So... have you heard about these new ADA web accessibility rules yet? If your first reaction was "Oh great, another thing I need to worry about," we totally get it. But honestly? This stuff isn't as scary as it sounds, and in the end it's actually going to make your website better for everyone.

Here's the deal, the Department of Justice finally gave us actual deadlines (April 2026 and 2027, depending on the number of people you serve), and a lot of government entities and nonprofits are scrambling to figure out what this means for them.

But before you schedule a task to “Panic About Google ADA
Compliance” at 2 AM, hit pause. Monica geeked out reading through all the official ADA documents (yes, she’s that person), and you know what? They actually make sense! The government followed their own accessibility rules when writing these guidelines. Who knew?

She broke down everything you need to know to get started:

• Who actually needs to comply (spoiler: it's way more than just city websites!)
• Those blessed exceptions that mean you don't have to fix EVERYTHING from the past 20 years
• Real deadlines so you know if you're in the 2026 or 2027 group
• What happens if you ignore this (hint: it involves dollar signs with lots of zeros)
• The actual standards explained without all the government-speak
• How to get started without losing your mind or your budget

The best part? These rules aren't about making your life harder—they're about making sure everyone in your community can actually use your website. And trust us, when you follow these guidelines, your site becomes easier for EVERYONE to navigate.

Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/ada-title-ii-website-accessibility-rules-exceptions/

And hey, if you listen to this and still have questions, feel free to send Monica an email to monica@mayecreate.com. She loves talking about this stuff (maybe a little too much, according to her family ).

Breaking News: Humans are now the minority on the internet. 

And no, this isn’t just tech drama.

That's right. According to the 2025 Imperva Bad Bot Report, automated, aka bot, traffic has overtaken human activity for the first time in ten years, making up more than half—51%—of all internet traffic last year. 

But don't worry, this isn't a Terminator-style apocalypse (yet). In this latest episode of Marketing with Purpose, Monica is joined by MayeCreate's Chief Website Security Officer and digital guardian angel, Rebecca Thomas.

Rebecca is MayeCreate’s frontline defender who keeps over 300 websites safe through our Safe Site program. When she isn't fighting off Russian spam bots or thwarting login attacks, she's developing systems to keep client websites running smoothly.

• Why your website analytics might be lying to you (hint: those aren't all real visitors!)
• The hilarious (and sometimes terrifying) things bots are trying to do on your website
• How to tell if you're being targeted by the bad bots
• 9 simple security steps that'll make hackers move on to easier targets
• Why two-factor authentication is Rebecca's security BFF (and should be yours too)

This isn't just tech talk for the IT crowd. If you own a website (or are responsible for one), this episode breaks down complex security concepts into normal language and straightforward advice that keeps the human advantage in the bot-versus-human battle.

Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/website-security-essentials-for-2025/

At lunch the other day a group of business people were complaining about how annoying their Google Business Profile is to use. 

Aaaaand they’re not wrong. But managing your profile is a necessary evil…like going to the dentist - you don’t have to love it but you do have to do it.

You want to show up when people search for you on Google, right?
Your Google Business Profile determines 9% of your organic search ranking.

Ever wondered how to get your business show up on the search results map?

Your Google Business Profile determines 32% of the factors that get you on that map.

And just like everything else Google there’s a trick to getting your profile set up correctly so you can use it to it’s fullest potential.

So in this episode Monica welcomes Marilyn Jenkins, CEO of MJ Media Group, to crack the code and teach us how to maximize our Google Business Profiles.

Marilyn shares some super simple ways to:

• Get more real reviews without feeling like a pest (we’ve all been there, right? )
• Show up in Google’s “Map Pack” (the top 3 spots that customers actually look at)
• Keep your profile updated so people trust you, click on you, and, oh yeah, buy from you

And the best part? It's easier than you think, once you know the tricks. So, give it a listen! You’ll be glad you did. 

Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: [link to episode]

When I interviewed Kimberly O’Donnell with Network for Good I thought I’d learn all about donor management software. But you know what? I learned waaaay more.

She shares inside knowledge about:

• Current fundraising trends
• How organizations can embrace text messaging to communicate with donors
• Changes in the pipe for Network for Good
• What Bonterra’s recent purchase of Network for Good means for the company
• Ways to deepen relationships with donors by meeting them where they are

You’re sure to walk away with at least a nugget or two of goodness from this interview or at least enjoy geeking out with us!

Introducing Kimberly O’Donnel and Network for Good - 0:41
Fundraising trends - 10:23
Should we text donors? - 18:36
Exploring ways to connect to encourage donations - 23:15
The importance of communicating authentically - 26:40
Finding time to do the work - 32:36
Listening to customers to improve Network for Good - 38:23
Resources available through Network for Good - 46:55
Becoming “anti-fragile” - 52:52
Where to find more about Network for Good - 54:34

For a fully-formatted blog post of this episode, visit https://mayecreate.com/blog/the-future-of-fundraising-with-network-for-goods-kimberly-odonnell/

How did an all-volunteer organization raise $20,000 in one month? We sat down with Michelle Ribaudo and Laura Wakefield from MoDE Foundation to find out. They share things that worked, things they’d do differently, and why planning ahead and training made all the difference to their success. 

Introductions of Michelle, Laura and MoDE Foundation - 2:13
Getting started with CoMoGives - 8:04
Using training and templates to raise $20,000 - 10:14
What would they change or keep for next year? - 15:28
Creating a mini-event within the campaign - 17:28
Utilizing targeted peer-to-peer giving - 21:42
Reaching donors through personalized thank you notes - 27:33
Advice for others participating in year-end giving campaigns - 32:10
Gaining momentum through cooperation with other organizations - 34:55
Learn more about MoDE Foundation - 41:00

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/year-end-giving-success-story-missouri-disability-empowerment-foundation/

We're talking about donor management systems again! In this episode, we welcome Wende Wagner, Director of Philanthropy for the Missouri Symphony, who discusses their system of choice, Bloomerang, how they chose it, and her favorite and not-so-favorite parts of the platform.

They converted over from Neon and really like the data management and integration tools Bloomerang offers. Join me as I interview Wende to learn why!

Introduction to the Missouri Symphony - 1:31

Donor Management before Bloomerang - 5:14

Functionality of Bloomerang - 11:14

Using Bloomerang for Events - 13:59

Fom building capabilities in Bloomerang - 15:40

Bloomerang integration with accounting software - 24:48

Reporting in Bloomerang - 29:39

Using Bloomerang for printed mailings - 35:37

What Bloomerang costs and advice - 39:00

How to contact Wende - 43:15

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/bloomerang-from-a-users-perspective-with-guest-wende-wagner/

We’ve been told Network for Good can be an expensive, but amazingly comprehensive donor management system. So, I reached out to one of our nonprofit friends who uses it to find out if it’s worth the cost.

Spoiler Alert - for Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, it totally is. From ticket sales to donor data management to text reminders, Network for Good helps them market with purpose. 

Billy Polansky and his team at the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture had been using a cobbled together system revolving around Microsoft Access which was better than nothing but not what they needed. After reviewing 3 or 4 systems they decided on Network for Good. Hear how they use it and why they love it as I interview Billy in this episode!

Introduction to Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture - 1:49
Why invest in a donor management system? - 4:25
What does Network for Good do? - 6:40
How does Network for Good integrate ticket sales and giving? - 10:53
How easy is it to import existing data? - 15:08
How easy is it to learn and use Network for Good? - 17:17
How often does Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture use the communication features? - 22:00
What customization options are available? - 25:20
What is customer support like? - 27:04
Is Network for Good a good value for the cost? - 28:37
Where to learn more about Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture - 36:40

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/network-for-good-from-a-users-perspective-with-guest-billy-polansky/

While everything is getting back to “normal,” I don't want you to forget the things you learned when you couldn't fundraise the same way you always had. 

We shouldn’t leave the skills we developed out of necessity on the table. 

Let’s review some tech-easy online fundraising event ideas we talked about way back in 2020. Those events, those activities, can fill in the gap for you. They can boost your fundraising. 

Read the blog post at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/tech-easy-online-fundraising-event-ideas/

Download 14 Tech-Easy Online Event Ideas for Fundraising

This is the first major change in over a decade. My frenemy Google keeps emailing me about how stuff is changing, and my greatest fear is all those emails get stuck in your junk mail. 

Google is trying to create something that will be an equally awesome as the Universal Analtyics tracking system we've enjoyed for so long without making people use cookies to track user behavior on the websites. 

Having a deadline is great and all but here’s the deal. We don’t know how long your current account is going to exist, and we don’t know how long you’re going to have access to it. We all need to get on board and make the switch ASAP. In this episode I'll tell you who need to worry about it, who doesn't and what to do to keep the data rolling in!

Read this episide in blog form at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/google-analytics-4-the-time-to-freak-out-is-nigh/

Organizations find all kinds of ways to manage donor data.  Some use a subscription service. But Enola’s organization is an amazing example of working with what you have. Instead of paying additional fees for another system, Enola found out she could use Square, a point of sale program, as a customer relationship management tool. Let’s find out how she does that — because if you’re not ready to invest in a dedicated donor management program, this might be a great option for you!

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/using-square-as-a-crm-with-guest-enola-white/

Hackers suck. They’re like the armpit of humanity. They just you feel victimized. It’s like having someone break into your house or your car and steal something. But it’s worse because you’re not just out these physical possessions, you have to figure out how to remedy this really, really yucky situation.

So let’s dig in and talk about the number one way that you can protect your website from hackers.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/1-way-to-protect-your-website-from-hackers/

Once, somebody broke into my house. We came back from vacation, and we walked into the house. My oldest daughter, who was two at the time, goes, “Mama, where TV go?” I look over, and sure enough, no TV there. You know what else was gone? All the beer in our fridge. Somebody stole our beer, our TV and my husband's Big 12 championship ring, which was a real stinking bummer. We felt gross, violated and a little unsafe. That's how you feel, with a gigantic dollop of irritation plopped on top, when somebody hacks your stinking website. Why are they doing it anyway? Why do hackers hack? I'm going to tell you. They hack for three main reasons.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/why-do-hackers-hack

We have had many, many interns over the last 17 years at MayeCreate. Some of them have been terrible, and others have been amazing. One of them still works for us to this day. They’re good, they’re bad, they’re everything in between… The only thing you can manage is how you manage them. So I’m going to give you 10 intern management tips from my former interns. Yep, that’s right – intern management tips from interns! They actually wrote all of these tips for me so I could share them with you.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/10-intern-management-tips-from-my-former-interns

If you’ve ever wondered, "How many emails should we send in our year-end campaign?" Turns out, you're not alone! 

We get this question every year, and now, thanks to Jaime Freidrichs, a fundraising coach dedicated to helping small but mighty organizations succeed, and 71 nonprofit survey participants — we’ve got some real data to guide you.

In our latest episode (and blog post), we dive into the findings of Jaime’s study on the 2023 year-end email strategies of 71 nonprofits running online campaigns to understand:

• How frequently successful nonprofits emailed their supporters.
• The sweet spot for sending emails (without overloading your supporters).
• Surprising stats on email volume vs. meeting fundraising goals.

With this survey Jaime hopes to take at least SOME of the guesswork out of your year-end email strategy.

Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: [link to episode on MayeCreate.com]

All of us are trying to do our jobs on a budget and accomplish great things with our marketing. 

There are always moments in your business where you think to yourself, “man, if I just had another set of hands, I could be much more successful.” This is why we hire interns.

I have hired a lot of interns in the 17 years I have operated my company, MayeCreate Design. Some of them have been amazing. Some of them have been not amazing. 

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/hiring-a-marketing-intern-what-theyre-good-for-and-where-to-find-them/

I’m pretty excited today because I have my social media guru Elizabeth with me. Today, Elizabeth is going to take us through the 10 social posts that every fundraiser and event needs.

This is coming directly out of an online offering that we have available online: https://mayecreate.com/10-social-posts-every-fundraiser-event-needs

We tell you what to put in these types of posts, some examples, and a template for you to copy and paste. It’s a pretty valuable resource, so I think you should hop over and download it. Stick around and we’ll tell you more about it!

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/10-social-posts-every-fundraiser-or-event-needs

It’s the biggest change Facebook has made to a core functionality in a really long time, but we don’t need to panic yet. 

These changes are a slow and random rollout eventually coming for all Pages. You can hold out for a little while longer, but this change is definitely coming, and it’s not going to be optional for long.

Here's what you need to know...

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/facebook-changed-pages-what-that-means-for-you

Today I have a very special guest with me, Carol Bennis. Carol participated in our Year-End Giving Training activity workshop thing last year. During our breakout sessions, we talked about campaign planning. She really wowed me with her tactics and how she managed her volunteers. So I invited her to share how she does this so you can learn a thing or two and maybe also run an awesome year-end giving campaign.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: 

https://www.mayecreate.com/blog/year-end-giving-prep-starting-now-volunteer-cultivation-with-guest-carol-bennis

In the beginning when people first contact MayeCreate, we have a lot of conversations about how they’re going to build their website. Some of these people have decided they’re going with a professional agency like ours, but there are lots of different types of website developers out there. 

Each one comes with different things to consider, let's go through each option and define the decision-making factors. Then, you can decide which kind of designer is right for you.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/the-7-types-of-web-designers

We have been remodeling things in our office and homes for the last few years, and these experiences have made us acutely aware now of what is not included in a remodel bid. 

We hadn’t remodeled anything before. No one gave us a checklist to follow…so imagine our surprise when we were presented with 1000s of dollars in “upgrades” that we thought were included in the original estimate.

Luckily website remodels tend to cost far less then home remodels. But still, no one likes being sent an extra invoice for work they thought was part of the original project plan.

Because just like we hadn’t ever gone through a home remodel before you don't build websites every day, so how can you possibly be expected to know what’s included and what’s not? 

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/whats-not-included-in-your-web-design

If your email marketing system isn’t doing what it needs to do for you and you’re considering switching to MailChimp or MailerLite – this review is for you.

I was a huge MailChimp fan…until I had to use it regularly myself. It has some very positive features. I’m not saying MailChimp isn’t right for you though, I support over 60 clients who use the system and love it. 

Last year we switched from MailChimp to MailerLite but before making that decision I  interviewed MANY email systems from SendInBlue to ConvertKit before settling into MailerLite. And you know what, it’s not perfect either. But it is better for me, sort of. At least I hate it less.

I’ve created new workarounds and I still have a stupid spreadsheet but at least now I don’t need google maps to find my way around. I’m going to give you my honest review after using MailerLite for the past year and a half and MailChimp for God knows how many so you can see which one might make you less pissed as you’re building your marketing emails.  Here goes…

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/mailchimp-vs-mailerlite

Since you are here I could probably assume that you already understand why it's important that your website loads quickly.  But, alas, a good teacher starts at the beginning--and we all know how great assumptions are--so let's take a quick second and talk about why it's so important to have a fast loading website.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/fast-loading-website-formula/

Join us to learn how the 2021 CoMoGives campaign was promoted, what worked, what didn't and how we'll adjust to make it even better next year. John Baker, director of Community Foundation of Central Missouri (the foundation that powers CoMoGives), will talk through the ins and outs of planning and supporting our community's $1.8M with MayeCreate's Monica Pitts and Stacy Brockmeier.

For a fully-formatted article version of this blog, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/learn-how-our-community-raise-1-8m-in-one-month-with-john-baker-stacy-brockmeier

Today we are going to talk about solving problems. 

At MayeCreate, we love solving problems. One we solve day after day for our clients is helping their businesses run smoother by leveraging their website to take some of the day to day heavy lifting off of their staff. 

We’re gonna go through six cool website integrations that help boost workflow and efficency (with maybe some bonuses thrown in for fun).

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/cool-website-integrations-that-save-you-time-which-saves-you-money/

A few weeks ago, Monica gave some tips on what to include on a business card and briefly mentioned QR codes, promising to dive deeper later. In this podcast/blog, Monica does just that!

Recording and writing this felt a bit like QR code therapy to Monica. Turns out she has some strong feelings about where, when and how to use them (I’m sure you’re super surprised ).

So…in this week's episode Monica’s sharing her QR tips and pet peeves including:

• What a QR code is and how it works
• When and where to use a QR code effectively
• Tips for selecting the right QR code generator
• A comparison of popular QR code tools
• Best practices for implementing QR codes

Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: [MayeCreate.com]

I'm super excited to have Cheryl Unterschutz on this podcast.  Cheryl is the public relations manager and the marketing manager for Central Missouri Community Action. Between those two roles, she wears numerous hats and handles more responsibilities for her organization than I even dare to think about – yet she does them all well. This team of one is here to tell us all about her marketing journey and how she put together her marketing plan. I know that you guys are going to learn a lot from her experience in the trenches as an everyday marketer for her nonprofit organization.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/how-one-woman-does-the-work-of-10-celebrating-central-missouri-community-action

When it comes to marketing we all start where we are. And that’s OK. What’s not OK is when we do all the work to move forward and build marketing assets but don’t use them because we never took the next step. Then those hard earned assets are about as useful for growing your business as the change sitting under your couch cushions is for buying Starbucks. I have personally forgotten every single one of the items on this checklist at least once. Let’s take a look at my list of misadventures so you can learn from my mistakes instead of making them yourself.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/np-marketing-inventory-checklist

This is for those of you marketers who have to design – and even for you marketers who love to design. Because maybe you get stuck. Maybe it takes longer than you want it to. If you're designing things from scratch, it’s time consuming. At MayeCreate, we design things from scratch so we're always looking for ways to speed up the process, but still create beautiful, functional Websites. These are just six of our absolute favorite tools and libraries we use to get organized and get the creative juices flowing. Hopefully you can use some of them to rock out your own designs as well.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/6-design-tools-libraries-to-get-your-creative-on/

Whether you’re looking to start a new venture or grow an existing one to the next level, it all starts with an idea.  From there, a decision must be made and actions must be taken. If you’re an ideas person, you LOVE to come up with ideas… but too many ideas can make it hard to take action.  You’re excited by ideas and you want to be a success, so picking an idea can feel very limiting.  It’s kind of like analysis paralysis and option overload had a baby together. And your great ideas just whihter on the vine.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/if-youre-new-have-tons-of-ideas-and-dont-know-where-to-focus-start-here

Marketers are always pressed for time (especially because you’re either selling your time OR you’re wearing multiple hats). While I’m not always the fastest draw in the west, I like to think I have a solid process to produce quality work with a reliable turnaround time. Finding ways to improve processes without sacrificing quality is etched into our company culture. The team is always slacking about some awesome new find or another. Don’t even get me started on my new tablet. It’s AMAZING.

Here are our favorite tools to keep creativity flowing and crush lag time. 

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/9-free-and-cheap-marketing-tools

The most common way to suck at your marketing is to just straight up not do your marketing. And I hear all the excuses. Heck I’ve made those same excuses myself. So one of the easiest ways to start succeeding in your marketing is to actually GET IT DONE consistently. But back to those excuses again, right? Seems like all revolve around the big bad four letter “T” word…time. Well let's blow up the “T” word. And put some ideas on the table to get work done faster so we call go back to working on all the other stuff we’re responsible for!

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/8-tips-to-save-time-boost-marketing-productivity

Who really knows what they’re doing with their social media, really? 

I’ll tell you who. Those amazing data loving people who follow their social data like they’re stalking a junior high crush. (Oh common you know you hid in the bushes and watched those cuties play ball every now and again! No?

I’m a stalker of lots of types of data, but when it comes to social media I also have to rely on a team of friends to keep me informed - employees, nonprofits I work with and other data geeks. And since 64% of nonprofits don’t have a digital marketing plan3...I felt like you might need a team of friends to hook you up as well.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/nonprofit-marketing-benchmarks-series-social/

The best marketing is informed marketing. And I wanted to give you the best possible advice to succeed in 2022. Over the next series of posts look at nonprofit marketing benchmarks for Email Marketing, Social Media and Websites. I’m going to break the benchmarks and my takeaways into the different digital marketing mediums, explain what I found and what it actually means to you, a nonprofit marketer. Starting with email!

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/nonprofit-marketing-benchmarks-series-email/

Some sites are like mean girls.

There are some sites that totally stink, but many of them are quite lovely on the outside and a bit like mean girls on the inside. Basically they’re shallow. They lack the things they need to be compliant and well-rounded. 

I'm going to tell you how to take that mean girl website and turn it into the girl the audience is rooting for... 

For a fully-formatted article version of this episode, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/8-hidden-things-every-website-needs-copy 

A thermometer in the shape of CAL, social post templates for volunteers, pre-written & prescheduled newsletters, redefining success, and never losing sight of what matters most… These are some of the ways Kelsey Hammond organizes giving campaigns for Columbia Art League and grows them a little more each year. And she wants you to know; regardless of your organization’s cause, size or experience level, you can grow your giving campaign a little more every year just like she does - and it doesn’t have to be difficult!

Here this and other podcasts geared towards nonprofit marketing and fundraising on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/podcast/artfully-organized-and-growing/

All the marketing gurus are saying “transparency” and “authenticity” are the measure of good marketing these days. And that’s great and all, but if we’re honest the road map to get there isn’t super clear.

Unfortunately, there’s no universal yardstick for “authenticity.” It’s different for everyone. There is, however, a practical starting point to geo locating your version - defining your core values.

To explain just how this is done, Monica invited core values expert Andrea Johnson to join her on this episode of the Marketing with Purpose podcast. She makes it sound simple (and you know I love that!).

Here’s a quick rundown of the awesome stuff you’ll learn:

• How to pinpoint your core values to enhance your marketing and make your brand pop!
• Discover how being authentic builds trust with your audience—because nobody wants to feel like they’re talking to a robot, right?
• Get practical tips to align your values with your business decisions, so you’re not just winging it!

Get the episode highlights and full transcript at: [mayecreate.com]

Featured Resource: Marketing on a Shoestring

How many emails do I send? How should I send them? How do I segment my recipient lists? For that matter, what does segmenting even mean??  

If any of these are questions you've pondered when preparing for your year-end giving campaign, you're not alone! These are the email centric questions I hear most often.

So, I did a live Q&A session to answer these questions and any other questions the audience might have about those all-important year-end giving emails!

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/podcast/year-end-giving-email-q-a/

MayeCreate Design experts Monica Pitts (Owner, Chief Creative Officer) and Elizabeth Alexander (Social Media expert, copywriter) throw down the gauntlet and dare a live Facebook audience to try and stump them with their deepest, darkest Facebook questions!* 

*As it pertains to Year-End Giving...or just normal business stuff...not like dancing parrots or weird viral makeup videos...Monica and Elizabeth know nothing about that!

For a fully-formatted, article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/year-end-giving-social-media-q-a/

I interviewed two special guests recently: Jan Meese with the Columbia Audubon Society and Jacky Gingrich - treasurer of The Wardrobe. Both ladies did an amazing job of running year-end giving campaigns for their nonprofit organizations and reaching their goals through ComoGives. So I invited these two to share their stories about how they ran their campaigns. They don’t have huge organizations with armies of volunteers to raise money, but they still manage to do great things with the people they do have. So if your nonprofit organization is considering a year-end giving campaign, or you ran one last year and want some ideas, hopefully you’ll find some inspiration to make your year-end giving campaign even better.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/all-volunteer-and-all-awesome-celebrating-the-wardrobe-audubon-society-with-guest-jacky-gingrich-guests-jan-mees/

When we completed the 2020 donor survey for CoMoGives, we found that 35% of our respondants had NO IDEA what a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign is!  So I've asked RagTag staffer and successful peer-to-peer fundraiser Stacie Pottinger to explain what it means and share what makes her peer-to-peer campaigns so successful: https://mayecreate.com/blog/multi-color-hair--personalizing-peer-to-peer-fundraising/

Those of you who have been hanging out with me for a while have probably met Jamie Freidrichs before. Because Jamie is a great resource of mine. She tells it how it is and I love that about her. She and I sometimes have slightly differing opinions because I'm a marketer, and she's a fundraiser… but at our core, we feel the same way about a lot of things. And so we felt like we would have a semi therapy / semi rant session today about busting a myth; the myth that you have to give something away  (a.k.a. “premium”) to get a donation. 

For a fully-formatted article version of this episode, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/podcast/myth-buster-embracing-no-premium-fundraising-with-expert-guest-jaime-freidrichs/

I started this business at 25 in a teeny-tiny apartment with no air conditioning with not much more than peanut butter and a computer to my name, so I know a thing or two about achieving big goals with limited resources!  Today, I am going to give a part pep talk and some advice, all from the heart, about how you can do the same.

To view this podcast on our website, head on over here: https://mayecreate.com/blog/year-end-giving-achieving-big-results-with-limited-resources/

I interviewed two special guests recently: Jan Meese with the Columbia Audubon Society and Jacky Gingrich - treasurer of The Wardrobe. Both ladies did an amazing job of running year-end giving campaigns for their nonprofit organizations and reaching their goals through ComoGives. So I invited these two to share their stories about how they ran their campaigns. They don’t have huge organizations with armies of volunteers to raise money, but they still manage to do great things with the people they do have. So if your nonprofit organization is considering a year-end giving campaign, or you ran one last year and want some ideas, hopefully you’ll find some inspiration to make your year-end giving campaign even better.

For a fully-formatted article version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/podcast/all-volunteer-and-all-awesome-celebrating-the-wardrobe-audubon-society-with-guest-jacky-gingrich-guests-jan-mees/

The wise and knowledgeable John Baker, Executive director of the Community Foundation of Central Missouri, joins me as we review the data collected from our 900+ participant yearly CoMoGives donor survey. We share what we learned from the survey and what keeps donors returning to support our community's annual year end giving campaign, CoMoGives.

For a fully-formatted version of this podcast, head over to our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/what-we-learned-from-our-900response-donor-survey---with-expert-guest-john-baker/

Monica thought everyone just knew what to put on a business card and how to design it so it’s a functional marketing tool. But, alas, a recent visit to a tradeshow revealed a sizable knowledge gap in that very area. 

You want your prospects and your clients to have a streamlined, easy interaction with you all the time, right? And anytime you have an opportunity to control that process we want to take advantage of it to give them the best possible experience with your company. 

This episode is all about how to do just that, with a lovely checklist to make your business card easy to use, beautiful, and a reliable representative of your organization.

Read the fully formatted blog post and download the checklist to accompany this episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/what-to-put-on-a-business-card-plus-design-tips/ 

Featured Resource: Marketing on a Shoestring
https://youmayecreate.com/marketing-on-a-shoestring/ 

Monica sat down with Donna Dube, a business growth strategist who knows how to simplify marketing like a pro. Seriously, she’s got some killer tips that will make you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Donna talked about the Eisenhower Matrix—sounds fancy, right? But it’s really just a smart way to prioritize what actually matters in your biz, not just the stuff that keeps you busy. Plus, Donna shared six CEO habits that’ll help you create marketing systems that practically run themselves. Imagine having more time to focus on what you love!

Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website:https://mayecreate.com/blog/simplify-marketing-strategy/ 

Stacy calls Monica the “idea factory”. And blog topics just happen to be her favorite thing to produce in idea factory mode.

In this episode, she’s firing up the factory to give you blog ideas out the wazoo AND share her framework she uses to make sure organizations are blogging about the right thing to meet the right people where they are. 

Join us in this “what to blog about” workshop style episode designed to transform you into a purposeful blog idea generating machine!

Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: [link to episode on MayeCreate.com]

Thank you to our featured resource sponsor:
What to Put on Your Website https://mayecreate.com/resource/what-to-put-on-your-website/

We’ve been honing in on our “why” at MayeCreate this year.  Studying the concept introduced by Simon Sinek, reading the Power of a Positive Team, redefining our core values, and updating our mission statement.

It’s been an incredible way to learn about each other and why we do what we do. MayeCreate’s “Core 4” (our senior team) has been together for over 10 years so we know in our gut why we keep at this business and website building thing.

But as we bring on new team members and refine our marketing efforts, we felt like we needed a documented why and purpose to guide us.

So with all this self-evaluation we’ve been doing, when Monica heard about Ian Chamandy, owner of Blueprint Business Architecture who helps organizations define the one thing that makes them uniquely remarkable – in 7 words or less…

She had to know…HOW!?!

Monica has a virtual stack of Google Docs piling up with all of her notes from this year, so HOW ON EARTH could she break it down into 7 words or less?

In this episode, Ian explains how it all comes together in 3 easy steps and morphs into a talisman to design how your organization is managed and how it will communicate.

Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: [link to episode]

In a world dominated by flashy visuals and fleeting social media trends, you might wonder, "Is blogging still relevant?" 

9 out of 10 marketers use  blogging to achieve their content goals (SEMrush, 2023). That’s because it works. Blogging drives traffic to your site and traffic drives leads. Companies that blog have an average of 67% more leads each month than companies without blogs. (DemandMetric).

I know what you’re thinking, “But Monica, search is changing, right? So will blogging still work?”

True, back in April with our Guest, SEO expert, Nina Gibson cautioned that, search is changing but blogging is rolling with the punches. 75% of marketers believe that AI-enabled search engines will positively impact their blogs. (HubSpot State of Marketing Report, 2023).

So, bloggins is far from dead. Blogging isn't just about churning out boring AI generated paragraphs of text either; when done right blogging establishes expertise, drives traffic, and powers your marketing. 

In this episode I’m breaking it down and covering the most common questions I hear about blogging like:

Do you really have to blog and how often should you do it?

How do you set it up?

How to attract visitors. Ideas for monetization.

Mistakes to avoid and even how to measure success.

Monica’s brain turned into an idea factory while interviewing this week's guest, Shannon Houchin, owner of Roadside Republic.

Yes, this episode is all about the success of roadside stands selling peaches, which is really fun all on its own. AND it’s also packed with ideas to locally market your business or organization.

So.

Before you do another carwash or bakesale for your nonprofit…

Before you choose the next location for your business…

Before you decide on a marketing tactic to connect with a local audience…

You need to listen to this episode. 

Because Shannon promotes her 200 roadside produce stands across three states so she is a master at hyper-local marketing. Monica almost shut down her company and started selling peaches after talking to her (and she’s only kind of kidding).

Shannon explains everything from exactly how she chooses the right location, to what to say on Facebook to get people excited and coming back for more.

Come hang out with Shannon and Monica and get those ideas flowing!

Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/hyper-local-marketing-shannon-houchin/

Featured Resource: Marketing on a Shoestring
https://youmayecreate.com/marketing-on-a-shoestring/