Monthly Archive for November, 2009

Social Innovation Camp at MPS09

Published in challenge and liveblogging. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I’m capturing notes at the MyPublicServices event from PatientOpinion.  Use the tag #MPS09 to follow conversations and highlights from others at the event. This session is: Ideas, people and cold hard cash: why the way we make stuff happen is broken and how to fix it, from Anna Maybank at Social Innovation Camp.

Social Innovation Camp: the story so far.  Started with an idea two years ago that the web is important because it helps people organize for themselves and impacts how we make things work; but in order to make that happen you have to bring people together who are interested in making it real.  We are all about moving ideas into something that might work and do so by running competitions and weekend-long prototyping events.  Think about 5 things: what’s the problem, what technology you’ll use, design sustainability, how will people come to use it and how will you distribute it.  Award a prize to those that show most potential.  Have run 3 competitions so far with over 300 ideas submitted.

Note: the “I” in the following is my capture of Anna speaking.

What We’ve Learnt

1. From cliques to talent scouts

A great idea is nothing unless you have people to get it off the ground, and those people may be anyone with certain attributes:

  • people who can bring an insight
  • practical optimists, can see things being different in the future (have to go find them)

We need to move away from “social entrepreneurs” and “socail innovation” towards “solve problems” and “make stuff” so that it’s more accessible.  It took us a while to learn this!  The first competition we had a slick website and everything else and had barely any submissions.  So, we went to talk people about it.  We brought people together around the same kind of idea and the buzz in the room was incredible, people realized they didn’t have to just complain about something but about making things the way you want.  So, we learned from that and now are conversation driven.  Our competitions are talent scouted: we go out and talk to as many people as possible, run workshops and trainings and get people to think about what they might solve and then submit.  I think we pay a lot of lip service to “user centered design” and so on, but sometimes we are talking about many different worlds colliding and a number of them are very problem focused and then solution focused groups.  So, when you have top-down definition of what you’re interested in and then bottom up creation it doesn’t work.  Create a “tentacle-based” approach.

2. From paperwork to relationships

That’s a lot of work. Is it worth it to go talk to all of those people and so on?  What we are doing when we talent scout isn’t just about creating a pool of projects but about starting relationships.  Normal application processes are very good for people who are good at writing or following a system.  But, are proposal based approaches good for finding people who are going to start new things?  Instead, you start to build relationships with individuals – find interesting people and working with them in incremental ways and build trust. And then find people to support and fund; particularly important when funding entirely new things.  It’s hard for those people to say what their impact will be when it’s something so new, so it’s hard as a support organization to believe in the project.  But, as a support organization that knows you are an interesting implementer of good stuff, it’s easier to make the decision to support them.  We do this through scouting and in the weekends as they are high pressure and fund and collaborative so you can really, really see how people work.  I think the world works like this anyway, we just don’t admit it.  What we should be doing is appreciating that and design systems that take into consideration the ways humans work.  This is how the investment world works: based on relationships and trust.

3. From advisors to connectors

What’s next?  What do you need other than money?  We asked our prototype projects what else they need. The answer was they need advice.  Organizations that are trying to support people to do new things know this.  What I’m suggesting is 2 things: first, giving all the advice yourself is not efficient or entirely valuable, so you should grow a community around the ideas where they connect; and second, the advice you need as a radically new group/project is very different as there aren’t models or examples, so the only way these projects will work is by changing behavior… How comfortable we are with meeting people offline we only know online, how we share personal data, etc.  These changes will have to happen in order for these projects to work.  Rather than having standard business advice but a place where they can experiment.  The way we move from advisors to connectors is that at the weekends where we get the great ideas, we go out and try to find people who can help them and bring them there.  Building an audience around the 6 ideas for the weekend.  If you come to a weekend, you come out with a training experience.

4. From grants to venturing

How do we change the different ways we distribute money?  Not about finding people to give it to or the decision process, but the different financial instruments we could use.  Early stage ideas need early stage risk capital and there’s a gap in providing that.  Something to show that a really good radical idea has a good chance.  We also have to find new sustainable ways to fund projects. Fundraise, grant, spend – it’s not efficient.  Finally, a lot of new ideas, the newness is the business model.  It needs a different way to be funded.  Need finance that’s responsive to business models that aren’t charities or companies.

What might that look like?

What if we ran a larger SICamp process that formed small teams around packaged ideas and take teams of 2-3 people and choose 10 groups and each a 15,000 stipend wherein they come and work in a shared space for 3 months.  Set targets and help to accelerate project development and build community.  At the end of the 3 months we have a demo day with possible funders and we we take a finders fee and also pay-back for the 15,000 starter grant.  Potentially creating a sustainable way of starting projects and recycling your capital.  It already exists in projects like Y Combinator.  We think it would be interesting to start a Y Combinator for social projects here in the UK.

I don’t think that’s the answer to everything.  You have to design your support process around the people you are working with.  What can we do with groups like Kiva?  What if we used that system to find projects to fund?  Or what about KickStarter’s model with pledging/small contributions/crowdsourcing?  What if we applied that to the NHS?  4ip is already doing some of this stuff, too, and it’s really interesting.

This talk was inspired by lots of conversations with people who are looking for support for an idea AND interesting people and organizations looking for projects to support.  There has to be an opportunity there!

Published on November 26, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

GIft Economies at MPS09

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I’m capturing notes at the MyPublicServices event from PatientOpinion.  This session is lead by Paul Hodgkin from PatientOpinion .  Use the tag #MPS09 to follow conversations and highlights from others at the event.

What is it about the health community that’s different? It’s about death.  Why do we tell stories? Because it helps us deal with panic or impulses, it’s a gift.  The amazing thing about the web is what we can do with those impulses, stories, and gifts.

PatientOpinion was created as a gift economy.  Gift economies all have:

  • Gifts are always free – If you go to someone’s house for dinner, have a great time, and at the end of the evening you say, “wow, can I write you a check for $56 because I think is about what it was worth,” you’ve just breached the principle of the gift economy.
  • people are judged by how much they give, not how much they have
  • the gift always tarvels/what does around comes around

We don’t own the stories, we are stewards of the stories.  And that’s true with health, too.  Research shows that if you give stuff every day you are less likely to be depressed.

Why now?

  • the web creates visible real-time reputations
  • the web collapses distance and set up costs
  • information goods can be shared forever
  • networks offer increaing returns to scale

Are gift economies undermined by the thought that someone, somewhere is making money off it? Absolutely. Once people start getting paid for things at different parts of the cycle or so on, the gift economy falls apart.  For example, PatientOpinion’s community could operate very different if it was a for-profit company instead of a nonprofit organization.

Decreasing returns to scale, aka ‘one more heave’ and ‘lessons must be learnt’ – As the number of people involved in the system increases, the returns diminish.  Decreasing return systems are tightly coupled:

  • Prize consistency and coordination
  • averse to variation and risk
  • hierarchical, mechanistic
  • extrinsically motivated, enforced

When you move to the web, you have increasing returns to scale, but the number of people involved to affect the increasing returns are at a much larger scale (many more people, etc.).  Examples: YouTube, eBay, Wikipedia, Google.  Increasing return systems are:

  • digital
  • loosely coupled
  • intrinsically motivated
  • network, horizontal
  • variable, uncontrolled

Examples:

  • Wikipedia
  • MyObama
  • PledgeBank

Why not just turn up and eat the food? Digital gift economies turn free loaders into “audience.”

A gift economy for the public sector?

  • identify the thoughtfully passionate
  • provide easy, incremental steps to involvement
  • strength-based, internal motivation
  • use the platform to increase local impact
  • use the platform to drive local social movement
  • abstract the learning plus improvements and data
  • future users certify improvements are real
  • rate the providers
  • repeat x 1,000 groups per year
  • business model that supports the gifts

Feedback to presentation:

would want to involve staff and services in the offline local events to share their experiences, too.  but that coul emean imposing a structure.  – don’t know if that’s true necessarily, could be determined by the partners putting on and participating in the event what kind of structure and context the event has.

there a high degree of facilitation that’s involved; there’s a natural fear from the service side of fear from the outside, so there has to be real facilitation to get sustainable change and not just reaction.  the patientopinion platform has tools that anyone can use, ie you are going to go out and do something, you tell us what you want, we build it and you pay for it, then we give it to you and you can go do what you want.

seems like people who had a bad experience would be more inclined to get involved with this…is that bad? it’s more of coming from a place of “we all want to be better and do things as good as possible” so it negates just being negative.

if you have a one size fits all solution then it’s a danger, you need to try to get feedback combined with other inputs and so on. it’s important that if someone has a bad experience that they get supporter but also that your solution to that bad experience doesn’t make it worse for other people.

Learn more at http://patientopinion.org.uk

Published on November 26, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Harnessing and Nurturing Communities at MPS09

Published in community and liveblogging. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I’m capturing notes at the MyPublicServices event from PatientOpinion.  This session is lead by Holly Seddon from FreshNetworks and titled Harnessing and Nurturing Communities.  Use the tag #MPS09 to follow conversations and highlights from others at the event.

Head of Community Management at FreshNetworks, previously at iVillage, Daily Mail etc.; most proud of job at an adoption charity

What do we mean by “community” – question asked to the participants:

  • people
  • support
  • shared interest
  • label
  • conversations
  • reciprocity
  • belonging

When you think about “what is community?” do you think about online or offline? Do you think you are part of a community?

  • We mean people
  • we mean connections
  • we mean support
  • we mean similarity
  • we mean social group
  • we mean peers
  • we mean a group being ‘led’

Community confusion:

  • people rarely consider themselves part of communities offline
  • people are rarely members of just one community
  • communities can be physical and conceptual
  • they can be permanent or temporary

What is an online community?

  • it used to mean ‘message boards’ and not much more
  • for a while, people meant ‘facebook’ although that’s a social network of people you already know

What Twitter isn’t… Twitter isn’t a message board, or a social network of people you already know… So, is it a community?

What Twitter is… twitter is a platform, it’s about connections, it’s the direciton we’re heading in; it’s a micro-community that is different for every individual.

What Twitter gives us:

  • freedom
  • it’s blown away old rules
  • a boost to existing communities and content on the web
  • keeping people in touch and highlighting existing communities

One word to describe a good online community experience: nice, warm, friendly, friendship, welcoming, assistance, funny, reassurance, welcoming

People want warm and welcoming, but that it isn’t always what they get with online communities. So how?

Getting Started

Identify a community

  • who are you providing a platform for?
  • build it and they will come… doesn’t work
  • do these people want or need a space to communicate?
  • who are they?

What are the concerns of the community?

  • do they need to speak anonymously?
  • do they need to share images?
  • do they need to be protected?
  • do they have barriers to understanding technology?
  • do they have fractured interests?
  • are there opposing viewpoints and needs?

Sexy or quick?  there are 4 attributes to a good online community:

  • easy
  • safe
  • secure
  • sticky
  • sexy can wait!  it’s great if it has all the bells and whistles but that can come later, what’s most important is that it’s usable, meets community needs etc.

Vibrant, ugly: it’s okay if it’s not perfect to look at; between timely and perfect, choose timely.  An example: Criagslist.org

Where will you host your community?

  • do you have an online presence that can be enhanced?
  • do you need to build community elements into your next iteration?
  • do you have the budget and resources to build from scratch – and manage?
  • should you set up a space where your audience already is?
  • don’t automatically reject free tools like Ning.com
  • what about hiring someone to maintain and participate in that space as a community manager?

How do we keep our community safe?

What do you mean by safe?

  • safe from offensive material
  • safe from ‘trolls’ and trouble-makers
  • safe to chat without fear of personal attacks
  • safe from ‘real-life’ crossover
  • safe from spam attacks

Control – and lack of it: you cannot control people, but you can steer, guide and react; you must establish ground rules, and update them regularly.

  • no one is solely interested in one topic – nor should they be
  • single-issue parties don’t win elections; single-issue communities, don’t thrive – we don’t have only one interest
  • connections are what’s important, give people the freedom to connect – start small, only 3 or 4 sections or topics and then let the community drive the development
  • tools like CAPTCHA

Keeping your organization safe: if someone writes a lie about a celebrity on a community that you host, when are you liable?  The minute it goes up.  Mumsnet case study: some moms posted to Mumsnet that Gina Ford was too harsh with her practices, etc. and Gina took them to court.  Mumsnet said that they don’t moderate as there are too many message to handle and so on.  The best approach is to plan for that and have a take-down policy; encourage members to report malicious content and give them way to do so easily.

Who will keep your community safe…and vibrant?

  • moderation
  • welcoming members
  • stimulating discussion
  • removing spam and offensive content
  • who is liable? – If you use something like Ning does that platform share a part of the liability? Yes. If you make it explicit on your site in your terms of use that your site is not moderated then you are not liable, according to some.
  • “Can the receptionist do it?” – maybe, if they want to, but moderating and welcoming people and getting involved isn’t just for anyone; it takes someone that has the time and the interest to do.

Q&A

What’s been your biggest challenge in building a community? Launching the adoption community, it had a very intersted and active membership that communicated through local support groups and a buddy scheme but not online with many members anti-internet and people in the organization who were skeptical.  Had to prove that it was as well as, not instead of. That it could help people find the organization and provide easier access for people with limited mobility or other limitations who couldn’t get to the offline activities.  Now as a membership they see it core to the organization and have a stake in how it develops.

Have you any tips about how to deal with bad apples? sometimes turning good is the most important thing. if people are complaining and talking about how things should be use it as an opportunity to explain why you did things the way you did and ask for more ideas about how to make things better. some people are trying to get attention, often the way around that is to give them a little attention and encourage them to behave the way you’d like – engage and help, but don’t give in to what they are doing.  sometimes there’s spammers and rule breakers, so make sure you explain the rules they are breaking and explain your actions to moderate their behavior – give 3 strikes and you’re out.

Have you experience with usefulness with combining writing communication with video communication? depends on the set up, whether you are building communities in ning or drupal or from scratch, building in the ability for users to include video and so on is easier. but, other forms of communication might not be appropriate to the community.

Published on November 26, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Great reads from around the web on November 25th

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I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources across the web ever day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of November 25th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

  • E-Commerce News: Customer Loyalty: If You Build a Branded Online Community, Will Customers Come? – "Despite the enormous popularity of peer-to-peer social networking, the adoption cycle for branded online communities has been relatively slow. That a growing number of consumer brands are transforming their existing static Web sites into interactive online communities is a trend that is not only recent, but also rapidly accelerating." What do you think? Do you have a branded online community for your organization or project? How did you ensure participation and membership?
  • ProjectRSS for describing projects (part of the Open Philanthropy effort) – I've recently come across this project from John Brennan (@worldlyjohn on Twitter) and am interested in what you all think about it! "Open source software exists in the computer industry. Open architecture exists in the construction industry. Yet only recently has there been a push for standards in communication of the philanthropic industry. The time is now. Open Philanthropy is about sharing. Open Philanthropy is about community. Open Philanthropy is about working together to increase the size of the proverbial pie (not the piece)."
  • The Report | Think Social – "This is a first draft of a longer effort dedicated to the study and advancement of developments in social media in the public interest that enable people to write history by acting online. It features concept definitions and examples for ten trends that we believe are shaping the use of social media in the public interest. We have compiled this list through interviews with public- and private-sector leaders; analysis of initiatives, organizations and government programs; reviews of industry and mainstream news coverage; and submissions from thousands of online participants."
  • Five Social Media Fundraising Trends for 2009 – Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media – "Over the past six months, I've been collaborating on a book with Allison Fine, titled "The Networked Nonprofit" and we've been sifting through stories, research, and seeing many patterns. So for this post, I'd like to share 5 fundraising trends that we saw emerging in 2009 related to fundraising and social media and that will most definitely continue to have impact in 2010."
  • Miro Community – "Miro Community lets you bring together all the videos about a topic, a community, or product into one elegant website, no matter where the videos are hosted." GetMiro.com is an open-source, non-profit video player and podcast client, check out the tool here: http://getmiro.com
Published on November 25, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Social Media Staff Guides: Another Example

Published in case studies and socialmedia. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Timo Luege recently shared the new social media staff guidelines created at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).  Creating staff guidelines specific to online or social media use in organizations has been a hot topic for the last year or so and many organizations rely on examples of what other organizations or companies have created as a starting place for making their own.  The “nptech” (or nonprofit technology) community is one of the best networks when it comes to sharing ideas and case studies, so here’s another example to add to the lot!

>> Review the IFRC Social Media Staff Guides here.

Why create social media staff guidelines?

For starters, creating explicit guidelines for social media use will ensure that everyone in the organization is aware of what is and isn’t “okay” and feel more secure in their activities knowing what they are responsible for, etc.  It also creates an opportunity for people to be encouraged to use social media if they aren’t already!  Here’s how Timo explains this:

For the first time the IFRC is encouraging staff who are not professional communicators to actively and publicly talk about the organization and their work. The guidelines create clarity and reduce the risk of arbitrary repercussions – it’s definitely harder to shut someone up now than it was before.  On the other hand the guidelines also make clear what is unacceptable from an organizational point of view and that you might have to answer for what you write online.

Highlights from IFRC Social Media Staff Guides

What I like best about the IFRC Guidelines is that they start with best practices!  Things to remember about using social media, especially on behalf of an organization, to make the experience positive for the users (in and out of the org) as well as for the organizaiton’s image.  Some of the best practices I like best include:

  • Be passionate
  • Use a disclaimer
  • Add value
  • Be the first to admit a mistake
  • Protect your own privacy
  • Spread the word and connect with your colleagues

Lastly, the IFRC Guides also include an appendix of all the organization’s profiles and online spaces!  A great way to be sure everyone can find, promote, and access the organization in various places online.

If you’re looking for an example of social media guidelines for your organization, the IFRC Social Media Staff Guides are a great resource and example.  You can download them here (PDF at bottom of page).

What do you think?

Has your organization created social media guidelines or terms of use? What was the hardest part of creating them?  What was easiest?  How have they been put to use?

Published on November 25, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 5 Comments

Messages, Stories, and Conversations: Creating a Strategy for your organization and your supporters

Published in resources and strategy. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I have said it many, many times and so have lots of others—you’re probably tired of hearing about how social media is supposed to be “a conversation.”  And that’s okay!  Because it isn’t JUST a conversation!  There’s calls to action, story telling, questions and requests, and much more.  And, more importantly, some of the messages, the stories and the campaigns don’t even come from you!  They come from your supporters. 

How can you create a strategy for your messages and campaigns in social media that respect this fact?  Here’s how!

This process is great to do as a team or as an organization.  If you have a room where everyone can sit, and an hour or two to bring everyone together, I really recommend you use this topic as an opportunity to hear what each department identifies and shares when working through the process below as the conversations that come up can be another chance to break down silos inside your organization!

On a flip chart or whiteboard (or if you are working through this by yourself, just use a piece of paper or a spread sheet on your computer) draw 4 vertical lines, creating 5 columns.  You may want to turn the flip chart sideways or use separate sheets for each column.

#1: Who are “They”

This column is for identifying all of your audiences.  Be sure to really consider this as there are probably many different groups, supporters, collaborators, or other audiences that you may not list right away!  It’s a great opportunity to bring different departments together to create a complete view of the organization’s audiences.

#2: What we Want

This is where you can list actions, knowledge, messages or anything else you want to give to your audience or have them do.  List these next to each audience group from the first column.  Remember that there could be more than one What we Want item per audience.

#3: How it Happens

In column 3, list how you deliver these messages or requests.  Are they online: in email, website, social media platforms (which ones?), etc.  Are they offline: at events, in your office, elsewhere?

#4: What they Want

Now it’s time to list what your different audience groups want from you!  Do they want information, support, value or recognition; maybe they want to be included, give feedback, share their stories or campaign on your behalf.  Again, there can be more than one What they Want per audience group.

#5: How it Happens

Just like in column 3, this column lists how these requests or exchanges can happen.

Stand back!

You’ve just created a map of all your audiences and how you and all of them can be sharing, conversing and campaigning in an aligned way!  The two “How it Happens” columns are great opportunities for evaluating which social media tools you are using for different audiences, something I’ve talked about on this blog before.  You can also easily see which messages and audiences naturally go together and which are separate.  And, if you did it as a team or full organization you can feel like you are all on the same page (or at least closer to it) by working through the process together!

What do you think?

How have you mapped your conversations and messages at your organization? Do you have any tips or suggestions you can share?  I’d love to hear how you’ve done it!

Published on November 24, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 5 Comments

Invention, Technology and Social Change: What’s driving you?

Published in interview and issues. 1 Comment

I was interviewed recently by Petra Kroon, a blogger focused on social media and entrepreneurship in The Netherlands, in which she asked some really great questions, including what I thought the trend would be for social entrepreneurship in 2010 as well as where we may be in 25 years.  The questions, and listening back to how I responded (as painful as it may be to listen/watch yourself on video!), made me think again about the open-ended topic Ashoka posed in it’s “Blog your way to Hyderabad” competition announcement: the interconnection between technology, invention and social change.

Invention, Technology and Social Change: What’s driving you?

I truly believe that invention or innovation, especially in the field of technology, is not just fueling the way we campaign for social change via social media tools, but is also driven by the social change we seek—there’s a back and forth, an exchange, a partnership in the two.  I also think that examining this idea in a place where the 3 areas create a very clear Venn Diagram, like India, invites a wide range of voices to the conversation.

Let’s take an example:
Recently, I had the opportunity to connect with some Ashoka Fellows from around the world to help train them on the uses and applications of social technologies in their social impact work.  One of the participants was Pratima from Shelter Associates in Pune, India.  They “work with the urban poor, particularly women in informal settlements to facilitate, and provide technical support to, community-managed housing (slum rehabilitation) and infrastructure projects.”  In their work, they’ve used GIS mapping technology to create a visual story, a guide, and clear data about areas of poverty and city planning.  The GIS and online mapping technology existed before their project, but Shelter Associates were able to leverage it in a way that helps them advocate for and support work to make changes.  But, their continued use of GIS for social change can contribute to the development directions of the tools (they are using Google Earth).

There are so many examples we could include.  Do you have one you’d like to share?

Tools: Builders and Users
This is also a great opportunity to continue the conversation that’s started spreading around the web about the relationship between organizations and activists using social media tools in their work and those building the tools.  With recent events like Causes leaving MySpace and ideablob shutting down, social changemakers have had to re-evaluate the way they select and use “free” social media tools that they cannot control.  I have been thinking lately about how we can create a space where changemakers, activists and organizations can be part of a conversation with the developers and the funders of tools to ensure that development is open, all contributors are aware of the plans and limitations in any agreement or tool, and so on.

It’s only an budding idea, though, so I’d love to hear your feedback!

As I said in the interview, I can’t imagine what technologies will be in use 25 years from now.  I hope that we can actively co-create a global community that is more just and sustainable where innovations aren’t driven by social change needs.  But, if we aren’t there yet, I have no doubt that the majority of innovations and inventions around the world will leverage technology as a tool and aid in either campaigning for the social changes still needed or the tools to implement necessary change and advancement.

—–

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public are hosting Tech 4 Society, a conference exploring technology, invention and social change, in Hyderabad, India, in February 2009. Find out more about the conference here. This blog post is an entry in their competition to find the official blogger to travel to and cover the event.

Published on November 24, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 1 Comment

Great reads from around the web on November 24th

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I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources across the web ever day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of November 24th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

  • Have you always wanted to be a 'climate insider'? | TckTckTck – The 350ppm movement is doing a lot of hard work in the lead up to the talks in Copenhagen this December. "Our latest feature is a global rapid response community we launched last month, called ClimateInsider. ClimateInsider is fast becoming the new media hub that will support a digital rapid response network leading up to and during Copenhagen climate change summit." Check it out and apply to be an Insider now!
  • Facebook Charity Interview Questions – Earlier this year, John Carnell created a series called Twitter Charity Interviews that has over 40 interviews with nonprofits using Twitter talking about how, why, and what they do with the micro-blogging tool. Now, John is looking to replicate the process but focus on Facebook. If you want to share the ways your organizations is using Facebook to engage with supporters, visit this link to get the questions and the submission information.
  • Give to the Max Day – GiveMN – giveMN.org created Give to the Max Day as a way to kick off use of the new giving platform. It was more of a success than they expected with huge numbers of participation and donations! You can see the full results here and check out the site, too.
  • Strategy stuff – a three pronged approach – "Drawing together a few discussions I have been involved in recently about the different types of documents an organisation – such as a council – might need to put together to define its approach to engaging online, I thought it might be useful to set out how I think it could be done."
  • New Start Magazine: The toolkit for practitioners in regeneration, economic development & sustainable communities – "New Start is the toolkit for regeneration practitioners. It's a creative and informative magazine, but it's more than that: it's an online news service, a recruitment aid, a partner for organisations wanting to spread learning and to showcase good practice, and the place that the sector's leading thinkers use to kick-start a debate on key issues."
Published on November 24, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Interview: Social Media and Social Entrepreneurs

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This past weekend I had the opportunity to be in Rotterdam, Netherlands, for the European Summit.  There I met Petra Kroon in person, someone I follow online in the nonprofit technology space.  It’s always great to meet offline with folks you’ve already had conversations with online.  Petra wanted to a short interview before the event was over and she asked some interesting questions, like:

  • What’s so powerful in social media for social entrepreneurs
  • What is advice for entrepreneurs in 2010
  • What will the world look like in 25 years

Be sure to catch Petra’s blog (in Dutch, so use a translation tool like Google Translate) or follow her on Twitter.

Why social innovation benefits from social media from sociaal ondernemen on Vimeo.

What do you think?

What are your answers to Petra’s questions?  I’d love to hear what you would have said!

Published on November 24, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

Great reads from around the web on November 18th

Published in roundup. 19 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources across the web ever day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of November 18th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

  • 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference | NTEN: The Nonprofit Technology Network – Have you registered yet for the Nonprofit Technology Conference? This is one of the best opportunities each year to meet others from the nonprofit technology sector, learn what other organizations are up to, what's new and what's next! I'll be there and hope you will be, too :)
  • What is your conversation strategy? | Powered by John Haydon – John Haydon has an excellent post today to get you thinking more strategically about your use of social media, and not just what tools to use but what to say once you're using them! "When most businesses and non-profits start using social media, they start with “small talk” with their communities. They politely reply to tweets, express appreciation to donors, respond as quickly as possible to customer support issues, and generally try to add value to their network. But all to often, they fail to move beyond the “small talk” and create meaningful discussions that their communities are dying to have."
  • Whuffie Webinar – "What if you had access to the latest big ideas from the corporate world, distilled into a 10 minute video that was 6.5 more memorable than other ways of learning? What if you then had access to one of the leaders in the not-for-profit world who would show you how to take these principles and apply them to your day to day activities? What if all of this was free, every month?" You do! Check out this great webinar series from Polar Unlimited.
  • Idealist.org: Imagine, Connect, Act – Idealist is trying something. They want to see what could happen if we serious commit to working together, on an offline. "It's time for the world's idealists to work together, online and in person. The first step in this campaign is to ask you to take a few minutes to read this proposal. What you'll find there is a vision for this network, a path and a timeline to build it, and an invitation to be part of this movement from the very start. Then, to share your thoughts and join the 1,361 people in 91 countries who are making this happen, please sign up here."
  • YouTube – Direct's Channel – "YouTube Direct allows you to embed the upload functionality of YouTube directly into your own site, enabling your organization to request, review, and re-broadcast user-submitted videos with ease. News organizations can ask for citizen reporting; nonprofits can call-out for support videos around social campaigns; businesses can ask users to submit promotional videos about your brand. With YouTube Direct, the opportunities to connect directly with the YouTube community are endless."
Published on November 18, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 19 Comments