Nonprofit Measurement

In this weeks reading of  “Measure What Matters,” Chapter 13 discusses measurement for nonprofits. 

Before reading this chapter I was intrigued because over the summer I worked for a nonprofit and it seemed as if measurement was extremely crucial, especially when engaging with donors.

The nonprofit I worked for heavily used social media, which the book describes as the most useful tool for nonprofits because of the low-cost measurement tools built into the social media sites. I did not actually have the chance of operating our social media because I was on the events side, but I did see my fellow interns work on the measurement aspects.

One of the projects the social media interns at the nonprofit was working on was establishing a benchmark, which is also Step 3 in measuring for nonprofits in the book. The nonprofit I worked at is very specialized and it is hard to figure out what the competitors are, so the interns were to identify competitors and figuring out what ways to measure the competitors to us.

I think the biggest take away from this chapter is to make sure data is available when you need it. Buding and planning without data can be very challenging, so data and analysis should constantly be collected.

Retail Therapy

After a hectic week and dead week and finals week approaching, I decided to take a shopping break and head to Easton Town Center with my boyfriend.

There is nothing better than shopping around the Holidays. Of course, the mall may be crazy, but you can’t beat the amazing decorations and Christmas music following you everywhere you go. It creates a great atmosphere to spend money, which is exactly what I did.

I finished up my Christmas shopping, but I also found a few items for myself I have been wanting. So, Merry Christmas to me!

We finished the day of mall shopping by grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and then we ate at a great Irish Pub called Fado Irish Pub. They had great food and great service, I highly recommend if you are ever in the area!

It was so nice to get out of the Ada bubble for a little while and experience the luxuries of a bigger city. 

It really is true; there is nothing more relaxing than some retail therapy!

Happy Saturday!

Stop Fake Stories from Spreading

Has your Facebook feed been flooded with fake stories recently? 

Most of these stories seem so obviously fake, but I will admit I have fallen for some of them. 

For example, I recently read an Underground Health about how a Keurig coffee maker users are at risk because the machines are prone to mold, algae and bacteria growth. I even discussed the article with my family over Thanksgiving. I then just found out the article is not completely accurate. While a Keurig can get dirty, it is false they can never be cleaned. Also, the article said the bacteria can only happen in a Keurig, which is also false, it can happen in any similar coffee maker product.

According, to the Chicago Tribune fake stories and offers have been spreading like wildfires because social media users believe them to be true and retweet, like or share the stories. People might believe the stories to be true because their  friend shared it, so why should they doubt their friend?

There’s a few ways to get around figuring out if the story is real or not according to the Chicago Tribune:

1. Check for grammatical errors – it sounds obvious, but most credible stories probably will not have too many errors
2. Check Snopes.com – this website checks out what’s real and not real on social media
3. Google It – I cannot tell you how many times someone has shared a story or told me about a story and it seemed unreal to me, so I Googled it and in a matter of seconds the story was proven to be wrong. 

Let’s all try to stop these dumb fake stories from spreading and stop posting, liking or retweeting them.