Grassroots Marketing for Nonprofits

Hello folks, 

Not much use offering a product or service or presenting an event if no one know's about it, right? But in our creative consciousness community we've been sold this line of BS that it is unseemly to put effort into promoting yourself. I see so much learned helplessness in this regard. Promotion done right is nothing more than expressing your inner self and what you have to share. 

Get inspired and educated on what you can do at: 

From Moonlady News


Grassroots Marketing for Nonprofits
Friday, February 3, 2012
11:30 am - 1 pm: a box lunch will be provided
http://www.dfwama.com/en/cev/501

Center for Community Development 
2900 Live Oak Street, Dallas, Texas 75204
between N Good Latimer & Hall, just north of downtown

Presented by: 
Nonprofit Special Interest Group of Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the American Marketing Association: http://www.dfwama.com/

Featuring: 
Leslie Clay of Hope Cottage www.hopecottage.org/
Amy Martin of Moonlady News www.moonlady.com/ & Earth Rhythms www.EarthRhythms.org/ 
Susan Hello of For the Love of the Lake www.whiterocklake.org/
Moderator: 

Ann Ranson, Principal, Bottom Line 3 Marketing:http://www.annranson.com/bottom-line-3-marketing/
Come and learn from our moderated panel of experts in Grassroots Marketing. Each one brings difference approaches and successes to their small budget marketing activities. This program will focus on everything EXCEPT social media. There are many other ways to stretch your budget and resources, especially if you’re a small nonprofit, or even small business. Each panelist will present some of their most successful tools, followed by time for your questions and answers. 

Learning Objective 1: Practical tips on grassroots marketing
Learning Objective 2: Ways that other small nonprofits have built awareness on small budgets.

For more information and to register for the event please visitwww.dfwama.com
Pre-registration: $20/members, $30/guests and $10/student members - includes lunch
At the door: $30/members, $40/guests and $10/student members - includes lunch

peace... Amy/Moonlady
www.moonlady.com

Fresh New Dragons

Here's a brand new pyrography piece Em' has been working on in the studio. It will be evened up a bit on the side, burned around the edges and finished. Look for it to debut at Art and Coffee this Saturday at the Mokah Lounge in Dallas!

New Traditions

Marc Cohn originally shared this post on Google+:
Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, part of the 1% the 99% or somewhere in between. Black, white, red, green or purple. I implore you to take five minutes to read this. The worker you save could be...
As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different.
This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is! It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper? Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber? Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement. Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates. Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course. There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open. How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy? Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day. My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running. OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes. Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre. Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.
Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip. You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine. THIS is the new American Christmas tradition. Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn't that what Christmas is about?

1stAngel Arts Magazine

We recently met Elizabeth Edwards, chief Executive Office and Founder of 1stAngel Arts Magazine on Google+ and have found that we have a lot in common. She is a delightful person and her online magazine is a reflection of not only herself but all of the wonderful artists and creative people in her network. Based in the U.K. she founded her own company after running many sites for MSN many years ago. This quickly bored her and she wanted to set out and pursue her many loves in life. Like us, she enjoys nature, foraging, animals and things with two wheels. :) I highly recommend checking out her site and if you're on G+ you might want to circle her as well!

Latest Commission Piece

This pyrographic sign is about to have the finishing touches and weather resistant coating added today and will be ready for the customer this weekend. We hope they like it!

I NEED YOUR HELP!

I'm going behind bars for "GOOD"

  PLEASE HELP BAIL ME OUT!

 Your donation is my key to freedom! Be proud of the fact that together we're providing help and hope to kids and adults served by MDA in our community. Thanks for making a difference!

Fresh Off The Easel

Lady Moon Gazing Upon Mother Earth is an acrylic painting on a stretched canvas measuring 12" x 16" for $160.

Glass Pyramid is an acrylic painting on a gallery wrapped canvas measuring "16 X 20" for $280

Fruit Of Peace was raffled off at CommuniTree on September 24th 2011 to raise funds for Earth Rhythms.

This new hand painted sign was recently completed as a commission for our friend Sherry Blue who will be using it to promote her business. Thank you Sherry! :)

This hand painted sign was recently completed as well and will serve as the logo for our friend Alana to use in promoting her business.




Stay tuned for more!

Ready For Tomorrow?

CommuniTREE Celebration  

Get Ready for some Action!   

September 24th- Saturday - 10:00-2:00  

The Fall Festival-Trees for Life will start at 10:00am at the White Rock Lake Bath House Cultural Center  on the lawn, in the building, under the trees.   A GREAT DAY FOR THE FAMILY... photo ops galore!  Click Link for more excitement!!!  

http://earthrhythms.org/communitree/communitree.html

    

HOW COMMUNITREE CAME TO BE

Amy Martin, executive director of Earth Rhythms, relates: "This event is an outgrowth over the group's long-time relationship with several 100+ year old elm trees behind the Bath House Cultural Center, where we have held many festivals. When the trees were cut down due to ill health, Earth Rhythms commemorated one by having artist Julia Schloss paint a butterfly on the stump. It was eventually cut off and the slab turned into an art table for the facility. Another tree was honored with a "Goodbye to a Tree" service before it was cut down. Both were so well received that CommuniTREE was a natural outgrowth."

 

TREES: SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE

This year, 2011, has been designed by the United Nations as the International Year of the Forests (http://www.celebrateforests.com/) A Celebrate Forests campaign has been created for this by National Association of State Foresters (NASF), the USDA Forest Service, and the American Forest Foundation (AFF).

Throughout history trees have been revered and seen as sacred symbols of power, wisdom, healing, fertility and even life itself.  The World Tree or Tree of Life is found in virtually every culture and religion, symbolizing the union of heaven and earth and the interconnection of life. Trees teach us to grow our roots in fertile soil and reach for our dreams while reminding us to live in balance and harmony.

Trees are anchors of most ecosystems, stabilizing soil and preventing erosion while filtering pollutants from rain and ground water. Worldwatch Institute estimates at least 321 million acres of trees need to be planted just to restore and maintain the productivity of soil and water resources. Trees produce half of the atmosphere's oxygen, while the average tree absorbs of 13 pounds CO2 each year. Shade from trees can reduce utility bills for air conditioning by 15 to 50 percent.

Dallas area neighborhoods with mature trees can be up to 11 degrees cooler than new neighborhoods without trees, and a one-degree rise in temperature equals a 2% increase in peak electricity consumption; and cities are 5 to 9 degrees warmer than rural areas, with 3% to 8% of summer electric use going to compensate for this urban "heat island" effect. Statistics from Dallas Urban Forestry

 HAPPY AUTUMN  AND  c  u  THERE! 

Tzivia, Amy, Rodney

& the Board of Earth Rhythmshttp://earthrhythms.org/communitree/communitree.html

Primal Aspects Calendar

Stay on top of where we'll be and places you can see some new artistic creations by Emily Dewbre-Young and/or some of our friends by keeping tabs on our new calendar:
Primal Aspects Calendar

Honeybees and Pests Which Bug Bees

Found On Moonlady News! http://www.moonlady.com/indexnews.html

"Honeybees and Pests Which Bug Bees"
September 7
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Talk by Bill Baxter for The Trinity Valley Bee Keepers Association.
The meeting will feature a talk on honeybees by
Bill Baxter, Assistant Foulbrood Inspector, Apiary Inspection Service,
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University. All welcome ~
membership is not required. Complimentary event. For more:www.tvbees.org
.

The Point, Center for Arts and Education at C. C. Young
4847 West Lawther, Dallas, Texas 75214
RSVP: 214-841-2834 or daver@ccyoung.org

New website with easy-to-find water-wise drought tips

We heard about this on Moonlady News. Thanks! http://www.moonlady.com/indexnews.html

COLLEGE STATION – The Texas AgriLife Extension Service has launched a new
website called Water Education in Texas (http://agrilife.org/drought/), solely
for the purpose of providing homeowners and producers with easy-to-find
water-wise drought tips.

“We found that the longer this historical drought hangs on, the more
information is generated to help Texans cope with it,” said Dr. Pete Gibbs,
AgriLife Extension associate director at College Station. “The trouble is,
we’re now drowning in a virtual sea of drought-related information. To stem
the flow, AgriLife Communications has siphoned off only the most pertinent
information that’s been submitted by our experts. This information has been
updated, then further edited down to provide the public with just what they need
to know.”

Gibbs said the site is easy to navigate because it has only three main
categories, which are easily accesses by a single click of the mouse. The
site’s categories are “Your Home,” which deals with everything from leaky
faucets to washing machines; “Lawn and Garden,” which addresses topics
including drip irrigation and watering trees, and “Agriculture and
Wildlife,” which  offers tips on livestock, crops, fish and wildlife.

The information is offered in short, bulleted single sentences with a key word
or phrase embedded within the text for those seeking more in-depth information
on that particular topic, Gibbs said.

“Our main goal is to provide the best information possible that people can
actually use,” Gibbs said. “You can have the best information in the world,
but if your clientele can’t find it or don’t know it exists, it’s pretty
much worthless.”
-30-

Find more stories, photos, videos and audio at agrilife.org/today and view this
story at:
http://tinyurl.com/44bnvmk



We grant permission for the use of this news as a free service to the
news media. Articles may be used either in their entirety or in part,
provided that attribution remains. You may use the stories and art,  or
you may put the stories, art and/or news videos on your websites.
High resolution photos, audio and video also are provided with many of
our articles for your use at agrilife.org/today

Tired Of The Urban Heat Island Effect?

FYI from AMY: Enter the raffle for a 15 and 45 gallon tree, or attend
the opening and closing ceremonies for sapling giveaways. Learn how
you can get free trees to plant in parks and medians in your area to
reduce the heat. More info on CommuniTREE: http://www.EarthRhythms.org/

Addressing Dallas' Urban Heat Island Effect

What is the Urban Heat Island?

Like many metropolitan areas, Dallas’ is affected by an Urban Heat
Island (UHI), which is caused by the large concrete areas that are
warmer than the natural rural areas. Sometimes there is a 10-12 degree
temperature difference between the inner urban and rural areas. By its
nature, concrete, asphalt and buildings tend to absorb heat, and a
lack of trees as well as other plant life prevents natural cooling
from occurring. Additionally, the absence of vegetation that naturally
removes pollutants from the air can lead to poor air quality.

The committee is working with various city departments,
including Dallas’ Environment Quality Department on reducing the UHI
effect. In 1995, Texas Christian University professor, Dr. Ken Morgan,
conducted the city’s first urban heat island study, which showed a
large section of central and downtown Dallas having temperatures
several degrees warmer than the surrounding suburbs and countryside.
In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency commissioned its own
updated study on Dallas’ urban heat island areas providing further
research on this issue. This heat effect can impact not only Dallas’
environment, but also its quality of life by having hotter than normal
temperatures, higher energy bills, and poorer air quality.

Trees Can Cool Dallas

Reducing the urban heat island affect is challenging task; however,
one effective tool shown to lower urban temperatures and improve air
quality is the planting of trees. In fact, the 1995 study also
revealed that Oak Cliff, and its tree covered neighborhoods, had one
of the coolest temperatures compared to the rest of the city. Trees
can have a positive effect on urban heat island areas.

How Can Trees Reduce Dallas Temperatures?

Trees have many qualities well suited to reduce the urban heat island
affects:

Large trees can provide shade to block the sun’s heat.
Trees have a “moisture emitting” process, otherwise known as
evapotranspiration that cools the urban air temperature by releasing
moisture.
Trees need carbon dioxide to survive, and through its “breathing” or
photosynthesis process, significant amounts of carbon dioxide and
other pollutants are removed, such as sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide.
Taken together, trees can help cool urban temperatures and cleanse the
air, which improves Dallas’ quality of life.

What is UFAC doing to curb the Urban Heat Island?

UFAC is helping to reduce the UHI effect, by encouraging various tree
planting projects across Dallas - especially in the concrete laden
parts of our city. The Adopt-A-Median project, increased planting in
city parks and street medians, inclusive of other key tree planting
projects and obtaining funding and support for such projects are some
of the ways UFAC is helping to restore trees to Dallas urban areas and
reducing the heat island effect.

Moonlady News
www.Moonlady.com
moonladynews@gmail.com

Story on Digg: Massive Copyright Infringement of Deviantart Exposed

Check out this story I found on Digg. It has 379 Diggs so far!

"Massive Copyright Infringement of Deviantart Exposed"
Websites by the name, Art4love.com and MarkYourSpot.com owned by Craig Prav...

See more: http://digg.com/d77sJZN

The Community Art Showcase at the AMA

October 5 – November 13, 2011

The Community Art Showcase is your opportunity to celebrate the vitality of visual art in Arlington. You are invited to participate in this annual event to display one or two of your artistic creations in the Arlington Museum of Art during the month of October. This is not a juried exhibition so all artwork which meets our eligibility criteria will be included in the show.

http://arlingtonmuseum.org/ama-programs/community-art-showcase/

Frequently Asked Questions

I know it's probably long overdue but we finally decided to start a FAQ for the website to cover some commonly asked and/or anticpated questions. Most of what we have on there now comes from the interview I did recently for Kindred Images but I have some other questions I plan to answer and add to the file soon. If you can think of anything you would like to add, please ask away!

Primal Aspects Frequently Asked Questions

Thank You Bohemian Chic Jewelery

For including my Moon and Wolves drawing in her latest Etsy Treasury:

What Big Eyes You Have

What a beautiful collection of goodness! :)

Free basic classes in drawing, watercolor, oil & calligraphy

We heard about it this one on Moonlady News and wanted to share it with our followers too!


The Irving Art Association offers free basic art classes for adults to get you started in art or in a new medium. Location: Jaycee Park Center for the Arts, Irving. Held on Thursday evenings from 7 - 9 pm. To register use the new online registration form. See also the Free Basic Art Lessons brochure for 2011-2012 for more information or to register by mail also available at the link above.

This year’s schedule:

Basic Drawing; instructor Dot Blalock: Sept. 8, Sept. 22 & Sept. 29, 2011
Basic Watercolor; instructor Mary Treadwell: Oct. 6, Oct. 20 & Oct. 27, 2011
Basic Oil Painting Dot Blalock: Jan. 5, 12, 26 & Feb. 2, 2012
Basic Calligraphy Angie Vangalis: Mar. 8, 22, 29 2012

Don't Forget...

As mentioned in this previous post the Innerspace Soul Circus is coming up this Friday evening. A great line up of musicians, artists and performers will be performing at Trees in Dallas for this Burning Man Camp fundraiser. If you miss out on this great show it's on you!

Pyrography Video

So, yeah, I was messing around with Windows Live Movie Maker and put together this video of some of the Pyrography pieces Emily and I have done in the past year or so set to the awesome music of Kyle MacConnell who we first met at Health and Harmony House when he was performing live for an open mic night there. Then later he also provided the live music for an Art Auction held there which is when we asked his permission to use some of his music for a project like this.
Anyway, here's the result:



There is also a paintings one in the works but Em has 6 more paintings (I think she said 6) at any rate there's some new stuff in the studio that she's not quite ready to unveil yet. When those are ready we'll add them to the paintings video and get it posted up. So, enjoy and please share! :)


- Troy

Thank You Amy Devoe of Larkspur Studios!

For including my chalk drawing "The Color Of Music" in her latest Treasury on Etsy aptly named "Bright and Pretty"!