As the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and we must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace. For the world has changed, and we must change with it. ~President Barack Obama
If you haven’t seen the TED video with Katherine Fulton on Philanthropy (http://bit.ly/CnGH3), I highly recommend you see it! She talks eloquently and inspiringly on the democratization of philanthropy and how it is changing from a field of the few to one of the many. Philanthropy is becoming democratized through mass collaboration and collective philanthropy, online philanthropy marketplaces and aggregated and matching giving, through innovative competition and social investing. Through her explanation, she describes that “we are acting our way into a new way of thinking as philanthropy completely reorganizes."
Additionally, research demonstrates that nonprofits have outpaced businesses and education in using social media (http://www.ericmattson.com/ and http://bit.ly/12lrL5) due to the low cost marketing ability to engage, share, listen and promote what they are passionate about and elicit new donors. As the more traditional ways of giving and philanthropy are shifting, so is the way everyone is thinking about giving and DOing giving!
We are truly entering a new era in giving and philanthropy. Businesses are shifting their practices to incorporate triple bottom line (people, profit and the planet) into their business principles as they see the benefits both for the planet and for their bottom lines. A Cone Research study (http://bit.ly/ACRWd) demonstrated that 79% of consumers would be likely to switch from one brand to another if that brand was associated with a good cause – that is good business. As that happens we are seeing businesses shift they way the do business – incorporating support for causes and change on the planet. While there is a lot of debate about whether cause marketing (or consumption philanthropy) is a good thing (http://bit.ly/i15Ui and http://bit.ly/11TZix), the reality is that it is happening and changing the face of business and philanthropy.
From the other end of the spectrum, the way individuals give is changing. More individuals are engaging online to share, promote and showcase their favorite causes and nonprofits. From every direction, philanthropy is becoming a more mainstream part of life, business and the way we think. Even Obama’s Presidential campaign demonstrated the need and desire for combining social media and fundraising, as he raised over 1/3 of his campaign funds online (http://bit.ly/2AdhY4). Obama “evolutionized” giving by creating a movement around change and giving – he “democratized” giving – because people wanted not only to give but they wanted to be a part of the larger giving community and movement.
How are you a part of the movement of giving and change? What more can you do in your business and life to be a part of the change? How are you changing with the world instead of being left behind? Give Today! Live Today! Be a Part of the Change!
Happy #2GiveTues (to replace #charitytuesday)! I can be found on Twitter @pilarstella and on Facebook www.facebook.com/pilarstella!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
This Week’s Top 9+ Giving & Social Media News
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. ~ Pericles
On this #FollowFriday, I decided to pull together this week’s latest news on giving and social media. It feels as though every week there is more innovation and excitement going on around giving, philanthropy, change and social media. Here is my latest attempt to pick the best and most interesting news of the week. Enjoy and please share with me other news and interesting stories when you can. Also share and pass along to others!
1. Giving Trends. Several of the latest giving reports released found:
- A Survey by The Chronicle of Philanthropy of 65 nonprofits revealed that giving is down 2/3 through first five months of 2009. Despite this, the study found an increase in the number of individual donors, but a decrease in the amount given per donor. http://bit.ly/L9nPa
- A report funded in part by the Wallace Foundation found that between 1990 and 2006, the nation’s private and community foundations increased their support for activities for women and girls by 223 percent. Yet giving for these populations still remains a small percentage of foundations’ overall giving. http://bit.ly/3xeyY
- A survey by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch found that the numbers of millionaires worldwide shrank by 15 percent in 2008, with assets dropping 20 percent. http://bit.ly/teOIZ
2. Giving & Hollywood. While the Philanthropist TV show aired this week and captured 7 million viewers, the question is whether philanthropy will take advantage of the opportunity afforded by Hollywood’s release of this TV show about a billionaire turned philanthropist. While the TV show was engaging, it likely won’t do much to truly educate viewers on the role of philanthropy – that is a job left up to foundations and others to educate people on. http://bit.ly/ZriOs
3. Mobile Giving. Mobile giving providers are growing rapidly as several new mobile giving programs have released including: Givabit will be a new and *free* iPhone application that features charities on a daily basis allowing users to discover worthy causes and easily contribute micro donations to them http://bit.ly/PX7xu; mobile donations are coming via text to the United Kingdom and technology provider WIN has agreed to waive transaction fees http://mobilegivinginsider.com/; and others to recently release mobile giving solutins include MobileCause’s mobile donation program, GiveByCell and GiveOnTheGo giving solutions http://bit.ly/yBhAu.
4. Google Service. This week Google launched http://www.allforgood.org/ a community service search engine that volunteer opportunities from around the US from a number of nonprofits and other websites. All For Good is also now being used to power the search portion of Service.gov, Obama’s service site launched last week http://bit.ly/11GADR.
5. Giving & Social Media. Here are some resources on social media for nonprofits.
- DIOSA communications released a list of 10 Best Practices for Nonprofits on Twitter and for Facebook Pages. For twitter recommendations included being authentic, thankful and nice, using favorites to organize important tweets, tweet other people’s content, regularly tweet but don’t overtweet and others http://bit.ly/MYGll. For Facebook tips include configuring your page for more participation, using your organizational logo for the picture, add regular new links, spark conversation on your page with questions, use “Causes”, “Notes” and other apps http://bit.ly/OLXce.
- An accesscharity blog this week talks about nonprofits on twitter and other social media http://bit.ly/3zmL3.
6. Cause Marketing & Giving. I had to share a couple of articles related to cause marketing as there is a lot of debate and discussion about the pros and cons of cause marketing, including:
- A cause marketing article talks about the new concept “antripreneur” that disturbs some and fits others http://ow.ly/fJAs;
- An article by Angela Eikenberry calls cause marketing “consumption philanthropy” and argues that it compromises the potential for nonprofits to enhance society http://bit.ly/i15Ui and the great discussion that ensued http://bit.ly/11TZix.
7. Giving URL Shorteners. http://www.giv.to/ has released a URL Shortener for Causes, Non-profits, and Political Campaigns that encourages users to click with a call to action and ensures trustworthy links. The site is worth checking out. For additional information on the best URL shorteners, Beaconfire blog shows a comparison. http://bit.ly/mSr3Y Additionally http://www.contribune.org/ has a tool that shortens URLs in addition to providing news stories on giving and steering donations to nonprofits in the process.
8. Evolving Giving. As the giving evolves, so do the models, language and existing ways of doing things. Several articles illustrate these changes:
- More and more people are looking at blending the lines between for-profit and nonprofit business models. Recent hybrid corporate structure models are allowing non-profits to accept private investment w/out diluting missions and for-profits to incorporate nonprofit principles http://bit.ly/pDV0G.
- Many people don’t like the word “nonprofit” (or “charity” for that matter ;), so there are discussions about new names – “delta sector” is one http://bit.ly/pDV0G, whereas in other parts of the world “third sector” is used as well. What do you like?
- Democratization of Philanthropy. Katherine Fulton talks on TED about how philanthropy is changing with new models including mass collaboration and collective philanthropy, online philanthropy marketplaces, aggregated giving, innovation competition and social investing. Katherine articulates a new moral hunger as we are acting our way into a new way of thinking. Philanthropy is reorganizing and as lines blend new terms including philanthro-capitalism, natural capitalism, and others describe these new evolutions and will continue to transform http://bit.ly/CnGH3.
9. Giving Advice. This week’s news includes some practical tips for the donors and nonprofits, including:
- 5 Fun Ways to Give to Charity on a Budget http://bit.ly/12uxIj
- A question and discussion ensues about determining the right amount to give to nonprofits http://bit.ly/Pbje7
- 3 Questions to Ask before starting another nonprofit http://bit.ly/14ftTt
You can follow me on twitter @pilarstella. Also send me your thoughts, favorites and other news! Have a great #followfriday!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Is It Social Entrepreneurship or Conscious Capitalism?
What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up, and remake the world for the better. ~ David Bornstein
In order to make money you have to serve other people – for me that’s the beauty of conscious capitalism. ~Fred Kofman
I recently spoke at a Fulbright Scholars Event on the topic of Social Entrepreneurship. It left me thinking for weeks about the topic and the direction we are moving as a society and as a world as it relates to business, philanthropy and where the two shall meet.
As I looked at the definitions of social entrepreneurship, I found:
- an entrepreneur who engages in business seeking both financial and social return;
- the art of persistently and creatively leveraging resources to capitalize upon marketplace opportunities in order to achieve sustainable social change;
- any earned-income business or strategy undertaken by a nonprofit for the purpose of generating revenue in support of the nonprofit’s social mission; and
- a social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to make social change;
- Social enterprises are “more-than-profit.”
It left me lacking and wanting for more. So I looked into conscious business, conscious capitalism, creative capitalism and sustainable business:
- Enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy;
- Business that has progressive environmental and human rights policies;
- A business enterprise that seeks to be aware of the effects of its actions, and to consciously affect human beings and the environment in a beneficial way;
- Conscious business has emerged from the theory of Corporate Social Responsibility, and is currently related to movements of Not Just For Profit Business Models, Conscious Consumerism, and Socially Responsible Investing - also referred to as “Conscious Capitalism”; and
- Creative capitalism an approach where governments, businesses and nonprofits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world’s inequities (Bill Gates).
As I saw these definitions, the questions started swarming in my head. Is there really a difference between social entrepreneurship and conscious capitalism? OR is there really a continuum between the two? Is it possible that these are slowly evolving and becoming one?
From what I can tell businesses are evolving towards more corporate social responsibility, conscious capitalism, cause marketing and incorporating triple bottom line into their corporate philosophies. From my perspective, those are the businesses that are thriving and succeeding in a down economy. These businesses understand that investing in the planet and people in addition to profit actually improves their bottom line – their profit.
On the flip side, successful nonprofits and social entrepreneurs are evolving their sustainability and organizational models by incorporating more expansive mechanisms for “revenues” beyond the traditional grants, gifts and donations. In order to evolve in a competitive market, increasing need and a down economy, nonprofits are required to evolve to stay alive. Isn’t that Darwin’s theory of evolution?
So I wonder in our next evolution, if we won’t just see a blending between social enterprise and conscious business, but also between the for-profit and nonprofit models? I know there are all types of legal ramifications of this, but if done in a smart way, why not? Is it really wrong to do good and make a profit (a discussion for another day)? Or to do good, make change and be of service to and transform traditional business principles in the process?
Could the next evolution be a hybrid of the two? If and as for profits understand the need to incorporate nonprofit principles into their businesses and the need for partnerships with nonprofits to succeed and thrive AND as non profits become seen less as the recipient of grants, but more of a provider of service to the planet, community AND businesses itself – wouldn’t the line of division slowly dissipate?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Food for thought for me for sure! It will be an interesting era to see as social media transforms not only the way we do business, but the way we GIVE & RECEIVE and perceive nonprofits and for profits, social entrepreneurs and conscious capitalists, and the continuum or boundaries between them!
What do you think?
You can also find me on Twitter @pilarstella.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Latest Top 10 News on Giving & Social Media
There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. ~Richard Bach
Since I got such good feedback from my listing of the latest in news on Giving and Social Media last week, I thought I would try to continue the trend on a regular (maybe not weekly) basis. So in trying to help you (and me) keep my head straight on all that is going on related to giving and social media, here are my latest top 10 news tidbits on all that is giving and social media. Happy reading!
1. Giving Trends: Giving USA Report Released: 2008 marked the first drop in charitable giving since 1987 and only the second time giving has fallen in 50 years. Despite this and given the worst economic climate since the Great Depression, giving still exceeded $300 billion for the second year in a row and still reached over 2.2% of GDP. For more on the report go to: http://bit.ly/YfaRx and http://www.givingusa.org/.
2. Mobile Giving Applications: New giving applications are getting ready to be released. Apple is considering a new iPhone app called Givabit http://bit.ly/dSNnE). MobileCause is helping to mobilize causes through text donations (http://bit.ly/13XxWR). Additionally, Chance to Give (http://www.chancetogive.org/) has released a mobile application to give to cuases. What more will be in store for us in the coming year?
3. President’s Summer Service Campaign: President Obama launched the “United WE Serve” Summer Service Campaign beginning June 22nd through September 11th, deemed “The National Day of Service and Remembrance.” President Obama launched this to promote service and encourage people to volunteer. With it http://www.serve.gov/ was launched to enable community members to register their service projects. More at http://bit.ly/ZhZU7.
4. Why Nonprofit CEOs Should Use Social Media: This is a great presentation and article about why CEOs in general and nonprofit CEOs should use social media. As business becomes global, so must CEOs reach become more global and more personal – social media allows for both. Check it out at http://bit.ly/k3QH4.
5. Demography & Giving: A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy Prospecting article proposes that shifting demographics can be more of a factor to consider in giving and fundraising than the economic downturn. The article encourages fundraisers to consider the implications of an aging and more diverse population – focusing on new strategies for baby boomers with extended life expectancies, younger givers and trends in giving for minority populations which will become “majority” by 2050. Nonprofits need to respond to these trends and adapt their fundraising strategies accordingly. More at http://bit.ly/16yKpJ.
6. Change & Social Media: While this article is from May, it is a great one from Mashable about ways to change the world through social media. Recommendations include take social actions, twitter with a purpose, choose your cause, host a social media event, and more at: http://bit.ly/NElPE.
7. Giving & Profit: This is one of my favorite articles and discussions that ensued about whether or not online giving sites should charge fees for giving. It is one near and dear to my heart (and our internal discussions as we build OneGiving). Online giving sites are providing a service – this article and the follow up comments explore the pros and cons – weigh in, it is a worthy discussion: http://bit.ly/Y43uk. Another article from the Huffington Post explores whether volunteerism and service can become profitable http://bit.ly/hVsR9. Another article discusses cons of cause marketing http://bit.ly/11TZix. All of these discussions are valuable to initiate the dialogue about the blended line between for profit and nonprofit efforts.
8. Donors & Web 2.0: A recent article on http://www.change.org/ highlights traits of Web 2.0 donors – including how they are younger, give in smaller amounts and ways in which they want to interact. As we move from Web 1.0 to 2.0, it is crucial that online giving sites and nonprofits begin to adapt with the changes or be left behind. In a related article, change.org encourages all nonprofits to keep updating their Guidestar entries to stay up to date with all the Web 2.0 giving sites: http://bit.ly/Ght8h.
9. Global Philanthropy: A recent article explores the implications of proposed new regulations that may impede international nonprofits and aid groups in a crackdown on foreign philanthropy. What will the greater implications be for global giving? Join the discussion: http://bit.ly/huyix.
10. Additional Resources: The List of Change recently released a new ranking of cause related blogs with over 170 listed: http://bit.ly/tvZCK. Pew’s Research on American Life and the Internet released the latest data on different types of internet use. Data says that 20% of users make donations online: http://bit.ly/HgrnA. An online social network for grantwriters: http://grantwriters.ning.com/. A new site creates a community where your online time benefits nonprofits of choice: http://www.jackthedonkey.com/.
You can find me on twitter @pilarstella. Keep the dialogue going!
Since I got such good feedback from my listing of the latest in news on Giving and Social Media last week, I thought I would try to continue the trend on a regular (maybe not weekly) basis. So in trying to help you (and me) keep my head straight on all that is going on related to giving and social media, here are my latest top 10 news tidbits on all that is giving and social media. Happy reading!
1. Giving Trends: Giving USA Report Released: 2008 marked the first drop in charitable giving since 1987 and only the second time giving has fallen in 50 years. Despite this and given the worst economic climate since the Great Depression, giving still exceeded $300 billion for the second year in a row and still reached over 2.2% of GDP. For more on the report go to: http://bit.ly/YfaRx and http://www.givingusa.org/.
2. Mobile Giving Applications: New giving applications are getting ready to be released. Apple is considering a new iPhone app called Givabit http://bit.ly/dSNnE). MobileCause is helping to mobilize causes through text donations (http://bit.ly/13XxWR). Additionally, Chance to Give (http://www.chancetogive.org/) has released a mobile application to give to cuases. What more will be in store for us in the coming year?
3. President’s Summer Service Campaign: President Obama launched the “United WE Serve” Summer Service Campaign beginning June 22nd through September 11th, deemed “The National Day of Service and Remembrance.” President Obama launched this to promote service and encourage people to volunteer. With it http://www.serve.gov/ was launched to enable community members to register their service projects. More at http://bit.ly/ZhZU7.
4. Why Nonprofit CEOs Should Use Social Media: This is a great presentation and article about why CEOs in general and nonprofit CEOs should use social media. As business becomes global, so must CEOs reach become more global and more personal – social media allows for both. Check it out at http://bit.ly/k3QH4.
5. Demography & Giving: A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy Prospecting article proposes that shifting demographics can be more of a factor to consider in giving and fundraising than the economic downturn. The article encourages fundraisers to consider the implications of an aging and more diverse population – focusing on new strategies for baby boomers with extended life expectancies, younger givers and trends in giving for minority populations which will become “majority” by 2050. Nonprofits need to respond to these trends and adapt their fundraising strategies accordingly. More at http://bit.ly/16yKpJ.
6. Change & Social Media: While this article is from May, it is a great one from Mashable about ways to change the world through social media. Recommendations include take social actions, twitter with a purpose, choose your cause, host a social media event, and more at: http://bit.ly/NElPE.
7. Giving & Profit: This is one of my favorite articles and discussions that ensued about whether or not online giving sites should charge fees for giving. It is one near and dear to my heart (and our internal discussions as we build OneGiving). Online giving sites are providing a service – this article and the follow up comments explore the pros and cons – weigh in, it is a worthy discussion: http://bit.ly/Y43uk. Another article from the Huffington Post explores whether volunteerism and service can become profitable http://bit.ly/hVsR9. Another article discusses cons of cause marketing http://bit.ly/11TZix. All of these discussions are valuable to initiate the dialogue about the blended line between for profit and nonprofit efforts.
8. Donors & Web 2.0: A recent article on http://www.change.org/ highlights traits of Web 2.0 donors – including how they are younger, give in smaller amounts and ways in which they want to interact. As we move from Web 1.0 to 2.0, it is crucial that online giving sites and nonprofits begin to adapt with the changes or be left behind. In a related article, change.org encourages all nonprofits to keep updating their Guidestar entries to stay up to date with all the Web 2.0 giving sites: http://bit.ly/Ght8h.
9. Global Philanthropy: A recent article explores the implications of proposed new regulations that may impede international nonprofits and aid groups in a crackdown on foreign philanthropy. What will the greater implications be for global giving? Join the discussion: http://bit.ly/huyix.
10. Additional Resources: The List of Change recently released a new ranking of cause related blogs with over 170 listed: http://bit.ly/tvZCK. Pew’s Research on American Life and the Internet released the latest data on different types of internet use. Data says that 20% of users make donations online: http://bit.ly/HgrnA. An online social network for grantwriters: http://grantwriters.ning.com/. A new site creates a community where your online time benefits nonprofits of choice: http://www.jackthedonkey.com/.
You can find me on twitter @pilarstella. Keep the dialogue going!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Top 10 Philanthropy, Nonprofit and Social Entrepreneur Experts to Follow on Twitter
The more I give away, the more that comes back. That is the way life works, and that is the way energy works. ~ Ken Blanchard
Since it is #FollowFriday on Twitter today, I thought I would recommend the Top 10 Philanthropy, Nonprofit and Social Entrepreneurial Experts to follow on Twitter. I will try to regularly add some of my favorite and best picks for resources on these subjects and others, but will start with these for this week. My picks are not based on who does the most self promoting, but who I look to regularly to provide the latest and most up to date information and resources on giving and change! So check these resources out and enjoy your #FollowFriday:
1. @Kanter – Beth Kanter is a blogger, training and consultant nonprofits in the effective use of social media. She has great resources, links and information on the intersection between the nonprofit world and the latest and greatest social media and technology. She also has a great sense of humor and puts fun spins on all she does. Check her out!
2. @Sumaya – Sumaya Kazi is a Senior Social Media Manager at Sun Microsystems. Though at 26, she has already won awards for Young Entrepreneurship for founding TheCulturalConnect, an online media publishing company dedicated to young professionals around the world. She is passionate and shares wild and wacky random Sumaya musings. But she is also an excellent resource on anything social media, social entrepreneurial and giving back. Finally, she also is known for her quick wit on twitter and her salsa dancing. This is one woman you don’t want to miss on Twitter.
3. @Philanthropy – This is the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s official Twitter page. It is updated regularly by Peter Panepento with the latest and greatest up-to-date information on philanthropy, social media, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit news and otherwise. Definitely a necessary regular read.
4. @Philanthropy411 – Kris Putnam-Walker is a philanthropy consultant, evaluator and speaker. She is compiling a list of community foundations on Twitter and provides the latest information and links on philanthropy and nonprofits. Read on!
5. @Nonprofitorgs – This Twitter-er provides up-to-date information on nonprofit organizations and serves as a portal to all nonprofits. They only follow nonprofit organizations, but they are worth following to see what’s happening.
6. @Nonprofitmatrix – Run buy George Irish, this is an online directory of service providers for nonprofits and social causes. You can follow and add a listing for your service or software, but more importantly you get informative information in the field.
7. @Kenscommentary & @charitynav – Ken Berger is the President of Charity Navigator (Happy 1 Year Anniversary Ken)! Through his personal tweets and the tweets of Charity Navigator itself, you will get some dry humor, thoughtful musings, oh yeah, and some great up to date information on what’s happening in the nonprofit realm. Worth a follow.
8. @Koodooz – I don’t know who this woman is, but she tweets about great stuff going on by youth in particular and nonprofits, cause marketing and beyond. She is a truly fun person to follow – you can just feel her heart and passion for all that she posts. Definitely two big thumbs up!
9. @stevedrake & @causeaholic – Steve Drake is the CEO of Drake Co, an accredited Association Management Company that focuses on associations, social media and agriculture. Steve is an award winning cause marketer and is passionate about working together with for profits and nonprofits. He provides resources and good discussions around cause marketing that are relevant for everyone in the field. Thanks…keep tweeting. Definitely worth a tweet out.
10. @howardlake & @ukfundraising – Howard Lake is an online fundraising writer, trainer and consultant. He is also the publisher of UK Fundraising, an online resource for professional nonprofit fundraisers. He keeps us up to date on what is going on in the UK and beyond. Follow his tweets, for sure!
Now, these are just my favorite top 10 that I follow on Twitter. I will continue to add more as I find more that provide as great up to date information and help keep me informed on what’s going on in the world of cause marketing, social media, social entrepreneurship, nonprofits and philanthropy. I will also do my best in the coming weeks and months to provide other relevant information on giving sites, nonprofits and related news.
Who do you follow for related tweets? Please share with us all!
You can follow me @pilarstella!
Since it is #FollowFriday on Twitter today, I thought I would recommend the Top 10 Philanthropy, Nonprofit and Social Entrepreneurial Experts to follow on Twitter. I will try to regularly add some of my favorite and best picks for resources on these subjects and others, but will start with these for this week. My picks are not based on who does the most self promoting, but who I look to regularly to provide the latest and most up to date information and resources on giving and change! So check these resources out and enjoy your #FollowFriday:
1. @Kanter – Beth Kanter is a blogger, training and consultant nonprofits in the effective use of social media. She has great resources, links and information on the intersection between the nonprofit world and the latest and greatest social media and technology. She also has a great sense of humor and puts fun spins on all she does. Check her out!
2. @Sumaya – Sumaya Kazi is a Senior Social Media Manager at Sun Microsystems. Though at 26, she has already won awards for Young Entrepreneurship for founding TheCulturalConnect, an online media publishing company dedicated to young professionals around the world. She is passionate and shares wild and wacky random Sumaya musings. But she is also an excellent resource on anything social media, social entrepreneurial and giving back. Finally, she also is known for her quick wit on twitter and her salsa dancing. This is one woman you don’t want to miss on Twitter.
3. @Philanthropy – This is the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s official Twitter page. It is updated regularly by Peter Panepento with the latest and greatest up-to-date information on philanthropy, social media, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit news and otherwise. Definitely a necessary regular read.
4. @Philanthropy411 – Kris Putnam-Walker is a philanthropy consultant, evaluator and speaker. She is compiling a list of community foundations on Twitter and provides the latest information and links on philanthropy and nonprofits. Read on!
5. @Nonprofitorgs – This Twitter-er provides up-to-date information on nonprofit organizations and serves as a portal to all nonprofits. They only follow nonprofit organizations, but they are worth following to see what’s happening.
6. @Nonprofitmatrix – Run buy George Irish, this is an online directory of service providers for nonprofits and social causes. You can follow and add a listing for your service or software, but more importantly you get informative information in the field.
7. @Kenscommentary & @charitynav – Ken Berger is the President of Charity Navigator (Happy 1 Year Anniversary Ken)! Through his personal tweets and the tweets of Charity Navigator itself, you will get some dry humor, thoughtful musings, oh yeah, and some great up to date information on what’s happening in the nonprofit realm. Worth a follow.
8. @Koodooz – I don’t know who this woman is, but she tweets about great stuff going on by youth in particular and nonprofits, cause marketing and beyond. She is a truly fun person to follow – you can just feel her heart and passion for all that she posts. Definitely two big thumbs up!
9. @stevedrake & @causeaholic – Steve Drake is the CEO of Drake Co, an accredited Association Management Company that focuses on associations, social media and agriculture. Steve is an award winning cause marketer and is passionate about working together with for profits and nonprofits. He provides resources and good discussions around cause marketing that are relevant for everyone in the field. Thanks…keep tweeting. Definitely worth a tweet out.
10. @howardlake & @ukfundraising – Howard Lake is an online fundraising writer, trainer and consultant. He is also the publisher of UK Fundraising, an online resource for professional nonprofit fundraisers. He keeps us up to date on what is going on in the UK and beyond. Follow his tweets, for sure!
Now, these are just my favorite top 10 that I follow on Twitter. I will continue to add more as I find more that provide as great up to date information and help keep me informed on what’s going on in the world of cause marketing, social media, social entrepreneurship, nonprofits and philanthropy. I will also do my best in the coming weeks and months to provide other relevant information on giving sites, nonprofits and related news.
Who do you follow for related tweets? Please share with us all!
You can follow me @pilarstella!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Redefining Charity for the 21st Century
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. ~Bertold Brecht
As I sat down to write on what is called “Charity Tuesday” on Twitter, I started thinking further about the word charity and wondered if it bothers others as much as it bothers me?
I wrote a blog about it recently and haven’t stopped thinking about it, particularly when everywhere around me, people and organizations are talking about their charities of choice. Now don’t get me wrong, I am excited and thrilled to see people getting excited and incorporating causes into their lives, work and other life priorities. What an amazing time!
Yet, it keeps hitting me that as with everything else going on with the web, that perhaps the way we think about giving and “charity” may begin to change as well with the times!
When the web was created, it was used as a business tool to enhance existing business practice, but for its first generation really was used in the same traditional ways of business. However, with the latest iteration of the web and social media, we are beginning to see a new wave and trend in the web, in which it is becoming its own live organism and rather than the more linear relationships and uses of the web in the more traditional ways, people are beginning to cross-interact and the web is beginning to have a life of its own.
From everything I can tell, this is a trend that will is beginning to happen with giving as philanthropy becomes more active on the social web. For decades, the concept of giving has been rooted in the philosophy of “charity.” I give to you, and with it has come somewhat of a hierarchy. However, as nonprofits begin to outpace corporations and education in using the social web (http://tinyurl.com/28syby), this linear and hierarchical dynamic will rapidly begin to change.
With these foreseeable changes, the relationship between the donor and the recipient is set to shift dramatically. Nonprofits will no longer be seen as solely doing good and will not be required purely to ask for gifts, grants and donations. Rather, they will begin to be seen as resources of information, change agents and the dynamic between giver and receiver will rapidly transform. We are already beginning to see this as the interaction between donor and recipient, with the help of the social web, becomes more interactive, co-creative and synergistic.
Do you think in this evolutionary change in dynamic between the donor and recipient, the view of “charity” and the word itself might change? Perhaps as our paradigms shift in so many ways during this new millenium, we may also see our language shift to accomodate those changes. What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
You can find me on Twitter @pilarstella. Have a beautiful #charitytuesday as they say, or perhaps we might start calling it #causetuesday or otherwise - do you have any ideas on the name? Let me know!
As I sat down to write on what is called “Charity Tuesday” on Twitter, I started thinking further about the word charity and wondered if it bothers others as much as it bothers me?
I wrote a blog about it recently and haven’t stopped thinking about it, particularly when everywhere around me, people and organizations are talking about their charities of choice. Now don’t get me wrong, I am excited and thrilled to see people getting excited and incorporating causes into their lives, work and other life priorities. What an amazing time!
Yet, it keeps hitting me that as with everything else going on with the web, that perhaps the way we think about giving and “charity” may begin to change as well with the times!
When the web was created, it was used as a business tool to enhance existing business practice, but for its first generation really was used in the same traditional ways of business. However, with the latest iteration of the web and social media, we are beginning to see a new wave and trend in the web, in which it is becoming its own live organism and rather than the more linear relationships and uses of the web in the more traditional ways, people are beginning to cross-interact and the web is beginning to have a life of its own.
From everything I can tell, this is a trend that will is beginning to happen with giving as philanthropy becomes more active on the social web. For decades, the concept of giving has been rooted in the philosophy of “charity.” I give to you, and with it has come somewhat of a hierarchy. However, as nonprofits begin to outpace corporations and education in using the social web (http://tinyurl.com/28syby), this linear and hierarchical dynamic will rapidly begin to change.
With these foreseeable changes, the relationship between the donor and the recipient is set to shift dramatically. Nonprofits will no longer be seen as solely doing good and will not be required purely to ask for gifts, grants and donations. Rather, they will begin to be seen as resources of information, change agents and the dynamic between giver and receiver will rapidly transform. We are already beginning to see this as the interaction between donor and recipient, with the help of the social web, becomes more interactive, co-creative and synergistic.
Do you think in this evolutionary change in dynamic between the donor and recipient, the view of “charity” and the word itself might change? Perhaps as our paradigms shift in so many ways during this new millenium, we may also see our language shift to accomodate those changes. What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
You can find me on Twitter @pilarstella. Have a beautiful #charitytuesday as they say, or perhaps we might start calling it #causetuesday or otherwise - do you have any ideas on the name? Let me know!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Top 10 News and Tips on Giving and Social Media
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. ~ Albert Einstein - Perhaps not! ~ Pilar Stella
As I sat down to write my blog today and I thought about this quote, I thought to myself, “Perhaps, not!” You see it seems to me that we are in an amazing era in which our technology might just be beginning to enhance our humanity. As I thought about all of the different social media tools, news and tips that are being used to enhance and transform nonprofits and giving, my head started to spin. So much is happening in this arena, there is increasing information and many people proactively engaging social media for giving.
Sometimes it seems hard to keep track of it all. So I thought I would try to synthesize some of the latest news in giving and social media to keep up with it all (for myself) and share what I learned with you. In my opinion, here are the 10 Top News and Tips on Giving and Social Media:
1. Kiva.org Takes a Risk in the U.S. While Kiva.org has provided over $76 million in small loans to business owners in developing nations over the past four years, they have decided to expand their loan program to the U.S. While the average loans to date globally have been approximately $415, they will increase loans for the U.S. from $1,000 to $10,000. More at http://ow.ly/dKuN.
2. As a “Craigslist for service” is set to debut, “All for Good,” inspired by the Obama vision for service, there is significant debate surrounding its launch. The site is managed by Google and has attracted some heavy hitters in the technology and philanthropy world, yet has also alienated some in the nonprofit world who fear duplication. More at http://tinyurl.com/kl8dkx.
3. If You Do Good, You Look Good. A recent study from the Tel Aviv University School of Economics found that image is a motivator in giving and doing good. Attaining maximum donor response can be achieved by providing significant recognition to donors – the more visibility, the greater the image boost, the greater the contribution. However, when individuals were paid to raise money for charity, they preferred less public visibility. More at http://tinyurl.com/mky8vx.
4. Top Nonprofit Blogging. As I searched online to find more on nonprofits, giving and change, I found two sites for top nonprofit blogging: 20 nonprofit blogs by people of color http://bit.ly/3ULwWm and top nonprofit bloggers http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/listofchange/.
5. Attracting Big Gifts Online. A new report (CDR Fundraising group) found that attracting larger donors online requires combining online marketing techniques with more traditional face-to-face donor interactions. Some of the recommendations included – ask for large, and small, gifts online; provide regular (at least) monthly reports, gain testimonials, and provide additional insider information. More at http://tinyurl.com/mnpu4a and http://tinyurl.com/cnnlpy.
6. Measuring Nonprofit Effectiveness. A recent series of articles and conversations have explored the issue of outcomes measures and nonprofits and have found that an estimated less than 10% of charities seem to be measuring outcomes. As a result, a series of blogs and forums will continue to explore this issue further. To read more and weigh in, go to: http://tinyurl.com/lzmgsp and http://tinyurl.com/b2t7xr.
7. Nonprofit Social Media Use Outpaces Business, Education. A recent study by Eric Mattson found that nonprofits are the largest adopters of some social media technologies – ahead of business and universities. Nearly two-thirds of nonprofits interviewed actually listened, participated and engaged in social media. Some of the reasons for their quick adoption is the low cost ability to market, given their limited funding, and ability to comment, engage and share what they are passionate about in an affordable way facilitates their use of social media to listen, share and promote, and elicit new donors. More at http://tinyurl.com/28syby and http://www.ericmattson.com/
8. 5 Best Tweets on Nonprofits, Companies & Social Media. This is a listing of 5 of the best resources for nonprofits on social media. It includes monetizing social media, best practices for nonprofits, nonprofit CEO’s that tweet, social media presentations for nonprofits, tips for an effective call to action. For more reading, go to: http://tinyurl.com/knpquw and http://jeffbullas.com/
9. Resources to Help Nonprofits Navigate Social Media. The Chronicle of Philanthropy released a listing of resources to help nonprofits navigate and better utilize social media. More at http://bit.ly/YXCBu.
10. Social Media Changing the Nonprofit World. In an article for Mashable, Beth Kanter (tweeter extraordinaire @kanter) lays out 4 ways in which social media is changing the nonprofit world, including: deepening relationships, forging new collaborations, new individual and group organizing around nonprofits and requiring organizational cultural shifts. More info at http://bit.ly/YXCBu.
As we enter into a brave new world of social media and philanthropy, rather than look at technology as our enemy, we may begin to use it for good to create change on the planet. If you want to stay up with the latest, stay tuned for #charitytuesday on twitter and all the tweets, blogs and other news about nonprofits and change! Be the Change!
You can find me on twitter @pilarstella.
As I sat down to write my blog today and I thought about this quote, I thought to myself, “Perhaps, not!” You see it seems to me that we are in an amazing era in which our technology might just be beginning to enhance our humanity. As I thought about all of the different social media tools, news and tips that are being used to enhance and transform nonprofits and giving, my head started to spin. So much is happening in this arena, there is increasing information and many people proactively engaging social media for giving.
Sometimes it seems hard to keep track of it all. So I thought I would try to synthesize some of the latest news in giving and social media to keep up with it all (for myself) and share what I learned with you. In my opinion, here are the 10 Top News and Tips on Giving and Social Media:
1. Kiva.org Takes a Risk in the U.S. While Kiva.org has provided over $76 million in small loans to business owners in developing nations over the past four years, they have decided to expand their loan program to the U.S. While the average loans to date globally have been approximately $415, they will increase loans for the U.S. from $1,000 to $10,000. More at http://ow.ly/dKuN.
2. As a “Craigslist for service” is set to debut, “All for Good,” inspired by the Obama vision for service, there is significant debate surrounding its launch. The site is managed by Google and has attracted some heavy hitters in the technology and philanthropy world, yet has also alienated some in the nonprofit world who fear duplication. More at http://tinyurl.com/kl8dkx.
3. If You Do Good, You Look Good. A recent study from the Tel Aviv University School of Economics found that image is a motivator in giving and doing good. Attaining maximum donor response can be achieved by providing significant recognition to donors – the more visibility, the greater the image boost, the greater the contribution. However, when individuals were paid to raise money for charity, they preferred less public visibility. More at http://tinyurl.com/mky8vx.
4. Top Nonprofit Blogging. As I searched online to find more on nonprofits, giving and change, I found two sites for top nonprofit blogging: 20 nonprofit blogs by people of color http://bit.ly/3ULwWm and top nonprofit bloggers http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/listofchange/.
5. Attracting Big Gifts Online. A new report (CDR Fundraising group) found that attracting larger donors online requires combining online marketing techniques with more traditional face-to-face donor interactions. Some of the recommendations included – ask for large, and small, gifts online; provide regular (at least) monthly reports, gain testimonials, and provide additional insider information. More at http://tinyurl.com/mnpu4a and http://tinyurl.com/cnnlpy.
6. Measuring Nonprofit Effectiveness. A recent series of articles and conversations have explored the issue of outcomes measures and nonprofits and have found that an estimated less than 10% of charities seem to be measuring outcomes. As a result, a series of blogs and forums will continue to explore this issue further. To read more and weigh in, go to: http://tinyurl.com/lzmgsp and http://tinyurl.com/b2t7xr.
7. Nonprofit Social Media Use Outpaces Business, Education. A recent study by Eric Mattson found that nonprofits are the largest adopters of some social media technologies – ahead of business and universities. Nearly two-thirds of nonprofits interviewed actually listened, participated and engaged in social media. Some of the reasons for their quick adoption is the low cost ability to market, given their limited funding, and ability to comment, engage and share what they are passionate about in an affordable way facilitates their use of social media to listen, share and promote, and elicit new donors. More at http://tinyurl.com/28syby and http://www.ericmattson.com/
8. 5 Best Tweets on Nonprofits, Companies & Social Media. This is a listing of 5 of the best resources for nonprofits on social media. It includes monetizing social media, best practices for nonprofits, nonprofit CEO’s that tweet, social media presentations for nonprofits, tips for an effective call to action. For more reading, go to: http://tinyurl.com/knpquw and http://jeffbullas.com/
9. Resources to Help Nonprofits Navigate Social Media. The Chronicle of Philanthropy released a listing of resources to help nonprofits navigate and better utilize social media. More at http://bit.ly/YXCBu.
10. Social Media Changing the Nonprofit World. In an article for Mashable, Beth Kanter (tweeter extraordinaire @kanter) lays out 4 ways in which social media is changing the nonprofit world, including: deepening relationships, forging new collaborations, new individual and group organizing around nonprofits and requiring organizational cultural shifts. More info at http://bit.ly/YXCBu.
As we enter into a brave new world of social media and philanthropy, rather than look at technology as our enemy, we may begin to use it for good to create change on the planet. If you want to stay up with the latest, stay tuned for #charitytuesday on twitter and all the tweets, blogs and other news about nonprofits and change! Be the Change!
You can find me on twitter @pilarstella.
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