New-Fangled Giving

Posted by Kara Ayaram in Matters To Us, Random on January 5th, 2012

As 2011 drew to a close, you probably had giving on the mind. Not just with holiday presents and host gifts, but combined with the many requests for your year-end donations, it all conglomerated to form a whirlwind package of year-end generosity. But of course, giving doesn’t stop when January first rolls around. It’s the more subtle giving that lasts throughout the year that, perhaps, makes the bigger difference for both us and the community and world we live in. As we settle into the blank and fresh 2012, we’d like to take note of changes in the way the world gives, and perhaps write this year’s story of giving a little better than the year before.

There have been three major shifts in how we give. The first is an turning from a one-way donor-to-recipient model to a community-oriented, grassroots partnership model. Instead of giving toward large, multifaceted undertakings, projects are smaller, and communication between donor and recipient is increased, and sometimes even tangible. Therefore, gifts aren’t seen as much as donations, but more of a support partnership. It’s been around for a while, with the likes of microfinance-oriented sites you’ve heard of like Kiva and Kickstarter.

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#62 Have a unique gift

Posted by Justin Ahrens in Tips on June 23rd, 2009

#62: Have a good supply of unique gift items to send to clients & business amigos for birthdays, anniversaries and any sort of special occasion.

As we all are becoming more “wireless,” we must remember gifts, especially for business. Who doesn’t like getting a personalized care package recognizing an anniversary, promotion, new birth, or a random occasion? We talked about personalized notes a few tips back, but giving gifts is also a great relationship builder (plus it’s fun!). For more along these lines, we have a post coming up about listening to and “dating” clients, but for now we just recommend taking notes on clients’ unique interests. Then when a special occasion comes up you will have a better idea of what will really make their day.

Also, keep on hand a collection of your own note cards and other swag to send along. This adds a personal touch as well as extending your brand. One of the things we do is we buy several copies of our favorite something – usually a business book or a great kid’s book for our clients’ kids.

Some of our favorite business gift books are:
Brand Gap, Zag, The Designful Company, Made to Stick, Groundswell

Some of our favorite kid’s gift books are:
Where the Wild Things Are, Little 1, Charley Harper ABCs

We also send gifts that are special or unique from our locale. We have a great caterer/deli/sweets mecca in Geneva called Movable Feast. We send their brownies whenever we need to. We also will send Lou Malnati’s pizza or Eli’s Cheesecake.

Anyway, I think you get the point. Take a few minutes to brighten your clients’ days. I guarantee they will appreciate it.

Any other suggestions? What do you send to your clients?

What are you getting dear ole Dad?

Posted by Sarah Ahrens in Random on June 18th, 2009

So here we are…3 days from Father’s Day! This may be old news to you, but quite possibly, some of you are now starting to sweat and frantically trying to figure out what to get that very important paternal figure in your life!

Well, we at Rule29 have done some of the research for you. From the homemade to the extravagant, there is a never ending list of wonderful gifts for Dad, but here are a few our our favorites:

1) For the dad who loves to be the center of attention-Fauxshow. A personalized “radio” show just for your dad. Of course , it is never actually aired but he doesn’t have to know that!

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