Grow your capacity: legal services, media, staff trainings, more

Local events and resources

Get a free "Medicare Part D check up": If you get your prescription drugs from Medicare or know someone who does, visit a walk-in clinic offered by Legal Aid Society and Whitman-Walker to make sure that whatever Part D plan they are in will continue to cover their drugs next year. Medicare Part D Open Season runs through December 7 (for individuals who do not also receive Medicaid or QMB) and December 31 (for low-income Medicare beneficiaries). Several of the clinics through the end of Medicare Open Season take place in Ward 8. Learn more in the clinic flyers (English clinic flyer (PDF), Spanish clinic flyer (PDF)).

Workers' Rights Clinics in November and December: The Washington Lawyers' Committee’s workers’ rights clinics schedule has changed a little with the holidays. No matter, some clinics will continue to be held east of the river. Learn more in flyer 1 (PDF), flyer 2 (PDF), or from Allen Cardenas, Clinic Coordinator, at (202) 319-1000.

 “Locking Up Our Own: Race, Class, and the Politics of Mass Incarceration,” November 15: This lecture, sponsored by Georgetown University Law Center, features James Forman Jr., Professor of Law, Yale Law School, Author and Pulitzer Prize Winner for Non-Fiction, 2018; Sharon Pratt, Former Mayor of DC; and Jonetta Rose Barras, Journalist.

East of the River Casehandlers meeting, Friday, December 14: Casehandlers, community members, service providers, and advocates are all welcome to the meeting to share program information and discuss strategies for dealing with issues of common concern to our low-income clients in Wards 7 and 8. The meeting takes place 10:00-11:30 am at the southeast office of The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, 1442 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, 2nd floor. The meeting starts with round-robin introductions and updates on our respective work. This will be followed by a presentation and discussion around successful efforts that a coalition of our legal services colleagues have mounted on behalf of District residents who suffer suspension of their driver's licenses on the basis of debts. Ariel Levinson-Waldman, founding director of Tzedek DC, and fellow advocates will describe their advocacy on this issue as well as the new law, and we will have a conversation about the work still to be done. RSVP or get more information from Melody Webb, Esq., Neighborhood Legal Services Program, mwebb@nlsp.org, (202) 269-5115 (direct dial).

Small Business Brief Advice Legal Clinic, Saturday, November 17, 9:30 am to Noon: This clinic is for aspiring or existing small business owners. Attendees will meet one-on-one with attorneys for brief advice on any legal issues their businesses may be facing.

DCist has a new look! Check em out.

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Tools and resources

  • In addition to being a terrific graphic design space, Canva offers tips, guidance, and more. Check out the Canva blog. From there, choose from posts about design, nonprofits, social, and more.

  • How to Use the Facebook Attribution Tool to Measure Your Marketing Impact. Who knew there was such a thing? (Social Media Examiner)

  • Do you do marketing communications for your nonprofit? Do you participate in the monthly #NPMC Twitter chat? Check it out! It's the last Thursday of each month at 1:00 pm and is open to anyone doing marketing comms (think staff, board members, volunteers, employees, partners).

  • From Alfred at Buffer:

Here are a few insightful findings from a recent survey of US teens by investment bank Piper Jaffray:

teens’ favorite social media platforms

  • 28 percent of the 15-year-old teens surveyed use Facebook, down from 40 percent two years ago

  • 70 percent prefer brands to share about new products with them via Instagram (vs 40 percent for email)

  • Instagram and Snapchat are teens' favorite social media platforms (miles ahead of Facebook and Twitter)

How will these trends influence your social media, or even marketing, strategy? (Let me know, and I would love to feature your thoughts in next week's newsletter!)

Here's my take: I believe it'll take a few years before these trends affect most business's social media strategy (unless your target customer is teens). But it will happen.

Facebook is still the most used social media platform overall. It feels great to continue your investment in Facebook for now while spending some time experimenting with Instagram or Snapchat. (What do you think?)

We recently studied 43 million Facebook posts from the top 20,000 brands, which you might find helpful.

If you are still undecided between Instagram and Snapchat, I did an analysis of the two a while back.

Sources: Piper Jaffray, Business Insider, Pulse 2.0

At work

Learn something

  • November 16-30 faves from 34 Free Nonprofit Webinars for November 2018: Using Storytelling to Boost Your Nonprofit's Communications (November 22); Essential Nonprofit Financial Governance (November 28); and The Drivers of Greater Donor Behaviour (November 29).

Good reads

 
Building Capacity, Capacity Building, Events, WellnessAnacostia Park and Community Collaborative