Health care embraces #GivingTuesday with innovative fundraising

Right on the heels of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes #GivingTuesday.

There is no shortage of hashtags and fundraising ideas for the annual observance, which began in 2014 at the 92^nd Street Y in New York and which falls this year on Nov. 29. With momentum on social media and a partnership with the United Nations Foundation, #GivingTuesday has quickly become a vast philanthropic effort led by millennials.

Today, health care communicators and stakeholders with diverse specialties and causes have organized local and online campaigns to raise awareness and money. #GivingTuesday helps kick off the charitable holiday season of philanthropy, according to the organization’s website.

How generous have people been in the past? GivingTuesday.org says last year, people in 71 countries helped raise some $116 million.

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Tons of ideas

Here’s a sampling of the many causes and campaigns that are underway this year.

In Ohio, a local news website—Vindy.com—posted:

Something New Florist in Canfield will donate 20 percent of the proceeds from the Shepherd Foundation’s custom-designed arrangement to support the Virtual Dementia Tour Comprehensive Program. With those funds, Shepherd of the Valley provides Virtual Dementia Tour training for caregivers, health care providers, first responders and others caring for those with dementia. Oh, and Something New Florist doesn’t just do this on Tuesday. They do this every month as part of their Blooms of Hope mission. The Shepherd Foundation just happens to be the November philanthropy.

Visuals on websites and social media, of course, are helping drive campaigns:

Instagram and Twitter also were heavy with promotions related to health care:

It may be time to begin planning next year’s fundraising. #GivingTuesday’s website is popping with resources such as social media badges, press releases, proclamations, timelines, logos and more.

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3 low-cost ways to generate new leads by the end of the year

Burst into 2017 with new business.

Invest in one of these three Ragan sponsorship deals.

Here are three incredible sales you can take advantage of right now:

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Email Kristin Farmer at kristinf@ragan.com for details and to take advantage of these end-of-the-year deals with Ragan’s Sponsorship team.

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Don’t hang up: Why PR phone calls still matter

Many PR pros use email, messaging apps and texts to communicate with clients, vendors and journalists.

In the workplace, we’re lucky not to be tethered to an office—or even a specific desk—to communicate (although my FitBit tells me I’m tethered in other ways).

Something, though, is getting lost in shunning the phone. You might spend a lot of time crafting a detailed, well-articulated email or text only to have it misunderstood or skimmed by the reader.

Speaking by phone has become an anomaly, and your communication prowess isn’t being expressed as strongly via texts and emails. It’s amazing how effectively a quick phone call can clear up confusion, convey your tone and deliver your message.

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Also, when you’re talking on the phone with someone, you have that person’s focused attention.

I ask you to commit to talking on your phone more. Don’t lose one of PR’s most effective communication methods. Using our voices helps us to connect more effectively and genuinely.

Meggan Manson is a principal with Young & Associates , a tech-focused public relations agency. A version of this article first appeared on the Young & Associates blog.

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If China started mass killing there own population to control the population would any other country try to stop them?

But you can save them! Open your own home and let Chinese move in freely, and scrap immigration control and allow Chinese to freely immigrate to your country. That'll do it.

Billions of Chinese have passports and are free to emigrate anywhere. The problem is that the countries they want to move to all have strict immigration policies. If you are so worried about hypothetical mass killings in China, just open your borders and that'll solve the problem. There are 1.4 billion Chinese right now. I'm sure they can easily spare 400 million of them to move to your country. That'll make room for new lives in China proper.

Read other answers by

Robin Daverman on Quora:

• Why are countries like India and China so densely populated? What are the circumstances and reasons?
• What aspect of Chinese characteristics contributed to its huge population throughout history?
• What would happen if the United States stopped the importation of all goods and services from China tomorrow?

Read more answers on Quora.

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6 rules for using gestures in presentations

Research shows that audiences view presenters who gesture as more effective and competent than those who keep their hands still.

Consider this: According to The Washington Post, the least-watched TED talks have an average of 124,000 views and include an average of 272 gestures. The top-ranked TED talks, however, have an average of 7.4 million views and 465 gestures.

Why do gestures affect speakers' effectiveness?

Studies show that our hand movements constitute a second language. They add information that's absent from our words.

How can you ensure your gestures add the appropriate information to your spoken message? Check out the tips below:

1. Be natural.

Don't force unnatural gestures, and practice extensively before using new movements in front of an audience. If your gestures seem inauthentic or over the top, they'll probably distract your audience.

Practice at least seven times before you try new gestures in public. Practicing less than that will probably be insufficient, so commit the time to ensure you get the most out of your gestures.

2. Display numbers.

Displaying numbers with your hands is one of the easiest gestures to add to your repertoire. If you're going to present three main ideas, show three fingers when introducing your talk's structure.

If a quantity exceeds 10, forming the number will obviously be challenging. Use your hands to communicate numbers of 10 or fewer; communicating quantities of five or fewer will feel the most natural given that they require only one hand.

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3. Open your palms.

Open palms are a simple way to put your audience at ease. Humans around the world use open palms to demonstrate lack of a threat. When police surround a suspect, the suspect may display empty palms to show he doesn't have any weapons.

In his TED talk, Allan Pease shared the results of a case study that examined palms' persuasiveness. In the study, the speaker who held his palms upward had up to 40 percent more success than the speaker who held his palms down.

Watch Pease's talk to learn more:

4. Stay in the strike zone.

The strike zone is the most natural area in which to gesture. It ranges from your hips to just below your shoulders.

Sometimes your gestures will go outside of this area, and that's OK. However, aim to keep your gestures within it. If your hands frequently wander outside of the strike zone, you'll distract the audience.

5. Don't point.

Just don't do it. Pointing communicates aggression and will make your audience uncomfortable. If you tend to point a lot while speaking, find an alternative gesture to use instead. It's best to opt for open palms or other motions that more accurately communicate your message.

If you absolutely must point, point at your slides or a physical object—not people.

6. Remember to relax.

Every now and then, take a break from gesturing and let your hands relax naturally at your sides. This ensures your most meaningful gestures will retain their impact.

For example, if you want to gesture during your most important points, keep still in the moments immediately before your key takeaways. This brief break will help you emphasize your main points.

What you do with your hands during a presentation matters. Your gestures are a second language that communicates powerful messages to your audience. Practice your gestures before your next presentation to make sure you take advantage of their power.

A version of this article originally appeared on LinkedIn.

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This article first ran on Ragan.com in Dec. 2015.


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Do you think that the European Medieval peasants had a far better standard of living than low working class families in the United States?

I don't.  In fact, studies have shown that, “The poorest Americans today live a better life than all but the richest persons a hundred years ago.”

Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What is Poverty in the United States Today?

Read other related questions on Quora:

• Do western European and American middle class live better today than wealthy medieval kings lived?
• Do you think Canada evolved to be a far better nation than united states?
• When do you think Estonia will achieve Finland's standard of living? How far are we?

Read more answers on Quora.

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