Holiday Volunteering Parties

Piggy-backing on my last blog post, I saw this in today's Daily Candy:

GIVE
Money, Time, & Energy
What: Contact local orgs to volunteer at shelters, foster a lonely pet, serve lunch, and be part of The Holiday Project.
Why: The winter doesn’t have to feel so cold.
When: Carve out some free time.
Where: Think local.

Nonprofits: you can market this in an email or on your website as a way to encourage your donors to get involved this holiday season.
Individuals and nonprofits: you can encourage your friends to get together for a holiday party where you visit a shelter together, serve lunch, or visit institutionalized patients. Take an hour or two out of your holiday party to do one of these activities. Afterwards, you can reconvene at a bar or your home for the holiday volunteering after-party, so you don't miss out on the fun holiday baked goods or drinks and you can share stories of your time volunteering.

Merry Christmas!

Practical Guide to Donating Time or Services this Christmas

Although the holiday season is coming to a close, I wanted to fit in an article about event planning and the holidays (since this is a huge event planning time of year, as well as the time of year when many charities are trying to get year-end donations).

I came across this blog article from a few weeks ago with practical suggestions on how to encorporate donating time or services into the holiday season. It's a great guide for nonprofits to suggest to their donors, even with 3 days left until Christmas. After all, many will be taking time off from work between now and New Year's and possibly looking for ways to make their holiday season more meaningful.

The Giving Spirit: Donate Your Time or Services this Holiday
http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/12/02/the-giving-spirit-donate-your-time-or-services-this-holiday/

Quick Update; Inviting Websites for Party Planners

It's been a busy December. I've been caught up in the typical holiday activities; throw into the mix work events plus my final presentation for class and now I have a cold. Those are the excuses behind my neglect of the blog.

This will be a quick update since I've been kind of drowsy with this cold.

A coworker brought to my attention an interesting article in the NY Times:
Inviting Websites for Party Planners
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/technology/personaltech/17basics.html?emc=eta1
It's a nice breakdown of the different online invitation tools out there. The article does complain about Evite a bit. I'm an Evite fan, except for the fact that invitees always seem to wait to see who else is attending before they respond, which isn't really an Evite flaw as much as a social networking flaw. Still, it's nice to know that there are other options out there.

Have fun at your holiday parties and keep in mind these tools for inviting folks!