Theories for Philanthropy: History and Background

Theories for Philanthropy: History and Background It is easy to motivate people to attend fundraising events just ask them to turn up and they will, because its the right thing to do. Discuss Introduction Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, services, time or effort to support something that is socially beneficial, has a defined objective, and no material reward to the donor. Whilst the majority of people see this as individual charity, the other side to giving without material reward is fundraising and corporate philanthropy. There is a view amongst some organisers of fundraising events that little extra motivation is needed for people to attend they will simply attend because it is the right thing to do. Of course, there are also those who see philanthropy as only occurring where there is some gain outside of money for the donor, especially when it comes to corporate philanthropy. Instead of being about the ‘right’ thing to do, it is more about the perception of doing the ‘right’ thing as a marketing and PR weapon. [1] This essay will examine the roots of philanthropy and look at some of the motivational factors involved. This will involve loo king at marketing techniques, psychological and philosophical theories as to why people give. The aim of this discussion is to provide recommendations to fundraising event managers to help them better promote their events in light of the motivations discovered. The first section will look at the history and background of philanthropy. History and background of philanthropy The earliest forms of philanthropy can be traced back to religion and the ideas of giving and charity within Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The idea of charity in these texts looks at helping the poor and those in need no matter what their faith or situation. This idea of charity set the beginnings for the secular concept of philanthropy. Where charity and philanthropy differ somewhat is that charity has a commitment to the poor and helpless, whereas philanthropy is not so closely linked to the poor.[2] However, religious faith is still a strong motivator behind philanthropy even today because it instils the belief that giving is the ‘right’ thing to do and an important part of faith. In this sense, it could be said that people need no more motivation than their faith to give to fundraising events. However, faith cannot explain all aspects of philanthropy for those who are not religious or where faith is not an important element.[3] Philanthropy developed into a concept in the seventeenth century to do with being kind and humanitarian, which in the 18th and 19th centuries was then to do with being actively involved in humanitarian projects, such as helping the insane or prisoners, and the abolition of slavery. However, it was towards the end of the nineteenth century that philanthropy began to mean the donation of money to causes that would benefit all levels of society and not just the poor. The emphasis of philanthropy has shifted from just helping the poor to helping all areas of society. The government is now seen as the primary carer for those under or around the poverty line, whilst philanthropists look to benefit society as a whole. This of course does not mean that the poor do not or cannot benefit from philanthropy, but that the goal of philanthropy is now wider than helping just those who are poor.[4] The modern version of philanthropy is very much to do with injection of money into causes and raising funds to help develop socially worthwhile projects. Philanthropy is not just about pouring money into something and forgetting about it, but about giving money so that results can be achieved. In fact, if results are not achieved through the donations then generally the donations to that particular project will be reduced. This is a method that wealthy individuals and organizations use to keep projects accountable and to have a measure of social control.[5] This social control may often be in the interests of the philanthropist and so it begs the question as to whether this is the only motivation behind modern philanthropy. If this is the case, then perhaps the idea that motivation to do the right thing is enough is no longer a valid way to promote or achieve fundraising. The next section will look at some competing theories of motivation with regards to philanthropy to see if this q uestion can be answered. Philosophy and models of motivation One idea of motivation behind corporate philanthropy is obviously that it improves the image of an individual or business whilst also providing an opportunity to shape society in a certain way. In modern philanthropy there is no doubt that this is a part of motivation, but in many ways it acts no differently to idea of ‘doing right’. An individual who gives because they believe it is the right thing to do will give in the same way as an individual or organisation who gives because they perceive that others think it is the right thing for them to do. Corporate philanthropy is a part of business culture today, and companies see it as an important marketing tool – to be seen as an ethical, responsible and socially aware company that looks to give back to the community and to society.[6] Also, there is the other side of fundraising that as a company funds are needed to be generated to be given by philanthropists, and so a good company that can benefit society will have a fundraising strategy. Mullin believes that the key to good fundraising is less to do with motivational factors and more to do with detailed strategic planning and advertising of the event is the key to its success.[7] For Mullin, fundraising works very much like any product with a life cycle of fundraising that determines where and when the best opportunities for gaining funding are within each project or event. Wendroff also believes that the key to successful fundraising is attention to detail and planning, and that there is no real need to look into motivational factors as much as there is to employ proper marketing and organization of the event. If this is taken care of then people will donate because of the feeling that this is a worthwhile cause portrayed by the quality of the event.[8] However, there are a number of other theories with regards to the motivation behind fundraising that can help fundraisers. Sargeant and Jay believe that the motivation for philanthropy comes from push and pull factors. People give not just for one reason but for a wide variety of reasons depending on the social climate, empathy and sympathy for a cause, potential for results from the donation and other factors. These push and pull factors are complex and it is believed that more research into why people give and also why they stop giving is important. If this is not undertaken then organisations are in danger of spending too long developing ‘techniques’ to gain funding rather than really knowing why people want to give and how to then present their project.[9] Other theorists see motivation behind giving as being somewhat different. The philosopher Immanuel Kant sees giving as a simply matter of duty, and that the act of philanthropy is an example of duty to our society. Kant doesn’t believe that humanitarian acts or charity are the motivations behind philanthropy, but rather the shaping of duty, society and law are the motivations behind donation. Whilst Kant’s view may appear somewhat cold and does not take into account the human or sympathy aspect of donation, there is evidence that modern philanthropy does on some level work like this. People give money because they feel it is their responsibility to help society with what they have, and this fits in more with a sense of Kantian duty than being charitable.[10] Despite this, Kant’s view is perhaps too narrow and does not take into account the fact that part of giving is certainly to do with personal feelings towards a specific project. Even if someone feels it might be ‘right’ or their duty to donate, they are less likely to do so if there is no personal fit with the project and understanding of its social worth. Perhaps the view of John Stuart Mill is a better explanation of motivation in this case. Mill’s idea is that people donate because they see it as the rational way of making society most efficient. Giving their wealth to help socially beneficial organizations means that they are helping to maximise utility within society. Whilst this theory also seems extremely well thought-out and neat in that it would be great to think that philanthropists and donors need only learn about a project’s benefit to society to give, it again seems that there is more to motivation than this. It also seems unlikely that all donors clearly see this ‘bigger picture’ and that their wealth being offered to others in this way really is helping the overall efficiency and utility of society. If this were the case then philanthropists would all give to very similar and large-scale projects that could benefit as many people as possible – clearly this isn’t the case.[11] Motivational factors and current climate The problem with all of these theories is that they seemingly take a narrow view on motivation to try and pin down why people donate so that fundraisers can develop techniques to increase funding. However, the situation should probably not be looked at in terms of strict individual motivational factors but rather in terms of the current climate of donation and philanthropy on a local, national and global scale. For instance, whilst values in the UK and US on many topics are quite similar, levels of philanthropic donation are much lower in the UK (less than 1% of GDP) than in the US (2% of GDP).[12] Understanding why different national markets vary in level of donation can help fundraisers to understand why people are donating in a particular area or during a particular time period. The US and the UK differ in their giving policies, with US philanthropy very much to do with ‘charity begins at home’, and that self-interest, social appreciation and public statement of giving are important motivational factors. However, in the UK the act of philanthropy is much more to do with the notion of ‘charity for all’ and the sense of duty that doing something socially worthwhile is important. This is done in a more private way and is not so much linked to personal interest or social acceptance. Despite the US and the UK being quite similar they have very different motivations for giving, and this shows how important it is to know the area and culture that the fundraising is being carried out in. This is perhaps more important than knowing individual motivational factors, because these are likely to change depending on the current climate and market conditions. Certainly, since September 11th and the bombings in London the attitude towards giving has changed as people look again to help others and make more of their influence and wealth than before. However, things are changing again as a worldwide economic slump means people are being more cautious, yet demand for funding is increasing as more is needed from individuals to help support the government.[13] In the current climate it looks like corporate donors will move away from corporate giving for PR, and move towards investing in communities to give them a strategic advantage in the future. With companies having less money and all individuals having to reduce their spending, it seems that currently the emphasis for fundraisers should be on showing worth and value to the companies and individuals who want to invest. Companies should also look towards diversifying their fundraising so that they can survive even if philanthropic donations are in decline.[14] Conclusion Although some people will always give money because they believe it is the right thing to do, philanthropy is no longer synonymous with charity. This means that fundraisers have to do more to get the funds they need than simply appeal to a sense of ‘right’. In an effort to find new techniques to generate funds, fundraisers have looked at the individual motivations behind philanthropy. Whilst the theories presented here all have their merits, individual motivations are too complex, unpredictable and diverse to base fundraising tactics upon. Instead, fundraisers should aim to base their tactics on the current economic climate as well as the fundraising climate within their locality or national culture. This is more likely to give general patterns that can be used to strategically improve fundraising. In the current climate, this means diversifying tactics and even looking to earn a certain amount of funds to offset the effects of the economic slump. Fundraisers should also emphasise the benefits to philanthropists with regards to social and corporate results, as anything that will give donors a strategic or social advantage in the future can be a factor in donation. In conclusion, it is no longer enough for fundraisers to rely on people’s sense of charity and humanity to generate funds. Instead, companies should focus on the worth and social benefit of their projects to attract investors in their particular region. Whilst individual motivational factors are complex and need more investigation, local and national trends can be used to develop fundraising strategies. Bibliography Bennett, R., 1997. Corporate philanthropy in the UK: altruistic giving or marketing communications weapon?. Journal of Marketing Communications, 3(2), pp. 87-109. Boney, R., 2008. Corporate donors adjust to economic slump. Philanthropy Journal, September 15th, 2008. Available at: http://www.philanthropyjournal.org/resources/special-reports/corporate-giving/corporate-donors-adjust-economic-slump Boswell, H., 2003. Motivations for Giving and Serving. (Online). Available at: http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/paper33.html (Accessed 15th November 2008). Bremner, R.H., 1996. Giving: Charity and Philanthropy in History. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers. Johnson, G., and Scholes, K., 2002. Exploring Corporate Strategy 6th Edition. Prentice Hall. Matthewson, D.J., 2001. An analysis of John Stuart Mill’s Justification for Redistribution. Prepared for delivery at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Alexis Park Hotel, Las Vegas Nevada, March 15-17. Available at: http://faculty.fullerton.edu/dmatthewson/Final%20Mill.doc Mullin, R., 1997. Fundraising Strategy. Directory of Social Change. Sargeant, A., and Jay, E., 2004. Fundraising Management: Analysis, Planning and Practice. London: Routledge. Slim, H., 2001. Not Philanthropy But Rights Rights-Based Humanitarianism and the Proper Politicisation of Humanitarian Philosophy in War. Centre for Development and Emergency Practice, Oxford Brookes University. Available at: http://www.odi.org.uk/hpg/confpapers/slim_new.pdf Wendroff, A.L., 2004. Special Events: Proven Strategies for Nonprofit Fundraising. John Wiley and Sons. Wright, K., 2001. Generosity vs. Altruism: Philanthropy and Charity in the United States and United Kingdom. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 12(4), pp. 399-416. Footnotes [1] Bennett, 1997, pp. 87-91 [2] Bremner, 1996, p. xii [3] Boswell, 2003. [4] Bremner, 1996, pp. xii-xiii [5] Boswell, 2003. [6] Johnson and Scholes, 2002, pp. 35-37 [7] Mullin, 1997, pp. 2-8 [8] Wendroff, 2004, pp. 195-198 [9] Sargeant and Jay, 2004, pp. 111-113. [10] Slim, 2001, pp. 2-5 [11] Matthewson, 2001. [12] Wright, 2001, pp. 399-400 [13] Boswell, 2003 [14] Boney, 2008

It’s Time to Demand More from Corporate America Essay -- Argumentative

It’s Time to Demand More from Corporate America Michael Moore exposes corporate America's dark side in Roger and Me, Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint, and The Big One (Moore).   These show that corporate America is committing a form of domestic terrorism by dehumanizing and exploiting their workers then forcing them to the streets to survive. The actions by individuals such as Roger Smith and Phil Knight are perfect examples of capitalists constantly oppressing the working class described by Karl Marx.   By dehumanizing workers business owners are able to push them to the streets by closing factories and remain a good public image.   Who cares if these degenerate people lose their jobs?   The first step in the terrorism plot is to strip the workers of their livelihood.   When the workers are oppressed they will eventually break down and lose their identity making them easy to push around.   Mike Lefevre demonstrates this idea in his interview with Studs Terkle.   "Everybody should have something to point to." Mike says suggesting the loss of identity he feels with being a labor...

Essay --

In the book Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is very much interested in sciences and anatomy. As he continues studying these things he attempts to create a human like creature. Victor is successful in the creation of this creature, but when the creature awakes for the first time Victor is terrified by his appearance. Victor runs out of the room, but when he finally returns he finds that the creature is no longer there. Victor has created a horrible monster. This creature ends up murdering many people and terrorizing many. Many of the people that this monster kills are people that are very close to Victor Frankenstein. This monster is very intelligent, he can learn at a fast pace simply by observing others. The monster learned many things by just observing others, he even learned his language skills by listening to other people talking. All he did to learn how to talk was listen to everybody else talk, he just picked up on it and ran with it. This is an incredibly smart thing to be able to do. We grow up learning to talk by hearing others talk as we are babies, our parents...

B2B and International Exercise

In the conduct of this study, the question that must always be put in our mind is if there is a possibility for the city of Scottsdale and Marrakesh to have a business transaction to improve their economy as a whole. After reading all the necessary materials regarding the economic condition of the two cities, I have learned that Marrakesh has a 55. 5 % rate of share of services in the totality of the city’s GDP. Moreover, Morocco is also known for its industry in mining, food processing, leather goods, textiles and tourism. In terms of their educational attainment level, only 52% of the total population is literate.Its export commodities are mostly clothing, fish, crude minerals, fertilizer, transistors and inorganic chemicals. On the other hand, one of the â€Å"booming† industries in Scottsdale is the business and professional industry that enables them to have an impressive economic growth for the past years. They are also known for their best resorts destinations an d high technologies and bio-technology. Feasibility Study Based from the above facts that I gathered, I could say that there is a great possibility of having business with Marrakesh.In the industry of tourism, since Marrakesh is known for their tourism, Scottsdale could develop resorts in Marrakesh. The high rate of tourists that goes to Marrakesh would serve as an opportunity for the Scottsdale to put up resorts. If this would go to happen, tourists in Marrakesh will continue to increase. At the same time, while benefiting the Scottsdale, the resort that will be established would surely cut the unemployment rate of Marrakesh since jobs will be provided to their citizens and, in the later years, could uplift the poverty rate of Marrakesh (Shagazatova).On the other hand, since there is a high illiteracy rate in Marrakesh, and there are a lot of professionals in Scottsdale like teachers, Scottsdale could invest in establishing schools in the Marrakesh in order to uplift their rate of literacy. The schools that I am referring here are only vocational schools, will also provide basic knowledge regarding literacy, that might be a good help in the booming industry of Marrakesh (Ranis). With this, Scottsdale could also get workers from the schools that they had established. With the median age of 24 years, there would be no doubt that Marrakesh industry is concentrated on the service sector.Most of the companies here must be labor intensive in order to take advantage of the large pool of laborers in the market. Wage rate is expected to be low compared to other countries (Phelps). This is also one of the reasons why it is advantageous to put up a business in Marrakesh aside from its economic opportunities in the current days. Since Scottsdale is well known for its business services, it would be a good decision to establish a service oriented company in Marrakesh. It could be in line with the transistor’s industry or textile industry that can be provided by Scot tsdale to the workers of Marrakesh.Data Gathering and Recommendations Through the suggested strategies above would definitely benefit both of the cities. Marrakesh could take advantage of the job opportunity that Scottsdale’s investors bring with them and the latter could take advantage of the tremendous amount of laborers in Marrakesh as well as the low operational costs in terms of the wage rate. After presenting this paper to the Scottsdale’s officials, data gathering in Marrakesh economic standing should be implemented right away in order to validate the theories that we have cited in this paper.The data’s were then studied by the economic analysts of Scottsdale in order to have an in depth understanding of the current status of Marrakesh and in order for us to be guided in the actions that we are going to undertake. REFERENCES Phelps, Edmund S. â€Å"Low-Wage Employment Subsidies Versus the Welfare State. † 2007. Ranis, Gustav. â€Å"Human Developme nt and Economic Growth. † 2004. Shagazatova, Batir Mirbabayev and Malika. â€Å"The Economic and Social Impact of Tourism. † 2005.

Campaign Strategy Essay

1) What are the goals of the campaign? 2) What questions need to be answered to reach those goals? This is a list of general campaign questions to help start your research process. These are not research questions. Each general campaign question should generate a list of more specific research questions. For example, â€Å"What is the issue/problem?† could lead to the question, â€Å"What is the history of lead poisoning in our community?† General questions to ask about a campaign: 1. What is the issue/problem? (Understand their arguments.) 2. What are the solutions or alternatives? (Develop our arguments.) 3. Who else is trying to change the problem, how effective are they, and what are their solutions? (Potential allies. Locate a niche. Avoid obstacles and duplication of effort.) 4. Who can implement those solutions? Who has the power? (The Targets) 5. What kind of campaign would it take to convince them? (Feasibility test.) A. How long would victory take? What are the time constraints? B. What are tactics and paths to a victory? C. What are the opportunities or obstacles? D. What has worked for other organizations on similar campaigns? 6. Who are the other players? A. Who would support change? (Allies) B. Who opposes change? (Opposition) C. Who could become allies/opposition, but are currently neutral? 7. Does our base have the power and resources to win this campaign? 8. Will this campaign build our movement, base, or organization? WHAT IS A CAMPAIGN STRATEGY? A campaign can be seen as an organised, purposeful effort to create change, and it should be guided by thoughtful planning. Before taking action, successful campaigners learn as much as possible about: * the existing situation * who is affected by the campaign issue both positively and negatively * what changes could improve the situation * what resources, tactics and tools are available to implement a campaign that will address the issue. Campaigners use this knowledge to create their strategy, which guides them in planning, implementing, marketing, monitoring, improving and evaluating their campaign. A campaign strategy should answer the †¨following questions: Problem, Vision, Change 1. What problem are you confronting? 2. What is your vision of how the world will be, once the problem is resolved? 3. What change/s would bring about this vision? Stakeholders, Relationships,Targets 4. Who is affected, positively or negatively, by the problem? 5. How are these people or groups related to the problem and to each other? 6. Who are you trying to reach? 7. If your campaign is successful, who will be affected? Answering key questions repeatedly, at each stage of your campaign, about the problem, solution, stakeholders and targets as well as the tactics, message and tools you will use, will help develop your campaign strategy. Your campaign strategy will guide what you do and it should be updated regularly as the campaign is implemented and the situation changes. CREATE A COMMON VISION It’s useful to involve your whole campaigning group in exploring the problem, your vision and the changes sought: a shared understanding of the problem will stimulate ideas about possible actions to take, and will also help your group to stay motivated and focussed during the campaign. Creating a common vision will also help determine ways to monitor, and adjust the implementation of, the campaign if necessary. Activity 1: PROBLEM – SOLUTION – CHANGE 1. Discuss and decide, as a group, what core problem your campaign seeks to address. Elaborate all the adverse effects of this problem. 2. Each person in the group should create their own answer to the following question: What would a world without this problem be like? * Use words, diagrams, illustrations. * Imagine unlimited resources (money, power, etc). * Discuss and enumerate all the benefits of this proposed world. 3. Combine your individual visions of the future to create a single common vision for the campaign. Discuss in depth which broad actions or changes would resolve the problem you identified, so as to arrive at the world you have envisioned. These necessary actions are the main focus of your campaign. Discuss the scope of your campaign: decide whether it has multiple components (sub-campaigns). If it does, you may choose either to narrow the focus of your campaign or create a multiple-campaign strategy. UNDERSTAND THE CAMPAIGN’S STAKEHOLDERS Stakeholders are people, groups, organisations, or institutions that are connected to your issue. They may support your campaign, be adversely affected by the issue in question, have the power to change the situation, or even be responsible for the problem you have identified. An important task when designing your campaign is to learn as much about the stakeholders as possible. You should: * Understand each stakeholder’s relationship to the problem and your proposed solution * Define the relationships between different stakeholders * Determine the ability and willingness of stakeholders to help or hurt your campaign * Identify which of these stakeholders your campaign should concentrate on to create the change your desire. Activity 2: MAPPING STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS Start creating a map in which entities with a stake in your issue are represented as circles, or nodes, and lines between these circles represent relationships. It is good to use sticky papers (post-it notes) for this activity because they can be moved about as required. 1. Discuss the interaction that is at the root of the problem your campaign wants to address. Who creates the problem? Who is affected by it? How and why are these entities connected to one another? 2. Continue, taking notes as you go along, until you can identify the interaction between entities (nodes) that most represents what you seek to change. 3. Identify all of the nodes between which this kind of interaction is happening. 4. Place these nodes at the center of your map. 5. Identify the relationships of these central nodes with others nodes on your map. Start locally and move outward regionally, nationally, internationally and globally, if relevant. Depending on your problem, expand your map with two or more levels of nodes (marking these in a clear way): * First level: entities with direct contact to the central nodes (family / local) * Second level: entities with contact to the first level (regional / national) * Third level: nodes with general influence on the issue (international / institutional) 6. Next, draw lines representing relationships between these nodes and identify the kind of relationship they have; for example: * Power * Mutual benefit * Conflict * Potential After mapping out as many stakeholders as you can, you will have a graphic representation of your stakeholders’ relationships with your issue. Next you should analyse how your stakeholders may help achieve the change/s you seek. For more information on how to do this, see New Tactics in Human Rights Tactical Mapping. Activity 3: FROM STAKEHOLDERS TO TARGETS Begin defining specific objective/s of your campaign. Consider each stakeholder’s level of support and level of influence in the context of your campaign objective/s. 1. In simple, active terms, define what would resolve your problem and bring about the change you seek. Your objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. 2. Using the list of the stakeholders from the previous activity, identify as many as possible who could help achieve your objective. 3. Draw a horizontal and a vertical axis on a large sheet of blank paper (shown here). Place the stakeholders as follows: * The vertical axis represents their level of influence in achieving the goal of your objective from most influential (top) to least influential (bottom). * The horizontal axis represents whether they are likely to oppose (left) or support (right) your campaign. 4. After you place all the stakeholders on the paper, identify the most influential entities or individuals as potential primary targets, those who can make the change you seek. Note their level of support or opposition for this change. 5. Discuss the relationship of these entities to other stakeholders. You may already have this information on your stakeholder map from Activity 2. 6. Identify stakeholders who support your campaign and have influence on or relationships with your primary target group. They are your secondary targets, or participant groups, who could become actively involved in helping your campaign achieve its goals. Locate them on your graph and identify two or three participant groups to concentrate on. (Adapted from The Change Agency’s Power Mapping exercise.) Activity 4: FROM TARGETS TO TACTICS Now you have identified the target audiences that your campaign needs to communicate with, and what relationships they have with other entities with a stake in the problem, you can consider what tactics will best address your target and participant groups? 1. Draw a half-circle, divided into wedges. Place those who most support your campaign on the left side of the spectrum; those who oppose you the most on the right. 2. Use your maps and sticky papers, placing each target and stakeholder in a wedge according to their level of support for your cause. The result is a spectrum of stakeholders, a few of whom you have identified as primary or secondary targets. A five-wedge diagram would include the following: a. Active allies: supportive and motivated to achieve your goals b. Allies: may benefit from your success c. Neutral parties: may not be involved or affected currently d. Opponents: may suffer from your success e. Active opponents: actively interfere with your activities 3. Use this diagram to help decide which tactics to consider, depending on each stakeholder’s location on the spectrum. For example: f. Supportive: use mobilisation tactics g. Neutral: use educational. visualisation tactics h. Opposing: use disruption, interference tactics (Adapted from New Tactics in Human Rights’ Spectrum of Allies exercise.) This card was created by Namita Singh and Ali Gharavi in collaboration with Tactical Tech. There are four essential elements to every successful capital campaign: the Case; Leadership; Prospects; and, the Plan. This article is last in a series addressing each element and will focus on designing a successful capital campaign plan. You cannot do everything at once, but you can do one thing at a time. Begin by designing a comprehensive campaign strategy that works well you and your organization. Every successful campaign begins with a plan. The campaign plan is a detailed set of procedural guidelines for campaign leaders and volunteers. The successful campaign plan is built with two overriding principles in mind: (1) Anything other than a complete success is entirely unacceptable; and (2) To ensure the complete success of this fundraising effort, the campaign must be formally declared (and treated) as the primary institutional priority of the organization throughout the fundraising timetable. Recognizing and stating these basic truths puts you into the mindset to make the dec isions and commitments necessary for a successful campaign. From there, we begin to incorporate essential fundraising elements into a comprehensive strategy. Just as there are the four essential elements of a successful campaign (Case, Leadership, Prospects and Plan) there are many vital techniques at work within a good fundraising plan, among them the use of: personal visits, a phased approach, specific gift requests, lead and major gift solicitation, pledge type gifts. Personal visits always yield more money. People give to people—people they love, people they admire, people they respect and even people they fear. Often it is the personal relationship of the volunteer making the request that has the most sway with the potential donor. Our classic technique demands that we employ a phase-by-phase approach to our fundraising, always asking for the largest gifts first, and then medium sized gifts and finally smaller gifts. This ensures that we create enthusiasm and build momentum. Our success, as evidenced by our rapidly rising fundrais ing totals and our large average gift, will pull undecided people toward us and encourage them to give. Victory has a thousand fathers, yet defeat is always an orphan. One of the most important concepts we must use is to ask for a specific gift. We should be asking mostly with a view of our need in mind, but with some view of their means in mind as well. As we articulate the request, we want to make it clear that the reason we are asking them for this specific amount is because we need it if we are to succeed. It is important that they not get the sense that we are asking them for this amount just because we think they have it, or because we think that is what they â€Å"ought to give,† but only because â€Å"we have this enormous need and a limited number of people of means to whom we can turn.† If people are going to help you achieve ambitious plans, they need to know what is required of them. You must always ask for the specific gift. Every campaign that is successful in reaching its potential is going to do a good job of soliciting Leadership and Major Gifts. Clearly some families are especially able to help because of their material blessings. Within the fundraising industry, it is a well-known fact that approximately 80% of the money (or more) will come from just 20% of the people (and sometimes fewer). These Leadership and Major Gifts set the pace for others to follow and they provide the financial foundation upon which to build a successful campaign. Much time is spent, early in the campaign, trying to determine who should be challenged to consider a gift of this significant nature. A well-run campaign will always stress equal effort, equal stretching or even equal sacrifice from every prospective donor, but not equal giving. Each prospect should be encouraged to do their individual best. Another element of a successful campaign plan is to offer people the opportunity to make pledges, rather than one-time gifts, and to offer longer pledge redemption periods where appropriate and possible. Depending upon the length of the pledge redemption period, pledges are usually two—three times larger than one-time contributions. In today’s busy world, people often budget their money very carefully. If a family were going to give you $100 per month, you would rather have that run for 60 months (5 years) than 36 months (3 years), would you not? Narrowing the pledge collection period is not going to get this family (which is giving out of current income) to pay the money any sooner. It will merely get you a smaller pledge. There are many other important aspects of a solid fundraising plan, including: Financial Goals and Objectives Clearly stated goals tied to both the leaders responsible for attaining them and the timeline over which they are to be accomplished. A Detailed Campaign Timetable Giving form to function, the timetable gives us an orderly way to approach a complex task, ensuring the most important things are going to be done first. Organizational Chart Clarifying the responsibilities of each campaign leader and showing everyone how they are related to one another. Description of Leadership Roles and Responsibilities Written instructions delineating the job responsibilities of each leader/volunteer. Campaign Phases and/or Divisions and Tracks of Activity Another form of timeline, breaking out major phases of activity and tracks of action. Many phases may go on simultaneously, while others will be the only activity underway at that given time. Lead and Major Gift Programs This most important track of activity begins during the early quiet phase of the campaign and continues until the potential for such gifts has been exhausted. Commemorative Gift Plan A comprehensive plan to commemorate the gifts of your campaign donors, especially major and leadership donors which might include naming opportunities, public recognition and memorabilia that you can give to outstanding leaders/donors (such as a scale model of a building, etc.). Keep in mind that the plan may evolve as the campaign moves forward. Often this is a function of actual early results, and who is giving at what levels. Who is accepting a leadership role? Preparing a detailed timetable and organizational chart is a good way of measuring the progress of the campaign in relation to the plan and detecting when necessary adjustments or revisions may be needed. It also provides a specific measure of accountability. Establish goals for each constituency and phase. Everyone needs to know what is expected of him or her! A statistical summary of the number and level of gifts required to reach the campaign goal for each phase of activity should be kept regularly. This list should be constantly monitored against progress to date and should be consulted daily to develop a precise order of solicitation, thus providing us a plan and timetable for asking. In summary, the campaign plan is one of the four essential elements of a successful capital campaign and must be carefully researched and crafted. Remember to keep a close eye on the fundraising plan and modify it in view of your actual experiences. The plan is your road map to success. Remember, it is static while the world is very dynamic. Use the plan as your basic guide, maintaining your liberty to deviate from it briefly where called upon, and you will find it serves you quite nicely and leads to your fundraising success.

Principles and Practice of Web Design – Home Page Evaluation

08. 04. 2013 INT1022 Principles and Practice of Web Design [THE EVALUATION OF WWW. EXPERILAND. COM/] URL: http://www. experiland. com/ Introduction: The website experiland. com is published by and part of the JB Concepts design & media group and was founded in 2010. The urge to create the site developed because the JB Concepts design & media group felt that there was a need for a science website for students, teachers and interested young people which helps them understand science and encourages them to experience science through own, by the website guided, projects and experiments.Furthermore the website gives the opportunity to increase the knowledge provided online through the availability of e-books. The creators see themselves responsible for educating and improving the learning experience for students while providing the necessary information concerning safety and emphasizing the sense of responsibility by the young scientists. The science projects are divided into different ta rget groups ranging from the first to the eighth grade. Description & Evaluation: The home-page of the website is divided into four main parts. It also introduces the texture of the website and reflects the general design for every sub-page.The texture is divided into two parts which are differentiated through different colors. The head part is metallic neon green and gives an association to the topic science as it is usually considered nature based while green reflects this nature aspect. The other texture is a rough to smooth going dark grey metallic look which reflects the human involvement in the topic science. It makes sense that green is the head as it is the ground for the researches and the metallic artificial looking part is the content part of the website because it reflects what human found out so far.Thus it is a great choice of general design for the website. Furthermore the subtitles in the content part have a special pattern which gives the user the impression to see through a microscope on the subtitles. It thus keeps the topic science consistently over the complete page and uses patterns effectively to suggest the theme. Furthermore the head of the website provides a character and the logo design of the website which includes the other colors that will be used on the website. The colors are identification colors for the five different main themes of science the website provides.These topics are chemistry in blue, which resembles liquid, earth science and astronomy in violet, which is commonly associated with science of the universe, electricity and magnetism in yellow, which resembles the light of a light bulb, life science as biology in green, as green is commonly associated with the nature and finally physics in red, which differs strongly from the other colors It thus slowly introduces the user into the color way of the website and helps the user to rediscover the already known colors later in the content parts.The great and harmonious mix of colors also entices the user to spend more time on the website and thus provides the positive effect that a wisely chosen color way should have (Shenkman & Jonsson, 2000; Nielsen, 2002; Tractinsky et al, 2004; Tractinsky et al, 2006; Valdez & Mehrabian, 1994). The website uses the typeface -Trebuchet MS,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif- consistently on every page and just differs in the color for titles and subtitles, content and links. The Titles and subtitles are in bold, white and in the size of 1. 8em to be easily identifiable as titles. The content is regular, black and in the size of 1. em while the links have the same structure they are in light green. The website uses the em size of font because it is easily scalable and mobile-device friendly. The font choice of the website is efficient and logical. The titles and subtitles have a slightly bigger size without being too place containing, while the content is held simple and easily readable. Titles in the running text are emphas ized by using bold font and 1. 6em as the size. However the choice of the color for links is not suitable even though they are easy to differ from the rest of the text, they are sometimes hard to see because of the green color way and theme design.It seems more fitting to the design than the commonly used blue but however is harder to distinguish from the text. The texting of the website is held easily understandable for students of any age. Moreover the website provides an online glossary that can be used to understand specific scientific terms. It thus delivers exactly what is needed to the target group of young students. The pictures used on the website are generally held simple but are however efficient and easily recognizable and understandable. The simple use of the pictures lets the website work fast and without long loading periods.It is thus easy to browse through and find a topic of interest. The first part is the head of the website which provides the user with links to t he five main parts of the websites which are the Home-page, the Books-page where the user can purchase e-books, an about us-page on which the company provides further information for the drive to create the website, the most important page Projects and the possibility to get in contact with the creators for questions and inquiries. Additionally the website provides the possibility to search for topics on the website by implementing a Google-Search-Tool in the head.More over frequent users of the website can sign in with their account and a shopping cart tool is implemented. The Head of the page thus serves exactly what is needed from a head. It gives the user the opportunity to easily navigate in between the main pages of the website and search for specific topics more easily. It effectively uses the space to promote the logo and introduces the user to the website. The only negative thing about the head is the choice of colors for the not chosen main pages, as they are depicted in a slightly lighter green than the background which can make them hard to read.Other than that all information are clearly readable and identifiable. The second part is the sidebar. The sidebar provides a lot of information and options for the user. Once understood it can be used to easily navigate through the website. The sidebar stays right to the content part through project and website based contents and only disappears in the books part of the website. It consists of different parts which differ from each other by the use of color and small graphics. Additionally the first part differs itself further by not being in the same design.This makes sense because this part is about the charitable function of the website, which donates 5% of their profit to charity and wants the user to vote for which charity it should be. The next part depicts the shopping cart of the users since it is possible to purchase e-books on the website. It thus helps to keep an overview if books are being purc hased. The next five parts are designed to help the user understand the website and to browse through the website and find suitable information.It thus provides browsing by school grade, by occupation and purpose, and the nature of interest of the user. These bars are thus implemented to introduce first time users and help them navigate through the system. It’s very effective because the first time users don’t have to look for the detailed content immediately but can be guided by the navigation the website provides. Additionally the small graphics help the users, and especially young users, to identify the use of the bar quickly and recognize them later again.Experienced users can make use of the sidebar as well, as it allows them to find their current project or their topic of interest effectively because it implemented the same color scheme and graphics design for the main topics of science as used on the content pages of those topics. That means that the colors are recurring and coherently used through the website and paint a complete picture. The sidebar allows the user a horizontal navigation through the different topics. Only specific projects must be found by navigating to the field of interest and finding the project from there. The third part is the content part of the website.It is separated in different colons which provide further information about before mentioned topics and themes. In the main page the content part basically gives more information to the points that are mentioned and depicted in the other parts. It allows the user to click on the topics and receive an even more detailed description of the topics. The content part always changes and contains the source of information and the reason for the users to use the website. It helps the user to find topics of interest and gives to every detailed subtopic a quantity of available projects in that topic.After deciding for a topic the user will be led to a different content page which is designed in the topics lead color and contains the different available projects. The different projects are then differentiated in different categories depending on the advised grade of the student, the difficulty, the time consumption and whether or not adult supervision is advised. The side then provides further information about the topic and explains how the project works. It is very effectively design because it shows briefly what materials are needed and then shows graphics and explanations on how to perform the project.It makes it easily understandable for students. It also draws a conclusion why the project works and gives the possibility to receive further information about the topic by purchasing an e-book. It is an effective way to present and explain the project, however the website is pressuring the user into buying the e-books because they only provide further information with these e-books. The last part of the website is the bottom part. It summarizes the ma in parts of the website in general main topics and provides a legitimacy check by showing awards the website won. Moreover it provides a free sample of one of the e-books.It is held in the same rough metallic grey design that is used as the texture of the site. Moreover this part also never changes and is provided on every content page. Bibliography Nielsen, J. , Tahir,M. Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed, New Riders Publishing, Indianapolis, IN, 2002. Olsson, T. (2007, 1 10). The Definitive Guide to Web Character Encoding. Retrieved 1 14, 2013, from SitePoint: http://www. sitepoint. com/guide-web-character-encoding/ Schenkman, B. N. , Jonsson,F. U.. Aesthetics and preferences of web pages, Behavior and Information Technology 19 (2000) 367–377. Stemler, L. K. (1997).Educational Characteristics of Multimedia: A Literature Review. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia , 6 (3), pp. 339-359. Tractinsky, N. , Cokhavi,A. , Kirschenbaum,M.. Evaluating the cons istency of immediate aesthetic perception of web pages, International Journal of Human– Computer Studies 64 (2006) 1071–1083. Tractinsky, N. , Cokhavi,A. , Kirschenbaum,M.. Using ratings and response latencies to evaluate the consistency of immediate aesthetic perceptions of web pages, in: Proceedings of the Third Annual Workshop on HCI Research in MIS, Whashington, DC, 2004, pp. 1–5. Valdez, P. , Mehrabian, A. , Effects of color on emotion,Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 123 (1994) 394–409. WhatIs. com. (2005). What is font? Retrieved 1 12, 2012, from Definition from WhatIs. com: http://whatis. techtarget. com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212137,00. html WhatIs. com. (2005). What is text? Retrieved 1 12, 2012, from Definition from WhatIs. com: http://whatis. techtarget. com/definition/0,,sid9_gci213125,00. html Wikipedia. (2012). Typography. Retrieved 1 12, 2012, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Typography Wikipe dia. (2012). Unicode. Retrieved 1 13, 2012, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Unicode

Hamlet Act II Close Reading

William Shakespeare uses many types of literary devices to describe the very principle of Hamlet’s true battle. Hamlet compares himself to a â€Å"peasant slave† and to the talented actor, whom could give a convincing performance without feeling the true emotion. After his visit with the ghost (his supposed father), he has been dedicated to the idea of plotting revenge of his uncle-father. Although, it is difficult for Hamlet to perform this horrific act, because of his disgust of the emotionless scheming revenge. Lastly, for Hamlet to try and convince himself to follow through with this scheme, he arranges a trap to have Claudius unknowingly reveal that he is guilty. In the beginning of Hamlet’s soliloquy, he compares himself to a â€Å"rogue and peasant slave†, which points out that Hamlet is frustrated with himself. In this metaphor, Hamlet feels terrible that the actor could shed more emotion, and force his soul to feel made up feelings in a work of make-believe. The use of visual imagery is used when Hamlet describes his acting, â€Å"That from her working all his visage waned, tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, a broken voice, and his whole function suiting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Here Hamlet is amazed by how easily the actor could show such emotion, and he even says â€Å"what would he do, had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? † He knows that actor would be even more tremendous if that was the case, because the use of a hyperbole is noted when he says, â€Å"He would drown the stage with tears and cleave the general ear with horrid speech. After stating the above facts, Hamlet then looks at himself and sees himself as pathetic. His reflection of himself, describes that he is an unattractive, uncourageous mischief and protests that he primarily just mopes around and has no motivation to plot revenge and doubts his ability to achieve it. Another literary device utilized is the rhetorical questions he asks himself, â€Å"Am I a coward? Who calls me a â€Å"villain†? Breaks my pate across? Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face? Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie I’ th’ throat as deep to the lungs? Again doubting himself for his lack of motivation. A bit of foreshadowing also takes place after these questions, when he asks another rhetorical question, â€Å"who does me this? ‘Swounds, I should take it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which could possibly take place later on in the play, that someone will call him out, and there is only one reason why someone would; his revenge on Claudius. Hamlet creates a conflict with himself deciding whether to go or not to go through with this horrific s cheme, but he reminds himself that his father’s life has been stolen so he must seek his revenge. Hamlet is planning to have the â€Å"players play something like the murder of [his] father before [his] uncle† that he can â€Å"observe his [his uncle’s] looks† to judge his guilt. Hamlet concludes to himself that â€Å"[he] know [his course]† of what to do if his uncle â€Å"do blench† or flinch. Shakespeare uses personification on the word murder, for he states that â€Å"murder, though it have no tongue, will speak with most miraculous organ†, referring to the situation of murder being able to speak through the actors. This is significant because it is a step forward towards Hamlet’s plot of revenge. Although, Hamlet may believe that â€Å"the spirit that [he] have seen may be the devil and devil hath power t’assume a pleasing shape†, this symbolizes the use of hell imagery and portrays the theme eye of the beholder. The devil can be very convincing and can disguise itself as something or someone we desire and enjoy. So, with that being said Hamlet concludes that â€Å"[he’ll] have grounds more relative than this. The play’s the thing wherein [he’ll] catch the conscience of the king. †