On Friday, November 14, media maven Claire Meyerhoff and I will host another edition of Magic Keys Radio at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Pacific). This is our live half-hour show where you can call in questions. Then it’s immediately available as a podcast.

Now, I admit, Claire and I have had a wee bit of Magic Keys scheduling trouble. We really wanted to do it on a regular schedule, but our personal and professional lives keep getting in the way. Drats! So, our current plan is to try to do it twice a month and we’ll let you know when exactly as far in advance as we can. Here is the current schedule, including this Friday’s show:

Friday, November 14 - Writing personal profiles, including how to interview people to get good quotes. This is the prelude to next week’s webinar, “How to Write Moving Personal Profiles about Donors, Clients, and Other Supporters.”  Claire will share her vast knowledge from years as a radio talk show host where she had to interview really famous important people AND your average Joes. I’ll add my spin from years of writing donor and volunteer profiles for client newsletters and websites. Listen to the show

Friday, November 21 - The “Give Thanks” Edition. We’ll be talking about what we and other nonprofit communicators should be thankful for. Come share what you are thankful for, whatever that may be . . .  certain people, resources, situations, trends, you name it. Listen to the Show

December 5 - Got an End-of-Year Giving Plan? People give away lots of money at the end of the year, looking for those tax deductions. We’ll talk about some easy ways you can throw a plan together and put it in motion, even if you don’t have a clue right now. Listen to the Show

December 12 - 2008 in Review - We’ll talk about some of the best nonprofit marketing stories of the year. Listen to the Show

OK, OK, we admit it. Claire and I bit off more than we could chew. Or maybe it’s just cold season that’s wrecking our groove, but we are going to do Magic Keys twice a month instead of weekly. Let’s go with 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month. Talk to you next week!

During last week’s show, we talked about some publicity ideas for nonprofits, including “best of” or Top Ten lists, special events, contests, making connections with headlines, and signage.

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PS - Sorry there was no show on September 26. Kivi called in sick at the last minute!

We just wrapped up another edition of Magic Keys Radio & Podcast, this week featuring special guest Nancy Schwartz of GettingAttention.org. Nancy has just released her Nonprofit Tagline Report, so Claire and I were thrilled to get Nancy’s take on what makes a good tagline. 

During the show Nancy shared several must-do tips (and some don’ts too) for creating a nonprofit tagline that really works. For example, action words are great! Use those verbs to tell us what you really do. 

Nancy also walked us through the process of creating a tagline. If your group doesn’t have one or what you have isn’t great, listen for Nancy’s advice on what to do next. 

PS — I gave everyone the wrong date for the Email Newsletter Basics webinar on the show! The webinar is September 23 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Listen to This Show Now

This Friday, Nancy Schwartz of Getting Attention will join Claire and me for our weekly Magic Keys Radio show and podcast. Nancy will share some tips from her just-released Nonprofit Tagline Report. What makes a good nonprofit tagline and what makes a bad one? Can you tell the difference? Punchy messaging is critical for nonprofit success! Come listen to Nancy’s expert advice and then call in with your questions live at (347) 996-3142.

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Special guest Gail Perry joined Kivi and Claire to talk about party planning tips. When and how does your fundraiser become the best party in town? Our discussion included

• tips on social branding
• who to get on your party committee
• how to get sponsors
• what your board members should do
• how to make your auction a big success

Listen Here.

During this week’s show, Kivi and Claire discussed nonprofit storytelling. We talked about how you get people talking about their stories and how you can use them to market your organization. It’s not difficult!

We also answered a caller question from Eric at Campaign for Youth Justice about ways to get national media exposure.

During our “Good Deed News Feed” segment, we looked at a column by Ruth Sheehan called “Paying It Forward for Real” in the Raleigh News & Observer about how the Caring Community Foundation came to be — it’s a great example of a “founding story” which every nonprofit should know how to tell, and tell well.

This episode also contained our first major blooper when Claire temporarily lost her phone connection! No the show doesn’t end at 24 minutes - hang in a few seconds for our recovery!

For more on nonprofit storytelling, check out Kivi’s nonprofit storytelling webinar.

Listen to the Show Now

During this week’s show, Kivi and Claire talked about dos and don’ts of nonprofit press releases, including what’s a good lead, what’s news to a reporter (and why bad news seems to get covered more often than good), and how to come up with good quotes that reporters are likely to use. We also discussed getting coverage when you get a new grant.

Listen to the Recording Now

After a few weeks of getting used to the BlogTalkRadio format, Claire and I are ready to launch this baby for real! Here’s our upcoming live show schedule. Please listen and call in with your questions. You can also listen later by grabbing the podcast.

Friday, August 29, 2008, 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Eastern
Magic Keys Radio: Nonprofit Press Releases - What Works, What Doesn’t

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It’s our official launch show! Magic Keys Radio is on the air! Put us on your Friday to-do list. During this week’s show we’ll talk all about press releases — why nonprofit press releases are usually really awful and the easy things you can do to make yours great. Plus, as always, we’ll take any of your nonprofit marketing questions live on the air.

Friday, September 5, 2008, 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Eastern
Magic Keys Radio: Telling Great Stories about Your Nonprofit’s Work

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Your nonprofit is doing great work, but no one’s paying attention? It might be because you aren’t telling your story in the right way. During this week’s show, we’ll talk about nonprofit storytelling. As always, we’ll take your nonprofit marketing questions live. Get you message out there with the help of Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Kivi Leroux Miller and Claire Meyerhoff.

Friday, September 12, 2008, 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Eastern
Magic Keys Radio: Hosting “the Best Party in Town” for Your Nonprofit

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Special guest Gail Perry joins Kivi and Claire for an exciting show about…parties! Yes, parties. You may call it a “fundraiser” or “event” — but Gail says…why host another fundraiser when you can invite your donors to the best party in town? From creating buzz to saying thank you…Gail Perry is the go to gal. She is a nationally recognized fundraising expert and author of “Fired Up Fundraising; Turn Board Passion into Action.” And as always, we’ll take your nonprofit marketing questions live on the air!

Friday, September 19, 2008, 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Eastern
Magic Keys Radio: Get to the Point with Great Taglines and Messages

This week we’ll be discussing how to hone your message down into just a few words. Nonprofit tagline expert Nancy Schwartz of GettingAttention.org will be our featured guest and she’ll share what she learned from reviewing literally thousands of nonprofit taglines this year. As always, Kivi and Claire will take your nonprofit marketing questions live on the air too!

Listen Now

Highlights from this week’s show:

• Kivi and Claire discuss the importance of saying Thank You in the nonprofit sector and how to customize your thank you notes to donors.
• We talked about including photos in your thank you notes, and what makes a good photo and good video for the press, too.
• Wake County SPCA made the news by linking their mission to big headlines — they reported an increase in people turning over their pets to higher costs of living like gas and food prices, as well as the mortgage crisis.
• Kirt from Land Choices asked about sending out membership renewal letters soon after a special appeal. Should he not send the renewal to those who just gave? Or count their special appeal gift as their membership too? See what Kivi and Claire said.

Listen to the Show Now