Jayne Blog (Volunteerism, Nonprofit Tech, Civil Society, etc.)

Mar. 6, 2008 - 2008: International Year of...

In case you didn't know, the General Assembly of the United Nations has designated 2008 as:

International Year of Sanitation

International Year of Languages

International Year of the Potato

and

International Year of Planet Earth

It's not unusual for the UN to give more than one designation to any one year.

Why should your nonprofit care? Because these designations offer very easy opportunities for you to tie your organization's efforts, if you can somehow relate them, into international campaigns that are supported with public service announcements, billboards, special events, press attention, etc. The web sites associated with these International Years usually welcome press releases, articles and photos from other organization's efforts that are somehow related to whatever cause it is they are promoting. Passing your information on to them is a good way to reach a very large audience about your efforts. And if you put "In association with the International Year of..." in your press releases, Flickr photo descriptions, YouTube uploads, web pages, etc., you get even more attention to your efforts.

Here is where to find the lists of UN-designated days, weeks, years and decades, which provide even more ways to leverage your outreach activities.

About Jayne

This blog (web log) is by Jayne Cravens, and is primarily focused on resources and news regarding mission-based organizations: nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society, and public sector agencies, as well as development issues and humanitarian efforts. It promotes resources and opinions relating to volunteer management/community involvement, tech use by nonprofits, and outreach strategies for nonprofits. There are also some personal postings (such is the nature of blogs), regarding travel, causes I personally support (like women's empowerment, urban biking, etc.). To comment on this blog, you must register on forumer.com.

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