational skills.  Candidate should have a track record of  working or volunteering  for underdogs and overlooked causes.

Are you ready to fight for what you believe in? Do you want to do something to make a difference? Are you looking to work in the social and economic justice movement? If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the questions above then union organizing is for you!

Job Description: For more than 75 years, SEIU has been helping working families stand up for their rights, fighting for dignity and respect in the workplace. With a membership of 2.2 million strong, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the labor movement. Our diverse staff of organizers helps janitors, home care aids, mental health workers, office workers, school bus drivers, public employees, nurses, and other hospital workers join forces to bring democracy to the workplace.

The SEIU–WAVE (Organizer-In-Training) Program is a 12-month training program. As an Organizer-in-Training with the SEIU WAVE Program you will be learning from a dynamic union that is committed to giving a voice to thousands of workers and helping to provide lasting social change for the working class.
At SEIU (www.seiu.org) , we are looking for energetic and passionate individuals who are ready to organize people to fight for better lives for themselves and their families. This is your opportunity to put your commitment to social and economic justice to work by learning the skills needed to build power for working people.

If selected you will be trained on any of our many organizing campaigns within the United States.

STARTING SALARY: $36,600 /annual

  • Comprehensive health benefits package for employee and eligible dependents.
  • $560/month car allowance
  • $60/ month cell phone allowance
  • Airfare, hotels, rental cars paid for when traveling
  • $50/day per diem when traveling
  • When assigned to a campaign in a state other than your home state, you will be sent home every other weekend.

Job Qualifications: Who should apply?
Union organizing is not easy and not for everyone. This program is designed to help train you on the many aspects of union organizing and learn skills that can be used in many aspects of the social justice movement. A successful applicant for the organizer-in-training position should have the following:

  • Demonstrated commitment to social justice and grassroots organizing
  • Possession of excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Possession of excellent listening skills and the ability to comprehend the concerns of others
  • Ability to manage your time independently and carry out work plans with minimal supervision
  • Willingness to travel for extended periods of time
  • Ability to work long and irregular hours, including some nights, weekends, and holidays
  • Ability to motivate and activate others
  • Possession of sharp problem-solving skills
  • Bilingual English/Spanish a plus
  • Possession of basic map navigation skills a plus
  • Possession of a valid driver’s license required and ability to rent a car

SEIU is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It’s not just a job….It’s a movement!

 

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How to Write (or Create Content) Fast!

May 16, 2012 – 4:29 pm

Kivi Leroux Miller of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com is a treasure. Here’s her latest post:

I’m often asked how I can create so much content for this site, my blog, my e-newsletter, webinars, presentations, etc.

I rely heavily on three strategies:

Repurpose!

If you are a content creator, and you aren’t repurposing content, you are doing it wrong. :)

I suggest a 50/50 mix to start: Half of what you publish is original, and the other half is repurposed in some way. You make a short thing longer. You cut a longer thing into shorter articles. You change the format, or style, or voice. But the main message and the key points are essentially the same.

In this particular article, the way I am grouping the content (Repurpose, Respond, Round Up) is original content for me, but I’ve included some of the points and examples I am sharing here in other places. I will also expand on this article later to repurpose it for the book I am working on.

Respond!

Look at what else is going on in the world around you, from media headlines, to your trade press and favorite bloggers, to what your friends are talking about on Facebook and Twitter. Look at what’s coming up on your schedule.  What can you write in response to what you see? Sometimes it can literally be a response (Jack said this on his blog, but here’s what we think . . .). Other times, your response is simply inspired by something you’ve seen, even if it doesn’t relate directly.

In last week’s newsletter about not letting your fears dictate your marketing strategy, I was responding directly to an article in the New York Times.  Last week, I also wrote a blog post called “How to Blog Daily” and that was inspired by a small snippet in a blog post by Katya Andresen.

Round Up!

Another quick way to create content is to round up a bunch of (often unrelated) ideas. You can do these in traditional round-up posts where you include several news blurbs, or anecdotes, or links you recommend. I think they work best when you can add a little perspective or value, such as how the individual items are related, or why you are sharing them. That approach is often called “curating content” in today’s marketing lingo. We do that with Mixed Links on the blog.

You can also think of lists as a type of round up too — in this article I’m rounding up three ways to create content fast into one post. Rounding up little bits of “leftover” content from other projects and sharing them is also a great way to repurpose content.

This article appeared in the May 16, 2012 edition of our weekly Nonprofit Marketing Tips e-newsletter.

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News: Home Share Now Video Wins National Award

May 16, 2012 – 2:02 pm

Our thanks to Amy Noyes of Home Share Now for sending us this great news!  If you or your organization have some great news to share for the benefit of the public and the VT Nonprofit community, send us an email at coordinator@commongoodvt.org or give Eli Harrington a call at 802.862.1645 ex 21!

Home Share Now Video Wins National Recognition

 

When Home Share Now hired local filmmaker Derek Hallquist, of Green River Pictures (GRPVT), to help tell the story of home sharing in central Vermont, they had high expectations.  They wanted to create a video that would capture the essence of home share relationships. They wanted to convey how home sharing solves housing problems, creates community, and conserves financial and environmental resources. They wanted to reach out to new audiences that may not realize home sharing is a viable option. And they wanted to do it all in under 15 minutes.

Derek and fellow filmmaker Christian Clark, of Retro Motion Media, accomplished all this and more in what is now an award-winning video. Home Share Now: Vermont Values recently received four national awards: a bronze Telly Award for Non-Profit Video; a bronze Telly Award for Videography/Cinematography; a Communicator Award of Distinction for Non-Profit; and a Communicator Award of Distinction for Non-Profit: Branded Content.

The annual Telly Awards honor the best in film and video production. Communicator Awards are given out annually to honor excellence in marketing and communications. Derek Hallquist grew up in Hyde Park and graduated from Lamoille Union High School. He operates Green River Pictures, based in Burlington.

The video is broken down into six short segments, some of which you may have seen playing on local cable access channels. It features Home Share Now staff and participants talking about everything from the matching process to the personal and community impacts of home sharing. You can see the entire video – or just selected segments – at Home Share Now’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/HomeShareNow.

Watch part one here:



Media Contact:

Amy Noyes

Communications Director

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Job Alert: Friends of Burlington Gardens Seeks Program Director

May 16, 2012 – 1:26 pm

Thanks to Jessica Hyman from Friends of Burlington Gardens for sending us this notification!  Nonprofits in ALL sectors from ALL over Vermont are encouraged to email job postings to coordinator@commongoodvt.org or call Eli Harrington at 802.862.1645 ex 21.

Friends of Burlington Gardens & Vermont Community Gardens:

Program Director

Are you an experienced professional with a passion for garden-based education and outreach?

Friends of Burlington Gardens is seeking a Program Director to manage the organization’s education programs. This is a key staff position, requiring someone who is flexible, collaborative, exhibits strong leadership, and is passionate about growing food and working with people of all ages and backgrounds.

Qualifications include experience in organic gardening or farming, educational program development and management, strong organizational skills, excellent communication skills, and successful fundraising experience.

A full job description is at http://www.burlingtongardens.org/Program%20Director%20Job%20Description%20April%202012.pdf

To apply, please send letter of interest, resume, writing sample, and three professional references to jess@burlingtongardens.org

Applications accepted until May 18, 2012.

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News: VT Nonprofit Organizations Compete for Free Vehicles

May 16, 2012 – 11:21 am

This article was originally reported by Vermont/Northern NY NBC affiliate, WPTZ.  If you have news about a Vermont nonprofit, send an email to coordinator@commongoodvt.org or give us a call at 802.862.1645 ex. 21 so we can get the word out about the great work happening in the NPO sector across Vermont!  If you’re on twitter and want to get the word out about jobs, news, grants, or any other relevant information, you can also use the hashtag #npvt and we’ll retweet and post your stories.  Cheers–Eli

Five Vermont non-profits are in the running to win a brand new car from Toyota. It’s part of Toyota’s “100 Cars for Good” contest where the car maker will give 100 cars to 100 American non-profits in 100 days. Toyota picked 500 finalists from over 4,000 applicants. Watch the video here.

“We didn’t think we’d get picked, we just threw it in, and we’re thrilled!” said Liz Helrich of the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf.

Every day through August 21st, Facebook users can visit the contest’s page and vote for one of five daily finalists. The Vermont finalists and their voting dates are:

  • The Central Vermont Humane Society (May 28th)
  • Fold Family Ministries (May 30th)
  • Hunger Free Vermont (June 1st)
  • Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf (June 15th)
  • The Common Place at the Art House (August 11th)

While the prospects of getting a new car for free are definitely attractive, these local organizations are also in need. At the Food Shelf, Helrich said the car would help them get students from their Community Kitchen program around town and also would be used for home bound delivery.

“We have 150 households we visit every month, and these are people who for reasons of disability, some of the them are senior citizens, they cannot get to the Food Shelf so we deliver to them,” explain Helrich.

At Hunger Free Vermont, a limited transportation budget has made it difficult for the non-profits 16 employees to get around the state to teach nutrition education.
“We’ve had to ask the staff to be very creative and do a lot of carpooling, which we still want to continue, but if we had a company vehicle we’d be able to expand our outreach,” said HFV’s executive director Liz Parisi.

And if they win?

“We’ll probably dance around the office, but it will really mean a lot to our organization,” exclaimed Parisi.

For more information on the organizations and voting dates, visit the Cars For Good‘s Facebook page.

By CommonGood VT | Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Secrets of Office 2010

May 15, 2012 – 5:09 pm

Do you know about Tech Soup? Don’t miss their great tips and inexpensive software offers!

Has your organization recently upgraded to Office 2010? Learn about a few of our favorite new features and find out how they might improve how your organization works.

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Funding Alert: Vermont Community Foundation, Walter Cerf Community Fund

May 15, 2012 – 3:00 pm

Originally posted on the Vermont Community Foundation website here, thanks again to our friends and partners at the VCF!

WALTER CERF COMMUNITY FUND

Walter Cerf was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1907. The son of a successful businessman, he spent most of his youth in Berlin. He attended university in Freiburg, Heidelburg, and elsewhere before being awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Bonn in 1933. In 1936, he relocated to the United States and in 1941, he earned a second Ph.D. in philosophy at Princeton University. After becoming a United States citizen, he served in military intelligence with the 35th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star. In 1947, he began a twenty-five year career as a Professor of Philosophy at Brooklyn College. He retired to his summer home in Leicester, Vermont in 1972.

Although his father’s business, Gesellschaft für Eigentumsschutz, a night security agency, was expropriated by the Nazis in 1938, one-half of the company was returned to the family after World War II. In 1987, Mr. Cerf sold his interest in the company. During the last twenty years of his life, Walter Cerf made gifts exceeding $10 million to more than 100 different organizations in Vermont. At his death in 2001, a permanent endowment, the Walter Cerf Community Fund, was established at the Vermont Community Foundation. The Fund will make grants annually in Walter’s name and will continue the generosity of this remarkable man in perpetuity.

What We Fund
The Walter Cerf Community Fund (WCCF) makes grants to address charitable needs in the state of Vermont. Priority interests are the arts, education, historic preservation, and social services, reflecting the pattern of giving established by Mr. Cerf over many years. The WCCF prefers proposals that encourage cooperation, collaboration, and community building. We highly value the input of the Preservation Trust and strongly encourage grantseekers for historic preservation projects to consult with the Trust before submitting an application. The WCCF will rarely fund an entire project, but favors projects which have support from a variety of sources.

Grants are made to organizations that either have a statewide constituency and make a unique contribution to Vermont, or are located in Addison County or Brandon. Approximately 70% of funds available will be awarded to programs and projects in the Addison County/Brandon area; the remaining 30% of available funds will support statewide programs and projects.

What We Don’t Fund
In general, the WCCF will not make grants for endowments, religious purposes, individuals, or debt reduction. Operating support may be provided on occasion, but will not normally be a priority for the WCCF.

Grant Size
Grant awards will range from $500 to $5,000. In addition, one grant of up to $25,000 will be awarded in Addison County or Brandon. Nonprofit organizations may apply for either the larger grant or for one of the smaller grants.

See a list of 2011 grant awards

Deadline
June 4, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.

Resources
We strongly recommend that you read the Account Guidelines and Technical FAQs before starting your grant application.

Online Grants Account Guidelines
Technical Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Fiscal Sponsorship
Grants to organizations must be paid to a 501(c)(3) organization, town or municipality, church, or public school. If your organization does not have 501(c)(3) status, you may be able to use a fiscal sponsor that has a mission supported by your project. Your fiscal sponsor must sign an agreement that you submit with your application to confirm its understanding of the fiscal and programmatic responsibility it accepts when it agrees to be a fiscal sponsor for your organization. Read the fiscal sponsor agreement. If you are awarded a grant by the Vermont Community Foundation, the grant check is made payable to the fiscal sponsor. All grant reports are shared with your fiscal sponsor as well as with the Foundation. Some organizations charge a fee to be a fiscal sponsor. The Foundation cannot act as a fiscal sponsor.

Apply Online
All applications, including attachments, must be submitted through the online application system in order to be considered. 

The application deadline is June 4 at 5:00 p.m.

We’re Here to Help
If you have any questions, please contact Ryan Torres at rtorres@vermontcf.org or 802-388-3355 x289. Feel free to discuss your idea with Ryan in advance of the application process.

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Job Alert: Lund Family Center Seeks Development Data & Stewardship Specialist

May 15, 2012 – 2:24 pm

Listing courtesy of Seven Days Classifieds!

The Lund Family Center is a multiservice nonprofit that has served families and children throughout Vermont for 122 years. Our mission is to help children thrive by serving families with children, pregnant or parenting teens and young adults, and adoptive families. Currently seeking a professional to join our busy development team in all fundraising efforts:

Development Data and Stewardship Specialist

Full-time position to lead Lund’s gift processing, database management, reporting, gift acknowledgement, and volunteer coordination. Additional responsibilities include supporting the Director of Development, Capital Campaign Associate Director, and Executive Director in preparation for donor meetings and correspondence as well as supporting all other aspects of annual fundraising and capital campaign as needed including events, donor stewardship, and agency representation.

REQUIREMENTS: Looking for a development professional with exceptional people and project management skills and experience working in fast-paced nonprofit development office. Candidates must be meticulous and consistent in matters of accuracy, presentation, and attention to detail with mastery of Microsoft Office and familiarity with fundraising software; experience with Raiser’s Edge and Blackbaud preferred. Candidate should be an enthusiastic self-starter with the ability to prioritize, organize, and work independently and efficiently on multiple concurrent projects and have an affinity with Lund’s overall mission.

Please submit cover letter, resume, and writing sample to:

Jamie Tourangeau, HR Manager,
PO Box 4009, Burlington, VT 05406-4009.
Fax (802)861-6460
Email: jamiet@lundvt.org
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Video: Vermont Foodbank Hunger Conference 2012 Opening & Keynote

May 15, 2012 – 1:00 pm

This year, Common Good Vermont had the distinct pleasure to work with the Vermont Foodbank as a Communications Partner for their 6th Annual Conference held at the Sheraton Conference Center in Burlington on Tuesday, May 8, 2012.  The conference was presented by the National Life Group and titled, “Impact Through Innovation”.

The conference brought together a huge range of nonprofit organizations, private partners, and state and local government officials, all working to stop hunger here in Vermont.  For us here at Common Good Vermont, it was a great opportunity to meet and interact directly with many of these crucial partners from around the state to learn more about an all-too-often unspoken, and far-too-common, problem affecting roughly one in six Vermonters.

The video below features an introduction from Vermont Foodbank Board Member, Margie Stern as well as full opening remarks from Governor Peter Shumlin, John Sayles, Vermont Foodbank CEO, Mehran Assadi, President & CEO, National Life Group, and the full General Session with Dr. Steven L. Robbins: Your Brain is Good at Inclusion…Except When It’s Not!

 

About keynote presenter, Dr. Steve L. Robbins, Ph.D.

A powerful storyteller with a powerful story to tell, Dr. Steve L. Robbins has an unmatched ability to inspire people even in the midst of disrupting and challenging the way they think about the world. Born in Vietnam, Dr. Robbins immigrated to the United States when he was five years old.  He and his mother faced many challenges as Vietnamese immigrants in a new land, during a time when there was much anti-war and anti-Vietnamese sentiment.

 Working through and rising out of the challenges of poverty and discrimination Dr. Steve Robbins brings insightful perspective on issues of leadership, inclusion and innovation, and the power of caring. Drawing on his compelling life journey, Robbins’ shares intriguing stores, laugh-out-loud humor and a keen understanding of human behavior. 

With a dynamic use of story-telling, humor and extensive knowledge of pertinent issues and concepts, Dr. Robbins uniquely knows how to simultaneously challenge and motivate his audience.  the inclusiveness and power of his message are why organizations like PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, McDonald’s, Disney, Nordstrom, Boeing, Caterpillar, Toyota, Honda, Wells Fargo, Mayo Clinic, NASA, the National Security Agency, US Navy, Microsoft, Chevron, and numerous others call on Dr. Robbins to inspire, educate and prepare their people for the exciting challenges of a 21st century world.

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