Performing at the Gotham Comedy ClubI’m performing in a stand-up comedy show this Friday in New York City.
I do a show every few months. This one is at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd St. in New York City at 9:30pm.
Here’s a Law School Admission Test bit to whet your appetite.
It’s $12 and a two drink minimum. The doors open at 8:45 and I implore you to make a reservation and arrive early. At my last show some unreserved friends didn’t get in because the show sold out.
The number to make a reservation is 212-206-0440. They just want your name, no credit card required.
Come out and laugh! Then say hello after the show!
Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio had its 100th show on July 13. I had a bunch of contests and the winners are in. The show was great fun! If you didn’t catch it, you can listen to the podcast.
Mary Lynn Halland won an hour of consulting by me, in Planned Giving or Charity Registration. She submitted a question in advance to the show’s LinkedIn group.
Linette Singleton won “Open Community: A Little Book Of Big Ideas For Associations Navigating The Social Web.” She named Ken Berger as the CEO of Charity Navigator, who’s been a guest on the show.
Maria Semple identified “great vengeance and furious anger” as a line from “Pulp Fiction.” I used it to express how I’d feel if you didn’t listen to the show. Maria won the book “Brandraising: How Nonprofits Raise Visibility And Money Through Smart Communications.”
There’s an NTEN t-shirt and pair of sunglasses still to be awarded to a podcast listener. Check out the podcast and claim your prize.
Last week I did a stand-up comedy set at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. Thank you to everyone who came out! Here are two short clips from a set I did earlier this year.
Christmas Elf:
Law School Admission Test:
I’m keeping busy doing things I love, like Nonprofit Radio and stand-up comedy.
Last month Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio had the privilege to media sponsor the NextGen:Charity conference. I interviewed a dozen prominent people, eleven of whom were speakers.
Each is inspiring, entertaining and a teaching moment. Last week I posted the first three. Here are three more, in high def video.
He’s a stand-up comic on Comedy Central, ABC, NBC and the rest of TV. We talk about his book, “The Y’Nevano Book of Encouragements.” Watch, and you’ll learn how to pronounce that title. He wants you to live a regretless life. My interview with Wali Collins.
Positive communication techniques, and she reads my face (yes, that’s right) to discern my communication preferences. Her book is “Mixing It Up: The Entrepreneur’s New Testament.” My interview with Sharyn Abbott.
Connecting donors to the causes they support, when the two might be half a world away. That’s what happens at DonorsChoose.org, where teachers post their classroom needs and donors respond from anywhere. He is DonorsChoose.org’s CEO. My interview with Charles Best.
Click here to get to the NextGen:Charity interviews from 2010.
I’ve faced two letdowns recently, from people who “picked my brain” and then thanked me by leaving my email list. Not enough for a trend–and hardly monumental rejections–but they’ve got me thinking.
One gentleman came to a Planned Giving workshop at a local nonprofit support center. He joined my email list, as many do. About a year later he emailed me to ask for help finding an internship that would broaden his fundraising experience. We talked about his interests. I connected him with a former client and he got what he was seeking, with a very well known nonprofit. A few months later he unsubscribed from my list.
More recently, a friend whose business is real estate-related asked me for fundraising advice around a project she was taking on at a charity she’s active with. I counseled her for about an hour-and-a-half on the phone, then gave her feedback on an introduction letter she wrote. This month she unsubscribed from my list.
I think after I willingly helped them for free, the very least they could do is stay on my email list.
When I help someone, I never expect something in return. That is to say, I don’t expect any gain. Nor do I expect a diminution in our relationship.
It’s not exactly an expression of gratitude to unsubscribe.
I’ve got over a thousand committed people on my list and I’m grateful to each of them. They make links trend when I send my weekly radio show alerts; they come out to hear me speak; they come out to my stand-up comedy; they listen to my show and give me constructive feedback. I’m enormously grateful.
It’s not a matter of numbers. It’s a matter of simple courtesy.
Am I being unreasonable? Overly sensitive? I’d be grateful for your constructive feedback.
Photo of The Thinker courtesy of marttj on Flickr.
Back in my dark days, when I practiced law and had to account for my time in 6-minute increments,* I regretted that there wasn’t a billing code for “thinking about your case.” To me, thinking was the most valuable contribution an attorney could make to a client’s case. There were billing codes aplenty for writing client correspondence; drafting motion to dismiss; making telephone calls; and appearing in court. The implication was that none of these required thought.
Since then, my days have been clearer and brighter, and I spend a lot of time thinking. I think a lot about relationships: with family and friends, clients, their prospects and donors, the dozen pros who help me do my varied work and the invigorating people I touch as I’m doing it. How to fortify ties. When to undo them. How to finesse a sticky situation. Who can help each other and should be introduced? Who might not work so well together and are better left at risk of meeting by chance?
I think about my time, my business, my stand-up comedy and my future. Much of my thinking time is over vacations and on the subway. Do you have a getaway place where you can devote time to thinking?
If you’re a fundraiser, you’ve got plenty of relationships to think about. You can think if you’re new to a job; lead others; have goals for your life and in your work; don’t have goals in your life and in your work; if you come from a family; if you believe in God; if you don’t; if you want to make the world a better place; if you have compassion; if you don’t. I urge you to devote time to thinking about what moves you.
I come across many bios that claim “passion” for something. I hope the people behind them are thinking strategically about how to turn their passion into fruitful action.
Think actively and consciously! My hope for you is that you’ll find it as wonderfully gratifying as I do.
* A maddening exercise that is detrimental to your health if undertaken for more than 18 minutes.
