Toolbox Tuesday - Online Social Networking

8. Use Online Social Networking

If you are not using online social media yet, chances are it’s for one of two reasons – either you don’t know how to or you don’t understand why you should bother. Trust me – it’s worth overcoming them both.

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow you to keep in touch with lots of people all at once. You can keep clients, supporters, sponsors and volunteers up to date with what you’re up to, all while marketing to new stakeholders at the same time. Just like ‘real-life’ networking, social media provides an opportunity to make new contacts, share resources and develop working relationships with people you may not otherwise have the chance to meet.

How to Get Started with Twitter

1. Go to www.twitter.com and click the ‘Get Started’ button. Simply follow the instructions to ‘sign up’.
2. Add a photograph or a logo, so that people know your Twitter account is for real. People want to know the conversation is genuine.
3. Make sure you fill in the one line bio, so that people can instantly tell if they want to ‘follow’ your conversation. If you don’t fill in the bio, you’ll get ignored like a wallflower at a party.
4. Search for people you would like to have a conversation with. Use key words that relate to your area of interest eg. autism, schools, social services, New Zealand. When you find people of interest click ‘follow’.
5. Write an update. To start with your updates may be simple things like ‘Learning to use Twitter. Any tips appreciated’. As you learn more, you will use your updates to have more meaningful conversations.
6. Search for Kerri Tilby and then follow. You’ll be able to follow her conversations, and get some ideas for making the most of your own Twitter account.

Once you’ve started ‘Twittering’ there are some things you will want to know…

Yes, you do only have 140 characters per update (or ‘tweet’ as they are known.) You can get around this by pasting in a link to your website or blog, so that people can click through for more information. It is a great way to drive traffic to your website.

If you want to reply to somebody’s ‘tweet’, simply hover your mouse over the right hand side of their update, and a reply button will appear. Click on reply, and then type your update as usual. Your update will appear in your own profile, as well as in the ‘@ tab’ on the other persons page.

If you are following heaps of people, it’s easy to miss comments that have been directed at you. Click on the @ tab on the right hand side of your home page, and you’ll see any ‘tweets’ that have been made with your name in it. Always acknowledge the writer – this is their way of trying to start a conversation with you.

If there is a particular ‘tweet’ you want to refer back to, click the star button and it will automatically save it into your Twitter favourites.

A ‘tweet’ with RT and then @someone is known as a ‘re-tweet’. That means the person tweeting the information is simply repeating something that someone else has said. If you provide meaningful content in your ‘tweets’, they will often be ‘re-tweeted’. It is a great way to be introduced to ‘followers’ outside of your existing circle.

Theme Thursday - World of Friends Africa - Amazing Race

Girls Brigade Africa Amazing Race

Week 1:

• Line up oldest to youngest and number off to form teams of 4/5 girls.
• 5 minutes to choose team name and write it down.
• Explain rules of the game / get girls to suggest rules

1. No running
2. Work as a team
3. No put down comments
4. Detour – choose between 2 activities (do only 1)
5. Roadblock – only one person from team does activity, different person from the team each week.
6. Idea of the game is to make it to the end, not about winning prizes.

Africa

• Animal Alphabet game
• Give each team plenty of letters of the alphabet.
• Leader calls out the name of an animal and each team must spell the animals name and put their hands up when completed.
• Soccer relay – with balloons
• Team with most points gets their KENYA – DETOUR clue.

Kenya

• All members in team to crawl to Kenya
• Detour – choose between words or wisdom
• Words – find all animals in word search (must work as a team)
• Wisdom – work out the animals in the crossword (must work as a team)
• Put team name on sheets when finished, give SOUTH AFRICA – ROAD BLOCK clue

South Africa

• Travel blind holding hands, one person in team leading the way to the kitchen.
• Team to make maize meal and a cup of tea.
• One person to eat maize meal and drink tea.
• Once finished, give BOTSWANA clue

Botswana

• Hope holding hands to Botswana
• Using 1 sheet of sand paper each and crayons, each team member to make a rock cave painting, stick on the walls.
• Give CREATION DEVOTION clue

Creation

• Find the cross
• Look up and read together as a team Genesis chapter 1:1 – chapter 2:3
• Use template to create origami

PIT STOP!

Wednesday's Word of the Week - He Is Able

If your Father is God and you have a problem on your hands, what do you do? Scripture tells us what to do.

Is your problem too large? Ephesians 3:20 says, “God is able to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Is your need too great? 2 Corinthians 9:8 reminds us, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance.”

Is your temptation too severe? Hebrews 2:18 says, “God is able to help us when we are being tested.”

Is your future too frightening? Jude 24 tells us, “God is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.”

Make these verses part of your daily diet. God is able to accomplish, provide, help, save, keep, subdue. He is able to do what you can’t. Go to Him!

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Toolbox Tuesday - Donation Boxes

7. Put Donation Boxes in Local Shops

Donation boxes are not just about raising money, they are about raising profile as well. A simple information card on top of the box helps spread the word about your organisation, programmes and projects. Even if people don’t make a donation there and then, they still become aware of who you are and what you do.

Motivation Monday - Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realise the impact of attitude of life.  Attitude to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skills.  It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our Attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.

Charles Swindoll

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Seeing You

Why does God love you so much?

For the same reason the artist loves his paintings. You are His idea!

Ephesians 2:10 confirms that we are “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

In the movie Hook, Peter Pan had become old and looked nothing like the Peter the lost boys knew. In the midst of the boys shouting that this was NOT Peter, one of the smallest boys pulled him down to his level. He places his hands on Peter’s face, moved the skin around and reshaped his face. The boy looked into Peter’s eyes and said, “There you are, Peter!”

Shh. Listen. Do you hear?

God is saying the same words to you. There you are! There you are!

He’s seeing you and loving the you he sees.

From Fearless by Max Lucado

Toolbox Tuesday - Join a Business Networking Group

6. Join a Business Networking Group

If you want to meet potential sponsors, you need to go where potential sponsors hang out. A business networking group allows you to meet face-to-face with potential supporters, and gives you the opportunity to develop a relationship with them before you ask for support. It’s much harder for potential sponsors to say NO to a friend – and a business networking group is where friendships are made.

There are plenty of business networking groups to choose from, but a good place to start is by phoning your local Chamber of Commerce.

Motivation Monday - In Honour of our Olympic Athletes

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.  So that his place shall never be with cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Vanderlei de Lima (2004 Olympics Athens)

At five feet, five inches, Vanderlei de Lima is shorter than some fifth graders. Don’t let his size fool you. The body may be small, but the heart is bigger than the Olympic Stadium in Athens. That’s where he received the 2004 bronze medal for the marathon.

He should’ve won the gold. He was leading when a deranged protester hurled himself into the runner–forcing him off course. De Lima resumed the race. But in the process he lost his rhythm, precious seconds, and his position. But he entered the stadium punching the air with his fists, both arms extended, weaving for joy!

I’m taking notes on this guy! He reminds me of another runner. Paul, the imprisoned apostle. His chains never come off. The guards never leave. He may appear to be bumped off track, but he’s actually right on target. Christ is preached. The mission is being accomplished.

Run the race!

Paul said, “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. I Corinthians 9:23-24”

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Toolbox Tuesday - Write a Press Release

5. Write a Press Release

Whether you’ve met the Editor or not, you should still write regular press releases and send them to all your local media. Remember to make the press release newsworthy and if possible include a photograph to capture the imagination.

Writing a Successful Press Release
Make sure you…

Find a newsworthy angle to your story and focus on that. Perhaps it is the first, last, oldest, youngest, biggest or smallest event of its kind. Is there a celebrity involved or do you have a catch phrase that gives your event or project a special twist? How is your organisation being affected by current events?

Keep it clear and easy to read. Head it up with ‘Press Release for Immediate Use’ and the date, and always use an Arial font that is at least 12 point. Double space your press release so that the journalist can scan it easily and has room to add comments if necessary.

Write a single line headline that says what your story is about. If you are sending your story to local media, make sure you have the word ‘local’ in the headline.

Keep it brief. You should be able to capture your story in less than a page, so stick to the point.

Copy your press release into the body of your email, rather than adding it as an attachment. This allows the reporter to quickly scan your story immediately on opening.

Add a human touch. A news story should look like someone has been interviewed, so include some quotes either from yourself, or another member of your organisation. If you are quoting somebody else, make sure you have their permission.

Double check accuracy. Before sending your press release, go back and double check all the details, including dates, times, venue and the spelling of names.

Include contact details of someone who can provide more information at the bottom of the page. Make sure that person knows to expect a call. If appropriate, provide a website address where the journalist can go for more information about your organisation.

Have photographs available. A good photograph is sometimes harder to resist than a good story, so let the press know if you have photographs available, or if there are photo opportunities coming up. Photographs of people are most attractive to local newspapers, especially if the people are actively doing something.

Make sure you send the right release to the right people. Develop a relationship with the reporter who covers your area of interest. It’s often not what you know, but who you know.