How can we make history work
for you?
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Your Own PlanContact us to do a "history audit" of your business and come up with your own, personalized plan to attract customers, their loyalty and referrals. Meanwhile, you can download our Special Report on how businesses can benefit from history (pictured above) in hard copy and as an MP3 by filling in our subscription box.
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Greetings!
I
love to tell true stories about how supporting history really works for
businesses, and the first article in this issue is a COMPELLING example.
No, I can't take credit for the idea, but I sure worked with this bank - and
I learned a lot from them. I've
also shared some thoughts about how each one of us can play a role in history -
including you! I used to be told (sternly) by various academic acquaintances that I
couldn't be involved in history without a Ph.D. Really? Hmmm. Still don't have
one, still "doing history," and so can you - and we need you! And
I'm happy to tell all of you who contacted me with the plea, "I just can't read
one more thing, could you please record some of your work?," that the audio of our report 3 Ways Your Business Can Benefit from Supporting Local History is
available by contacting us through the subscription opt-in box on our Web site. It's about
20 minutes long, and I hope you find it useful and inspiring! Tomorrow,
August 4, is my birthday, so I'm taking the day off to enjoy and contemplate my
good fortune - including all of my wonderful friends, colleagues, and clients. Here's
to you!  Bonnie Hurd Smith |
How to Leverage Your Marketing Dollars
by Investing in Historical Nonprofits
by Bonnie Hurd Smith
True story. 
Several years ago, I served as the executive director of the Ipswich, Massachusetts Historical Society. One of the local banks, The First National Bank of Ipswich,
funded the historical society's annual lecture series for $1,000. Now
that might not sound like a lot of money to you as a business person -
and it's not - but to a small nonprofit it can mean the difference
between being able to do a project or not.
With that $1,000, the historical society paid modest stipends to the series speakers and purchased refreshments.
For that same $1,000, the bank received... Read the article!
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How Your Business Can Be Part of "the Solution"
to "the Problem" of History Education
 by Bonnie Hurd Smith
I
recently gave a talk before a local Rotary Club chapter about how
businesses
can support history in ways that will benefit them. I cited such
examples as
historic preservation projects, historical community events, and after
school
projects.
One of
the audience
members, who happens to own a cultural tour company, raised the subject
of
Americans' dearth of knowledge about American history. She quoted David
McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who speaks eloquently,
regularly, and passionately on the sorry state of history education in
our
schools. "What is the answer?" my friend asked.
It
seems to me that until
we can completely overhaul how education is taught in our public
schools, as
McCullough recommends - essentially, a national referendum -- the answer
IS
David McCullough and others like him. How many people have learned about
episodes in American history because of his engagingly written books,
his
talks, and episodes of the PBS series American
Experience? Millions!
And
his work is just one
example... Read the article!
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