Tag Archives: social change

Carnival of Non-Profit Consultants: Cha-Cha-Chaaange

Hello and welcome to my first time as a host for the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants! This week was an open call, with a personal preference for social change and social marketing type posts.

The posts listed below largely discuss and point to current nonprofit marketing trends and potentially future marketing trends. Though this might not reflect social marketing per say, it is a reflection of social change….how trends surface, alter, flourish, downsize and in essence, change. So enjoy this week’s carnival!

Jordan Viator at Connection Cafe’s post Glimpses of the Past, Present and Future Online Communication Practices for Nonprofits provides an audio file from a panel discussion with nonprofit guru Vinay Bhagat. In the discussion and as Mr. Viator reflects, marketing techniques have largely changed from 2003 to 2008…greatly thanks to new media, pointing out the next big trend of constituent empowerment.

***Inserting my special ‘bonus host post’ here, as it follows up well with Mr. Viator’s idea. In my post Consumerism. What’s Your First Reaction?, I too coin my own term ‘optimistic consumerism,’ explaining that with changing media and times, the consumer is becoming more empowered than ever by having a choice. In particular, not only do we have a choice of what products or services we consume, but we also have a choice in the place we consume our information. *Props to choosing the Carnival, 😉

Rebecca Leaman at Wild Apricot continues the discussion of change in her post titled 5 Keys to Effective Knowledge Transfer for Nonprofits, where she outlines how effective communication can transfer through each phase of a message. No matter how the times and technology change, Ms. Leaman’s insights and download-able resource is priceless.

Bryan Miller at Giving in a Digital World maps out the technology hype cycle in his post titled Online Fundraising and the Hype Cycle. Mr. Miller points out how web 2.0 is making the way for community fundraising 2.0 and that knowing where your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts are will put you and your organization ahead of the curve.

Jason Dick at A Small Change-Fundraising blog outlines three core values of traditional nonprofit fundraising in his post: Cultivation, Solicitation and Stewardship. However, Mr. Dick points out that while the traditional model is good, the big umbrella term that deserves attention is relationship. According to Mr. Dick, a good relationship means good fundraising and “all bets are off” on the traditional process.

J. Karlin at Marketing and Fundraising Ideas sets the stage on how to implement change in the post Powerful yet Reasonable Goals. Karlin says that before change can even be accomplished as was in the case study given of Tufts University, one should dream big, and not overlook setting reasonable, attainable goals.

Last but not least, Jeff Brooks at Donor Power Blog offers up that any amount of change, is good change, in his post Tiny Gifts: Good or Bad?.

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s carnival. Thank you for all of the submission’s this week, as I’ve found new blogs and bloggers to follow, along with some great ideas about cha-cha-chaaaange!

Keep track of the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants, no matter which blog is hosting, by subscribing to the Carnival feed.

Another Turn on the 29-Day Giving Challenge

The 29-Day Giving Challenge movement was started by Cami, when she was faced the diagnosis of the chronic illness multiple sclerosis during a major move. A spiritual teacher of hers, Mbali Creazzo, suggested that she give away 29 things in 29 days in an effort to get outside her own struggle each day.

According to Mbali, the 29 gifts originated as an African tradition. Today, over 2,000 people have participated in the challenge so far. And, I am joining them.

The challenge focuses on giving, anything – from clothes, to money, to smiles, hugs, compliments, time and energy, love, compassion, empathy or an extra hand – any way to GIVE. The challenge does come with a set of rules, mainly, to have fun, relax and reflect.

I joined this challenge for a variety of reasons.

First, I connected to Cami’s story as my best friend has multiple sclerosis. Secondly, that same friend continues to teach me, and give to me, AND give to others on a daily basis. She is continually reading and sharing her joy for life, her keen insight into the human spirit and her enthusiasm and love for life.

So, I’m taking the challenge, and taking it another turn: I want to concentrate my giving on those that are close to me, to show appreciation and love for what they do. Often time, I think it’s easy for us to focus on trying to help others, especially in the nonprofit and social marketing fields. Sometimes, we overlook those right in front of us in the process. (Note: It’s still important to give to others, but u pickin’ up what I’m putting down, right?) Thus, I plan on doing the 29-Day Giving Challenge:

With my boyfriend. My mom. My best friend. My roommate.
And groups of people including coworkers, friends who live far away, the homeless, nonprofits, etc.

Imagine what we could do if we TARGETED not only our financial giving, but the gifts that take extra time, extra thought and that extra step…to say thank you, you are loved, and I care.

I invite you to join us! The 29-Day Giving Challenge also has an online community here.

I will share my reflections on my experience at the end of each time period.

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If you’ve participated in the 29-Day Giving Challenge, share your experiences with us in the comments section, =).

The Carnival for Non-Profit Consultants is Coming to Town

The Carnival for Non-Profit Consultants will be hosted here at SocialButterfly next week, June 16th. This carnival was originally started by Kivi Leroux Miller over at Nonprofit Communications. Today, the carnival is hosted by a different leading nonprofit and social change blogger each week.

This is my first shot at being a host for the Carnival, so I’m looking forward to reading your submissions. This week is an open call, course, I am privy to social marketing– and social change-related topics. 😉

To submit to the carnival:

Enter your submission using the blog carnival form, or
You can email the Carnival at npc.carnival@yahoo.com, OR
You can email me directly at socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com.

Deadline is Midnight, Friday, June 6th.

See you at the Carnival next week…right next to the giant, potatoe sack slide…that’s always been my favorite ride! =)

Debate Continues: Does anonymity hurt social media success?

As mentioned in my previous post, I read an interesting article by Dan Tynan titled: For Change, Use a Wiki. This particular article grabbed my attention not because of its discussion about wikis, but because of two other main points Tynan makes:

Collaborative web sites are becoming tools for social change…driving collective work into collective action.
The other reason this article grabbed my attention was because it brought up the issue of anonymity when dealing with collective action and social change by asking the question:

Does anonymity injure a social media initiative’s success?

Tynan not only talks about wikis potential good for social change, but also warns that this collective action can too easily mean collective anonymity.

With collective anonymity, it is harder to identify who is doing what and why. It is like an added shield of protection in someways in that with anonymity, accountability is lacking. This is especially dangerous when it comes to collective think.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Miss SocialButterfly, you are anonymous.” I am already ahead of you. I am open to disclosing who I am. If someone contacts me or asks me, and there is professional relationship-building occurring, then I will openly share who I am, what I am doing and why. Plus, I am an individual.

Thus, onto this question at hand. The article continues acknowledging that there will always be ill-intentioned individuals and groups out in existence and is optimistic that the good, the changebloggers and agents for good, will outnumber the bad.

Tynan gave two credentials for how to separate the pack for well-intentioned and ill-intentioned motives. The good will not be anonymous because A) They care about their online reputations and B) Want to collaborate for social change.

In conclusion, Tynan quotes quotes Andrew Hopping, Community Liaison for NASA’s CoLab wiki who shared:

“As with any technology, there are benevolent uses and malevolent ones. In any community I’m part of there’s little patience for people who want to stay anonymous. Our goal is to create a vibrant, transparent, and effective federal agency. To cause any form of social change, it starts with and ends with people you trust. Anonymity doesn’t lend itself to that at all.”

Where do you stand? Can social change be accomplished despite anonymity?

Indeed, there is a Social Marketing Wiki…

Upon my flight into Baltimore the other day, I read an interesting US Airways Magazine article in its Digital Life Section titled: For Change, Use a Wiki. This particular article for some odd reason, I can’t find online, but it was written by Dan Tynan who also has his own blog Tynan on Technology.

In this article, Tynan leads stating:

“Collaborative Web sites are becoming tools for social change. [Continuing] …What started as an easy way to collaborate has morphed into a tool that could change the world.”

This article first gained my attention because it talked about wikis in particular and how they could relate to social change movements. Backing up, a wiki is a collaborative work space of web pages that allows for anyone who can access them to edit, contribute or modify content. A wiki can also track the editing process and can either be public for open access, such as Wikipedia, or be used internally with access for certain users.

Tynan’s article raised my eyebrows [1] because he raises attention that Wikis are now turning the term collective work into collective action. And, today, of all things, guess what I find… THE SOCIAL MARKETING WIKI.

Social Marketing Wiki
- Mission: Highlight and provide a learning, collaborative resource for social marketers. The wiki is an open source for ‘people who want to pass along and exchange ideas, methods, examples and wisdom of introducing and enhancing the knowledge and skills of social marketing among various groups of people.’ -Lefebvre

I was elated! To my surprise, this wiki was originally established in 2006 according to a blog post by social marketing expert Craig Lefebvre! And, I am just now finding it…at least late, is better than never. The wiki has categories for: academic programs, case studies, definitions, research studies, professional development, Job Postings, and many more resources and materials.

The wiki was launched by a group from the social marketing listserv and its top contributors include Lefebvre, social marketing researcher Stephen Dann, and others. The wiki currently has 120 members, and has some recent activity.

Anyone know any updates on the wiki and where it stands? Would love to discuss. Thanks!

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The other reason this article grabbed my attention was because it brought up the issue of anonymity when dealing with collective action and social change. Stay tuned for the next post for more information.