In the 15-second video-snippet above, you can see nearly 100 local non-profit representatives packing a recent Message House Workshop sponsored by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. There were executive directors, board members, marketing managers, communications directors, and development directors. They represented a food bank, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, a Botanical Garden, Meals on Wheels, and a Military Academy, among many other organizations.
The event was the idea of Susie Bowie, Director of Nonprofit Strategy at the Community Foundation. Susie had attended and liked a Message House Workshop at the Florida Philanthropic Network a few months earlier. She was mindful of an upcoming “Giving Challenge” in Sarasota. The challenge is an opportunity for local non-profits to raise funds and connect with new donors during a community-wide drive.
In a blog post after the workshop Susie wrote: “The Giving Challenge is a fertile ground for practicing the Message House concept: inviting communications to the table, appealing to both sides of human nature, developing messaging with others on your team, addressing the critic’s message, and simplifying it all for your audience with a no-brainer action item.”
Below are some testimonials that speak to the impact of the workshop, including one from Susie, and a video in which I talk about the Message House Workshop.
A big thank you to Susie Bowie and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County for making this Message House Workshop possible.
Marc Fest
Founder, MessageHouse.org
Testimonials from Sarasota:
A Message House workshop is an empowering gift that every foundation should consider giving to its nonprofit community.
Will be sharing this tool with myriad small organizations to help them stay focused and on message.
Definitely felt the four areas in the message house was right on target and will use!
This helped me tie it all together and put it in a format that each person in our organization can use.
Excellent workshop; enjoyed being with a variety of people from different positions within other NPOs.
Using the Message House keeps the focus on short and effective communications, and the visual template helps keep that goal foremost in mind.
Marc combined knowledge of his subject with an engaging and friendly character, mixed with just enough light-hearted banter to sugar the pill of useful information.
Good presentation and positive energy.
Very engaging personality who demonstrates a significant aspect of messaging is to engage with just the right amount of enthusiasm.
Well set out – very informative. All in all an excellent presentation!
Marc was extremely likable and was a fun presenter.