A Donation Request You Should Not Do

  

Not too long ago I was having a conversation with a seasoned fundraiser. This person works with a large organization as a consultant. He told me that a billionaire had sent $1,000 to the nonprofit and that the CEO quickly sent out a letter to the billionaire requesting $50,000.

My colleague was lamenting about how much of a mistake this was, and I couldn't agree more with the assessment.

Missing the Point

Although the CEO of the organization was excited when he saw the $1,000 gift from a high-profile billionaire, the last thing he should have done is to send an acknowledgment with an ask for more money. The reality is that the billionaire will likely never donate to the organization again. The letter missed the whole point of development.

Donor Has the Money

The first thing that likely came to the mind of the CEO who sent the letter was, this donor is a billionaire. He has the money! While that is, of course correct, just because someone has the money to give to your organization does not mean they have the propensity to do so. Think about it, why should they give to your group? No one wants to give money, even if they have a lot of it, to anyone and everyone. Additionally, millionaires and billionaires tend to get hit up with requests all of the time.

Better Approach

Many years ago, I served as the CEO of a nonprofit organization, and I've been in your shoes. I've had people that I've wanted to get to fund our group send a check, and I've experienced the excitement that comes from receiving one of those major gifts. But, like my colleague, I would never have sent the billionaire a letter in the mail thanking him for the $1,000 and in the same letter asking for more money!

Here's what I would have done:


  • Sent a personalized thank you letter in the mail with a penned signature and perhaps a little note. I would have expressed my gratitude for the gift and informed the billionaire donor what would happen with his donation of $1,000.
  • I would have been aware of the fact that the $1,000 gift could have been given for a multitude of reasons, such as a friend asked him to donate, or he somehow came across our group. A likely reason was that he was also "testing" us with the $1,000 gift to see how a relationship could develop.
  • Therefore, I would have then followed up the letter in the mail (email is fine, but the chances are that a letter that is personalized will get opened because people receive too much email). My follow-up would have been a note, email or perhaps even a personal call to thank the donor.
  • I would have developed a strategy to figure out how I could get a conversation with him in person. All the while, I would have been sending information and regularly keep in touch to start building awareness of our group.
  • Once I had secured a personal meeting with the billionaire prospect, I would have gotten to know him. I would have asked about his background, interests, family, why he gave to our group, other philanthropic interests, etc. As CEO, I would have made it a point to learn as much as possible about the donor.
  • I would have recognized that getting to know the billionaire personally was probably the most critical activity I could do because it was the creation of a relationship. I would have served as his liaison with our group and the work we do.
  • Once I understood his motivations and interests, it would have been only then that I would have considered beginning to see how we could engage him more substantially with our group.

If you're new to major gift fundraising or have limited experience in it, remember an essential point: Just because someone can give does not mean they have the inclination to do so. Having the financial means is only half of the equation. And, if it turns out that a leading philanthropist gives to your group and it is a small token, it can indeed be the beginning of more significant support, but they have to get to know you, and you have to learn about them. If you ever get a gift from a billionaire, pause and think carefully about your next steps.

4 Ways You Can Optimize Your Logistics and Distribution

  

Undeniably, the most crucial role of a company following the production is the distribution and logistics of the final goods so that they reach the end consumers at the right time. Clearly, logistics and delivery both have an unmatched role to play in the performance of the business. Hence, a steadfast and seamless mechanism for your goods distribution will ensure that your customers are satisfied with you. While the system of logistics and distribution varies with companies depending on the kind of products they deal in, optimizing it means following some discrete approach. However, here are discussed some easy and tacit ways to simplify distribution operations to make sure customers get a satisfying service.

Resource efficient packaging

Most of the times, courier and delivery services companies deploy a uniform packaging system, irrespective of what they are distributing. Many times, we see a simple consumer good, which is not as fragile as an electronic item, arriving with layers of packaging. So, you need to make sure that your packaging do not become excessive and as per the product nature from you logistics service provider. This way not only wastes will be reduced but also the costs of packing.

Bring forth new delivery options

Just not the products but there are many things that matter in delivery like the weight, dimension, nature or type of product, or whether it needs cold storage. While all this have a huge impact on the customers' satisfaction and state of the product when it will arrive at them, you need to find out whether you own delivery system have options to take care of all the aspects well.

Turning on automated processes for delivery

Another way you can assure that your delivery systems are fulfilling all expectations of customers is automation. Tracking of delivery route, time and vehicles/driver details, will help customers relax back while their orders are out for delivery. This further reduces the random calls and inquiries from the customers regarding their products.

Picking a logistics and delivery partner

The most befitting way to streamline your logistics and delivery mechanism is joining hands with a full-fledged delivery and courier services company who will help you through and out. From special handling of the products to warehousing management, products packaging to dispatch, doorstep deliveries to customers services, they will be in charge of all.

You need to realize that the logistics role is hard and it is that significant part of your business, which can hold back your customers providing them right delivery facilities. Whichever business you are into, just make sure your logistics support is well optimized and automated to get your products aptly to your end customers.

What You Need to Know About Business Analytics Training

  

WHAT IS BUSINESS ANALYTICS?

Business analytics refers to a practice of repetitive, systematic evaluation of an organization's data, with emphasis on statistical techniques and tools associated with analytics such as SAS, R, Python, Hadoop etc. Business analytics has become the lifeblood of every organization. It has now been adopted by organizations that practice data-driven decision making, whether by human beings or machines that make fully automated decisions.

Business analytics is used by skilled professionals to extract useful insights from the enormous amount of data generated on a day-to-day basis. This data is treated as an asset by big corporations as it can help them to gain a competitive edge over others. It helps to identify the sources of problems, the reasons for them and gives you information on future trends regarding these issues. It can also help to predict and influence outcomes in customer behavior. With the advent of computers, storing and interpreting large volumes of data has become easier.

Skilled professionals serve as an aid in this endeavor, as they have the expertise and skills to infer meaningful information out of raw facts and figures.

SPECIFIC AREAS COVERED BY BUSINESS ANALYTICS

Two specific areas are covered by business analytics:

1) Business Intelligence

2) Statistical Techniques

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE: If the organization has to predict future performance, it is vital to collect and interpret historical data relating to the various departments and members of the organization. Business Intelligence involves examining historical data associated with the performance of the departments and the team members working in the organization.

STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES: This area involves the use of statistical tools like descriptive analysis, predictive analysis and prescriptive analysis.

a) Descriptive Analysis involves understanding the current position of the organization by tracking key performance indicators.

b) Predictive Analysis involves assessing the likelihood of future outcomes by analyzing the trend data.

c) Prescriptive Analysis involves using historical data generated in the area of business intelligence and using it to produce suggestions on how to deal with parallel circumstances in the near future.

IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS ANALYTICS TRAINING

The growing demand for talent in the field of analytics can be fulfilled by becoming proficient in the relevant skills and gaining the knowledge required for performing business analytics. This can be achieved by acquiring business analytics training. This training is essential to succeed in today's highly data-driven and tech-driven world.

1) Training enables smart decision making

Business training will help you to access good and valid data. It inculcates the skills and expertise required for collecting, organizing, analyzing and interpreting data generated on a daily basis. These skills and knowledge bases can assist you to take smart, logical, and strategic decisions.

2) Training shifts your career to a promising field

Business Training helps existing employees as well as newcomers to advance their career and to reach greater heights. The job of a business analyst is now regarded as one that commands the industry's best salary. The unparalleled demand for skilled professionals i.e. business analysts, has led to an upward trend in their pay packages and laid the foundation for a fulfilling, rewarding and exciting career.

Take Control of Your Working Day

  

The psychologist, Ron Friedman says that the first 3-hours of your working day are your most precious and productive.

Rather than leaping into your e-mail inbox, checking your voicemail or responding to other people's requests, focus these first hours on the work that is most important to you and your job.

What do you do when you first sit down at your desk? Are you checking e-mails? Facebook? Internet shopping? Remember your brain is at its most creative so how will you maximise this time? What can you achieve on your todo list?

One of my top tips is all about preparing the night before. Check your to-do list, see what you have scheduled and batch your time. Find the things that are most creative, then categorise and prioritise what needs to be done.

Do what works best for you - whether it is writing it down in a list, in a planner, on a notice board... but whatever works best for you, stick to that process.

For me, I love a Todo list. I brain dump everything I have to do onto one list and schedule a date by it. I can then print off my list with only what needs to be done that day - and I like the satisfaction of being able to cross through things! I also check through the list for frogs!!

"If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the ugliest one first." (Mark Twain).

Brian Tracy, author of "Eat That Frog! Get More of the Important Things Done - Today" says "Your 'frog' is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don't do something about it now. It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life and results at the moment."

Also... "If you have to eat a live frog, it doesn't pay to sit and look at it for very long"!

Your working environment

So, how is your work desk looking at the minute? What is on it? Is it tidy or cluttered? It is worth noting, what we have on our desks can distract us a minimum of 10 times a day.

I have recently had my office refurbished and had to do a serious amount of decluttering. I now work to a totally clear desk policy and try to keep to this throughout the day. It helps me to start the day with a clear mind and to focus on my list.

Throughout the day as I print off e-mails I need to action I immediately label and put them into clear plastic wallets so each task I am working on doesn't end up in jumbled pile of paper.

End of the working day
At the end of the working day give your brain the opportunity to switch off. Put 15-minutes aside to put anything new onto your To-do list and prioritise for the next day.

By downloading this information helps you declutter your mind and switch off from work related actions as you leave the office.

So, imagine walking into your office tomorrow morning where you have a clear desk and a prioritised todo list, where you know what you are doing and how you are going to use those first precious 3-hours wisely. Here's to your productive week ahead!

Gerry Hyde has over 25 years' experience working in an office environment and has gained valuable knowledge and habits which help her create structure to her time in the office.

She is a passionate and creative Virtual Assistant, always looking for new ways to improve on systems and ways of working.

10 Tips to Successfully Change Careers

  

Are you ready for a career change? It can never be too late to try a new career on for size. But, changing jobs can be a significant challenge, depending on your career of choice.

However, if you're committed, there's no reason you can't find a new line of work that fulfills you and pays the bills.

Think hard before you leap. You may need to prep a bit.

Try these activities to successfully make a career change and do the work you were meant to do:

1. Make a list of what you don't like about your current position. If you're considering a change, there must be something that's rubbing you the wrong way. It might be your company, the people, or your position. Maybe you just weren't cut out to be an accountant. Consider the things you don't want to see in your next career.

2. Make a list of what you do like about your current position. It can't all be bad! What are things about your present company and place that you enjoy? What would you like to see in your next position?

3. Consider your values. Perhaps your most important benefit is helping people, but you spend your days driving a beer delivery truck. A position assisting others to directly might be more to your liking. List your values and consider careers that dovetail with them.

4. Brainstorm a list of career possibilities that take into account your likes, dislikes, and values. Now that you've given some thought to what you like don't like, and your costs, think of careers that can satisfy all of those requirements.

5. What else do you need? If you're planning a significant change, you'll probably need to learn a few new skills. You might even need to go back to school. Consider what you need to add to your resume and make a plan to make it happen.

6. Set a goal. Know what you want and put your vision to paper. Read your goal each day. Develop a reasonable plan to reach your goal shortly. Create a goal that inspires you.

7. Network. Applying for an existing opening that is known to the public is like trying to win the lottery. Your best bet is to leverage the people you know. Try to get the inside scoop on your dream job. Let everyone know you're looking to make a change. Be careful not to burn any bridges at your current position until you're ready to move on.

8. Contact headhunters. A reputable headhunter only gets paid when they find you a job but paid by the employer. You're also likely to get a lot of good advice. After all, they know what companies are looking for right now.

9. Be willing to take a step back. You might have to step down a level or a pay cut to change careers. Sometimes, it's necessary to make a small step back to take a more significant stride forward eventually.

10. Be patient. Finding a new position is usually challenging. Finding a new spot in a new field is considerably more difficult. You must be patient and persistent. Expect that it will take some time, but keep working hard toward realizing your dream.

Few things will change your life more than a change of career. It's worth the effort to find a job that you love. After all, you spend 40-plus hours each week doing it. Take the time to make a wise decision and then put a plan in place. It might be the beginning of a new adventure.

The Name S Of French Speaking Countries

  

The Name S Of French Speaking Countries


There are more or less 200 million French speaking people around the world. This figure comprise the people who speak French as their mother tongue and who are not resident of French speaking country but they have adapted the French language.

French is taught across the world and is equally considered as an important language subject after English. Apart from other parts of the world French is also spoken in United States of America. French language is ranked as high as English, basically just next to it in top ten language of the world. Similar to English its equally important and is included official languages in many significant international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations and host of other worldwide institutions, few of them are, European union (EU), and World Trade Organization (WTO) etc.

One can hear French speaking people across the world around most of the continents. In fact, French is the most spoken language and has most number of native speakers across top five continents.

In Europe French is the official language of France, Monaco, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. France has a population in excess of sixty million people. And it is the most fashionable country in the whole world. One of the main leaders in the European Union is France.

French is the co-official language in Switzerland. This pictorial country is one of the richest countries of the world. It is the central of various international associations. One must have heard about NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Belgium, a country that has evolved with the time and its French cultural heritage.

French speaking countries in Africa are Benin, Republic of Congo, Algeria, Comoros, Burundi, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon, Cote d’ Ivoire, Central Africa Republic, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Seychelles, Tunisia, Djibouti, Reunion, Guinea, Togo, Senegal, Mauritius, Niger, Mali, Rwanda, morocco and Madagascar.

In America and Caribbean, French is spoken in Canada, Martinique, Haiti, Guadeloupe and French Guiana. In Australia, French-speaking places are, Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Fortuna.

In a number of countries French hold an important position as an international language, commercial or administrative. Few of the countries are Laos, Greece, Italy, India, Lebanon, Andorra, Poland, Andorra, Argentina, Egypt, Brazil, Cambodia, Mauritania, Syria, Cape Verde, Tobago and Trinidad. Few other countries includes, Louisiana, United Kingdom, New England, Vietnam the, Vatican City. This shows that French Language is spoken almost every part of the world.

Natural Stress Management Howsoever Powerful May Be The Storm It Has To Pass

  

Natural Stress Management Howsoever Powerful May Be The Storm It Has To Pass




The pronouncement of the very word natural, takes some stress out of your personality. The chances of harmful side effects in natural management in any area, are remote. This assurance is great and likely to have a soothing effect on one’s personality.

Do not think that your stress is something special and none has experienced the type of stress that you are undergoing. Each individual lives with a moderate level of stress. Some exhibit it, cry about it, others brave it calmly- that’s the difference! Nurturing the stress can cause serious problems, both physical and mental! Do not think that stress is due to sad events only. Sterling happy events can also cause stress.

Let’s know what are some of the common causes for stress and how natural stress managements techniques can be applied to understand and solve them. For, behind every stress, there is an event or a strong cause. Consider some of them:

1. Losing the job. Initially, this may sound like a disaster to you. There is no doubt that getting an alternative employment is the only alternative solution. Some times, ‘wrong things happen’ for giving you a right turn in life. Do not lose hope. Fight the battle of your life.

Here I will share a real life story of a driver with you. A man was working as a driver with a merchant, for the last eight years, and suddenly his services were terminated. This event though stressful, gave him an opportunity to think about the other job alternatives. He was guided to a Bank by his friend. He took a auto-loan, and today, within a space of two years, that ex-driver is owning four vehicles, including a tempo, for carrying cargo. From the rented one room flat, he has shifted to his two bed-room flat. Initially, after termination of his services, he was having a revengeful attitude against his former employer. How the advice of his level headed friend brought to him, rich dividends!

2. Examination Failures. Failure in an examination is not a failure in life. You can always try again. Those who score extra percentage, need not be extra brilliant! Suppose you are not brilliant in studies- you may be cut out for business, where you may gain astounding success. All that is in your hands is to make sincere efforts. Take care of the means-the ends will take care of themselves!

3. After the retirement. The senior citizen, unfortunately, is only given lip-sympathy, he has many problems. His earnings have dwindled, his physical strength is not the same, he has no chair-power, through which he commanded lots of influence. A lot of understanding is required, and all the natural stress management techniques will have to play positive roles here. You were once the the master in acquiring things, now be the willing human being to give up things, one by one. Otherwise, you would be the cause of your own stressful living.

The list of stress creating situations are endless and level of stress varies from individual to individual.

But, use one golden rule- do not overreact to any situation. Howsoever powerful may be the storm-it has to pass. Wait and watch with patience. This is all about natural stress management.
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