7.Published? Have you written any articles, books, e-courses or e-books? Self-published or not, your works add to your level of professionalism and credibility. Showcase them in your biography and you might earn additional royalties in terms of new clients or other opportunities.

8.Did I mention media? Have you been a guest on talk radio or television? Were you or your business featured or even mentioned in a newspaper article? If so, readers want to know. Again, these types of “mentions” add to your credibility and presence.

9.Call me any time. People who want to know about you will read your biography for just that reason. And, if its compelling, rich, and includes information they’re interested, in, they’ll want to contact you. Include complete contact information like your title (if any), name, address, telephone, fax, email, and website address. Make it easy to find this information by including it in last paragraph of your professional overview.

10.Write, rewrite, and do it again. After you have written your biography, edit, edit, and edit again. You may need to do a dozen or so revisions before you get it just right. Eliminate extra words, use descriptive words, keep sentences short but varied in length, and write in third person. Ask some friends to provide input as well. Make sure to revise your biography regularly to keep it up-to-date and refreshed.

Copyright 2004 by Tara Kachaturoff.

6. Include important information on your gift certificate.

Make sure that you include your company name, logo, and contact information at a minimum, on front of certificate. Include a statement that certificate is “Not Redeemable for Cash.” Finally, make sure to add an expiration date. Most organizations expect that you will have an expiration date at least one year from date of fundraising event. You may also choose to include other identifying information like your name, website, and telephone number.

7. Create an information package to accompany gift certificate.

Create two information packages. One package is for organization to keep for their records. They need this information, along with your signed contract, for tax and recordkeeping purposes. The other package is for them to give to gift certificate recipient. You may want to enclose this in a sealed envelope. Each package should include your business card, some information about coaching, as well as how to redeem gift certificate.

8. Maintain a log and detailed records of your donations.

Keep good records. For each donation that you make, record name of organization, contact person, event date, how service will be used (silent auction, raffle, door prize), and expiration date recorded on gift certificate. You might want to create a separate file folder for each organization so you can maintain copies of any email correspondence, thank you letters, a copy of contract, as well as a copy of what you sent to organization. Later on when gift certificate recipient contacts you, you can use this file as a “client file”.

9. Wait patiently for recipient to contact you.

Not everyone who bids on or receives your package will follow up on it. Sometimes people bid on things with best of intentions, but they get busy or forget about it. Don’t be discouraged; instead, be happy that you contributed to something that your believe in and that organization benefited in some way.

10. A client is a client is a client.

Once gift certificate recipient contacts you, make sure that you treat them exactly as you would any paying client. Not only are you representing yourself and your business, but you are also, indirectly, representing organization to which you made donation. Enjoy experience, have fun, and most of all know that you, recipient, and organization are benefiting from this donation.

Copyright 2004 by Tara Kachaturoff