Donors & Followers: Incorporating Social Media into Fundraising

— Leave a comment

Donors & FollowersI recently had the opportunity to partner with Urshan College (UC) & Urshan Graduate School of Theology (UGST) in an effort to raise the visibility of their annual stewardship banquet through social media.

Rick Hernandez Pic

Rick Hernandez
Urshan Director of Development

Afterwards, I got a chance to ask the Urshan Director of Development, Rick Hernandez, about his experience using social media to raise dollars and followers.

What type of a fundraising event is the Urshan Stewardship Banquet?

Rick: We provide a free catered dinner and share how Urshan College and Urshan Graduate School of Theology are impacting and equipping individuals for a better future. In addition, Urshan College’s vocal ensemble, United, provides incredible music and signing.

What led you to think about incorporating social media into the Stewardship Banquet?

Rick: Every year the “big” challenge is to reach individuals who aren’t “plugged in” to what UC/UGST are accomplishing. Most banquet attendees are supporters who are already well versed in what’s happening at Urshan. We felt that incorporating a social media initiative into the Stewardship Banquet would help us reach a larger audience than those physically present at the event.

Continue Reading…

Share Button
In Social Media , , ,
 permalink

Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame.   – The Doctor

Share Button

Great men are forged in the fire…#BestAdvice2013

Posted on In #MakerMoto
 permalink Leave a comment

What’s Your #BestAdvice2013?

— 3 Comments

I was recently visiting family in south Florida and saw this sign.

Alligator warning sign

It seems the wording could be better, but it’s good advice, especially the part about alligators “mistaking a hand for a handout!”

As a new year approaches what’s the best advice you plan to remember from 2013? Share your advice in 1 or 2 sentences as a comment on this post or tweet/FB post using #BestAdvice2013. I will compile all the comments and post them the last week of 2013.

If you would like your Twitter name included when I publish your best advice, then be sure to include it with your comment.  Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom!

Share Button
In Leading Thoughts , ,
 permalink

Never exchange short-term physical pleasure for long-term emotional pain. #leadwell #staytrue

Share Button

Never exchange short-term…#leadwell

Posted on In #MakerMoto
 permalink Leave a comment

3 Ways I Use Evernote

— 7 Comments

Using EvernoteEvernote is a “productivity workbench.” For over a year the FREE version of Evernote has been my number one productivity tool. When it comes to collecting, managing and sharing content Evernote works seamlessly.

Here are 3 ways I currently use Evernote:

1. Blog Post Incubator

I mostly write about social media, productivity and leadership on my blog. I rarely get ideas for blogging while reading books on these subjects even though I read them. I usually get blogging ideas while I am engaged in everyday activities.

I keep a file in Evernote called “2nd Chair Blog Thoughts.” Whenever I get a thought that I think could develop into a future blog post, I start a new note in this file. I give the note a potential title and then jot down a few sentences about the blog idea. I try to capture enough of my thoughts so that later when I read the note I will remember what I was thinking. In this way Evernote serves as a blog post incubator to hold my thoughts until I can cultivate them into full blown posts.

Continue Reading…

Share Button
In Productivity , , ,
 permalink

“The Healing Road to Heaven” Video Interview with Chester Mitchell

— Leave a comment

In this interview Pastor Chester Mitchell talks with me about his second book “The Healing Road to Heaven.”Healing Road to Heaven Cover

Pastor Mitchell shares:

  • How NY Times best-selling author Mark Batterson came to write the forward.
  • Why he wrote a book on pain and healing.
  • How he ran out of faith praying for his dad to come to Christ.
  • What made the passing of his father “bittersweet.”
  • Why he wrote the book to help anyone take the next step towards finding peace.

Pastor Mitchell writes with refreshing honesty and hope about the journey from Pain to Peace. Pick up a copy today at ChesterMitchell.org or on Amazon.

After you watch register HERE to win a copy of “The Healing Road to Heaven.”

(NOTE: the book trailer and pop-up quotes will not appear on a mobile device)

 

Share Button
In Media , ,
 permalink

Thankful for My Normal

— 2 Comments

Reagan Splitting StatueThis Thanksgiving my family is facing several new frontiers. Some are exciting, others are terrifying.

  • In September, I left a full time position with a church to build my consultancy.
  • My wife is one semester away from finishing her degree.
  • Our oldest daughter finds out next week where she is accepted to college.
  • Our teen-age daughter has been diagnosed with a tumor in her hip. She is scheduled for a very invasive surgery in February.
  • Our pre-teen sons are immersed in Minecraft and routinely go by the names Steve and Enderman. They also know how to use the Force to split public statues as pictured above.

All-in-all these experiences are my NORMAL right now, and I am thankful for my normal.

I like what Ali Polin said recently on her blog, “Your normal is someone else’s WOW!”

It’s true. You’re everyday routine of pushing forward and overcoming obstacles may seem less than stellar to you, but to someone else it’s amazing.

I remember meeting an older couple who had lost two of their children in separate tragedies. Many couples divorce in the wake of loosing a child, but somehow this couple not only stayed together but provided a loving and healthy home for two other children. Normal for them was not punishing their living children with the grief of their deceased children. WOW!

I have a friend who is only a year older than me, but he is fighting stage 4 cancer and may not live to see Christmas. Throughout his fight for life his faith has amazed me. He wrestles with fears and doubts, but he expresses such a trust in his family and his God. Normal for my friend is spent managing his pain and waiting for the inevitable. WOW!

What’s normal for you right now?

What difficulties are you facing that make you feel deficient or defective? What’s got you doing your best to just make it one more day?

Despite the challenges you are facing in this season, I know there are elements of your NORMAL that make others say, “WOW!”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Share Button
In Leading Thoughts , ,
 permalink

Where is my “X”? Reflecting on JFK

— 1 Comment

JFK CollageThis year my wife and I were able to visit three sacred places with our children: Ford’s Theater in D.C., the Lorrain Motel in Memphis, and Dealey Plaza in Dallas.

All three places are preserved just as they were on those ill-fated days when Lincoln, MLK and JFK met their premature deaths by an assassin’s bullet.

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

In one of the pictures above you see my oldest son standing on the actual spot where Kennedy was shot. There is an “X” painted on the road.

On that spot a 46 year old man died who was born in Massachusetts, attended Harvard, served in the Navy, was elected to Congress, the Senate and then the Presidency of the United States. On that “X” his life ended.

As I took that picture of my son, I couldn’t help but think, “Where is my “X”?”

The place, the spot, the moment in which my life will come to an end. I am confident that God knows that exact spot. It may be somewhere I have tread a 1,000 times or it me be 1,000 miles away from everything I’ve ever known.

I can’t live my life constantly thinking about the “X”, but I dare not live my life forgetting about the “X”.

I can only do my best to live honestly, purposefully, selflessly, nobly before I reach that fateful spot.

President Kennedy said it best, “For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.”

Share Button
In Leading Thoughts , ,
 permalink

Growth is a Goal, Not a Solution

— 1 Comment

Growing ComplexityChurches are social institutions.

As a result, the more people who join a church, the greater the complexity of social management. Churches often overlook this fact and mistakenly believe that growth will make all things better.

I’ve been a part of pastoral teams in which we believed the magical elixir of growth would solve our problems. I know first hand what it’s like to ride the wave of growth from under 200 members to over 500 and then back down to 250. I know the sting of realizing the atrophy had nothing to do with a crisis. We simply grew beyond our ability to manage the growth.

Growth always brings with it a greater level of complexity. This is why growth is a goal, not a solution.

Continue Reading…

Share Button
In Leading Thoughts , , ,
 permalink

Keep The Bottle Away from Operators

— Leave a comment

Top of BottleI love the vocabulary Les McKeown uses to describe the roles of people in an organization: Visionary, Operator and Processor.

In short…

  • (V) Visionaries think big, generate ideas and become irritated by details.
  • (O) Operators are action oriented and don’t like to be micro-managed.
  • (P) Processors devise systems and procedures that enable an organization to deliver consistent results.

Most often startups begin with the dreams of a visionary and the “make it happen” skills of an operator. Once the company begins to succeed a processor is brought on board to systematize operations.

Of the three, operators bring a high functional value to organizations. These are the implementors, the “git-r-done” kind of people who bring about the dreams of visionaries.

I’ve been privileged to work with a few gifted operators during my leadership of nonprofits. People who lived to execute a program, or launch an initiative or pull-off a fundraising campaign.

I’ve also been guilty of letting operators take on more than they can do. I have mentioned incomplete projects in staff meetings and allowed the operators to say, “I’ll take care of it.” I have had operators meet with me about their problems and by the end of the meeting they’ve committed to find solutions to my problems.

Continue Reading…

Share Button
In Staff Development
 permalink