go small or go home

These days marriage isn’t only about joining two hearts in holy (or other) matrimony. Apparently it’s also about joining two hearts to community.

Recently Alex and Kristin used their wedding as an opportunity to raise money for  charity: water, a non-profit working to bring clean drinking water to developing nations. Instead of cappuccino machines and monogrammed silverware, the couple asked that wedding guests donate $50 to fund an entire well to provide drinking water for 250 people.

Charity: water tracked the campaign on their website, presenting photos of the special day and announcing the final amount raised… to the tune of $6,440. The happy couple included a touching note on the campaign web page to add that personal touch. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity! With your help, we really can make a difference in this world. We can’t wait to see all you in a few months! Love, Kristin and Alex. In addition, guests added comments next to the donated amount such as Filthy water cannot be washed -African Proverb Such a thoughtful gift!

Now switch to another marriage that recently happened using social media channels. For those who haven’t seen the current string of Old Spice commercials, all I can say is, you’re missing out on one of the best social media based ad campaigns in the past, er, year or more (at least). To date, there have been over 1o million views of the original ad. Needless to say, using the word ‘viral’ to describe what Old Spice accomplished is appropriate here.

Old Spice has ditched its stale image of  being a product people buy for their dads on Father’s Day to being, well, sexy as all get-out. Recently the revamped Old Spice guy played by  Isaiah Mustafa actually proposed to a girl for another guy on Twitter. When you see the video, you might better understand why she accepted.

Now check out the old Old Spice ad from 1971. Why else would women patiently wait for their men to return from sea…

I am wearing white pants today so that must mean summer is here in Vancouver. It actually arrived a little over two weeks ago and surprised us all. The abrupt temperature rise has got me wondering whether organizations use social networks as much when their thoughts turn to backyard barbecues and tall glasses of lemonade. I had assumed we would spend less time on Facebook, Twitter et al during summer months, yet judging from the consistency of posts among my networks (including mostly  social media and communications professionals, not-for-profits and a handful of savvy online superheros; celebrities and other), I’ve observed that their tweets or blogs aren’t less frequent it’s just that they are more mango salsa than brown bag lunch.

Take for instance this tweet by benlocker, a UK copywriting agency: “I’m overtweeting. Time for a book and a glass of wine.” Or this one by paulrouke, “I’m attending Manchester Digital Summer Barbecue….”

These days, more people in my professional networks are recommending books to read or sending tweets from the beach or poolside. Another thing I’ve noticed: More people are updating their LinkedIn profiles and changing their Facebook and Twitter profile pics.  It’s true that holidays or slow work days can be a good time to get caught up on all those social media chores that have been piling up.

Speaking of which… given that summer is the season of parties and celebrations, why not take the opportunity to show your not-for-profit’s lighter side. Let’s face it, all work and no play makes Jane or _____ (insert not-for-profit name) a dull girl/organization. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Summer in the social media

1) Organize a barbecue or baseball game to celebrate a momentous year of fundraising and serving your community.  Maybe things have been challenging and staff need a pick-me-up and something to show they are still valued. Take pictures of the event to post on your website or blog. Tweet about it during and after to show your partners and site visitors your organization’s amazing team spirit.

2) Do you have a summer intern who might like to ‘guest blog’ during the summer months? Could be a cool way to infuse the organization with some fresh ideas and new perspective.

3) Offer your Twitter followers or Facebook fans some free stuff.  A little while ago Ethical Bean was tweeting about certain locations its followers could go to on a Friday to take home a free bag of their Fair Trade coffee. Rustle up some in-kind donations from local businesses; use an online contest as an opportunity to share your organization’s story and the community you serve.

Friday afternoon antics

Two whole hours left till the weekend; it’s hot, the air conditioner is broken again or blowing colder than the legal limit. I know I’ll…

1) Visit Twitterer, type in summer or vacation and see what others are up to.

2) Join an online parade with my Twitter followers.

3) Sign up to be a friend of the cephalopod mollusk that predicted the 2010 FIFA World Cup winners. Btw, the oracle octopus has 170,000 Facebook friends. And you thought you were special.

Have a terrific summer!

Coming to the end of a year makes me yearn for lists. Not just Christmas lists, 2010 to-do lists, and New Year’s resolutions (a bit early for that…), but lists of things we saw from not-for-profits over the past year that made us think, wow. Over the next month or so we’ll be bringing you our top five lists in a few categories related to social media.

Whether you’re wearing toe socks or those comfy hand-knitted slipper socks with the leather soles that you buy at the season’s craft fairs (or your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s woolen lumberjack socks), these lists will be sure to knock your socks off. So, here goes…our  first list of video picks.

These days with a little will and collaborative effort it’s relatively easy for not-for-profits to produce and post their own videos. Tech is cheap and amateur videographers abound. The difficulty is in creating something that cuts to the essence of what your organization does and in a way that is slightly edgy, but not annoyingly so. Short (not insubstantial) and visually arresting…no three-ring-circuses. The other challenge of course is getting people to download it, another ball of wax altogether.

Go Small has come up with a killer list of five videos we simply LOVE. Please note we almost never use caps! Or exclamation marks.

Peace it Together

Amnesty International

Oxfam

H2oil

charity: water

Tell us your favs.

In a previous blog post we wrote about Go Small’s participation in Resilient People + Climate Change. The conference looked at ways to strengthen psycho-social resilience among communities and organizations in the face of rising global temperatures.

Here are some quotes by panelists that were tweeted during the two days:

Culture is a collective narrative across neighborhoods.-Mike Littrell, Cultural Mythologist, Conference Co-Convener

We need to return to historic documents, myths and legends to learn about survival and building our resilience. Survival must incorporate tools not only for the body, but for the mind and spirit as well.-Carl M. Hild, Associate Professor, Public Health Administration, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, AK

We can learn resilience from the Squamish Nation, who have lived & survived great trauma. We can become witnesses by listening, observing, learning from the land and returning to community to share our stories.-Nancy Bleck, Photographer and Instructor, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC

We must learn to reconnect with the world and the environment, and women will take the lead on doing this.-Carl M. Hild, Associate Professor, Public Health Administration, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, AK

Let’s talk about creating a new emergent, hybrid, global culture, telling new tribal stories.-Glenn Albrecht, Professor of Sustainability, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

What are the characteristics of a resilient individual? Making connections and building deeper levels of trust amongst networks and friends.-Sanjay Khanna, Climate Change Writer and Conference Co-Convener

Besides presenting some powerful ideas for how we can continue to live together on the planet into the future, the conference made me question how to further deepen interactions and strengthen networks both online and in real time.

Essentially social media isn’t about learning the technical aspects of Web 2.0, it’s about finding ways to connect and explore what’s important to us. Stuff that makes us tick, laugh, think, learn, understand each other, grow…. That is why I use the word “malleability” in the title of this blog post because it’s true new media can be hammered into many different shapes without breaking!

Yet often we are so caught up in the “how to” that we forget why we showed up in the first place. These observations spurred us to create a list of questions that in the coming days and months we hope to explore.

What are your chief reasons for using social media?

What wisdom do you find through online connections?

What do you really want to know that you don’t already know?

Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise it’s not better. –Avinash Kaushik, Google’s analytics evangelist

Not sure I agree with this statement, but it made me laugh when I read it and it’s a good starting point for this blog post. I suppose it’s true that social media is like teen sex in the sense that the more practice a person has at something, generally speaking, the less effort and more fun that person has. I could extend the metaphor by saying social media can make neophytes into bumbling idiots, lose confidence in our ability to perform, but I think you get the point.

Let me put it this way, you wouldn’t expect to play tennis a few times and suddenly become as good as Serena Williams. When you first start playing most of your time is taken running after the ball that you didn’t hit, trying to get it over the net and cursing each time you don’t. The same goes for social media. When you put the time in and put the time in and put in the time… eventually you begin to see some results.

This is a lesson that many not-for-profits are learning as they integrate social media into what they do. Although it is often an uphill battle for organizations that are strapped for resources, I constantly marvel at how so many have risen to the challenge presented by these new technologies to come out stronger, more savvy and creatively charged.

As technologies keep changing, not-for-profits must learn new stuff  just to keep up. Organizations often have a hard time adapting to constant change and as a result sometimes give up trying.

Remember that social media is an imperfect beast so try not to strive for perfection. Better yet, think of the infamous Nike slogan “Just do it” and you’re more than halfway there.

Last week Go Small attended Timeraiser, a Canada-wide event that brings together not-for-profits and those looking to volunteer. Combine this with a silent auction of local artwork where people bid volunteer hours instead of money, adding to it wine, good food, music and conversation, and you have a winning evening.

Timeraiser was founded in 2002 by a group of friends who wanted to create a way for people to find meaningful, relevant volunteer gigs. For the past seven years they have succeeded at making volunteering not only fun and exciting, but sexy as well. In their video they refer to the event as “speed dating for volunteerism.” There’s an exciting buzz to the event that makes you feel as though giving back to your community is cool.

Operating in six cities across Canada, Timeraiser uses both traditional print advertising in the form of brochures distributed around the city and social media such as YouTube. In addition, their user-friendly website takes visitors through an easy step-by-step process of how to raise a little time for a cause you believe in.

The city’s second annual event was sold-out, which means potentially hundreds of hours will be offered up to Vancouver charities in the areas of arts and culture, social services, health, youth…. A big plus is that participating artists are paid in dollars for their artwork. Since its creation, Timeraiser has invested $295,000 in the careers of emerging artists and generated over 45,000 volunteer hours.

Here are photos of the event courtesy of photographer Marlis Funk from imagingbymarlis.com.

Twestival is a short-term and creative way for volunteers around the world to connect both online and in real time to raise money for local charities. Twestival Local is taking place in cities worldwide between 10-13 September, 2009.

The first Twestival Global started with one tweet last January 2009 and one month later over 200 cities were hosting events to benefit Charity: water.

Here in  Go Small’s city of Vancouver, the charity BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and their “Be a Superhero” campaign will benefit from local ticket sales.

The other day I was having a conversation with my sister about how social media could be used by an organization to fortify connections between a community and its customs and traditions, while showing those outside the community the power and continued relevance of these traditions.

She told me about Dr. Heather Castleden’s research work which was undertaken in collaboration with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations. As part of this research, she co-developed a digital story which tells of the place of her own story within the richness of Huu-ay-aht First Nations stories she came to know.

“Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling,” says Leslie Rule of the Digital Storytelling Association. “Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights,” she adds.

I like Dr. Castleden’s idea expressed in her digital story (after the African saying, it takes a village to raise a child) that it takes a Nation to raise a researcher. In other words, it isn’t the academic at the centre of the story anymore or the one with all (if any!) of the answers.

Digital storytelling, like the technique of “photovoice” (see Go Small’s March 31st post called Giving Ugandan girls a “photovoice”), gives subjects more power to be the creators of their stories and hopefully influence policy decisions being made that have a direct impact on them and their communities.

The Digital Storytelling Association along with the Center for Digital Storytelling has some useful examples to illustrate how this technique is being used by organizations related to the arts, education, family, health, and identity. 

WARNING: These stories will both uplift and tear your heart out.

With widespread layoffs, budget cuts, foreclosures and a generally depressed (who wouldn’t be) economy, not-for-profits are getting creative like never before at raising money.

United Way’s Give 5 viral fundraising campaign for vital services and programs for families most affected by the economic downturn is one example that proves the age-old adage that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Yet, in this instance it feels more appropriate to say, the tough get creative.

Fact is, at no other time in history has it been easier in terms of the availability of low-cost social media tools for not-for-profits to reach audiences. Yet at the same time, given that many donors are tightening their belts and that there are many other organizations out there using the same channels to reach people, it is also one of the most difficult times for organizations to attain their fundraising targets.

Down $800,000 in funds raised from last year, the United Way of Northeast Florida is feeling the pinch of the economic downturn as are the communities they serve. For that reason they’re targeting a new generation of donors who might never have donated to the organization. Using social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, United Way is broadening its reach in hopes of generating interest from 20 to 30 year-olds looking to make a difference without breaking their piggy-banks.

This viral campaign is asking new donors to donate as little as $5 and then to e-mail the link to five friends. Being asked to give  a small sum is viewed in this instance as no small thing because that $5 might be used to help a homeless family pay for an evening meal. With that kind of payback, it’s hard not to give.

Spring has finally sprung, as they say. In our city, which is Vancouver, Canada, tulips and other colourful numbers are in full bloom while the luscious pink magnolias and cherry tree blossoms are fading.

When I was a girl, each spring my mom would wash the curtains from all the windows and hang them to dry in the sunshine. She would yank the sheets and blankets off all of our beds, wash them and repeat the process. After that, she removed the carpets from the floors and beat them with a broom outside because, frankly, they had been cooped up all winter (like the curtains and sheets), and who (or what) doesn’t require a little fresh air and sunshine from time to time.

While I do a trimmed down version of spring cleaning at my home, we at Go Small see spring as a perfect time for not-for-profits to take stock, and decide whether to recycle, reuse, or throw away as the case may be.

Go Small spring cleaning checklist

• Review your web copy to see if it needs refreshing (it usually does)
• Compile a focus group of stakeholders to help plan for the future
• Find cost-effective ways to recycle winning ideas and products
• Repackage your riches using up-to-date tools
• Clear out old mailing lists and other stuff from your computers 
• Examine your print materials to see if they reflect where your organization’s at
• Find fresher, sunnier ways to involve your audience through online conversations

Happy Spring!