Author Archives: Dalya Massachi

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with these Irish writers’ quotes

Ireland is known as a wonderful source of written inspiration for us in the Western world. I remember reading many Irish writers back in school (I bet you do, too).

So I thought St. Patrick’s Day would be a perfect time to pay homage by re-visiting some of my favorite writing quotes from the land of shamrocks. Won’t you join me?

“He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music.”  – James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

“If you have the words, then there’s always the chance that you’ll find the way.” – Seamus Heaney

“The words ran away from me.” – Edna O’Brien

“When you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;”

William Butler Yeats, “When You are Old”

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train.” – Oscar Wilde, The Importance of being Earnest

‘Writing is learning to say nothing, more cleverly each day.’ – William Allingham

“I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversations.” – George Bernard Shaw

National Proofreading Day This Week: Get Beyond Typos.

March 8 was National Proofreading Day. Wow! A whole day just for acknowledging the importance of proofreading and encouraging error-free writing.

While perfection is actually not humanly possible, striving for it is always a good idea. That is, especially when you are trying to project a polished, professional image. And I know that as a changemaker, you definitely are!

Detailed proofreading makes your work stand out from the crowd. If you think your computer’s spell-checker is all you need to catch your every error, think again. If only things were that simple!

Final proofreading is actually harder than it looks. You have to keep in mind dozens and dozens of grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules. And you are still bound to miss things on your first go-round.

Here are some of my favorite tips to make your proofing task less draining: Continue reading

Ask Dalya: Do funders hold all the cards in grant relationships?

Question: It seems that foundations and other funders hold all the cards in power relationships with grantseekers. Is that true?

Answer:

At first glance, it definitely can appear that way. It may feel like you are “begging for money” with a virtual tin cup. You may even get nervous when you prepare to speak with a funder one-on-one.

That’s totally understandable. (FYI, many foundation program officers used to be in grantseekers’ shoes so they can empathize with your sweaty palms.)

But while grantmakers hold the purse strings, by no means are they the only ones in the relationship who should be confident, empowered professionals.

Look closely at the situation. Continue reading

Nonprofit thank you notes get creative and strategic

I, like many people, do my share of year-end giving to my favorite nonprofits in December. Of course, December and January are usually super-busy times of year for folks who process all of those donations!

I was pleased to receive some very grateful and thoughtful thank you notes from the organizations I supported. I wanted to share one specific letter that stood out. It comes from my local food bank, the Alameda County Community Food Bank, to be exact. You can see a copy of it below:

CCF01252016_0004It starts out expressing gratitude and welcoming me to their community, and goes on to briefly  explain what my contribution will do.

Notice that it has a large photo of a child in the upper-right corner and the letter talks a bit about her, a representative of their clients.

This one-pager is short, simple, sweet, and to the point. It also lists the tax ID number at the bottom, as well as the address and affiliations.

That’s all pretty standard best practice.

The most interesting part was the PS and the insert that came with it. Continue reading