After more than 26 months and 62,000 words, I’ve decided to give this blog a rest.

It may not be the end for A New Marketing Commentator, but it will be at least a short hiatus.

Thank you so much for your support, love and friendship. As much as you’ve given me, I hope I’ve given you even more in return.

Bob Cargill
Copywriter and Creative Director
May 10, 2006

Bob’s Bio and Contact Information
Bob’s Work History (Resume)
Bob’s Speaking History
Bob’s Commercial Portfolio
Bob’s Nonprofit Portfolio
Bob’s Interactive Portfolio

Tags: Bob Cargill copywriter creative director copywriting creative direction blogger direct marketing advertising marketing A New Marketing Commentator

Thank you once again to those of you who sponsored my participation in the Boston Marathon this year. You helped me raise a personal record total of $3,550 – and counting – for Children’s Hospital Boston.

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your support.

I’m sure I’ll be writing more about this fundraising campaign in the near future, but while the marathon memories are still fresh in my mind, I thought I would at least give you the latest tally now and also let you know how I did as a runner.

Not only did I exceed my previous fundraising high this time around, but I also had a very good day on the course. My finishing time was 3:52:49, my best time in a marathon since 1987. In fact, in the six times I had previously run Boston since 1990, not once had I even broken four hours – until now. Go figure.

I’m giving all the credit to Hailey, my Children’s Hospital Boston patient partner, for inspiring me to run such a fast – for me – time.

Me and Hailey, at a Children’s Hospital Boston celebration last Saturday, just two days before I ran the Boston Marathon this year.

Hailey is a cute, little girl living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder – characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause – for which there is not yet a cure.

Imagine, Hailey is only seven, but she’s already suffered more than 50 broken bones and undergone a number of serious surgeries.

If you knew Hailey like I do, you’d understand when I say that she was my inspiration in the Boston Marathon on Monday and the wind beneath my wings.

The Adidas “Reasons to Run” Campaign

Given my excitability in the days leading up to the marathon, I jumped at the chance to participate in the Adidas “Reasons to Run” campaign, which the German sports apparel manufacturer was conducting at the John Hancock Sports & Fitness Expo over the weekend. Talk about appealing to your audience’s emotions. Cleverly creating a win-win situation, Adidas was distributing cards to all the marathon runners at the Expo, on which was inscribed the following message…

WHAT’S YOUR REASON TO RUN?

There are as many reasons to run the granddaddy of all marathons as there are runners. Write down your motivation to run to run on the sticker below then place it on the walls of the adidas Expo booth where you find your bib number. You can also visit the booth and tell our cameras live and in person why you run. View your reason to run on-line beginning April 17th.

In the 20 seconds or so I had to tell the cameras my “reasons to run,” I spoke of Hailey, Children’s Hospital Boston and running the Boston Marathon for charity, reasons that came to me first, before — tellingly — the fact that I enjoy the competition and being part of such a special event, just to name a couple others.

I run because I enjoy it, but it’s a much bigger thrill to run for a greater purpose.

To see for yourself what I had to say (and to see what an engaging, effective campaign this is for Adidas), go to www.reasonstorun.com. Once there, click on the “Launch The Site” button at the bottom of the page, which will open up a new window. After entering my name (Bob Cargill) and bib number (18479) in the search fields there, my recorded testimonial should upload and play.

Tags: fundraising pledge-based fundraising Boston Marathon Bob Cargill Children’s Hospital Boston Miles for Miracles running marathon running for charity

Less than two weeks from now (April 17), I’ll be running yet another Boston Marathon (it’ll be the eighth time I’ve made the same journey, the fifth time for charity), and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this very special day.

I’ve enjoyed running since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, so for me, no matter how many times I’ve gone the distance, running Boston is still the thrill of a lifetime, a childhood dream come remarkably true.

I’m lucky, though. Some children’s dreams are mercilessly dashed due to dread, debilitating diseases and disorders that you and I can’t even begin to imagine. Their challenge isn’t a marathon – it’s life itself, one difficult day at a time, courageously contending with poor health, waiting for a cure, hoping to prevail despite seemingly overwhelming odds.

It’s for these children that I’ll be running the Boston Marathon this year as one of the few, proud members of Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team Boston, raising funds for one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country.

Hailey, 7, My Children’s Hospital Boston Patient Partner

I’ll be running Boston for children like my patient partner, Hailey, a cute, little girl living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder – characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause – for which there is not yet a cure.

Imagine, Hailey is only seven (she was born on May 26, 1998), but she’s already suffered 51 broken bones and undergone a number of serious surgeries. Thanks to Children’s Hospital Boston, however, Hailey’s OI is under control, and she’s living her young life to the fullest.

Your sponsorship of my run will mean a great deal to me, but it’ll mean even more to the doctors, nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital Boston – and the patients, like Hailey, in their care.

Give Now and Get a $5 Olive Garden Gift Certificate

This time around, I’ve committed to raise a minimum of $3,500 for Children’s, and I’ve received 65 donations (from 65 kind souls) so far for a total of $2,919. So I really do need your support if I’m going to reach, if not exceed, my fundraising goal. Every dollar counts, especially in these last few days leading up to the big event.

Please help me help make dreams come true for more boys and girls. Please sponsor my Boston Marathon run with a gift of $25, $15, $50 or more to Children’s Hospital Boston. I’ll be so grateful for your support.

As a small token of my appreciation, I’ll mail the next six people to contribute to my cause a $5 gift certificate redeemable at any Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. (Olive Garden was kind enough to donate these certificates, so the next time I take my family out to dinner there, I plan to thank the manager in person.)

To make a secure, online donation to my Children’s Hospital Boston fundraising campaign right here and now, simply follow these instructions…

1. Go to www.chtrust.org/bostonmarathon.
2. Click on “Sponsor a Runner/Give Online” on the right-hand side
of the screen.
3. Enter my name, “Bob Cargill” and/or my Profile ID (CB0022) in
the “Search for a Runner to Sponsor” fields.
4. Click on my name, “Bob Cargill,” under Search Results, in the middle of the page.
5. Donate to Children’s Hospital Boston.

Of course, if you prefer, you may write a check – payable to Children’s Hospital Boston – and return it to my attention at 33 Oakwood Avenue, Sudbury, MA 01776.

Me and Hailey, the day before I ran the Boston Marathon last spring.

Whatever you can do to help support my Boston Marathon run for Children’s Hospital Boston – and Hailey – please do it today. I’ll appreciate it. The hospital will appreciate it. And, most of all, the children will appreciate it. It is on their behalf that I just can’t thank you enough.

Note: To read about the other four times I’ve run the Boston Marathon for charity (in ‘96 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in ‘02 and ‘03 for The Home for Little Wanderers and in ‘05 for Children’s Hospital Boston), click here, here, here, here and here.

Tags: fundraising pledge-based fundraising Boston Marathon Bob Cargill Children’s Hospital Boston Miles for Miracles running marathon running for charity

If you’ve been reading A New Marketing Commentator over the course of the last few months, you know that in less than five weeks, I’ll be running the Boston Marathon once again for one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country, Children’s Hospital Boston.

This year I have pledged to raise a minimum of $3,500 for Children’s, and I still have a little way to go. So if you would like to contribute to this cause, I certainly would appreciate it. To make a secure, online donation, simply click here or write a check – payable to Children’s Hospital Boston – and return it to my attention at 33 Oakwood Avenue, Sudbury, MA 01776.

To be honest with you, I thought I was conducting a fairly ambitious fundraising campaign until I heard yesterday from another runner – David Paterson, Ph.D (see photo below) – on the Children’s Hospital Miles for Miracles Team Boston, announcing that he was auctioning himself off on eBay in hopes of raising $8,000 for the hospital.

Now that’s what I call going the extra mile.

David Paterson, Ph.D

If you visit his auction page on eBay, the description of the “item” (a dinner date with Dave) up for bid reads, “Dave is 33, single, smart, shy, sensitive, incredibly sexy and Scottish. He grew up in Stirling, the home of Braveheart’s William Wallace and he’s a bit of a Mel Gibson himself. He is an instructor at Harvard with a PHD in Neurology, and works as a medical research scientist in the Dept. of Pathology at Children’s Hospital Boston. He lives in Fenway in Boston now but has lived in Scotland and in Sweden too. He’s a skier as well as a runner and so basically he’s as fit as a butcher’s dog!”

Here’s betting that David will easily reach his fundraising goal, a credit to, well, his brave heart. I haven’t met him yet, but I’ll be looking for him on April 17 at the starting line in Hopkinton to congratulate him on the inventiveness of his campaign.

Boston Marathon Runner David Paterson’s eBay Auction Page for Children’s Hospital Boston

Note from Bob Cargill: To read more about my current fundraising campaign on behalf of Children’s Hospital Boston, click here and here. To read about the other four times I’ve run the Boston Marathon for charity, click here, here, here, here and here.

Tags: fundraising pledge-based fundraising
Boston Marathon eBay Children’s Hospital Boston Miles for Miracles running marathon David Paterson Bob Cargill

If you’ve ever been between jobs, you know how much of a challenge it is to stand out in a crowd of those who are ambitiously jockeying for the same gig.

After all, chances are you’re just one of dozens, if not hundreds, with relatively similar credentials in line for that one plum position.

And unless you know someone in a corner office who can grant you the inside track, the odds of your resume getting past the gatekeepers and in the hands of the top dog are slim to none, never mind getting your foot in the door for an interview.

With that said, in addition to going about my new job search in all the usual ways – posting my resume on online job boards such as Monster and Talent Zoo, mining Craigslist for that rare golden opportunity, speaking to a slew of professional recruiters and touching base with practically everyone I know in the business – I thought I would do for myself what I’ve been doing for clients for so long and put together my own little direct mail campaign, asking for a meeting with those whom I would like to work for in the worst way.

Of course, a simple letter alone just wasn’t going to cut it. A prospective employer wouldn’t stand for anything less than a solicitation out of the ordinary from a creative guy like me. Not only did I need to come up with a compelling offer, but I also needed to present it in a refreshingly different way.

A Cup of Coffee to Wake up My Audience

Given my desire to have a face-to-face meeting with each of my prospects, I settled on a Starbucks Card as a means of coaxing them into sitting down for a cup of coffee with me.

But the strategy for commanding my audience’s attention didn’t stop there. I wanted to speak to those on the receiving end of this unique, self-promotional campaign at a level they would appreciate — not just as some guy looking for a job, but as a knowledgeable industry peer. My appeal needed to be relevant to the reader, not simply self-serving. The last thing I wanted was for the Starbucks Card to be perceived as just another gratuitous come-on from an overzealous stranger.

Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink”

Well, coincidentally I recently finished reading “Blink” (the latest book by Malcolm Gladwell, author of the landmark bestseller, “The Tipping Point”), which is all about making choices based on instinct, “in the blink of an eye.” At some point in the book, Gladwell even goes so far as to suggest that job interviews would be conducted differently if people were to rely more on their gut feelings.

Writing to my audience about “Blink” would be as much of interest to them as helpful to me in getting my message across.

Now all I had to worry about was the execution. As much fun as I wanted to have with this campaign, I still wanted to keep it simple, and printing the following message on a Starbucks napkin (as though I had written it — impromptu — over a cup of coffee) helped me achieve both of these objectives…

If you’ve read Blink, the latest book by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point), you know that some of the best decisions are made in an instant – in the blink of an eye. I hope this is one of them. I hope you decide – without hesitation – to sit down with me for a cup of coffee. I would like to show you my portfolio and talk about how I might be able to contribute to the success of Company Name as a creative director, copywriter, blogger and strategic marketing consultant. Please – take your instincts seriously and let’s get together soon. Thanks.

Tucked inside the napkin were both the Starbucks Card and a small piece of card stock featuring this short excerpt from “Blink”…

“There are lots of books that tackle broad themes, that analyze the world from great remove. This is not one of them. Blink is concerned with the very smallest components of our everyday lives – the content and origin of those instantaneous impressions and conclusions that spontaneously arise whenever we meet a new person or confront a complex situation or have to make a decision under conditions of stress. When it comes to the task of understanding ourselves and our world, I think we pay too much attention to those grand themes and too little to the particulars of those fleeting moments. But what would happen if we took our instincts seriously? What if we stopped scanning the horizon with our binoculars and began instead examining our own decision making and behavior through the most powerful of microscopes? I think that would change the way wars are fought, the kinds of products we see on our shelves, the kinds of movies that get made, the way police officers are trained, the way couples are counseled, the way job interviews are conducted, and on and on. And if we were to combine all those little changes, we would end up with a different and better world. I believe – and I hope that by the end of this book you will believe it as well – that the task of making sense of ourselves and our behavior requires that we acknowledge there can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.”*

*Excerpted from “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” (pp. 16-17), by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown and Company)

Needless to say, I couldn’t help but highlight in yellow the line about job interviews – this was no time for subtlety.

All of the above – the paper napkin, the Starbucks Card and the book excerpt – were mailed in a handsome, cream white A-7 (7” X 5-1/4”) envelope that I bought over the counter at The Paper Store. And on the envelope itself, not only did I print the word B-L-I-N-K in big, block letters, but I also added a ring-like, dried coffee stain, introducing the two creative concepts that were the foundation of a campaign that will hopefully land me a new job as a creative director, copywriter, blogger and strategic marketing consultant.

Time will tell how well this campaign will fare. I mailed the first round of letters just a few days ago. But whether or not anyone responds affirmatively to my request for an interview, I’ll at least be able to rest assured knowing I’ve shown those who are calling the shots not only how much I care about my work, but also how strongly I feel about working for them.

Bob’s Work History

Bob’s Public Speaking History

Tags: direct mail direct marketing copywriter Bob Cargill marketing Malcolm Gladwell Blink Starbucks creative director careers jobs employment

If you know of an organization that’s looking for an experienced direct marketer and enthusiastic, entrepreneurial creative director, copywriter, blogger and public speaker, I know of someone who fits the bill.

Moi.

Yes, I’m here to tell you that even though my employment with one company has just recently come to an end, I have no intention whatsoever of letting even a few blades of grass grow like a contagion under my feet.

Given such urgency and resolve, I have already touched base with my network of friends and colleagues in the terrestrial world, letting them know of my availability and desire to land a new full-time job – or contract assignment – as soon as possible.

And, of course, I’ve been wading my way through Monster, Talent Zoo and Craigslist on a regular basis.

So now it’s time for me to put the word out in the blogosphere.

I’ve been blessed to have worked with some great people at some stellar organizations in the past, but I’m hopeful that the next step in my career will be to an even higher rung on the proverbial corporate ladder.

Wherever I land, I hope it’s a place that recognizes the need to leverage the effectiveness of traditional, time-tested marketing principles with the power of the latest new conversational media tools, consequently embracing a sense of both immediacy and transparency, two of the most important hallmarks of successful brand communications campaigns today.

Wherever I land, I hope it’s a place teeming with brilliant creative minds and bold, farsighted agents of change who can at least relate to such groundbreaking business tomes as “The Cluetrain Manifesto,” “The Tipping Point,” “The Virtual Handshake” and “Life After the 30-Second Spot,” not to mention the thought leadership of luminaries the likes of Seth Godin, Tom Peters, Steve Rubel and Amy Gahran.

In exchange for such synergy and simpatico, I vow to give my next employer every last ounce of my whole professional being.

I vow to wield my skills in the areas of creative direction, communications and strategic consulting to help lead this organization through the minefields of change and into the promised land of new marketing nirvana, where it can be gleefully at one with its employees, partners and constituents alike.

This, as I stand at the crossroads of change in an industry that has been surprisingly slow to adapt and adopt, is my career imperative, my own personal brand mantra, my clarion call to any potential employer who will listen and accede to my dream of a new and even better way of doing my work.

Bob’s Work History

Bob’s Public Speaking History

As I first wrote in this space about three months ago, on April 17, I’ll be pounding the pavement once again from Hopkinton to Boston, determinedly putting one foot in front of another for more than 26 long, arduous miles.

It’ll be the 8th time I’ve taken the same exhausting journey. And I’ll be tired and sore most of the way. But it doesn’t get any better than crossing the finish line of what is arguably the most prestigious road race in the world, the Boston Marathon, especially when you’re running as a member of Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team Boston, raising funds for one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country, located right here in my home state of Massachusetts.

This time around, I have committed to raise a minimum of $3,500 for Children’s, and I’m more than halfway there.

Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I mailed about 120 homemade direct mail packages to my friends, relatives and colleagues, asking them to sponsor my Boston Marathon run with a gift of $30, $15, $50 or more to Children’s Hospital Boston.

In each package, I included three photos of me and my patient partner, Hailey (in whose honor I am running), a cute, little girl living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder – characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause – for which there is not yet a cure.

(To see a couple of pictures of Hailey, click here and here.)

I also included a note letting donors know that if they sponsored my run with a gift of $30 or more (by March 1), they would be entered into a drawing to win one of a handful of fabulous gift certificates donated by restaurants and stores. (Of course, that meant I had to go door-to-door soliciting such in-kind donations from local business establishments, no small challenge in and of itself.)

The results of this small grassroots fundraising campaign have been extremely positive so far. I have received 44 contributions to the cause for a total of $1,995. What’s particularly telling – and personally gratifying – is just how many have given $30, apparently as a result of the promised drawing. Sixteen of the 44 gifts (36%) have been for $30, an amount I would have to assume would have been a more typical $25 if it were not for the added incentive.

(For comparison’s sake, in my fundraising campaign last year, out of a total of 76 donors, only three made a gift in the amount of $30 and 27 gave a gift of $25; this year, so far only two donors have given $25 gifts.)

The bottom line is that, yes, I am grateful more than you can imagine to those who are supporting my campaign, whether through financial gifts to Children’s Hospital Boston or by contributing gift certificates.

Speaking of the latter, I have approached more than a dozen businesses about my philanthropic efforts and six – Boston Market (Framingham, MA), The Longfellow Club (Wayland, MA), Ben & Jerry’s (Natick, MA), Target (Framingham, MA), Panera Bread (Framingham, MA) and The Clean Machine (Framingham, MA) – have already provided me with something with which to reward my $30+ donors. (And if I can’t get either Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks to donate at least one or two gift cards, I promise to buy at least a few myself to put into the drawing.) When all is said and done, I hope to have about 20 gift certificates and cards to give away to my donors.

If you would like to contribute to the cause, I certainly would appreciate it. To make a secure, online donation, simply click here or follow these directions…

1. Go to http://www.childrenshospital.org/bostonmarathon.
2. Click on “Sponsor a Runner/Give Online” on the right-hand side
of the screen.
3. Enter my name, “Bob Cargill” and/or my Profile ID (CB0022) in
the “Search for a Runner to Sponsor” fields.
4. Click on my name, “Bob Cargill,” under Search Results, in the middle of the page.
5. Donate to Children’s Hospital Boston.

Of course, if you prefer, you may write a check – payable to Children’s Hospital Boston – and return it to my attention at 33 Oakwood Avenue, Sudbury, MA 01776. Thank you.

Note: Thanks again, by the way, for indulging me while I share all this with you. It’s my own personal fundraising campaign — which I do hope you can support — on behalf of Children’s Hospital Boston. To read about the other four times I’ve run the Boston Marathon for charity, click here, here, here, here and here.

Many nonprofit organizations are concerned about winning over the hearts of a new, younger generation of donors and instilling in them a sense of altruism and benevolence that will last a lifetime.

But not all of these organizations are doing what Children’s Hospital Boston is doing, going to great lengths to help parents introduce their children to the joy of giving and the satisfaction of making a difference with a brilliant, new family philanthropy program called 26 Steps.

Named in memory of Katie Lynch, a lifelong Children’s patient who undertook an enormous physical challenge - walking 26 feet at the 2001 Boston Marathon - to raise money for the hospital she loved, 26 Steps promises to provide tools for the next generation of philanthropists, helping young people develop habits of independence, kindness and responsibility.

According to the hospital’s Fall 2005 newsletter, “Children learn to love something when parents share their own pleasure in the activity, but many adults who give to charitable organizations don’t explain to their children why they give and how kids can, too.”

Frankly, this is one reason why I’m running the Boston Marathon for Children’s Hospital again. The experience gives me the opportunity to teach my two sons, Scott (9) and Ben (6), how important it is to “give back” as much as possible and to help those who are less fortunate. It may be entertaining for them to watch their father train for and participate in the marathon…but to know that I’m doing it to raise money, not just for my own pleasure, is educational. It’s a dramatic, long-running (no pun intended) lesson in philanthropy.

This is me and my Children’s Hospital Boston patient partner, Hailey, the day before I ran the Boston Marathon last spring.

For more information about 26 Steps (including age-appropriate children’s philanthropy stories, ideas, tips, book lists, games and more), click here.

To “sponsor” my participation in the 2006 Boston Marathon on behalf of Children’s Hospital Boston, go to www.chtrust.org/bostonmarathon; click on “Give Online” underneath “Sponsor a Runner” on the right-hand side of the screen; enter my name and/or my Profile ID (CB0022) in the “Search for a Runner to Sponsor” fields; click on my name (Bob Cargill) under Search Results and donate. It’s easy to do. And I’ll be grateful for your support.

Less than six months from now, on April 17, 2006, I’ll be pounding the pavement once again from Hopkinton to Boston, determinedly putting one foot in front of another for more than 26 long, arduous miles.

It’ll be the 8th time I’ve taken the same exhausting journey. And I’ll be tired and sore most of the way. But as I’ve said before, it doesn’t get any better than crossing the finish line of what is arguably the most prestigious road race in the world, the Boston Marathon. I’ve enjoyed running since I was just a little boy, so for me, running Boston is still the thrill of a lifetime, a childhood dream come remarkably true.

I’m lucky, though. Some children’s dreams are mercilessly dashed due to dread, debilitating diseases and disorders that you and I can’t even begin to imagine. Their challenge isn’t a marathon – it is life itself, one difficult day at a time, courageously contending with poor health, waiting for a cure, hoping to prevail despite seemingly overwhelming odds.

It’s for these children that I’m running the Boston Marathon in 2006. Yes, as much as I’m excited to be among the marathon field of some 20,000 athletes, it’s much more important that I’ll be running as one of the few, proud members of Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team Boston, raising funds for one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country, located right here in Boston.

Please help me help make dreams come true for more boys and girls. Please sponsor my Boston Marathon run with a gift of $25, $15, $50 or more to Children’s Hospital Boston. I’ll be so grateful for your support. And so will the hospital.

To make a secure, online donation, simply click here or follow these directions…

1. Go to http://www.childrenshospital.org/bostonmarathon.
2. Click on “Sponsor a Runner/Give Online” on the right-hand side
of the screen.
3. Enter my name, “Bob Cargill” and/or my Profile ID (CB0022) in
the “Search for a Runner to Sponsor” fields.
4. Click on my name, “Bob Cargill,” under Search Results, in the middle of the page.
5. Donate to Children’s Hospital Boston.

Of course, if you prefer, you may write a check – payable to Children’s Hospital Boston – and return it to my attention at 33 Oakwood Avenue, Sudbury, MA 01776.

Hailey, 7, My Children’s Hospital Boston Patient Partner

Your generosity will help Children’s Hospital Boston help children like my patient partner, Hailey (see photo above), a cute, little girl living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder – characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause – for which there is not yet a cure.

Imagine, Hailey is only seven (she was born on May 26, 1998), but she’s already suffered 51 broken bones and undergone a number of serious surgeries. Thanks to Children’s Hospital, however, Hailey’s OI is under control, and she’s living her young life to the fullest.

Your sponsorship of my run will mean a great deal to me, but it’ll mean even more to the doctors, nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital Boston – and the patients in their care.

So please give us as much as you possibly can – today. I’ll appreciate it. The hospital will appreciate it. And, most of all, the children (especially Hailey) will appreciate it. It is on their behalf that I just can’t thank you enough.

Bob

P.S. When you sponsor my Boston Marathon run with a contribution of at least $30, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win one of several fabulous gift certificates donated by Boston-area restaurants and stores.

So please sponsor my participation in the Boston Marathon with a gift of $30 or more to Children’s Hospital Boston. I’ll be so grateful for your support. And if you’re one of the winners of my prize drawing on March 1, 2006, maybe I’ll treat you to dinner, or a pair of movie passes, a free oil change, etc. Good luck. And – much more importantly – thank you for your good deed.

Note: Thank you, by the way, for indulging me while I share all this with you. It’s my own personal fundraising campaign — which I do hope you can support — on behalf of Children’s Hospital Boston. To read about the other four times I’ve run the Boston Marathon for charity, click here, here, here, here and here.

If you’re looking for a reason to blog, you need look no further than the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Florida, where Katrina’s fierce winds and brutal, punishing rain resulted in what could be America’s deadliest natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco fire and earthquake.

As I wrote here back in December, 2004, “a blog makes it possible for the everyday communications professional to distribute newsworthy, thematic content to a large, like-minded audience – without many, if any, layers of approval – almost instantaneously. If timeliness is a critical element of your publishing plan, it’s an irresistible platform.”

Today, there’s no valid reason for any organization involved in the business of providing disaster relief not to have a blog in its communications toolbox.

A blog can be set up immediately and inexpensively.

And by granting the opportunity to respond to any and all posts, a blogger is able to open a dialogue, receive constructive feedback and build an honest, mutually-beneficial relationship with his or her constituency.

A blog is a centralized repository for experience and expertise, an incredibly easy way to disseminate key, timely news and information to an audience of readers who are already interested in what you have to offer or – in the case of fundraising – ask of them.

A blog is infectious, too. Like a good viral marketing campaign, the content of the best blogs is passed from reader to reader, extending the author’s reach – and influence – exponentially.

A perfect example of how a blog can be used as an emergency response to a natural disaster is The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami (or SEA-EAT) blog, which features a post today on blogging for disaster relief (today has been proclaimed International Blogging for Disaster Relief Day) and – in a touch of bittersweet irony – Hurricane Katrina.

Other random online initiatives, resources and noteworthy responses on behalf of all the helpless, innocent victims on the Gulf Coast:

*An “Emergency Update” on Hurricane Katrina from Covenant House at 4 PM on Monday, the day of the storm, was the first appeal for financial assistance I took delivery of by email.

*The second request I received for an online donation was on Tuesday at 6:16 PM. It was from the American Red Cross, and the subject line read, “Situation Critical: Emergency Mobilization Underway.”

*Just before midnight on Tuesday arrived another Hurricane Katrina-related email, this one from Governor Howard Dean of The Democratic Party, asking me to help the disaster relief effort by donating to – again – the American Red Cross.

*On August 29, the folks at NPAdvisors.com announced that they have launched a blog, saying: “We decided that now is the time to start posting our thoughts about disaster fundraising so that all nonprofits can participate in the discussion.” Their blog can be found here.

*The September 1 edition of Denny Hatch’s Business Common Sense featured an interesting column on “Dealing with Katrina and 9/11.”

*Charity Folks, a leading online auction venue that provides technology-based solutions to nonprofit organizations, just opened bidding in an auction to benefit the victims of Katrina as well as thousands of other disasters that the American Red Cross responds to each year.

*Paul Chaney, President of the Radiant Marketing Group and a Mississippi resident, has been blogging all week about this catastrophic event.

*Nonprofit technology consultant Deborah Elizabeth Finn reports that her friend, Andy Carvin, of the Digital Divide Network, has created a Katrina Aftermath web site.

*Grassroots.org has declared that all online donations it receives during the month of September will go towards relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

*According to today’s edition of DIRECT Newsline, The Marketing Research Association (MRA) has launched a Researcher-to-Researcher Relief Assistance Blog “to aid any marketing and research professionals that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina.”

*And, finally, via B.L. Ochman’s What’s Next Blog, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary “has set up online information and resources about animal rescue groups efforts in the aftermath of Katrina.”