Pages = Get up-to-date info on a non-profit (latest news, links, events). Groups = Connect with others around a cause (not necessarily an org).
via johnhaydon.com
Code, Camera, Action
Stories, software and strategies to help nonprofits do the social web
Startup thinking for the social sector.
Code for action.
Plus photography.
(And reading aloud.)
I'm the founder of el-studio.com, a web development firm that helps nonprofits and associations connect to the social web.
More about Eric Johnson.
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DonorsChoose vs Kiva | Tactical Philanthropy
Mike Everett-Lane, former Executive Director of one of the Donors Choose regions, on Kiva's transparency issues:
I don’t believe that microphilanthropy (or microfinance, peer-to-peer giving, etc.) is a good solution for most problems. DonorsChoose.org has an advantage, in that they are funding discrete classroom projects within public schools, but do not have to fund the infrastructure of the schools themselves. Most problems just couldn’t be solved in this way. (”I’d like to fund only the violas in the orchestra, please.”) But if you’re going to advertise yourself as giving choice to the donor, you’d better do it.
The whole comment on Tactical Philanthropy is well worth reading. Sean's (@tactphil) coverage of the entire conversation around Kiva's fundraising stories vs operations has been fabulous.
Foursquare: Social Media for Cause Marketing | Selfish Giving
And since cause marketing is all about helping businesses support their favorite causes in ways that enhances customer loyalty and favorability, Foursquare could be a great fit with cause marketing in a lot of different ways. Both in how Foursquare currently works and how it might work with future updates.
Here’s how.
Kiva Customers Don’t Receive the Loans you Give | Sasha Dichter’s Blog
The “your money buys this” message isn’t going anywhere soon. If anything, what Kiva and Charity:Water and DonorsChoose have shown is that there’s a way to take this approach and adapt it to 21st century tools – so that you can see an online photo of the microloan recipient or the well that was dug or the classroom that was helped — if not directly by your money, at least by that same amount of money as the amount you gave. It’s interesting that making this association more visible and tangible is calling into question the veracity of these claims (no one’s writing about Heifer, right?), when in fact all Kiva et al are doing is strengthening a tried-and-true narrative. The mechanics of gift -> organization -> recipient haven’t changed one bit.
If you think about it, it’s nearly impossible to change these mechanics and run an efficient, global nonprofit. So why are we all acting so surprised?
How could we change these mechanics and still run an efficient, global nonprofit? Difficult does not mean impossible...
Post: Social cause innovation - More, please?
Geoff Livingston responds to Kristin Ivie and my previous posts about new nonprofits.
Entrepreneurs look at things, see how they can be improved, tear down models, and rebuild them. So when we’ve experienced enormous successes in the for-profit world and then turn our eyes to higher causes, it’s only natural to think the same approach will work.
Granted there is ego at play, but are you going to tell someone who successfully sold a business or took a company public, that they can’t win again in a different sector? Good luck with that one!
For Geoff, an entrepreneur and blogger, advice to slow down is like reigning in the horses as they dash for the barn. Good luck with that one. And he's right, of course.
Having seen a few horses in this business, though, I was hoping to point out how the economics of nonprofits can work against that entrepreneurial spirit.
As a nonprofit, it can be a challenge to know if you're making progress, much less to best organize around it.
Can you imagine this conversation taking place in the private sector?
Nonprofit entrepreneur: I want to take a fundraising job for a nonprofit that's really changing the world. What do you think?
Mentor: Be careful not to get pigeonholed. "Once a fundraiser, always a fundraiser."
Maybe Sasha's example here is just isolated old-school thinking. I hope so. And maybe, as Geoff says, entrepreneurial spirit and gutsy social enterprise will be what shakes up slower organizations.
But I can think of a couple of things that could help speed that day for more entrepreneurs --
- Competitions with incubation or startup coaching (a la Y Combinator)
- Metrics for success. Government provides some of these statistics, larger NPOs and NGOs provide others
- Market valuation for social enterprises. For another post, but in our attention economy, this may be possible.
What else should be on this list?
Who wants to help?
Matt Flannery, Kiva CEO and Co-Founder, on Empathy
Matt Flannery, Kiva CEO and Co-Founder, replies to David Roodman's post (which we covered here http://elstudio.us/kiva-is-not-quite-what-it-seems ).
One of the contributions that Kiva has made is to demonstrate that empathy increases generosity. The pictures and stories on the Kiva site increase understanding between various parties that would otherwise operate in completely different universes. When understanding increases, so does empathy. When empathy increases, so does generosity. People are inherently more generous towards people and causes they understand.
via cgdev.org
Kiva's trend toward more connected experiences
Matt Flannery, co-founder of Kiva, looks forward from the organization's fourth birthday --
What we will see, in the years to come, is that we are just at a beginning of a larger trend towards more connected experiences. Kiva is just one organization that will be part of a much larger shift. It is a shift towards personalization and partnership relationships of mutual dignity. Looking back, the $100M will seem like a small drop. The potential for big change from the aggregate tiny actions of many is now more enormous than ever.
via kiva.org
"A larger trend towards more connected experiences" -- here's to the dignity that affords all of us.
Matt Damon explains America's Giving Challenge
At the office (that's the Case Foundation) we've been working really hard to bring you America's Giving Challenge. Official word is over on http://americasgivingchallenge.com, but here's the nutshell --
- Choose a cause -- any nonprofit registered in the USA
- Raise money using Causes on Facebook, email or plain old telephone
- Causes with the most donations win grants --
- $50,000 for the month's winner
- $1,000 for daily winners
Oh yeah, and Matt D. likes it!
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