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
9/6: Read a Book Day. Review a book that highlights your cause. Suggest books to your volunteers that will help them get fired up. (International Literacy Day is on the 8th)
9/6: Labor Day. Is your organization helping find jobs for those out of work? Interview a volunteer on how they juggle a career and volunteering.
9/10: Swap Ideas Day. Find another nonprofit to collaborate with to share ideas on a common problem. Find a staff member who works in another area and ask them their thoughts on a problem your area has (like what should we include in our content).
9/13: Positive Thinking Day. Share how you WILL eradicate the issues your cause faces.
9/13: Grandparents Day. If you work with seniors, do a photo spread of them with their grandchildren. Or have people who have lost their grandparents write letters to them.
9/22: Autumn Equinox. Relate the changing of the leaves or fall trends to your cause. Or just make fun of the pumpkin spice everything that’s coming.
9/25: National Comic Book Day. What comic book hero would stand for your cause? What villain would be against you? Can you compare these characters to real-life people in you organization? You can also create your own comic book hero!
9/28: Ask a Stupid Question Day. Is your organization one that’s hard to explain? Know some people who are embarrassed to admit they don’t know the answers? Do a top-ten list of stupid questions you have received. Or turn this idea upside down and take an “apathetic” question like “How can we possibly make a difference, so why bother?” and tell how you will.
September is also:
- Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th – October 15th)
- Baby Safety Month
- Self Improvement Month
- Classical Music Month
- Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
- Hunger Action Month
- National Prostate Health Month
- Pain Awareness Month
- National Recovery Month
Other Dates in September:
- International Day of Charity is the 5th
- Rosh Hashanah is the 6th – 8th
- World Suicide Prevention Day is the 10th
- Ganesh Chaturthi is the 10th
- 911 Remembrance Day is the 11th
- Yom Kippur is the 15th – 16th
- International Day of Democracy is the 15th
- Mexican Independence Day is the 16th
- World Alzheimer’s Day is the 21st
- International Day of Peace is the 21st
- Native American Day in some states is the 24th
- World Rivers Day is the 26th
Metaphor of the Month
This month’s metaphor is School. Think about classrooms (both traditional and virtual), textbooks, a syllabus, principals, teachers, students, tests, desks, chalkboard, recess, subjects, computers, detention, field trips, homework, and report cards.
How can you relate these things to your organization?
Pop Culture, Events, and News
CMA Summer Jam is the 2nd.
Billie Eilish will perform her new album at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Happier Ever After: A Love Letter to Los Angeles on the 3rd.
This NFL season kick offs on the 10th.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards are on the 12th.
The US Open for tennis will wrap up the 12th.
The Emmy Awards will be presented on the 19th.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival is the 17th and 18th.
The 74th Annual Tony Awards are on the 26th.
The 29th is National Coffee Day, but coffee isn’t really my cup of tea.
Movies being released (both streaming or in theaters) include Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Cinderella, Copshop, Cry Macho, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Queenpins, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Dear Evan Hansen.
TV premiers include What We Do in the Shadows, Billions, Impeachment: American Crime Story, Lucifer, Halloween Baking Championship, Y: The Last Man, Nailed It, The Premise, The Morning Show, Sex Education, Halloween Wars, 9-1-1, Dancing with the Stars, NCIS, NCIS: Hawaii, The Neighborhood, Ordinary Joe, The Voice, FBI, FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted, New Amsterdam, The Resident, Chicago Fire, Med and PD, The Conners, The Goldbergs, The Masked Singer, A Million Little Things, Survivor, The Wonder Years, Law & Order: Organized Crime and SVU, Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Good Doctor, and Grey’s Anatomy
Source of the Month
Blog Round Up. Pick a topic related to your cause and create a blog post with links to recent articles, studies or blog posts. See our #NPCOMMLIFE and Mixed Links series for examples.
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 October last this week or early next week. Sign up now to get prompts emailed to you in advance monthly.
