My Tribute to the Crazy Ones...Never Stop Believing!

Some days I feel like that terrier who has taken hold of your pant leg and won’t let go. Am I crazy? Yeah probably! Do I wonder, on many, if not most, days if I should keep going and at what point do I stop? I get asked that question a lot and the only response I can think of is, “When I stop getting signs to keep going.” I don’t know when I’ll know, I just know that I’ll know. Being an entrepreneur is not for most. It reminds me of the quote that got resurfaced upon Steve Jobs’ death that he and Apple created a Video based on:

Here’s to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have not respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world – are the ones who DO!

I don’t think I ever fully would have gotten it, if I wasn’t an entrepreneur. The life of an entrepreneur is not always easy, in fact some days it can be downright unbearably gut wrenching and painful…but I am pretty sure, if not now, for sure some day in the future I’ll look back and say “I wouldn’t have changed it for the world!”

That being said, it is not for everybody and it takes a special kind of person, indeed a crazy kind of person, who has a stomach of steel, who can take all the NO’s in stride and keep getting back up and trying again. There are many peaks and valleys in the life of an entrepreneur and most of the time, it is the little reminders and “godwinks,” that keep us going.

I recently had one of those moments when a friend sent the quote from the WSJ obituary of Ted Forstmann. At the 25^th anniversary of Forstmann Little & Company (a private equity firm), guests received an engraved silver tray with the quote:

The entrepreneur, as a creator of the new and a destroyer of the old, is constantly in conflict with convention. He inhabits a world where belief precedes results, and where the best possibilities are usually invisible to others. His world is dominated by denial, rejection, difficulty, and doubt. And although as an innovator, he is unceasingly imitated when successful, he always remains an outsider to the 'establishment.'

Words I could not have expressed more perfectly. Over and over in my career, I have witnessed as investors have said NO or clients have looked at me – or others – as if we had three heads...this disconnect between what we as entrepreneurs see and what others can imagine. I am continuously amazed (and even appalled) at those who claim to support entrepreneurs, but turn away the best ideas and champion the known, safer, quantities. Yet later, when those “alien” entrepreneurs become successful, those same people come back around and act as though they believed in them from the beginning, rather than having the courage as the entrepreneurs to provide meaningful support from the start.

I remember breathing a sigh of relief when I heard about Tim Westergren who maxed out 11 credit cards and pitched Pandora 348 times before raising enough capital to build his business – thinking to myself, “Well, I’m not there…yet” (and hopefully, I won’t ever be)!

But I remember reading the book Founders at Work by author Jessica Livingston who quoted Howard Aiken...

Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.

Some days I just don’t get it. I feel like I am standing in a room with a total no-brainer and I am jumping up and down and no one can see or hear me, like I am a social pariah or I don’t exist. It is like I am the pink elephant in the room and no one wants to be reminded of that, so they turn their heads in denial or pass me on to the next person like a hot potato. Investors say they want another Steve Jobs' and iPhone but they want it to look like Bill Gates or a Blackberry, something that they know or are familiar with. There is a complete disconnect.

And yet, there are those who when you meet them, there is a moment of recognition. Perhaps it is that acknowledgement of one “crazy one” to another or the recognition of light that you bring. They meet you and they are inspired to help. They reach into their rolodex, they send a quote or other vote of confidence, or other bag of tricks and they support you in whatever way they can! It is those moments, that as an entrepreneur keep you going.

That and the reminder of what you are trying to do. You see us “crazy ones” see things differently. We recognize an opportunity or a window to make things better, to change things and we commit our time, resources and lives to seeing that come to fruition. There is no other explanation for the abuse and rejection we go through – other than a labor of love and a persistent belief, faith and commitment to a better future and possibility for more than just ourselves.

That is how it has been in my own journey. Never in a million years, did I ever imagine it would be this difficult to create a product that could so massively transform the status quo, when the world is crying out for reform on every level and within every institution – business, finance, health care, politics, education, marriage, war, etc. It makes me realize every day how afraid of change people are – even when that change means more light, more hope, more possibility – perhaps even more so because it means just that and they are used to the darkness. Some days I don't understand how it is possible that something that is such a no brainer, could be so hard to convince people of.

Then I am reminded of the game changers before me…Galileo, Einstein, the Wright Brothers…they were scoffed at, ridiculed, even imprisoned…but in the end, they changed the game and they shifted paradigms. They believed they could change things…and they did! And so in my hours of darkness, I remember them and I am reminded to keep believing and I continue on...to be a believer...one of the "crazy ones." And I applaud and urge the other "crazy ones" to continue believing, because "Believing is seeing," rather than "Seeing is believing." I encourage you to keep getting back up and to keep on keeping on...because the world needs more of you...the world needs more of us!

You can find me at www.facebook.com/pilarstella1 and twitter @pilarstella.

Will the Western Woman Really Save the World?

The world will be saved by the western woman. ~The Dalai Lama, Vancouver Peace Summit 2009

I believe The Dalai Lama's statement to be true, particularly because I believe that I am one of these Western women that is part of being the change in this world. However, through my own experiences in creating a company to do just that – help change the world – I am realizing my own self limiting beliefs and self sabotage that whether familial, societal or just self imposed keep me from fully making that happen. I think in order for us as Western women to truly make that happen a couple key things need to shift in us, by us and for us in order for this to happen…

First, we must stop apologizing. I can’t tell you the amount of times, when I work with women, that women apologize for every misstep, missed action or inappropriate gesture. The beauty of women is that we care, we truly care and worry about others and the impacts of our actions on others. We have empathy. We can feel others and we are sensitive to anything that can negatively impact others. This doesn’t mean that we need to apologize every time we are delayed in returning a phone call or forget all together or we don’t live up to something we have committed to. I don't see men apologizing as often. In fact, I think they recognize that failure and messing up is just part of the process. If we just started to set a few more boundaries and more realistic expectations and didn’t try to take it all on, we wouldn’t find the need to apologize all the time. Save yourself and others the time and energy from apologizing all the time and set boundaries, realistic expectations and you won’t disappoint others, you won’t feel bad and you certainly won’t have to apologize so often.

We must stop doubting, questioning and second guessing ourselves. This is a big one I have experienced in my own journey, particularly in the journey to get investors for my company. I don’t know the world of seeking investors, I am learning by fire and it isn’t always easy, particularly because I wasn't raised in this world. So I second guess myself, a lot, too much in fact. Every step I take, every new experience that is unfamiliar (which is about 99% of them at this point), I question and doubt myself. When I look around in the world, I notice that I am not the only woman who does this. I don’t know if it is biology, sociology or something else all together, but it seems as though more women question and self doubt themselves than men. There is some inherent quality in men that is almost entitled, built with courage, built with an expectation of success or an understanding that failure is just expected and so with every failure comes an opportunity for success. Perhaps it is my own upbringing, but it seems to me that I am not alone in my observation, there are many women out there who suffer from this. What if we could walk into meetings with the same confidence, knowingness and self belief as our male counterparts? What if we could put aside the doubt and see and believe the end result will be at least as good, if not better than we imagined and that we are worthy and deserving of that outcome? Then the world would truly begin to experience the impact and outcomes that we are here to create.

We need to stop being afraid to claim that we are experts. Why is it that it is very easy for men to say that they are experts in an area, but rather as women we say we are knowledgeable? There is something inherent in women that we feel that if we don’t know it all, we can’t say we are an expert. Yet, when we are approached by others, we know the full expanse of an issue, the continuum of factors related to those issues and we see things from a multidimensional perspective that allow us to very often have a unique 360 degree view of a subject, we still deny that we are experts. Rather, men often times are more able earlier on to say they are experts and then fake it until they make it, as the saying goes. What if we began to say we were experts and prove it along the way with our unique world view and multidimensional perspectives?

We must stop bootstrapping. Again, I am not sure why it is, but it seems like there is some sort of underground club, that allows men to reach out and ask for more with confidence and usually get it. Rather, women, we tend to ask for less and then bootstrap our way through it and make it work, but at what cost? What if we stopped setting limitations and started reaching for the sky and asking for what we are worth and what we really need? I am always amazed at what we accomplish on the limited budgets we start out with. What if we actually started getting budgets worthy of the true vision of what we were creating? Imagine how much we could accomplish! It is kind of like Mohammed Yunnus who revolutionized microlending and gave women small loans only to show that they were the most responsible with money and the return on investment was a lot higher and paid back a lot quicker because of their keen respect for the true value of money. Can you imagine if the world started investing more in women and their ideas and visions, how much more incredible the world would be? What could we really accomplish if we stopped bootstrapping and started advocating for, fighting for and standing up for what was really needed to achieve these goals? Imagine the return on investment it would have on the world!

While each of these things may not apply to all women, I believe they are some of the reasons we are not quite there yet, but we are close, oh so close. Could you imagine what the world will be like, when we as women stop getting in our own way and start speaking our truths, living our truths and walking in the courage and confidence of all that we are and all that we are here to be and do? And what if the rest of the world started opening up to the possibilities, supporting these visions and like Mohammed Yunnus gave women the chance to truly change the world for the better?

I believe it is all possible and that believe starts with me first and foremost. Me believing in me. Me not apologizing. Me not second guessing and self doubting. Me knowing that I am an expert. Me not bootstrapping and asking for less. Me standing up with courage and strength to speak my truth. By doing this I believe and know that the world will be a better place and me as a western woman and we as western women will indeed save, or change, the world!

You can find me at www.facebook.com/pilarstella and twitter @pilarstella.

Transitions

One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. ~Andre Gide

I was recently told by a friend that there is a time during delivery of a baby in which the process is so painful that the mom wants to run and hide and to do anything but keep pushing the baby out. This time is so aptly called the transition. What a perfect metaphor for our own life transitions and the transition we are in at this moment in history.

I am seeing it everywhere and feeling it all around me - transitions - from one existence we have known to one we are very unsure of, from an old paradigm to a new. These are very uncomfortable times for many. Some days it is uncomfortable for me, even painful, to go through this transition, that is until I let go or get out of my way, go inward, meditate or do something to release my grip of what I have known and allow something else to emerge.

I have likened it to any time in history in which people have discovered new paradigms and have gone against the grain.

Galileo, known by many as the father of modern science, was very controversial in his time. His studies in astronomy and science that supported the view that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of the universe went against the prevailing beliefs of the time. When he defended his views, he was tried by the Inquisition, found suspect of heresy, was forced to recant and spent the remainder that of his life under house arrest.

Columbus, whether you support him or not, when he set off to the west, their were conflicting beliefs at the time that the world was flat or that it had a much wider diameter. Hence, he was scoffed at for the idea of discovering new lands as it went against the prevailing beliefs. But he kept going when others didn't believe, only to (re-)"discover" the Americas and disprove existing theories.

When the pioneers in America crossed the frontier to head west and discover new lands, the same apprehension and fear of the unknown also was faced - and overcome.

There are many more stories like this over history in which visionaries, stepped out of the norm, out of the accepted and out of their comfort zones to find some unknown, that they believed was there and they believed was possible, when others dared not or feared the impossible and the unknown.

I believe we are in a transition like this and when major historical transitions like this come about, we are bound to be uncomfortable. Those of us on the cutting edge are likely to be questioned, doubted, even feared. For what we are discovering dares to question the existing paradigm, to change the current world view and to challenge what we have been taught, what we know and what we believe in.

Transitions can be uncomfortable and down right scary times for everyone. Yet we must remember in these transitions that there may be a period in which we lose sight of the shore for a long time, but we must keep going to see progress. We can not go backwards, that is no longer an option.

We have little choice but to step forward and trust that the steps will appear before us. We may want to stay stuck because we can't see the next step. But something will force us there whether we like it or not, so we might as well move forward in faith and trust, knowing that something better is coming. That is one thing we may surely have learned from history, is that in times like this, moving forward, taking one step forward in the direction of progress is much better than holding on to or standing still and staying stuck with what is no longer working.

In these times of transition, may you let go and move forward to do what it is you are here to do. Learn to trust the process and welcome in the new, rather than resist it and allow the pain, turmoil and transition to persist.

You can find me at www.facebook.com/pilarstella and twitter @pilarstella.

Happy New Year, New Decade & New YOU!

Can you believe it is already 2010? I myself am pretty amazed as I wonder to myself where did 2009 go? I have heard that many are glad 2009 is over for what it was not. But I hope that as we enter 2010, we may look back and be grateful for what 2009 brought and for what 2010 will bring.

For me 2009 was a clearing out year - clearing out the old, getting clear on ME - who I am and what I want, getting clear on my priorities for my personal and professional life, my goals for OneGiving™. For many, 2009 was a hard year financially, emotionally or whatever the case may be. But I also wonder on a greater level if it was really a year for us all to get clear, to be forced to get back to the basics to get clear about what we really want in our lives. That it was a year of transition, of rebuilding, of creating a foundation for us to move forward with. If we can see it for that and not for what it didn't bring, then maybe we can be grateful and also begin to get excited at what 2010 will hold since we have done our work and built that foundation.

I recently received a few links, videos and articles that provide some different perspectives of where we are headed in 2010. I wanted to share them with you now as I believe we are entering a new era - that some have called the "biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution"(@equalman on Twitter). While the pessimists and cynics may disagree, I consider it the next biggest movement following the women's rights and civil rights era, with a shift towards humanitarian solutions and global oneness. I believe in this upcoming decade we will begin to see a world we don't even recognize as different sectors transform before our eyes. Business will shift from a solely profit centered model to a triple bottom line (people, profit and the planet), media and merchandise will move from selling to listening, people will go from disconnecting to connecting and the world will move towards oneness.

Socialnomics™ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8
This is one of the most compelling videos I have seen about the rise of social media and its impacts on people, business and beyond. Some of the most incredible statistics include: - That while it took radio 38 years, Tv 13 years, the internet 4 years and the iPod 3 years to reach 50 million users, it has taken Facebook 9 months to reach 100 million users.- If Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest behind China, India and the U.S.- By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers and 96% are on social networks. You get the picture - we are entering the Social Media Revolution - do you still think it is a FAD? Are you going to catch on or get left behind?

Starbucks LOVE Project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7D2g5v-Sg
While the Socialnomics video hit you more in the head with staggering statistics and data, this video will hit you straight into the heart. In December Starbucks launched the LOVE Project and this video shows all the people around the world who submitted videos singing Love is All You Need! Really it serves as a good reminder of what this year and decade should be all about, what is truly important in our lives and the foundation from which everything else should come. How are you going to give and receive LOVE this year and decade?

Start Ups - Looking Up http://bit.ly/4EDEgH
A recent Bloomberg article highlighted that acquisition prices for U.S. startups had climbed to a level not seen since 2007 - before the financial crisis hit. Given that I have our OneGiving™ start up going, I got excited to see that things are shifting and opportunities are opening up. So how are you going to take advantage of more opportunities? Now is the time to go for it, take a leap of faith and reach for bigger and better in 2010!

Has Drucker's Time Really Come? http://bit.ly/5Unvv5
A recent LA Times article wrote about Peter Drucker's revolutionary teachings on business management. The article talks about his belief that a corporation's role in society is to serve the customer by providing a good or service useful in terms of personal and social terms, not just profit. While he was born in Vienna in 1909, Drucker was a visionary who talked about corporate social responsibility long before it became a formal management principle. His views put him in conflict the classical economists including Milton Friedman who believed that maximization of profit was the end-all, be-all of corporations. Given the economic crisis and failings of the financial and business industries in the last few years and the rise of the ethical consumer and the responsibility revolution, I wonder if perhaps we have entered an era in which Drucker's revolutionary ideas time has truly come?

2010 Predictions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3zJm98UXzQ
This video makes some predictions about how rapidly our world will transform before us in 2010 - with transparency becoming the word of the year and in which trouble and strife will shift into growth, sharing, striving, believing and achieving. That it will be a year of great revelation of universal truths about energy and the interconnectedness of life. Are you ready for all that is to come? Prepare yourself and choose light, choose to enter the world from a heart centered space and from your true you and you will be more set up to succeed and thrive in 2010.

May you make this year the year of YOU and all that you want it to be! Because the reality is that it starts and ends with YOU! Only YOU can make the choice to shift your energy and set your dreams into motion. So set your intentions, hold true to your truths and watch the magic and mystery unfold before you! Happy New Year!

If you don't like how something is, you're the only one who as the ability to change YOU. ~ Unknown

The FUN Theory and JOY Conspiracy

Every day I am becoming more aware of how important it is for us to enJOY this journey called life, and not get so caught up in the drama, chaos and need to get to some unattainable destination. This is it! This is your life! So you might as well get busy living, or get busy dying - only you can make the choice.

In between goals is a thing called life
that has to be lived and enJOYed.
~ Sid Caesar

Many of you who know me, know that I am an eternal optimist. While I went through a very dark period in my own life, I woke up one day and realized I might as well get busy living. For me this journey has taken me to the place of not only living but living in JOY and FUN!

Despite the never ending bombardment of negativity in the media and world, I have recently been inspired by how people are putting a little dance in their step and a little song in their hearts to have more FUN and JOY in their lives and inspiring others to do the same around the world. So this month, I wanted to share with you a series of videos, blogs and more that have inspired me and are inspiring others to do the same. As I see videos, blogs and sites like these, I can't help but believe that truly indeed, we really are moving into new era of JOY, FUN, PEACE and HOPE. These are just a few examples below of how people like you and me are inspiring the change:

First and foremost is the site: http://www.thefuntheory.com/. This site and project is sponsored by Volkswagen as they have several videos on their site that show ways in which they replace normal every day activities like taking the stairs at a train station, throwing trash away at a park or recyclables away on the street with FUN activities. Their theory is that "FUN can obviously change behavior for the better." Check it out and see if there are ways that you too can be inspired to put a little more FUN in your every day routine.

Another blog, http://www.joyconspiracy.com/, is building the case about those who are conspiring to make this world a more JOYful place. This is the blog site of a friend of mine that recently launched in which he explains in his first blog (http://bit.ly/7ZfrjP) that the JOY conspiracy, much like the pessimist conspiracy that is now inundating our world, news, media and beyond with fear, doubt and negativity, took years for the programming to sink in and happened so gradually that we didn't see it coming. Much like that conspiracy, he believes there is a much more powerful, and may I dare add "stealthy"conspiracy going on, involving a massive group of people intent on creating a JOYful way of life that will refuse to be destroyed. Check it out, document and share your JOYful actions and be a part of the conspiracy and see how it makes you and others feel as you spread the JOY!

Another series of YouTube videos have extended beyond to spread the FUN and JOY to the masses. Each time I get a video like these, I am refreshed and renewed with a sense of hope for the world we are living in, the possibility and optimism, and potential for change by other "joy co-conspirators!" Put a little JOY in your own life and pass it on to others and have a little FUN:
• Grocery Store Musical: This video whether staged or not, definitely puts a smile on your face as these grocery store shoppers bust into a musical urging us to keep our fruit from being lonely by squishing our fruit together! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNemcRSO4yg.
• Wedding FUN: These two videos give a whole new perspective on walking down the aisle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMIcCY1mB3E.
and the first wedding dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqiw-Kqtlro. Doesn't that make you want to create and innovate for your big day?
• Train station dance: First came the DoReMi dance in an Antwerp train station as people bust-a-move and joined in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k, then in a train station in Liverpool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM and the clincher, though planned by ImprovEverywhere, is of a group of people who inundate the subways of New York with no pants: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9La40WwO-lU&NR=1. Imagine the giggles in your day and that of others! Doesn't it make you want to dance and spice up your life and that of others?
• Free JOY: In these two videos we get to see the power of giving away free hugs on the street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4 and a guy dancing his way around the world spreading the JOY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY.
• Creative giggles: Two videos come to mind as creative types jump on the FUN band wagon to spread some laughs on a boat : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOvaCV6uQp8 and inspire some hope with stand by me for change:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM.

Are you inspired YET? Go have FUN! Push the envelope! Act outrageously, boldly, audaciously and authentically in your truth to live fully in JOY! During this holiday season, rather than getting caught up in all the gifts that you have to purchase, perhaps instead may you be inspired to spread your gifts of FUN and JOY!

JOY is not in things, it is in us.
~Richard Wagner

September's Latest Top e-Giving News

Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett

Here is a blog that I sent out in my newsletter today - you can sign up to receive it regularly at www.onegiving.com! It is the latest news on e-giving from the month of September! Enjoy and happy reading!

The first thing that struck me this month was how much is happening with giving! My favorite was an article in Time Magazine about the Responsibility Revolution (http://bit.ly/3oyk1g). This article was a huge marker for us at OneGiving™ to let us know that, indeed, we are on the right path! Basically, the article talked about the fact that we are going through a Renaissance of sorts in which the American Consumer is becoming an Ethical Consumer and as a result, corporations are adapting their business practices away from a simple profit based model and towards a triple bottom line – impacting people, profit and the planet! This is great news for OneGiving™ as this is one of the core tenants of why we are creating OneGiving™ - to move the dial forward for businesses, consumers, nonprofits and others to become more evolved in their giving, business practices and impacts on people and the planet! Enjoy the article and the other valuable resources below!

Politics & Giving
Day of Service and Remembrance: President Obama declared September 11 a National Day of Service and Remembrance. This followed in a series of the administration’s commitment to service starting with the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, signed into law last Spring and followed by the Summer of Service – “United We Serve” campaign. http://bit.ly/16VqXg The administration encouraged people to stay involved in service throughout the year by logging volunteer activities at: http://www.911dayofservice.org/.

Corporate Giving
A New Age in Corporate Giving: A new report by LBG Research Institute found that corporate giving is changing given budget cuts and the new economy. In a survey of over 100 U.S. corporations and foundation, the report found that corporations are encouraging a shift from cash based donations to increased employee volunteer time (84%), in-kind donations (15%; e.g., office space, equipment, etc.), product donations (12%) and new strategic alliances to better align with business strategy and goals (over 50%). http://bit.ly/6OsZY

Nonprofits & Giving
Nonprofits in the Social Media Age: This is a terrific article that talks about the old model of nonprofit engagement that is a very linear and outbound model, with an organization broadcasting out to its members. Rather in the age of social media, nonprofits have to have more lateral lines of communication back and forth, much like was done in the Obama campaign and utilizing external chats, meet ups and other to fuel the talk, hype and energy focus on a nonprofit..http://bit.ly/MAe2t

Nonprofit Starvation Cycle: An article by the Stanford Social Innovation Review talks about the vicious cycle of nonprofit underfunding that starts with funders’ unrealistic expectations, the nonprofits adapt to the pressure from funders, the nonprofits spend less on overhead or underrepresent reporting expenditures, which continues the cycle of funders’ unrealistic expectations. The article highlights some of the ways to break the cycle, starting with adjusting funders’ unrealistic expectations. http://bit.ly/1anMWl

Social Media & Giving
Social Media and Executives: Good research from emarketer about the value that US executives find in Social media. More than eight in 10 management, marketing and HR executives responding to a July 2009 survey reported using social media most for brand-building, followed by networking, customer service, and various research- and information-related activities. http://bit.ly/2L6RMm

Creating an Online Community: A great blog about creating an online community for social networks, nonprofits and more. Tips include: Listen!; create bite size content; provoke conversations; signpost the way; ensure good commenting; reward active members; don’t be the bottleneck; and simplify! http://bit.ly/15O7Bk

Mobile Giving
Mobile Giving is catching on: Because most of the $300 billion a year in charitable giving in the U.S. comes from individuals, Jim Manis, chief executive of the Mobile Giving Foundation, saw mobile giving as a way to reach a new demographic. He could increase the pool of charitable donors by capitalizing on the popularity of text messaging, which is used by almost 70 percent of people aged 18 to 24. http://bit.ly/121EaO

Giving Resources
20 Funder Networks That Tweet: http://bit.ly/4z8dlv & 90 Foundations That Tweet: http://bit.ly/1l7bdR

e-Cards that Give: A site that has ecards from Care2 that generate donations as well as send greetings! http://bit.ly/QEUFx

Giving Measurement & Outcomes
Measuring the Social Impact of 'Mission Investments’: Much like the long-running debate in the nonprofit world about how to measure a charity’s performance, a movement is under way to figure out how to evaluate whether investments that seek both financial and social returns are making a difference. The absence of common standards means that investors can’t compare the social and environmental benefits of different investment opportunities, said Antony Bugg-Levine, a managing director at the Rockefeller Foundation. Even measures as simple as the number of jobs created through an investment might be counted differently from one social-investment fund to another. http://bit.ly/17Oycw

GOOD - Metrics the beat at the heart of philanthropy: Great article about what it means to design and implement evaluations in ways that honor the voices and lived experiences of those who are participants or recipients of the services, programs, and policies the field supports and funds. http://bit.ly/16xbWQ

You can find me on Twitter @pilarstella and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pilarstella.

Old Paradigm: New Paradigm in Giving

Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.
~ George Bernard Shaw

I had a conversation with a nonprofit recently that got me thinking about how times are changing and what an amazing paradigm shift we are going through. It made me wonder how many people, organizations, nonprofits and others will make it through this paradigm shift? And what will be the tipping point in this shift?

There have been a lot of recent articles and blogs about the changes in the giving industry and how giving has declined, nonprofit numbers are up, how philanthropy is changing and where we are headed (http://bit.ly/L9nPa, http://is.gd/1jUoj, http://bit.ly/9hcdS, http://bit.ly/hLewm, http://bit.ly/38xwaa, http://bit.ly/LJj6S). What seems apparent to me is there are two camps – which I am calling the old paradigm and the new paradigm.

The old paradigm: In this paradigm, there is a lot of gloom and doom about the economy, the lack of dollars and increasing competition for those resources. Interestingly enough most of these people and organizations are utilizing the old systems and are more resistant to explore and take advantage of new systems – such as online fundraising, cause marketing partnerships and other social media and opportunities. Partially, the question they ask is, “Where is the proof that these mechanisms work in fundraising? And what if these mechanisms are just the next sexy fad that blows by with little to no real measurable gains for nonprofits and change?” Excellent questions that absolutely still need to be answered. Yet, it is amazing to me the focus on the skepticism rather than the opportunity.

The new paradigm: From my experience, the people who have already shifted into the new paradigm have a certain energy, enthusiasm and excitement to them. These are the early adopters of social media (relatively speaking) who are on Twitter, Facebook and otherwise, testing out these new applications and, possibly, more importantly, spreading some extremely positive energy to engage people, corporations, and others to give and create change on the planet. Just in the last week I have seen several opportunities on line in which funds are available through these social media (http://bit.ly/diJ6A, http://bit.ly/17aUVo, http://bit.ly/KJrHA, http://communicause.com/, http://bit.ly/19Oiid). Research has even shown that nonprofits are adapting social media faster than business and education (http://www.ericmattson.com/ and http://bit.ly/12lrL5). So there is definitely movement in this direction.

The reality is that – whether you like it or not, trust that it will be beneficial or not – the internet and social media are here – and all signs point that they are here to stay and are connecting people like never before. Currently, online giving makes up less than 10% of the over $300 billion dollar giving industry (http://bit.ly/bMotj). Yet, in the 2008 Presidential election, Obama raised 33% of overall campaign dollars online – and in under $200 increments – that means there is still a significant amount of untapped potential to be reached online (http://bit.ly/2AdhY4 and http://bit.ly/19kT51). Additionally, while giving decreased for the first time in many years (http://bit.ly/YfaRx and http://www.givingusa.org/) and maybe will continue to decline this year, these losses won’t continue forever as it has been estimated that giving will reach $600 billion by 2020 and that by then over 50% of giving will be online (http://bit.ly/TLU8 and http://bit.ly/kVJMm). That means there is a lot of room for growth and opportunity to take advantage of.

Yet if you have studied paradigm shifts or know anything about them, change usually doesn’t come by working within an existing system and trying to change it from within. Rather, change comes by identifying a problem and then stepping outside the system to create new parallel systems and ideas that eventually replace the old paradigms, e.g. tape, to cd/dvd, to ipod; typewriter to word processor to computer and beyond.

I learned this the hard way, by working within the system, with nonprofits, policymakers, businesses, foundations and others, for many years trying to change the systems from within and feeling like I was banging my head against a wall every day in that process. Since then, I have stepped away from the immediate center of the problem to gain a fresh perspective and find new solutions outside of the way things were being done that can perhaps begin to provide new solutions (and paradigms) to old problems (and paradigms).

While this is exciting, there are definitely some limitations and issues to explore further as we adopt social and other media to expand nonprofit visibility and efforts to create change. But I’ll touch on those in one of my upcoming blogs!

In the mean time, the question is, will you be part of the new paradigm or will you get left behind? Will you be one of the reasonable or unreasonable people? What can you do to catch the wave and be sure to utilize the web and social media to gain resources not lose them? Check out my blog and that of others out there, as they may just help you get pointed in the right direction and so that we may all begin working together to create change on the planet and move our world in the right direction.

You can find me on Twitter @pilarstella and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pilarstella.