“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
-Jacob Marley from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
During the holidays, many begin to think of those less fortunate than themselves, but there are ways to help people all year long, even while you help yourself and your business. The authors of these books, all Innovation Women, have made man — and womenkind — their business.
People buy from people and they give to people too. To inspire donors to give to your non-profit, you need authentic, compelling stories of the people affected by your company. In Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, Julia Campbell explains how to recruit staff, teach them to craft stories, and build a campaign using social media and other channels.
In Move the Message: Your Guide to Making A Difference and Changing the World, Josephine Bellaccomo helps activists learn how to present their ideas clearly and concisely, while motivating their audiences to act. Part communication guide/part marketing handbook/part primer for those advocating social change, this book offers step-by-step advice on the best ways to reach key audiences and spur them to action.
A Pebble for Your Thoughts: How One Kindness Rock At the Right Moment Can Change Your Life tells the story of a movement the author, Megan Murphy, started on a Cape Cod beach. One day, she decided to skip the depressing morning news and take a walk. As an exercise, Murphy painted simple, inspirational messages on rocks and scattered them over the beach. When a friend, recognizing Murphy’s handwriting, called and told her how much finding that rock affected her, Murphy knew she wanted to keep up this positive activity. A Pebble for Your Thoughts helps you learn to cultivate compassion and connection and offer hope in hard times.
Erica Waasdorp calls on her considerable experience in philanthropy to write Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant. How Small Gifts Can Be Powerful Tools to Support Any Organization. The book describes how nonprofits thrive by encouraging sustainers to commit to monthly giving. Waasdorp supports her ideas with case studies, examples, data, and testimonials from major players in the nonprofit world.
In On Board: What Current and Aspiring Board Members Must Know About Nonprofits and Board Service, Nanette Fridman presents a roadmap delineating the best practices for nonprofit boards. She lists questions to ask before joining a board, ways to spot red flags and avoid crises, strategic planning basics, and the fundamentals of effective storytelling in fundraising.
In this fast-paced, competitive world, people often discount compassion and empathy as signs of weakness. In Tara Cousineau’s book, The Kindness Cure: How the Science of Compassion Can Heal Your Heart and Your World, the author, a clinical psychologist, draws on the latest social and scientific research to reveal how kindness, cooperation, and generosity are fundamental to our happiness and our survival as a species. Full of case studies and clinical anecdotes, Cousineau’s book offers practical ways to rekindle kindness from the inside out.
Next Act Give Back: Discover Your Personal Path to Go From Being Charitable to Being a Changemaker by Kirsten Bunch is for the person who wants to get serious about playing her part in creating better, more sustainable and more equitable communities. If you have been thinking about how you can devote the next phase of your life to making a difference, whether through a new career or a total reinvention of yourself, this book will help you transform your life.
