Category Archives: Clubs + Associations

Need A Catchy Title For A Breakfast Event

I want to welcome new parents to the school and recruit them as volunteers for various parent run programs. I thought of “The Crying Breakfast” as emotions run high for many parents on the first day of school. The administration thought it was too negative and requested something else. I need it to be catchy to bring them in. Welcome Breakfast seemed too ordinary.

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Jay’s Answer: 

  • Every Parent Matters
  • Helping Hands
  • (The) YourSchoolName Parent Team

Campground As A Resort Destination?

I work for a KOA campground in Astoria OR. I want to promote this particular campground to businesses as a resort destination for winter business meetings. What is the best way to
reach out to big corporate businesses and ask them to stay with us.

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Jay’s Answer:  It sounds like a good idea on paper – but in your planning, there are a number of things you’ll need to better understand:

  • Which corporate businesses? Are you looking for local large corporations (for a day-long offsite retreat)? Or are you looking for corporations in a 200-mile radius (for weekend/weeklong events)?
  • Why would they choose you? Assuming that you’ve identified corporations that are likely to be interested, they’re a wide range of needs they might have: indoor meeting spaces (it’s winter, after all), technology (high-speed internet, WiFi, projectors, screens, etc), catering, decoration, team building support, tents/campers, etc. You need to better understand how you compare with your likely competition, and focus on your clear strengths.
  • How would they find you? Now may be a good time to start contacting them, but you’ll want to ensure you can be found. As a minimum, create a special page on your website that clearly articulates your offerings. Even better – targeted SEO/PPC. Let’s say you’re the head of HR for a nearby company. What phrases are they likely to use when searching for a retreat center?
  • Who’s in your network? Since you’re likely not to be able to be all things to everyone, partner with other organizations that would help you. For example, a great caterer may be a great referral source, or a team building consulting group, or even non-profit organizations (the best referral network is someone who’s already experienced your offering).

Special Education School Needs Name Annual Fundraiser

Need new name for annual fundraiser for a 501(3)c non-profit private sensory based school that uses occupational therapy and speech/language therapy to support and enhance the academic and social needs of the students. Last years event was Art for Autism — Needs to change for a couple of reasons.

1. Art is not the only thing up for auction.
2. The children range in diagnosis’ including: Auditory Processing Disorder’s, Autism, Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Landau Kleffner Syndrome, Epilepsy and more… they all have Sensory Processing Disorder.

The theme of the event may change from year to year, but we want the name to stay the same. Don’t want to use the name of the school in the name, but it could be yada yada yada to help the students of _________. The event is semi formal — appetizers, full bar, dancing, silent auction and live auction for larger items.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Improving Their Senses
  • Dollars For Senses
  • A Feast For The Senses

Looking For A Name For Community Event

Our Church is hosting a Sat afternoon event this fall and we are looking for a good name. It will be a ‘chili and baked potato’ lunch for members of the community to come by for a bite to eat and pick up winter clothing (no charge). Coats, boots, mittens, scarves, blankets and socks, underwear. Location: Vancouver, BC.

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Jay’s Answer: 

  • Take a Bite Out Of Winter
  • Lunch N’ Winter Gear

 

Joining a Board of Advisors

How can the addition of a Right Brained or creative person complement a companies Board or Advisors group?

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Jay’s Answer:  It depends on the Board. If everyone else is focused on “the bottom line”, then a creative person can help the Board to see new directions. However, the Board has to be willing to be open-minded enough to give them an opportunity to to present their case and be led through different thinking. The risk of being the “odd one out” on the Board is that the creative person won’t be seen as “one of the team” and instead the “different one”.

A number of years ago, I was on a Board with mostly creative people, and it became clear that I needed to assume a more left-brained (logical) style, since there wasn’t anyone keeping an eye on fiduciary and legal responsibilities. The Board wasn’t happy to be focused on the “not fun stuff”, and it became a personal frustration for me, feeling like I was leading a crusade for something that others weren’t very interested in.

So before a different style of person is added to the Board (or any cohesive team), really ensure what the needs of the team are, and have the team have an open-discussion interview. Do they need someone who’s complementary or are they looking for more of the same type of people already on the team?

Need Catchy Name For Private School Newsletter

We are trying to come up with a catchy name for a new community newsletter for our private Jewish day school. The acronym of our school is SHAS, which stands for Striar Hebrew Academy of Sharon. The purpose of the newsletter is to reach out to the larger community to inform them of the wonderful learning and character-building that happens in our school. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

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Jay’s Answer:

  • The Striar Difference
  • Speaking Of Striar
  • Shalom! Striar

 

Need Help Coming Up With A Creative Cancer Organization Name

Hello, first i would like to say thank you taking the time to read this. I have been pulling out my hair trying to figure out a creative business name. I really could use some help. I am starting a non profit org that will financially helps out anyone with any type of cancer. And i want the name to say it all. I want people to hear the name and know exactly what I’m all about. I really wanted to have a ribbon with all the cancer colors in it, but thought people would confuse that with Gay pride. I like the name “Rainbow of Hope” but it is already taken, so any help with a name and slogan would be appreciated. Thanks

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Jay’s Answer:  How about “Cancer $care”? It allows you to play off the emotion of having cancer and the benefit you provide.

Internal Marketing Team Summit

I have been tasked to create the agenda for an all hands internal marketing team summit. I am looking for ideas and suggestions on fun topics, interesting videos, a good book to hand out, team building activities, etc… Do you have any experience or examples of successful agendas, it would be greatly appreciated.

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Jay’s Answer:   I always start my plan by thinking of what you want to achieve. Brainstorming? Fixing something that’s broken? Starting a new initiative? Creating better internal communication?

The goals of the meeting give a direction to what shape the summit could take – fun and games, targeted tasks, teamwork building, internal appraisals, etc.

List Of Words To Inspire Employees?

I am looking for your help for a list of motivating & inspiring words that would drive & inspire employees to achieve Organizational & self goals which would act as theme for the campaign. The word needs to be one word & should be self explanatory. Some of the examples are: Goal, Velocity, and Synergy.

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Jay’s Answer:   Words alone won’t motivate and inspire. Can you develop a storyline that showcases the goals you’re trying to achieve? If so, use words from that story (which you’ve shared with your employees in multiple ways and at multiple times) to reinforce/remind them of the “big picture”.

Cause Marketing Idea for the Holidays

Now here’s an idea worth replicating (from Marin IJ). It lets people choose to donate to a local charity in a way that everyone wins:

Quarters gobbled up by Sausalito parking meters in December go a long way to helping those in need.

During the rest of the year, a quarter will buy you 15 minutes of time for your car in the city. But in December, it will buy you a bit of good karma.

During the Christmas month the city waives all meter fees for the public with the hope people will come to shop in Sausalito.

But to each meter is affixed a sign letting people know that if they drop money in anyway, it will go to a good cause. And despite the recent tough financial years, the quarters drop.

“Surprisingly enough, people do,” said Adam Politzer, Sausalito’s city manager. “It can be anywhere up to $14,000 in donations collected from the public.”

It’s an annual city tradition that goes back a decade.

“What that allows the City Council to do every year is to look for service providers and nonprofits that help the less fortunate and the underserved during the holidays,” Politzer said. “It helps folks here in the city and in the county that need help.”

Last December, roughly 24,000 quarters were deposited into the meters. That means the city had $6,000 to distribute to good causes this year. Quarters being dropped right now will be distributed next December.

Three programs benefited from the city’s and public’s good cheer as they were each awarded $2,000 at last week’s City Council meeting.

Homeward Bound of Marin, which addresses homelessness in the county, was one of the recipients.

The Ritter Center, which serves low-income people in the county, also received money along with MarinLink’s Project Warm Wishes, which once a year distributes “street packs” stuffed with new gloves, hats, scarves, socks and rain ponchos to homeless men and women.

Mary Kay Sweeney, executive director of Homeward Bound, applauded the city’s program.

“This has to get the award for creativity in fundraising,” she said. “This is a wonderful way, a painless way, to raise money for very important causes.”