Ok, let me get into what this blog is all about, who I am, who is going to love it and what we all hope to gain from this. First of all, THISTLES. Oh Lovely resilient Thistles. It's in the logo for The Charity Design Co and they are just beautiful to me. Thistle’s represent resilience. Perseverance and resilience are something you + the focus of your cause share. And I admire the heck out of you for it.

So THISTLE WHILE YOU WORK - get it, whistle/ thistle? I love puns…

First things first.
Hello, I am Dani

I have a soft spot for pretty much every cause and charity. My husband calls my bleeding heart admirable but it would be a lie if it didn’t get me in trouble sometimes. Anyone else? I admire all non-profits, their volunteers, their tireless executives, board members and staff who live and breathe their cause. Your work and contributions ARE making the world a better place.

I currently live in beautiful Denver with my soulmate and best friend (the hubs) and our three children. We are a military family, though my husband is the one who serves. Hubs is a wicked smart and humble dr of medicine who at times puts my giving heart to shame with his selflessness. Our children (who are all elementary school) are feisty and as a stranger put it earlier this week, “free spirits”.

So how did we end up here? I started working in non-profits while at an art museum right out of college. It was there that my design talents started taking over and I eventually started doing most of the contracted design agency’s work once the museum directors realized what I could do.

I left the art museum and entered motherhood in 2010 with our first daughter. I was restless and couldn’t shake my tireless entrepreneurial spirit. I tried numerous projects to keep me busy and fill the void, a baby concierge service to name one. (My sweet husband and I still laugh when we get junk mail for that one). Little did I know what was just around the corner.

In 2012, our second daughter was born, our peanut. Between leaving the museum and her birth, I was still being asked to help and work on print and web projects. The projects were not consistent. But with peanut, something clicked, something snapped into place. I was having so much fun making the graphic projects and referrals kept growing, I just knew this could be legit. I formulated packages, services, prices and a plan. Enter Calliope.

From 2013 till 2021, I worked under the alias of Calliope. After our son was born in 2014 I was even starting to be offered percentages of start ups in addition to payment as my contributions continued to grow. I was serving every type of client that would show up in my inbox and I learned so stinking much. Somehow, with the growth, more and more non-profits ended up at my door step. I found myself giving more and leaving my desk each day with a bigger smile after helping the charities. Outside of my family, I had found my heart purpose.

This blog, Thistle While You Work.
What’s the deal?

Thistle While You Work is a blog for charities and non-profits. It is all about sharing in-depth knowledge, skills and tricks to open your donors hearts and pockets as pertaining to your website and brand. It will all be based on experiences I have witnessed first hand OR I will bring in first-person guests to speak to their knowledge base. I also hope for this to be a place that we can spotlight charities doing good work. At first, it will be charities I have worked with but I hope and pray it grows beyond that reach.

I hope that all executives, staff and volunteers involved with a 501(c)3 visit and get helpful knowledge that they can apply right on the spot, OR reach out if they need a bit more assistance. I really will be giving away the whole store of my knowledge for free on here. So I really hope that readers take the time to read through the tutorials on how to integrate their donor management system, optimize their email campaign, or apply full solutions for set ups that cost nothing.

To comment or not to comment? ABSOLUTELY always comment! Please leave a note. Let me know what you think. Was it helpful? Did you get stuck somewhere? I love to engage and love to hear from you. I have honestly stayed away from social media outside of my clients tasks lately and blogging is a safe place to interact and not be bombarded by the toxicity of division and conspiracy theories. I PROMISE, there will be none of that here. Only championing the good work for the purpose of giving you more time to change the world.

Comments are welcome and moderated by the respective article’s author. Commentary, opinions, and reactions to all comment posts are welcome. The authors, as well as the blogmaster, reserve the right to delete comments to their respective articles deemed uncivil, off-topic, spam, or inappropriate advertisements and/or promotion. Under no conditions will comments be edited.

Do you want a blog on a certain topic? I would love to help! Simply click “contact” in the menu or bottom of the site and you can leave me a note requesting another blog topic. I will make sure to answer your solution completely and detail out your steps so you can feel confident to apply and get back to your good work. The same process can be followed for questions and complaints. I would be happy to address any of them. Please just submit through the contact form linked here for ease.

Goals I want this to be a hub of non-profits and charities finding solutions for any program, platform and integration. I have used them all and while I clearly have my favorites, I promise to look at them all with clear eyes and show you how to optimize each for your needs. I KNOW your needs. I hear your struggles and I have real solutions. I hope this collaborative place will ease tech confusion from a non-biased source that truly just wants to see you succeed.

Cheers,

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