Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +
Tonight: Live Chat About Empathy, CSR, American Idol and More
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 | #read4change | No Comments
Quick note: Tonight is our Read4Change Book Club chat via Twitter at 8pm EST. To join us, just follow @read4change or follow the hashtag #read4change.
Book: Wired to Care
Special Guest: Co-Author Pete Mortenson
Topic: Empathy + CSR as an Approach to Change
From Chase Bank to Pepsi to now–American Idol, many are integrating social media into their corporate social responsibility and/or their cause marketing efforts. Join us to discus what’s working and what’s needed–could it be more empathy? Co-author Pete Mortenson joins us to share his insights and the lessons gained from the concept of empathy.
FYI: During our chat, American Idol will be highlighting its latest cause initiative with Idol’s Kris Allen and the UN Foundation in Haiti. Thus, it’s a book club and a watch party all in one. (#UNFIdol) Hope you can join in on the fun!
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Piqued your interest? Learn more about the Read4Change Book Club –including future topics and books.
Google.org on How-To Choose the Right Cause
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 | Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +, Social Entrepreneurship | No Comments
The other month, I wrote about choices. I wondered if we needed to commit to a certain cause if we truly want to make a difference. The answers were inspiring–motivating. It seems I’m not the only one who has asked this same question.
If you’ve been here, then you’ve also asked: How do you know what the right cause is (and how do you choose)? Larry Brilliant, former Executive Director of Google.org, has some answers–or better, some more questions for us to ponder:
What’s the single most important criteria?
–is it big enough?
–will it scale?
–is it different?
–is it sustainable?
–is it helpful?
Before you act…consider the face of the poorest person you will ever meet. Then ask yourself if what you are about to do will benefit that person–if not, think again.
Brilliant offered this advice in his presentation at Stanford, which was part of Stanford’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Lectures. You can view this video in full, as well as other videos from Brilliant (including the one where he shares the five areas Google.org decided to focus on in Jan. 2008) on Stanford’s Web site.
I think another important question is–does it get your heart pumping and blood moving? I think these questions are great, but if you choose one cause–you are about to get even more up close and personal, and you want to avoid cause-burnout. What about you? What are other good questions to ask yourself?
PS: Apparently, I’m on a question-spree with these last two posts. Hope you find it as helpful as I do–thank you all for your valuable input on the awareness fever post. 
The Pollyanna Principles for Social Change
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 | Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +, Social Marketing | 3 Comments
Have you ever been frustrated about the impact of your efforts? I have–even when we’ve been successful, if not especially then.
For example, you may reach the number of donors you set out to reach, but still feel disconnected. You could have a bigger list of e-newsletter subscribers, but still question if what you’re doing is achieving the change you want. You can change the life of one person and wonder how you can change the life of another.
This is why I turned to social marketing. Social marketing is something you address, plan and implement at the strategic level. If you are considering how social marketing applies during materials development or media placement, you’ve missed the boat and instead are floating on driftwood. We need to think bigger and longer.
This weekend, I found someone online who I feel understands where I’m coming from: Hildy Gottlieb. After about five years of consulting, Hildy and her partner felt frustrated. They saw themselves doing great work and achieving the mission set before them, but then noticing their work wasn’t aiming for extraordinary community change. She explains best in the video below (minutes 4-6 is where it hit home with me, as I feel social marketing can help create the change she describes).
If you are working on community-based change or social change in general, Hildy outlines six Pollyanna Principles to guide your efforts:
The Ends
- We accomplish what we hold ourselves accountable for.
- Each and every one of us is creating the future, every day, whether we do so consciously or not.
The Means
- Everyone and everything is interconnected interdependent, whether we acknowledge that or not.
- “Being the change we want to see” means walking the talk of our values.
- Strengths build upon our strengths, not our weaknesses.
- Individuals will go where systems lead them.
I like these principles because they aren’t media focused–they are value focused. What about you–can you relate to the frustration Hildy or I describe?
Bonus: If community-based change interests you, I recommend looking up the name Doug McKenzie-Mohr.
flickr photo credit: khoraxis
Change Between the Pages
Thursday, January 21st, 2010 | #read4change | No Comments
The #read4change book club met twice in 2009 to discuss Tom Watson’s CauseWired in November, and Actions Speak Loudest in December. This January, we decided to take a break to take some lessons learned, tweak and plan for the rest of 2010. We hope you’ll join us in gathering and sharing community amongst some good books and great thinkers.
What to Expect
Once a month–using the Twitter account @read4change and the hashtag #read4change–do gooders, social changers, nonprofiteers and the like gather around the last Wednesday of the month and read a social change-themed book–chosen by the community. The hope is to have authors or experts join us in the conversation as a unique opportunity to have meaningful conversations in a meaningful way.
Everyday–Be on the lookout for #read4change challenges where we identify ways where you or I’s reading can have a direct impact into a positive change. It might not be everyday, but we’ll do our best. If you or your organization has an action you want highlighted, just shoot me an email or direct message.
Bonus–Any funds raised through our online bookshelf (run through Amazon’s Associates program) will be donated to a charity of the group’s choice at the end of the year.
All Stars–Shoot me an email if you want to be a #read4change All Star list. This means you plan to partake in at least 3 of our 11 chats this year, and you will also be also given some link-love.
2010 Themes
- February–Approach to Change VOTE
- March–Going Green VOTE
- April–Social Entrepreneurship VOTE
- May–Stories of Change
- June–Economics
- July–The Big Screen (Movies)
- August–Inspiration and Motivation
- September–Today’s Woman
- October–Global Issues
- November–Back to Basics
- December–Enjoy the Holidays (no book)
How to Get Involved
- FOLLOW us @read4change on Twitter.
- READ more.
Look forward to a great year. Open to ideas. Feel free to suggest a book or topic in the comments!
Beyond Marketing Gadgets, Thingymagigs and Gizmos
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 | Blog Talk, Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +, Interesting Articles | 1 Comment
Define today’s concept of: marketing. Now, imagine yourself 40-50 years ago, and define marketing. Notice any big differences? Probably a few come to mind.
I bring this up because I was taught that to know where we are headed, we have to know and understand the past. Rewind back to 1969 when an article called “Broadening the Concept of Marketing” was published by Philip Kotler and Sidney J. Levy (remarkably–you can get a free copy online). My fellow social changers and social marketeers, it was this document that helped paved the way for careers, projects and initiatives we are doing today. It was this document that said marketing was a “societal activity” that can be applied for more than “toothpaste, soap and steel” but that marketing can be transferable to organizations (non-business organizations…aka, nonprofits), persons and ideas. IDEAS.
Fast forward to today, and we are still re-defining and evolving our concept of marketing. Take Seth Godin’s recent post about how we frame marketing. Or better yet–he explains that marketing is what happens between the frames:
Marketing is what happens when you’re not trying, when you’re being transparent and when there’s no script in place.
With this sentence, one word comes to mind–authenticity. I see all the marketing, talk and chatter about the latest and greatest gizmo. I see people and organizations striving and racing. In between all that, there is authenticity. We must find it, and we must connect with it again if we are to truly be successful–and if we are truly going to make a difference. Makes me think, how will the idea of authenticity broaden marketing for future generations? Discuss.
flickr image credit: planigan412
Oh! The Places We’ll Go
Monday, January 18th, 2010 | Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +, Conferences and Events | No Comments
In case you haven’t heard, 2010 is going to be big–HUGE. Full of wonder, discovery, ideas and action. If you are looking to stretch your horizons this year, I’ve recently updated the “Events” tab up above just for you.
This page offers a listing of 40+ interesting conferences, events, observances and programs to keep you up to date in the world of social marketing and related areas of social change, social innovation, non-profits, and tech. From events like the World Economic Forum, to conferences like the 20th Anniversary of the Social Marketing in Public Health Conference to observances like World Day of Social Justice and Twitter chats like #4change, #hcsm, #SocEntChat and more–it’s shaping to be a powerful year.
The calendar will be continuously updated as the year goes on, so check back often as we have “Watch List” including the NIH mHealth Conference, Mobile Tech 4 Social Change and others. Oh the places we will go in 2010–may we enjoy the ride!
flickr photo credit: ForestForTrees
How Much Is the Rest of Your Life Worth?
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 | Blog Talk, Social Entrepreneurship | 6 Comments
Image from Change.org
This is not a wimpy philosophical post. We are talking dollars and sense. (Not a typo). A new business model experimient is in the works, relating to social entrpreneurship called: The Life Investment. Basically, it comes down to this question according to the Social Edge blog:
If an investor offered you a large infusion of unrestricted capital, say $300,000, with the only condition being that you would give them 3% of your income for the rest of your life, would you take the deal?
Apparently, it was fueled by this guy as the concept of personal investment contracts. Then, thanks to Nathaniel Whittemore, Change.org’s Social Entrepreneurship blogger, the conversation grew bigger until three innovative bloggers at SocialEdge, the blog hosted by the Skoll Foundation, took the leap and announced the Thrust Fund. Each has their own startup social entrepreneurship, and here is their offer:
Kjerstin: Offers 6% of her annual income for a $600,000 up front investment.
Saul and Jon: Each offering 3% for $300,000 up front.
Now this gets interesting and I have to say ballsy. If this idea and conversation gets you off your chair and gets your mind thinking, Kjerstin, Saul and Jon are hosting a conversation about their offer saying: “Invest in us; we’ll give you some of our equity for life.” I’m still marinating on this whole concept myself, but I love the innovation here. The details is where it may get tricky–but man, bravo for putting themselves out there and believing in something that strong. What do you think–if you were made the offer, what would you say: Deal? or No Deal?
Nuggets of Social Change–Round 2
Monday, December 21st, 2009 | Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +, The Bulletin | 1 Comment
Perhaps it’s the time of year, but has anyone else noticed that more people are churning out more good content? Many different items I come across deserve its own post, however, then it’s on to the next good nugget I find. Thus, I’m going to do these round-ups every once and awhile as I don’t want you to miss out on all the good information.
- Have a cause or issue that you’re passionate about? If so, you will love this article by Michael Silberman on the Huffington Post. In it, Michael shares lessons learned when it comes to digital organizing from the 350 days movement–what he terms the “most widespread day of political action in history.” I personally like how Michael emphasizes the importance of mission over technology, and how he creatively shows the importance of creative storytelling by effectively telling the 350 days story to us.
- Are you or your clients curious about the latest and great in customer relationship management models? Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang recently wrote up an in-depth post that gives an overview of 31 different CRM companies that are worth a look through.
- Recently, I touched upon how online contests and competitions were growing in popularity–seems it’s still growing. Pepsi recently announced that they were going to fore go Superbowl ads, and instead, create a micro-site slash giving competition called the “Pepsi Refresh Project.” Beth Kanter shared her thoughts about Pepsi’s move following the Chase Bank fund-raising issue as well.
- Twitter is the Oxford Dictionary’s 2009 Word of the Year. However, another contender could have been the word innovation. Look at Time Magazine’s list of the “Top 50 Inventions of 2009″. Or, check out Popular Mechanics list of “The Best 50 Inventions in the Past 50 Years.” (Guess Santa isn’t the only one making his list and checking it twice this time of year.)
- Social marketeers: Are you looking to connect with colleagues? Try one of these three upcoming social marketing conferences summed up nicely by Craig Lefebvre. A conference of sorts that I also look forward to debuting is BIBA, presented by Peter Corbett’s iStrategy Labs. BIBA looks to gather big minds with big ideas to make big actions.
- Because it’s worth mentioning again, did you get a chance to read Philip Kotler’s and Nancy Lee’s article in Stanford’s Innovation Review about Corporate Social Marketing?
A Social Shoutout
Not only are good news items coming up, but I’ve also expanded my RSS reader with some blogs I encourage you to get to know:
Social Herder: If you don’t know Will Robinson, you might want to. Will writes on all things social entrepreneurship, non-profits and general do-goodery. You can catch Will at his blog, on Twitter, or at his current gig with Ogilvy PR.
Justice for All: If you are interested in a mash-up of human rights, social enterprise, democracy and law, then you’ll appreciate the enthusiasm of Northwestern senior Akhila Koliset. Not only do I share an interest in advocating human rights with Akhila, but I continue to be inspired by her passion and the voice with which she writes. You can tell she loves to be inspired as much as she is inspiring–just check out her reading list!
What We Give: You’ve probably heard of this one, but if not, you should. Larry Blumenthal is the director of social media strategy at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and adds much value back to the marketplace through both his blog and on his Twitter stream where he talks about how social media is changing philanthropy.
What about you? Any newly discovered blogs or colleagues you’d like to give a social shoutout to?
PS: Often, these “nuggets” are shared sooner through my Twitter account. If you’re on Twitter, let’s connect @socialbttrfly.
Four Phases of Online Social Change
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 | Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +, Social Media | 3 Comments
You may agree or disagree with me on this, so I encourage your thoughts as I’m transcribing some of my own observations into the online social change field. These observations boil down to four “phases” of online social change that I think reflect our maturity into using social media tools to meet our organization’s aims:
- Awareness Building
- Fundraising
- Contests and Competitions for Change
- Advocacy
In the beginning, I feel many tools were leveraged as awareness-building mechanisms. From the initial launch of Causes to recruiting fans, followers and friends, many tools were initially set out to further awareness-building of an organization.
Then, I felt like the tools and our use of them matured as we discovered ways to leverage the tools into dollars–from Twestival to Tweetsgiving to Goodsearch. Even Causes adapted and identified birthdays as a way to increase micro-donations. You could say that online fundraising in and of itself has seen a phased formation and continues to evolve. See Beth’s Kanter’s recent post: 5 Social Media Fundraising Trends for 2009.
Then, enter the behemouths–contests and competitions like “America’s Giving Challenge,” hosted by the Case Foundation entered in the next rendition. You could say this ties into a more advanced type of fundraising, but I felt like it deserved to be on its own. As, I don’t yet think this area has been “tapped out” and neither do organizations according to Andre Blackman who interviewed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation who uses contests and competitions to further public health innovation.
However, where I feel we are still in our infancy is with online advocacy for social change. It’s starting to creep up–just look at LiveEarth’s 2009 campaign “Love, the Climate” where people were encouraged to write love letters to office holders who worked to prevent climate change or the “Be a Voice for Darfur” movement which utilized activist and blogger toolkits to further realize the campaign’s objectives. Even act.ly provided a way for people to create and spread petitions with a call to action via Twitter.
Like I said, I think advocacy is where we have the most potential to further expand. I could be biased based on my government and citizen engagement day-job type of work–but I think there’s more ways we can get involved, as citizens, in decision making and peace keeping in our local, state and Federal governments–even internationally. What about you? Where do you think we have the most room to grow and what do you predict as being phase 5? Perhaps, partnerships and collaborations might be a phase five as we see how online and social media open up new doors of opportunity across organization firewalls. Or, another phase 5 might be storytelling–as more of these functions become interwoven and organizations get better at telling their story.
What do you think?
flickr credit: flatfield
How a “Place” Strategy Can Change the World: Meet ColaLife
Monday, November 30th, 2009 | Changeblogging: NP, activism, social change +, Public Health, Social Marketing, campaigns | 2 Comments
Not too long ago, we talked about the importance of social products as part of the marketing mix. For review, the marketing mix is made up of the four p’s: product, price, promotion, and place. In the world of social marketing and social change initiatives, the “promotion p” has been stealing the spotlight for quite a while. This is why I want to highlight this amazingly wonderful place social marketing strategy–Meet ColaLife.
ColaLife, is a non-profit that is lobbying Coca-Cola to leverage its worldwide distribution channels to provide social products that help sustain life and improve public health. How exactly? –With some creative packaging in the form of “Aidpods.” With the help of these aidpods, Cola Life hopes to help achieve the following three goals:
- Reduce child mortality in developing countries (= UN Millennium Development Goal #4)
- Improve maternal health (= UN Millennium Development Goal #5)
- Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases (= UN Millennium Development Goal #6)
You can read more about the organization’s aims and objectives, but overall, I think the idea is brilliant. At just about any public health conference I’ve been to, someone always references Coca-Cola as having the classic place (distribution) marketing strategy. Now, that same strategy can actually be leveraged to make a difference. There’s just one hitch…
Coca-Cola, or a similiar corporate organization, has to sign on first. ColaLife has already had a successful trial of the program in Tanzania, and currently it’s focusing on spreading awareness of the project and gaining influence by talking with stakeholders and reviewing the strategy and overall plan. If interested, here’s five ways we can help:
- Follow @colalife on Twitter.
- Become a fan of the initiative on Facebook.
- Create your own aidpod.
- Watch the potential of this project by viewing ColaLife’s online videos.
- Donate.
Take away: This is one example of using a place strategy to do social marketing and in effect, create social change for the better. Thought: What distribution channels currently exist in your community that can be leveraged for social good?
Alexandra Bornkessel
Email: socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com
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