Posts Tagged ‘custom’

Customizing your Community Calendar. Make this year’s calendar your best!

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Creating a community wall calendar is not only a great way to raise money but also a great tool in building community support. Unfortunately, a big issue with community calendars is that they are often very similar and customization is sometimes tough. However, thanks to websites such as custombuiltcalendars.com, customizing your wall calendar to make this years calendar your best is now easier than ever!

When customizing your community calendar, there are lots of options available for you to choose from to make your community calendar stand out. One option that is available on sites such as custombuiltcalendars.com is the ability to design your own templates. By choosing the “upload your own design” template, you are able to customize your community calendar templates by adding multiple photos, colors and text. Another fun option available with the “upload your own design” templates is that you are able to insert images such as coupons for restaurant, etc in your template. Now your community calendar not only builds community support but also promotes local businesses.

Another option you can choose when customizing your community calendar is the selection process of photos in your calendar. Most community calendars usually showcase photos of local buildings and historic sites. However, an easy way to customize your calendar is by selecting photos that were taken by people in the community. This is a great way to support local artist as well as making your community calendar completely unique. If you decide to use photographs from local photographers or by children in the community, one way to decide whose photograph gets in the community calendar would be to create a local community contest. This will allow people to compete to have their photos displayed as well as create buzz and excitement for the community calendar. This in turn will generate much interest in the community calendar and perhaps boost sales once the calendar is completed.  A great way to increase interests would be to not confirm winners until the community calendar is completed. This way the locals will have to purchase your community calendar to see who made the cut!

Finally, a last option to consider when customizing your community calendar is to insert text into individual date boxes. Generally, most community calendars display information such as religious holidays, but with online calendars builders such as the one available with Custom Built Calendars, you are now able to insert customized text into your community calendars dates. By inserting events such as local festivals, community meetings, birthdays and other special dates, you are able to completely customize your community calendar and make it your own.

Designing and customizing your community calendar to make it as unique and creative as possible can be a difficult and challenging task but with the ideas listed above and with the capabilities of websites such as custombuiltcalendar.com, the once painful task has become much easier and way more fun to do!

How to Make a Fundraising Calendar

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

If you run a non-profit or charity organisation, one of the most exciting and satisfying things you can do to raise funds is to make a fundraising photo calendar.  Calendars are great for raising awareness, and the good news is thanks to the Internet, making a fundraising calendar is easier than ever.

The first consideration is accumulating the photos you want to use.  The biggest stumbling block people run into when making a fundraising calendar is photos with insufficient resolution, so it is important that the people supplying the calendar photographs know what is required. If you’re holding a photo contest, be sure to tell people to use at least a 5 mega pixel camera set at the highest setting

Next, decide what type of calendar you want to make.  Although 8.5” x 11” wall calendars are the most popular for fundraising, many people choose to make an easel style or CD case desk calendar.

Making your fundraising calendar is the fun part.  While most photo calendar websites are geared toward personal (family) calendars, some such as custombuiltcalendars.com cater to businesses, charities and non-profit organizations.  They generally offer more professional calendar templates and tools, and better pricing.  Since most offices do not allow software downloads for security reasons, be sure to select a calendar software solution that is totally online (i.e. no software to download).

Using the online software and templates, design your fundraising calendar by uploading and inserting your photographs, selecting the holidays and observances you want (plus inputting additional ones that are relevant to your calendar), and inserting your logo and contact information.

For fundraising calendars that are printed digitally (generally orders up to 750 calendars), a hard copy production quality sample is available for your review before you have to commit to your entire order.  Check it very carefully looking particularly for things such as spelling mistakes, and when you are 100% happy, totally thrilled and excited, get it printed and share it with your fans and supporters.

Remember to give yourself lots of time to make your calendar in case you run into any problems or in case others who will also approve the calendar need an extra day or two.

Designing your own custom photo calendar is easier than you think. Honest.

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

If you are having a difficult time finding calendars for your business, charity or organization that are relevant, then it may be worth your while to consider making a custom calendar.  Designing a custom photo calendar is something that used to take time and specialized expertise, but now thanks to the Internet, it’s pretty easy to design a professional-looking wall, desk or pocket photo calendar yourself.

Some custom calendar websites cater to businesses, charities and organizations wanting to make their own calendar.  These specialist sites offer a wide variety of tools and options that make it easy to find a calendar design that suits your needs, and they are generally are less expensive than the typical photo calendar websites that families use.  As a defence against viruses, most offices don’t allow you to download and install software, so make sure you use an online custom calendar solution (i.e. no software download required).

The best photo calendar design websites make it easy for you to:

  • Choose a template design that suits your needs
  • Upload and insert your photos – some even allow you to crop your photos and then analyse the cropped image to make sure the resolution is sufficient to ensure it prints clearly
  • Select the holidays and observances you want on your calendar; allows you to add your own custom dates (Industry trade show, “Company Picnic”, “International _______ Day”, etc)
  • Insert, resize & reposition your logo and contact information – make sure you have the design flexibility to add the same information to all months or just to one or more months

Some of the calendar websites that cater to businesses, charities and organizations such as custombuiltcalendars.com will send you a free hard copy production-quality sample for you to approve before you commit to the entire order.  If changes are needed, you can often make them at no charge.

Designing a custom calendar online is fun and exciting. With intuitive design software and professional templates and tools, the game has changed from what it was even five years ago.