Free book because you are fabulous!

Two years ago this week, Rosetta Thurman and I released the book “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar”. It has been a wild ride ever since. We’ve traveled from New York to Hawaii and from Indiana to Texas on the Nonprofit Rockstar book tour. If the tour has missed your town (Alaska, I’m looking at you) or if you’d like us to come back (Hawaii, you complete me) then contact us here. We’ve talked to young professionals groups, Chambers of Commerce, EPIP chapters, United Ways, community foundations, and universities.

None of this would have happened without YOU. You went to bat for us on conference planning committees, you encouraged your staff and students to read the book, and some of you baby boomers even bought copies for your nonprofit career-bound kids. You tweeted nice things, wrote book reviews on Amazon, and you even nominated us for a book award.

For one week only (October 29th to November 2nd), we are giving you a free electronic copy of “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar” ($19.99 value), when you use this link. You will receive a complete PDF of the book, as our way of saying thanks for being such a nonprofit rockstar. Get one for yourself, your co-workers, your neighbor in graduate school studying nonprofit management, and your book club. Spread the love and tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Last year, we gave away 650 copies of the book, with your help we can double that number this year.

What's Your Platform?

During this election season, there is a lot of talk about political platforms but how much thinking have you done about your own platform to share ideas? Whether you are a program assistant at a community center or the CEO of a foundation, you probably have big ideas about how to solve the problems that you see in the world. If you didn’t, you probably would have picked a different field to work in. The best idea for change in the world doesn’t mean much if no one hears about it, except for you and your cat.

This idea of branding and building a platform for do gooders has been keeping me up at night. My greatest frustration is that all of the great marketing goes to the dumbest ideas, e.g. the marketing muscle that went into Snookie’s book “It’s a Shore Thing” (no link purposefully given because I am trying to save all of our brain cells). Where is that sort of marketing might when it comes to the recent college grad who is building a performance company to use improv to bring public policy ideas to life or the author who is breaking the mold on what a donor looks like or the organization that is building a nation-wide green economy by seeing residents of the inner-city as a solution, not the problem? Since they don’t have million dollar marketing budgets and prime-time commercials, I thought it was time to build a do-it-yourself movement for good idea marketing. I’ve built a branding book of the month club to help all of us spend some extra time building our brand. Not so you can be the next reality tv star but  so your great ideas can get the light of day. Learn more here. 

Are you building the business of you?

 I am looking for social entrepreneurs, nonprofit rockstars, and all around do gooders that are trying to build the reach of their book, speaking career, consulting business or other business enterprise to participate in a 30-45 minute interview by phone. Participants will be rewarded for their generosity of time with a signed copy of "How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar" for themselves and a copy to be donated to the University of their choice.

If you are interested in participating in a call, send me an email (tristaharris at gmail.com) with the subject line: phone interview

In the body of the email please list:

Name

Type of business (speaker, author, etc.)

Number of years you have had this business

Please share this widely with your network.

Informational Interview 101

This week I had the opportunity talk to some high school students about building their brand (What's up Cookie Cart kids!) and one of them asked me afterwards "what is an informational interview?". That is a great question and one that many adults are often too embarrassed to ask. So I'll pretend that I'm answering the question for the high schoolers and mid-career professionals can pretend like they are reading this post to brush up on something that they already know everything about and are doing consistently to advance in their career. Deal? So what is an informational interview?

An informational interview is  not a job interview. It is an interview to learn more about a job, career, industry or company.

Who should I ask for an informational interview?

People that you admire, someone who has a job that you would like in 5-10 years, or someone that works at a company that you would like to work at. You can find these people in industry blogs or newspapers, through alumni associations, or through referrals from people in your network.

Can you give me an example email to request an informational interview?

For students: Brad Owens, from Humphrey Institute Career Services suggested that I contact you.  As a graduate student studying nonprofit management I would like to learn more about my various career options after I graduate, he thought you might be able to provide me with useful information. If you are able to find time, I would like to meet with you in person or by phone for 20 minutes to ask you a few questions about your career path.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your reply.

For people that are employed:

Amy Johnson, Executive Director of the Helping People Center shared your contact information with me. She is a big fan of yours and highly recommended that I reach out to you. I am currently a development officer at the Evergreen Health Society and am confidentially considering a move to the foundation field. Because you successfully transitioned from fundraising to a program officer position, I would like to talk with you  about your transition and if you have any specific advice about how I can better prepare myself for a job as a program officer. If you are able to find time, I would like to meet with you in person or by phone .

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your reply.

What should I ask in my informational interview?

Can you tell me about your career path?

What does your average day look like?

What degrees are needed in this field?

What do you think best prepared you for this position?

What do you like most about your job?

What is your least favorite part of the job?

What are the next steps for you in your career?

Are there people that you would recommend that I talk to to learn more?

Who do you admire in this field?

What sort of follow-up should I do?

Write a thank you note (handwritten is best) and if you get a job in the field at a later date, write them again to thank them for their great advice that helped you to break into the field.

Best Ted Talks for Do Gooders

I am a huge fan of Ted Talks. Ted describes their mission as "spreading ideas." From their website: "We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other." I always find inspiration for my work at a foundation when I listen to Ted Talks so I thought I would compile a list of some of the best for people in the social sector. I have some of my favorites as well as ones that were suggested by my Twitter followers

Bill Strickland is one of my favorite talks ever. I have seen him do this in person but I love this version where he is backed by Herbie Hancock.

Majora Carter is a rockstar and her talk is on greening the ghetto

Jamie Drummond on crowdsourcing goals

Great talk on the mesh, which I think is the future for nonprofits as well

@Upwell suggested 3 talks, as well as a spreadsheet that lists 1200 Ted Talks in a searchable spreadsheet that is available here.

Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice

Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability

Steve Boland from the Nonprofit Assistance Fund has a great talk about freeing the power of ideas.

@mollygmartin suggested Eve Ensler's talk on happiness in body and soul

Leave your favorite Ted Talk in the comments.