When you do something well, and make it your own, don’t give up. The rest will follow.

Flickr photo:Roadsidepictures

Nonprofits are charged with the stewardship of our donors’ dollars, meaning we always need to do more with less. In these tumultuous economic times, we’d be well-advised to be just as thrifty in our marketing and communications and deliver a focused message for maximum results.

Chris Brogan wrote a great post on “Who Cares Advertising,” reminding and encouraging advertisers to remove “your superfluous words and claims.” Nonprofits should also take that advice and stick to the messaging essentials. Our products may not sit on store shelves, but we still package them in hopes of getting consumers to buy. So let’s simply answer the question: what’s inside the package?

All too often, nonprofits go overkill in their packaging, struggling to tell the organization’s entire story instead of focusing on the product at hand. By all means, make the information easily accessible for donors who want it, but don’t feel it’s all gotta be forced onto the box! Don’t worry- if they want more, they’ll seek it out!

And as Chris asks – what would you want to see on the package (for a nonprofit ‘product’)?

Photo Credit: chocolate monster mel on Flickr

I made pancakes. Today I gave my husband the gift of pancakes when he returned home from work, along with a clean kitchen and folded laundry. Once again, I feel like I haven’t done the Challenge ‘right’ or haven’t done enough, but then again, I wouldn’t have done these things otherwise, so that’s gotta count for something, right?

He seemed to like the pancakes.

Learn more about the 29-Day Giving Challenge here.

I submitted this idea for Google’s Project 10^100 and thought I’d share it here too. My idea is called E2E, per this post’s title. Below are Google’s application questions and my answers.

What one sentence best describes your idea? (maximum 150 characters)

Take stored energy off people (fat!) and convert it to energy that can be used for power!

Describe your idea in more depth. (maximum 300 words)

I’d like to develop an exercise machine that people can use while being sedentary- at work or watching TV- that would store the power that is generated by the exercise! Then that power would be available for reuse!

What problem or issue does your idea address? (maximum 150 words)

It addresses the need for more activity in many people’s lives while simultaneously addressing the need for sustainable energy.

If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the most and how? (maximum 150 words)

People who have a little extra ‘energy’ on them would benefit, as well as anyone who uses power!

What are the initial steps required to get this idea off the ground? (maximum 150 words)

1. Develop a prototype for the exercise machine and power storage system.
2. Find a way to easily apply the stored power to existing power needs.

Describe the optimal outcome should your idea be selected and successfully implemented. How would you measure it? (maximum 150 words)

People would be more fit; more sustainable energy would be available, measurable in a decrease on traditional energy sources.

Those were my answers as I gave them, verbatim. I completed this on a whim, though this is an idea I have been batting around for a while. Does it make sense? What do you think?