The Buzz: The Lost Art of Handwriting
Published
Greetings Community,
I am filling in for Ray this week for the Buzz, as he is busy with a new baby! I checked and he said it was okay to share.. so, here she is with her big sister. <3
We wish Ray and his family the best as they introduce their daughter to the world!
Now --- on to THE BUZZ!
I recently was lucky enough to make the journey to London to see an object that I've dreamed about seeing my whole life. The Rosetta Stone!
The Rosetta Stone made it possible to understand Egyptian hieroglyphs (or ancient emojis as I like to call them.)
It was pretty glorious to see in person, along with the entirety of the British Museum!
I woke up this morning thinking about the lost art of handwriting. It was sparked by a comment in THIS conversation about bbcon (US) swag from member Kylea Johnson who picked up a notebook at a Blackbaud Marketing Summit. I thought to myself, how awesome! People still physically write things out instead of relying on a keyboard.
My mother, who spent her life as a school teacher, informed me on a recent visit that learning cursive writing isn't mandatory anymore. I still write in cursive, but if you think about it, communications are mostly in text//emoji form now. I imagine in 3000 years, scientists will be studying our emoji texts:
Scientist: "You see, this heart represents 'love' and it is followed by a face with two streams of tears coming out. Now, you would think that is crying, but it is actually laughter. You can tell by the smile that accompanies the tears."
How about you? Do you still write letters to your donors? Are handwritten thank you letters still something you or your organization strives to do? When is the last time you almost filled out an entire notebook with your notes like Kylea? Does anyone still journal?
That's the BUZZ I want to talk about and you can leave a comment here or you can chime in on THIS conversation in RENXT about acknowledgement letters. You can also write me a handwritten letter in response... j/k! 🤣
WAIT BEFORE I GO!!!....
I also wanted to give a push to the bbcon/bbu day contest. We are giving away TWO free passes to bbcon/bbu day in Community.
Step one: Become a Community Ninja.
Step two: write a tips/tricks/timesavers blog.
Step three: get friends, family, and co-workers to vote on your blog during voting week, coming up September 2 - 6th.
You can find all the details HERE.
Have a great day Community! 😊
~Community Manager Crystal
I am filling in for Ray this week for the Buzz, as he is busy with a new baby! I checked and he said it was okay to share.. so, here she is with her big sister. <3
We wish Ray and his family the best as they introduce their daughter to the world!
Now --- on to THE BUZZ!
I recently was lucky enough to make the journey to London to see an object that I've dreamed about seeing my whole life. The Rosetta Stone!
The Rosetta Stone made it possible to understand Egyptian hieroglyphs (or ancient emojis as I like to call them.)
It was pretty glorious to see in person, along with the entirety of the British Museum!
I woke up this morning thinking about the lost art of handwriting. It was sparked by a comment in THIS conversation about bbcon (US) swag from member Kylea Johnson who picked up a notebook at a Blackbaud Marketing Summit. I thought to myself, how awesome! People still physically write things out instead of relying on a keyboard.
My mother, who spent her life as a school teacher, informed me on a recent visit that learning cursive writing isn't mandatory anymore. I still write in cursive, but if you think about it, communications are mostly in text//emoji form now. I imagine in 3000 years, scientists will be studying our emoji texts:
Scientist: "You see, this heart represents 'love' and it is followed by a face with two streams of tears coming out. Now, you would think that is crying, but it is actually laughter. You can tell by the smile that accompanies the tears."
How about you? Do you still write letters to your donors? Are handwritten thank you letters still something you or your organization strives to do? When is the last time you almost filled out an entire notebook with your notes like Kylea? Does anyone still journal?
That's the BUZZ I want to talk about and you can leave a comment here or you can chime in on THIS conversation in RENXT about acknowledgement letters. You can also write me a handwritten letter in response... j/k! 🤣
WAIT BEFORE I GO!!!....
I also wanted to give a push to the bbcon/bbu day contest. We are giving away TWO free passes to bbcon/bbu day in Community.
Step one: Become a Community Ninja.
Step two: write a tips/tricks/timesavers blog.
Step three: get friends, family, and co-workers to vote on your blog during voting week, coming up September 2 - 6th.
You can find all the details HERE.
Have a great day Community! 😊
~Community Manager Crystal
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Community News
08/20/2019 10:24am EDT
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In my personal life, I'm trying send people cards more often. Just something to say that I was thinking of them. I know that I love getting a handwritten note. And I'm terrible at keeping in touch with people, so I'm trying to do better.
And for me?! I'm often made fun of because I bring a notepad to meetings. I remember things better when I write them (not type them)--it's like another pathway to my memory. I guess I'm a little old school.
Also, I notice the graphic designers on our team all really like to keep handwritten logs/lists/notes (I see them in our twice-weekly team checkins). Me, not so much, usually - but I am starting to move in that direction. Because I love pretty notebooks!
As to handwritten notes on things for me? Oh yes. I'm rarely without a notebook. Something about putting pencil to paper makes it easier for me to remember things, so it all goes in notebooks (I've got a lovely purple one I purchased in Boston that all my BBK12UC notes live in!) to help me remember, and to give me just a brief outline to spark my memory if I can't remember all the details. :)
A couple of times a year when we have phone campaigns to lapsed donors. Callers ask the person if there is anything we can pray for. Everyone who gave a prayer request gets a "We prayed for you" postcard with a handwritten note. There can be hundreds of these requests, so the whole department gets to help out.
At one time we had a volunteer who wrote notes to new donors. One of the donors who received a personal thank you called back to tell us how impressed they were by that, and gave a second gift ten times larger than their initial gift. That was a fun example of the power of the handwritten note!