Happy Friday, Happy October and Happy Small Staff Appreciation Month! As you may have heard, MemberClicks has decided to name October the inaugural Small Staff Appreciation Month to give thanks for the amazing work that small staffs all over the country do each and every day.

To celebrate, we’re giving something away every single day this month!

• Every Monday through Thursday in October, we’ll give away our Small Staffs Rule T-Shirts!
• The first four Fridays in October, we’re giving away a Small Staff Care Package consisting of 4 $25 gift cards to Starbucks, Office Depot, Amazon, and Visa – a $100 value!
• We will also give away one free logo re-design during the month!
• On Friday the 29th, we’ll randomly pick a winner of our grand prize – a 15″ MacBook Pro!

To enter, fill out the form located here.

For this week’s edition of the Friday Top Five, I decided to look back at past FT5 posts and do a little “best of small staff” round-up. Not all blog posts that I feature relate specifically to small staffs, of course, but to kick of Small Staff Appreciation Month, I wanted to highlight a few of my favorites from the archives.

1. David M. Patt wrote about why smaller is better, and I’m sure this post will bring smile to many small staff association professionals. Smaller organizations often have less bureaucracy, less red tape and fewer restrictions. Additionally, smaller associations allow staffers to get access to many different departments.

2. Back in April, Jeffrey Cufaude shared some mistakes to avoid when introducing change. Rather than immediately dismissing certain ideas or innovations, it’s crucial for small staffs to be open to new ideas. Although nothing guarantees success, there are factors that help increase its likelihood.

3. As a guest blogger on the SocialFish blog, John Haydon shared a free download: The Complete Facebook Guide for Small Nonprofits. With a great overview of the world’s most popular social network, this is a great resource for small staff organizations that may need a bit of guidance when it comes to Facebook.

4. In June, Scott Briscoe wrote about marketing on a shoestring budget as part of the Acronym blog’s small staff series. His tips: understand your metrics, maximize your use of volunteers, change up your messaging in different channels, build your PR program, use social media discriminately. Good stuff.

5. As a small staff association professional, Joe Flowers knows a thing or two about this unique group. Recently, he shared a communication breakdown that occurred at his organization — and how it was efficiently resolved. Sometimes, depending on outsourcing can be problematic; I’m sure many small staffers can relate.

Have a fabulous Friday, a great weekend and a very happy beginning to Small Staff Appreciation Month!