As I look back at 2011, so many great things happened – trips to the West Bank and Finland, Strategy for Good was published, hit million mile status on United, had great work, and so much more…I am grateful!  I hope your 2011 was great.  Happy holidays and all the VERY best to you for 2012!!

Looking for a great Christmas gift for the business leader in your life?  Your employees?  Why not give them a copy of my new book, Strategy for Good?  Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or directly from me below, if you’d like an autographed copy.

Jaki Bent, If Everyone Cares, talked with me about my new book, Strategy for Good: Business Giving Strategies for the 21st Century at the Experts Industry Association annual meeting in Santa Clara, CA. I share with Jaki why I wrote the book and give a brief overview of its contents.

1% for the Planet is helping to tilt the scales of giving toward the thousands of under-funded nonprofits dedicated to the pursuit of sustainability, to preserving and restoring our natural environment. Membership consists of more than 1,400 businesses in 38 countries that have committed to donating 1% of sales annually to support the environment.  Together they give over $15 million annually to over 2,000 environmental organizations worldwide. To date, 1% for the Planet has initiated over $50 million in environmental giving.

We are members of 1% for the Planet and have deleted them as one of the nonprofit royalty recipients for Susan Hyatt’s book, Strategy for Good.  Join us – it’s a great way for your business to be part of a network that is committed to supporting environmental organizations.

I remain very grateful that Patricia Aburdene, author of the best selling book, Megatrends 2010:The Rise of Conscious Capitalism wrote the Foreword for my book, Strategy for Good: Business Giving Strategies for the 21st Century.  I find her work very inspiring.  If you have not read Megatrends 2010, I strongly suggest that you do!!

This is what she wrote in the Foreword:

“We live in a time of great uncertainty. Terrorism, war, economic hardship, and environmental degradation are constant threats. When security outside eludes us, we are forced to look within— to search our hearts and souls for fresh answers and new directions. Indeed, as I discovered in researching Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism, the quest for spirituality is the greatest megatrend of our era.

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Business Nonprofit CONNECTIONS just offset its carbon use for last year through TerraPass.  I learned about them through the Net Impact website.  (I am a member of Net Impact.) I used Terra Pass’ calculator to figure out how much CO2 we generated through our office, computer use, vehicles, air travel, and work lodging and paid a fee to offset the total.  When I was done, it generated a pdf report and it was easy to make payment, as well.  You should check this out and calculate yours, too.

From the TerraPass website, “Purchasing TerraPass offsets sends a strong message about your values to your employees, customers and stakeholders. People prefer to work with organizations they believe in. As one component of your environmental strategy, a TerraPass carbon offset program will provide your company with the unique ability to empower your customers and employees to take action on climate change.

Additionally, committing to purchasing carbon offsets for your business creates the right internal incentives to reduce your footprint over time. Each year, the conservation and efficiency measures that you implement will lower your carbon footprint, requiring you to purchase fewer offsets.”

Join me?

Designing Strategic Partnerships with Businesses
This is Your Personal VIP Invitation
Thursday, March 11, 2010
3:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern

If you are like most nonprofit leaders, you probably are very concerned these days about the impact of a tough economy on your ability to get needed resources for your organization or program. You see the need mushrooming in your community every day…and you see the companies around you starting to tighten their philanthropic belt. So what to do?

No matter how good your program or organization may be, if you can’t clearly make the case for why a business should support YOUR nonprofit organization over all the others also seeking their support, you are bound to fail. You need to know the right formula for approaching businesses to create win-win partnerships to secure the resources you so desperately need.

In this call, Susan Hyatt reveals how to move past the old school “beg for donations” and checkbook philanthropy mentality to present your organization, NOT as needy, but as a valuable partner – offering to share your assets (such as networks, publications, special events, etc.) with companies that choose to partner and share their resources with you. If you want to strengthen your “ask” and improve your success rate, you definitely need to attend this FREE teleseminar to:

• Learn about 4 current trends in the business world that affect giving practices;
• Discover the 4 critical needs of businesses that you can help address through a partnership;
• Learn the 10 biggest mistakes nonprofits make when seeking business support – so you don’t make them!
• And much more!

Get ready for an hour of information and insights that will change the tone and success of your business partnerships forever.

More Information about Susan Hyatt:

Susan Hyatt is the author of The Nonprofit Toolkit: Designing Strategic Partnerships with Businesses. She is a nationally-known consultant, trainer, and speaker and the founder of Business Nonprofit CONNECTIONS, Inc., which is dedicated to helping nonprofits and businesses partner more effectively for real impact on pressing social issues. Working with nonprofit organizations domestically and internationally for more than 20 years, Susan continually pushes the envelope to find NEW ways to address issues of nonprofit sustainability through strategic business partnerships.

Susan has conducted training in 49 states for over 10,000 nonprofit leaders and their board members on such topics as strategic business partnerships, performance measurement and evaluation, and using data effectively to gain stakeholder support. Susan has conducted interviews with more than 50 business leaders as part of the research for her forthcoming book, Strategic Business Philanthropy: How Smart Companies Do Good AND Do Well.” She has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Akron Times Beacon, and the Denver Business Journal. Her insights and articles regularly appear in her email newsletter, CONNECTIONS, which reaches business and nonprofit leaders worldwide.

REGISTER HERE FOR THIS FREE TELESEMINAR!

You will receive all the call information sent to the email you submitted. Please check your spam box if you do not receive the email within a few minutes.

Back by popular demand! RECESSION PROOF RESOURCES: How SMART Nonprofits Partner with Businesses – a nonprofit teleseminar program.

If you are concerned about the impact of a tight economy on your ability to get needed resources for your nonprofit, join me for my four-part nonprofit teleseminar series, RECESSION PROOF RESOURCES: How SMART Nonprofits Partner with Businesses, on Tuesdays in March (9, 16, 23, and 30) from 12:00-1:30 pm ET. Get ready for six hours of information and insights that will change the tone and success of your business partnerships forever!

For more information and to sign up, go to: http://tinyurl.com/yg9u6z9

Please pass the word to nonprofit leaders you know who could benefit from this important information!!

As a thank you for reading my blog, I would like to offer you a $50 discount on the RECESSION PROOF teleseminar program – enter RPR-5 when registering to receive the discount! Hope you will be able to join me!!

If you are like most business leaders, you probably are very concerned these days about the impact of a tough economy on your ability to give needed resources to your favorite causes or nonprofit organizations. You see the need mushrooming in your community every day…and you see the companies around you starting to tighten their philanthropic belt. Add to that the recent earthquake and its destruction in Haiti and the strong desire we all have to provide whatever financial support we can immediately but which may deplete our donation line item.  What to do to continue your support for local and other causes you care about when cash is tight?

Join me, Sue Hyatt, for this free teleclass in which I will walk you through five easy to follow strategies for your 2010 business giving so you can authentically support your favorite causes in heartfelt ways and grow your business, as well.

To register and get the call in number, click here.

Hope to “see” you there at 3-4 pm MT/5-6 pm ET on January 21st! If you can’t make this time “live,” no worries! The call will be recorded –so register anyway and you will be sent the email link to listen later when you have time.

Here is the recorded webinar that I did on Recession Proof Giving.  Please feel free to listen at your convenience.  https://bnconnections.webex.com/bnconnections/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=28607557&rKey=ABD368EE9ACB6E1E.