Savvy Is the New Selfish

I've been thinking a lot about in what direction I want to take Selfish Giving.  I've been blogging for about eight months now and have really enjoyed tapping my creative side and watching my blog evolve.  It's also been very illuminating on what my blog is and isn't. 

Selfish Giving appeals mainly to fundraisers and marketers.  And with cause marketing still very much a niche area in the nonprofit world, this is a very small crowd indeed.  However, I think my weekly Selfish Giver posts may appeal to a broader audience.  These posts are much more consumer-oriented and may resonate with people who love to do good AND well.

It's with this in mind that I've spun-off the Selfish Giver as its own website, SavvyGiver.org.  I dropped the "Selfish", much as I hated to.  The juxtaposition of the two words was edgy and jarring, which I liked.  But I did some informal polling and people thought it was too harsh.  One woman said, "I don't want to be called 'selfish' when I'm doing something good, even if I do stand to benefit from it."

So what exactly do I hope to accomplish with the Savvygiver.org? 

• I want to create a free website and newsletter for people who love to give AND receive.  Savvygiver.org will be the ultimate insider's guide to who's selling what to help whom.

When visitors subscribe to The Savvy Giver newsletter they'll have two editions to choose from.  The first will be a Boston edition with products and services that benefit charities across eastern Massachusetts.  The second will be a Boston Medical Center edition that will benefit BMC.  In exchange for a link on the web site and email newsletter of its own, BMC will promote The Savvy Giver to its 10,000+ employees and donors.  My hope is that friends of BMC will register for both newsletters, boosting subscribers and making the The Savvy Giver more attractive to advertisers. 

The partnership with BMC is one I'd like to replicate with other nonprofits.  Each will bring its donors and employees in as subscribers and will fatten my database. 

Great, you say.  But why wouldn't nonprofits bypass The Savvy Giver and publish their own newsletter?  For the same reason they don't publish their own newspaper to advertise a job opening.  They'll entrust someone who has a turn-key operation and built-in audience.

So, that's the plan.  The test version of The Savvy Giver is up for your amusement, although there will be many changes beginning next month.  The site and newsletter will undergo a major redesign.  In the meantime, you can still read Selfish Giving and you'll get the usual two emails from me each week.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions on The Savvy Giver, please let me know.  I'm going to need them.  While the site is called The Savvy Giver, the only thing savvy about me is asking you for help!