The following ideas come from our Monthly Nonprofit Writing Prompts email newsletter. Sign up now to get prompts emailed to you in advance monthly.
As usual, please double-check events to see if they are still happening.
On the Calendar
10/01: National Homemade Cookie Day or World Vegetarian Day. Share your favorite cookie or vegetarian recipes or have your staff or supporters shares theirs.
10/01: World Smile Day. If cooking isn’t your thing, share photos of your volunteers or clients smiling and tell their stories. If you are a health related org, you can promote dental health.
10/05: Do Something Nice Day. Encourage your supporters to do something nice for someone else in your name.
10/05: World Teacher’s Day. Point out some of the educators in your field and what they have done for your cause.
10/09: Curious Events Day. Are people curious about a certain program or person regarding your organization? Or are there any “curious events” related to your organization or cause?
10/11: Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day. What new frontiers are you exploring? Or how can you honor those who lived here first?
10/11: Canadian Thanksgiving Day. Thank your clients, volunteers and supporters.
10/12: Moment of Frustration Day. Vent away or provide some ideas on releasing frustration in a healthy way. Encourage your readers to share what frustrates them on Facebook, Twitter or in the comment section on your blog.
10/12: National Freethought Day. Encourage people to be free thinkers and to base opinions on facts, science, logic and reason.
10/13: Train Your Brain Day. Share some brain teasers, word puzzles or riddles that relate to your organization and get your supporters using their brains in a different way.
10/15: Bosses Day. Do a “Day in the Life” of your boss feature or highlight the “real” boss of the organization.
10/16: Dictionary Day. Help your readers define some of the jargon associated with your cause. (Then stop using it in communications to them!)
10/19: Evaluate Your Life Day. Report back to your donors on what’s happening at your nonprofit.
10/23: Make a Difference Day. This is a day to encourage volunteers and community service.
10/29: International Internet Day. Especially now, so much of our lives is online. How can you celebrate this invention that changed the world?
10/30: Mischief Night. Encourage your supporters to make a little mischief and flood your legislators inboxes, voicemails, and mail boxes with concerns on a vote or issue that affects your cause.
10/31: Halloween. Give us some insight into staff personalities and let us know what they will be for Halloween. Tell us what your favorite candy is. This can be a great time for lighter updates if your org deals with heavy topics.
October is also:
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- Adopt a Shelter Dog Month
- Domestic Violence Awareness Month
- Sarcastic Month
- Vegetarian Month
- Global Diversity Awareness Month
- National Disability Employment Awareness Month
- ADHD Awareness Month
- International Walk to School Month
Week 1 of October is “Getting Organized Week”
Week 2 is “Fire Prevention Week” and “Pet Peeve Week”
The 14th – 20th is “Earth Sciences Week”
Other Dates:
- 10/4: World Animal Day
- 10/10: World Mental Health Day
- 10:16: World Food Day
- 10/17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
- 10/21: LGBTQ+: Spirit Day
Metaphor of the Month
This month’s metaphor is Sports. Think about teams, teaming up, scoring, winning, losing, competition, practice, game face, slam dunk, heavy hitting, goal, touchdown, three strikes, penalty, take aim, best shot, marathon, sore loser, pros, strength, finesse, A-game, catching.
How can you relate these things to your organization?
Pop Culture, Events, and News
Many organizations’ Fiscal Years begin on the 1st.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival is on the 2nd and 3rd.
The BET Hip Hop Awards are the 5th.
The MLB Playoffs will begin in October with the World Series scheduled to begin October 26th.
The NHL season stars October 12th and the NBA regular season starts October 19th.
Many communities will be hosting Oktoberfests or modified versions.
The world’s largest drawing festival, The Big Draw, takes place in October.
Movies coming out in theaters this month include No Time to Die, Dune, The Last Duel, The French Dispatch, The Many Saints of Newark, The Addams Family 2, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Halloween Kills, Last Night in Soho and Antlers.
Streaming movie premiers include Fauci, The Guilty, Blumhouse movies Black as Night ,Bingo Hell and The Manor, Under Wraps, My Name Is Pauli Murray, Diana: The Musical, There’s Someone Inside Your House, Stuck Together, and Army of Thieves.
TV shows returning or premiering include Blue Bloods, The Graham Norton Show, , Maid, Magnum PI, SWAT, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Call the Midwife, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, On My Block, CSI: Vegas, B Positive, Bull, Ghosts, Young Sheldon, Leverage: Redemption, Nancy Drew, Shark Tank, Whose Line Is It Anyway, The Equalizer, Legends of the Hidden Temple, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Baby-Sitters Club, Batwoman, Dopesick, Project Runway, Fear the Walking Dead, The Bachelorette, Queens, The Blacklist, Insecure, 4400, and All American.
TV specials include Legos Star Wars Terrifying Tales, The Most Magical Story on Earth: 50 Years of Walt Disney World, Muppets Haunted Mansion, Justin Bieber: Our World
Source of the Month
Embrace your fears this Halloween season. Be bold and tackle an issue you have been too afraid to write about because it might ruffle some feathers. Or share what scares you.
If you would like these ideas sent to your inbox a month in advance, sign up for our Monthly Nonprofit Writing Prompts. I send this email newsletter the first week of every month with prompts for the following month. For example, I will email the prompts for November next week. Sign up now to get prompts emailed to you in advance monthly.
