Hand Signed

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Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the House, Grownups were surfing and clicking their mouse. The kids were asleep and the stockings were loaded, With ipods and Wiis and things sugar-coated.

And now it was time to think of some others, The poor, disenfranchised, sons, daughters and mothers. Worthy cause emails came in by the scores, Making the case for donations and more. Which one to choose, and what to do then, Join, donate, or give-oh how much and when? But the sites were a mess and the forms were a tangle, The wanna-be donors' nerves came a-jangle.

It was too much confusion and they were so tired, You'd think it would be easier to make charity wired. Donate tomorrow, they said to themself, Was enough work today to be Santa's elf. And so off to bed, the causes can wait, If it had only been easier to give or donate. Contributed by seechanges.org

December 31st is upon us. How can it be? The kids were in Halloween costumes only last week, right? For crying out loud, their candy remains in a pillow case tucked in their room. And didn't I just prepare a succulent Turkey? How did this happen? What am I to do. According to Professional Fundraising Consultants, December is so important, afterall over 45% of annual giving comes in December.

The good news is; of those December donations, nearly half arrive during the last 6 days of the month. There's still time. This Fundraising Consultant urges you to get moving NOW, here's how.

1. On-line Giving: The growth in online giving is especially notable the last week of December, when online giving's advantages of convenience and immediacy are crucial. Use this to your advantage. If you have a list of supporters' email addresses, get out an email blast using Constant Contact, they offer a free trial period and according to my nonprofit clients, it is super simple to navigate and BLAST. If you're having trouble, their support team is ACES.
2. Fundraising experts will tell you that as a rule of thumb you can expect a donation from about 1 percent of your list. If you send an email to 1,000 people, expect about 10 of them to donate. However, online donors typically give slightly larger average gifts than other donors.
3. Mailings: Send out an appeal between the 26th and the 31st of December. The last week in the year is always hectic which means your message should be short and simple; reminding people how easy it is to make their year-end gift online in the last few days of the month, in the nick-of-time for their tax deduction. Our fundraising consulting groups most successful mailings were sent on December 30th with a simple call to action, "Still Time to Donate in 2010!"
4. Think through your story and strategy: As with all fund raising techniques, compelling pitches with pictures are more successful. Include examples of past projects and thank you letters for those you've helped. A well-chosen image provides a taste of inspiration. By all means, stay away from stock images and most definitely do not use negative imagery, like starving children. Sad images, valid or not, are proven to make people "click" away from your page.
5. Limit Donor Options: Wagner Fundraising Group determined that giving people too many options stresses them out and they will ditch you. If you are driving donors to your website to give via your email blast or direct mail piece, then make darn sure once they arrive you have ONE or more LARGE "donate now" button(s) on your landing page rather than a full range of navigation options to donate. ONLY during this time of year will this fundraising consultant tell you to eliminate choices to give monthly, join, donate, renew, check out planned giving options, etc. During these last few weeks of December provide a single donation choice that literally jumps off the landing page and keep those donors on task... MAKE YOUR YEAR END GIFT BY DECEMBER 31, 2010.
6. Thank Your Donor Three Times: Giving is a very intimate and personal process, they are not getting anything in return except warm and fuzzy's. Use the finish page as your first opportunity of thanks. The finish page is that screen that comes up once the donation process is complete. Include an image which also conveys your gratitude. Send another thank you via email a few days later. In January send donors a tax receipt - your third and final gesture of thanks and goodwill. Finally, if the gift is large - $500 or more, make a phone call of thanks. If there is no phone number, send a hand signed letter.

Avoid Procrastinating Next Year. Block off time now for the month of January to develop a detailed and strategic Development Calendar laying out all deadlines and milestones in order to reach those deadlines. DO NOT forget to indicate who is accountable to meeting those deadlines.

If you have any questions on how to raise money during this holiday crunch, please contact Marcie Wagner at ML Wagner Fundraising. Happy Holidays and our very best wishes to you in the New Year.

Marcie L. Wagner, fundraising consultant, is the founder and principal of ML Wagner Fundraising Group. We are a boutique, fundraising consulting firm. With two decades of experience in professional fundraising, grant research, grant writing, and communications, Marcie is an expert in raising money with little expense attached; as it should be.

Her favorite success stories are those attached to working with smaller organizations. Groups with passionate leadership, a unique mission, poised for greatness - all they need is a gentle push in the right direction. Ms. Wagner is considered by many to be an expert in the area of annual giving, online fundraising, grant research and writing, and branded communications; particularly with organizations who are just beginning to form strategic development and communication efforts. Her no-nonsense approach in branding an organization to enhance its development efforts gave many organizations the tools to launch successful grant and major giving campaigns.

Contact Marcie L. Wagner at http://www.wagnerfundraising.com/contactus.html and sign up for a free consultation and a one month free subscription to Marcie Wagner's Grant Alerts. To learn more about Marcie Wagner, fundraising consultant, visit her at http://www.wagnerfundraising.com/aboutus.html.

Some Common Linguistic Features of the American Sign Language

American Sign Language is a language that uses physical means of communication, such as body language and lip patterns, instead of oral sound in order to communicate. The person simultaneously uses their hands to show shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or the body, and also facial expressions to convey the message or express thoughts.

American sign languages as in other sign languages is used mostly among the deaf, which can include interpreters and friends and families of deaf people as well as people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Just as is the case of spoken language, sign language also differs from one region to another.

Every language has its own sign language developed for and by people who are deaf in that particular language speaking community. Just as in spoken language where the place and culture has an impact, sign language also develops in the same manner influenced by these conditions.

So they learn to keep their identities intact, through time in roughly the same areas of influence as that of the locally spoken languages. This will occur often even if though there is no connection between sign language and other regional languages. Similarly with the America sign language.

Exceptions to this include regions which speak the same language but still have a variety of sign languages. Variations within a national sign language can usually be connected to the geographic location of residential schools for the deaf people.

International Sign that was previously known as Gestuno is used mainly at international Deaf events such as the Deaflympics and meetings of the World Federation of the Deaf. Recent studies assert that International Sign is a kind of an artificial language, they conclude that it is more complex than a characteristic pidgin and indeed is more like a full-signed language.

Sign languages are linguistically quite complex and thorough in comparison with other spoken languages, despite the common misconception that they are not real languages.

American Sign language like the other sign languages feature signals and actions which need not necessarily have a relationship to what they are referring to just as in spoken language where everything does not go according to a set rule. Nor are they a visual version of an oral language. They have an extremely well-developed grammar and can efficiently discuss or debate on various types of abstract as well as precise topics.

Common linguistic features of deaf sign languages are extensive use of classifiers, a high degree of inflection, and topic-comment syntax. Many only one of its kind linguistic features emerges from sign languages' ability to produce meaning in different parts of the visual field simultaneously.

You will be surprised to know that almost anybody can understand sign language as it involves the use of intricate hand signs, body posture as well as facial expressions.

Sign languages are definitely not related to oral languages. A lot of people are mistaken that a sign language is invented by people who can hear and are related by gestures to the oral language. The manual alphabet used in American sign language, mostly for proper names and technical or any other specialized vocabulary.

The use of finger spelling was taken as a proof oral languages get simplified when they are incorporated in sign language, However, sign language is just a simple tool existing with many others. Finger spelling can sometimes be a source lexicalized signs that consist of new signs. The sign language that has been developed specially for the deaf is not dependent on any spoken language and has been progressively developing based on its own norms.

About the Author

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Sign Language for Years. For More Information on American Sign Language, Visit His Site at AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGEI Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Views On American Sign Language At My Blog here

When I hand in my notice and I am signed off sick will I need to go back to work?

I am being bullied at work by my manager and her manager, and I have tried to put a grievance against them, but I have been told that it will not do me any good, so I have been signed off sick by my doctor,until I have another job, When I found another job and hand in my notice, will I need to go back to work, as it it making me sick thinking that I will have to go back to that place.

No as you are still signed off of work. You are simply giving notice to terminate your employment, however your employment may be physically un-worked if you are signed off. Just to make it crystal clear, you are not legally allowed to work whilst being signed off. Just make sure you are signed back fit for work in time for starting a new job.

Best wishes to you and don't let it worry you anymore. One day you'll look back at this and wonder why you let your nasty managers make life so hard for you.

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