data/design | Second Edition

data /design

WINTER 2013

Cover Photography: (left to right) Tranquility General Manager, Travis Schumacher, Fire District Cheif Scott Olsen, IT Manager Lee Turner

E-BLAST, DON’T E-BOMB

The Dos and Don’ts of Email Marketing

MayeCreate D E S I G N

COMMUNITY MAYECREATE COLUMBIA COMMUNITY COUNTY FIRE FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION ADVICE BOONE COMPUTER & OF CENTRAL MISSOURI PROTECTION DISTRICT CENTER Creating FoundationEYE for CANDY Volunteering to Keep Client Consideration Local Charities

Our Citizens Safe Wireless

MayeCreate Design

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI

Creating Foundation for Local Charities Giving back and strengthening the local community is at the core of the Community Foundation of Central Missouri (CFCM). An independent, nonprofit organization, CFCM seeks to match financial donors with causes they are passionate about. By offering low-cost, highly-effective ways to create permanent revenue streams to fund non-profit services, CFCM is building a foundation on which local charities can grow and succeed.

John Baker, Executive Director of Community Foundation, stepped into his position in late July 2011. He previously worked in congregational settings to build community within his church’s organization, and his experience has proved a valuable asset to CFCM. “This work for the Community Foundation is similar art, but on a different canvas,” says Baker, with a smile.

John is still encouraging the strengthening of community by motivating people to become

CFCM leading voices: Bob Gerding, Teresa Maledy, and John Baker

philanthropists performing charitable acts of kindness.

The Community Foundation of Central Missouri, announced publicly in 2010, consists of an effective board of 21 diverse key civic leaders in Columbia.

Alongside John stands Bob Gerding, current Chair, and Teresa Maledy, founding Chair. Other communityminded volunteers have been with the Foundation since its beginning.

In a mere 2 years CFCM has jumped from 9 funds to 45 with $2.5 million to manage or administer to charitable services in Central Missouri.

Often donors choose to give a sizable financial contribution granting them the opportunity to create a fund and determine the fund’s future. CFCM offers several types of funds with a range of donor involvement.

With a successful Community Foundation in place, an online identity was imperative to reach a more expansive range of potential donors and financial advisors. As an organization

focused on building community, CFCM attempts to keep business expenses local. MayeCreate was more

Create a Fund of Your Choice Donor-Advised: Donor may recommend the fund support causes the donor cares about most; An excellent, lowcost alternative to a private foundation; Tax deductible Field of Interest: Donor may instruct that grants be given towards a particular program area, such as education Designated: Donor may instruct that grant dollars go to a specific charity, usually in perpetuity Scholarship: Donor established fund to help deserving students (pre-school to grad school) Unrestricted Fund: Donor establishes an endowment fund in a name of their choice, creating a legacy; Distribution is at the discretion of the board

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than happy to work with a determined foundation with such a great cause.

MayeCreate has helped us refine our Internet The CFCM website developed from a presence and we are glad to have an ongoing clear agenda: build CFCM’s credibility; relationship with this young and effective company. educate the public, non-profits and - John Baker, Executive Director of CFCM financial advisors about ways to give; create awareness of services offered and serve as a resource for financial advisors and nonprofits.

To provide effortless donation, the CFCM website clearly displays a “Donate Now” button conveniently located on the homepage. Updated The MayeCreate Designed CFCM Website Donate to local non-profits at CoMoGives.com in December. news articles, charity listings, and new campaign promotions favorite charities during the December CoMoGives campaign. offer the community a chance to learn campaign.

“We want to ensure all the necessary Each charity’s total about CFCM and discover convenient donations will be displayed proudly on steps are taken for a successful ways to get involved. the campaign “leaderboard,” building a event,” says Monica Pitts, founder

CoMoGives.com The world of non-profit organizations is constantly changing and modernizing.

CFCM saw an untapped resource with blogs, email marketing and social media acting as networking vehicles. John was very interested in what MayeCreate could do with their fledgling online fundraising campaign, “CoMoGives”.

The month long December campaign benefits 30 local non-profits.

The interactive CoMoGives.com website is styled around a game format, creating a fun, user-friendly forum for people to easily donate online to their

spirit of good-natured competition.

In addition to donations, CFCM will give 4 matching gifts to those charities who reach predetermined challenge levels. John hopes the upcoming campaign will help “raise the profile of CFCM, enabling more people to be engaged philanthropically as they become part of our family of funds.”

The CoMoGives website will provide a wealth of information featuring an instantly-updated charity leaderboard, charity bios, a blog for campaign updates, and more.

The MayeCreate staff will provide support templates for email marketing and social media efforts throughout the

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of MayeCreate Design. “Using social media helps you reach more people who can help you champion your own cause so the ability to give becomes more accessible.”

MayeCreate stands behind CFCM, helping them create a vehicle for long-term donation investments by providing accessibility through functional, thoughtful web design. John finds “working with MayeCreate to be inspiring because you all are creative and you help me make better website decisions.”

View the full article and more images at the blog post: mayecreate.com/2013/08/cfcm

MayeCreate Design & Tranquility Internet

MAYECREATE DESIGN: MARKETING ADVICE

E-blast, Don’t E-bomb SENDING IMAGES LAYOUT CONTENT SUBJECT

The Dos and Don’ts of Email Marketing: Entice the recipient to open the email.

Aim for 50 words or less.

Avoid cliche marketing terms.

Don’t use too much punctuation.

Don’t make clarity a priority over cleverness.

Don’t use all CAPS.

Include an obvious call to action.

Include a default if using dynamic content.

Remember who it’s REALLY ABOUT: your audience.

Don’t write an encyclopedia.

Don’t forget an unsubscribe link.

Post a logo or text link to your website.

Include a table of contents if you have lots of content.

Make it mobile friendly: 43% of emails are read on phones.

Don’t change your layout every email; it takes extra time and may confuse your audience.

Don’t exceed 650 pixels wide.

Include the basics in text format; some email programs don’t display images by default.

Maintain a good ratio of images to text.

Don’t design your entire email as an image.

Don’t distract from the message.

Don’t use unnecessary stock photos.

Bomb Proof Your E-marketing Send your email through an email marketing service.

Choose a logical time to send your email.

Don’t rush the process.

Don’t send without testing.

Don’t send 100’s of emails from your normal email program.

Download our FREE E-book: Email Marketing: How to Write It, Design It and Send it

info.mayecreate.com/e-marketing

OFFICE LIFE

What We’ve Been Up To 2

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1: Mandatory Halloween Festivities 2: Monica sporting her slinky belt.

3: Cody, Katie & Kevin: New faces @ Tranquility! 4: Jeremy, Stacy & Monica worked the Jeff City Business Expo. 5: Monica and her daughter, Ellis, meeting Truman at the Chamber tailgate. 6. The MayeCreate team lake outing. 7. Stacy visiting with the ladies of Scruggs Lumber. 8. Sadie’s Colors of the Months inspire Facebook follwers. 9. Everyone acting super professional, as usual.

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Tranquility Internet

BOONE COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

Volunteering to Keep Our Citizens Safe In the early 60’s, just west of Columbia, MO, there was a fire that claimed the house and life of an elderly woman. At the time, there was no official fire protection outside the city of Columbia. A group of CB radio enthusiasts, unable to provide qualified help, endured the agony of the situation. These men became determined to offer fire and rescue protection to the citizens outside the city limits.

The original Fire District uniform patch displays their motto: A Helping Hand.

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The Boone County Fire Protection District Headquarters.

Pat Barnes, one of these CB enthusiasts, was one founder of the Boone County Fire Protection District. He gathered others and formed the Central Missouri Radio Squad which eventually, in 1970, by a citizens vote, became the Boone County Fire Protection District.

“These guys acted in the true volunteer spirit, giving not only time but their own money,” comments Scott Olsen, the current Fire Chief. The Fire District has continued to grow since the 70’s, holding strong to their motto: A Helping Hand.

The Boone County Fire Protection District is the 3rd largest traditional fire department in the state, only to be outranked by St. Louis and Kansas City.

With 14 fire stations throughout the county, the Boone County Fire Protection District is the largest volunteer fire

Tranquility, since the beginning, has been all about customer service and we’re loyal to businesses who take care of us.”

– Fire Chief Scott Olsen

department in Missouri with 421 total members, of which 265 are volunteer fire fighters.

The primary services the Fire District provides are: Fire Rescue, EMS and HAZMAT (hazardous materials) protection. Roughly 80% of calls being EMS related, 20% fire and rescue. The 14 stations receive, on average, 4,200-4,400 calls a year, about 12 calls a day.

“Preventative services is a big part of what we do. If we can save someone from getting into trouble, that supports our mission,” explains the Chief Olsen.

Survival Kids, an educational tool teaching life safety to fourth graders, is just one example of the local public education the Fire District provides.

When Chief Olsen was asked what sets them apart from other fire departments, he shared a story from last Thanksgiving.

A call came in; the element in an oven had broken while a family was preparing their Thanksgiving dinner. The volunteers extinguished the fire and took the ladies of the family and the uncooked food to

the station kitchen where they finished preparing their meal then returned home to continue on with their traditions.

At the heart of the Boone County Fire Protection District is courage, strength and compassion. Gale Blomenkamp, Division Chief, was asked to share an intense moment in his years of service: “It’s just so personal,” he replied. “It all effects everyone differently.” These volunteers are a lot more than a fire department; they’re “a group of people who will help [their] neighbors when they are in need.”

Within the Boone County Fire Protection District is Missouri Task Force 1, a smaller team of volunteers who have undergone extensive training in Urban Search and Rescue, emergency or disaster situations. These fire fighters have been deployed for the tragedy of 9/11, hurricanes in Louisiana, tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri and more.

Maintaining and operating a successful fire department consisting of 14 stations is not an easy task. When even the fewest of seconds can prove critical, information needs to get where it’s going fast.

In 2000, the Boone County Fire Protection District received a grant to install computers in each of the 14 fire stations, providing a solid network of communication through a Frame

Become a Part of the Team The Boone County Fire Protection District is always looking for new volunteers for providing citizen protection. Find out more at: www.bcfdmo.com/apply

Ever-present in the community, the Fire District offers kids a chance to try on their gear.

Relay Line. The computer vendor suggested Tranquility Internet, so Leon Schumacher, founder of Tranquility Internet Services, Inc., came out to install the network, and an excellent business relationship began.

When the initial network proved to slow for the needs of the Fire District, Tranquility’s faster DSL was set up in all of the fire stations and a Fiber connection was later installed at Headquarters.

According to Chief Olsen, “Everything now is about videos and blended learning environments, which requires a decent bandwidth.” Tranquility’s Fiber Internet has provided opportunities for volunteers to attend important conferences, webinars and other pertinent training activities without leaving the station.

In addition to Fiber Internet and DSL services, Tranquility provides Google Apps support.

With Google Drive, a document can be created or uploaded, shared, and viewed immediately. On a monthly average, 500 new documents are uploaded to the Fire District’s Google Drive.

The statue proudly displayed in front of the Fire District illustrates its brave heroes.

With Google Drive, it’s easy to share documents across the country. MO-TF1 was deployed to Colorado and needed certain documents located back in Missouri, per usual. The documents were uploaded to the Drive and immediate feedback ensued.

After 13 years of patronage, the relationship between Tranquility and the Fire District remains strong. “The Tranquility guys were the ones who came in at night, or on weekends, to avoid disruption of the Fire District network.” says Lee, thoughtfully.

Tranquility continues to proudly support the Boone County Fire Protection District, and the Fire District valiantly supports the community.

View the full article and more images at the blog post: mayecreate.com/2013/11/boone-fire

307 Locust Columbia, MO 65203 (573) 443-3983 (800) 326-8638 (573) 447-1836 TO:

Happy Holidays!

From the Tranquility & MayeCreate Crew

Photography by Sadie Thibodeaux Photography