Tag Archive for 'storytelling'

Great reads from around the web on January 25th

Published in roundup. 3 Comments Tags: 2010, 4change, applications, bookmarks, causemarketing, challenge, community, competition, competitions, facebook, free, fundraising, guide, list, lists, nonprofits, nptech, postalicious, resources, socialchange, storytelling, tools, trends, volunteering.

I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources all over the web every day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of January 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).

TakingITGlobal and Nabuur Launch New Action Guide on Online Volunteering | NetSquared, an initiative of TechSoupGlobal.org – "TakingITGlobal (TIG), an organization that operates the world’s most popular online community for young leaders, and Nabuur, an online volunteering platform that links Neighbours (online volunteers) with Villages (local communities) in Africa, Asia and Latin America, announced today the release of a new Action Guide on Online Volunteering available for download on the TIG website." Check it out!
Chase Community Giving Contest Ends With Yet More Controversy – Beth's Blog: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Use Social Media to Power Social Networks for Change – Beth Kanter has an excellent post chronicling and compiling many posts and resources, as well as commentary and criticism surrounding the Chase Community Giving contest that just finished. "This contest was the culmination of a two-part "vote for me" cause marketing strategy that started in November and has been rife with controversy. In some ways, it comes as no surprise that the race to the finish line ended with more allegations of dubious behavior by contest participants and those watching them compete. It's left some nonprofit professionals wondering whether these types of contests are a good idea." I strongly agree with Hildy Gottleib's comment at the end of the post and urge you to read both the post and the discussion in the comments.
Online Fundraiser's Checklist – "FREE DOWNLOAD: The Online Fundraiser's Checklist. How Do You Ensure Fundraising Success This Year? Take advantage of Network for Good's handy new eGuide, The Online Fundraiser's Checklist, to ensure you don't miss a thing."
3 Powerful Social Good Trends in 2010 – Ben Rattray, the founder and CEO of Change.org, has a great piece on Mashable showcasing the three trends he sees coming in 2010 for the social change sector. "2009 saw a proliferation of online charity events, competitions, and “friendraisers” that spilled across Twitter (Twitter) and Facebook (Facebook) and filled email inboxes everywhere with more requests for money than any Nigerian prince could ever hope to make. And while it’s hard to argue that this is a bad thing — anytime someone gives money to feed the hungry instead of buying another digital potato seed in Farmville, global karma rises, if even just by a little — this focus on using the web as an ever-more elaborate means of getting people to fork over cash misses the much bigger opportunities just over the horizon."
Try These Dynamic Digital Storytelling Platforms | Community Organizer 2.0 – "Nonprofit organizations can tell the best stories. Stories about the impact that a nonprofit has on people’s lives can engage, recruit and solidify donors and members. As ImpactMax writes so beautifully, tying individual stories to overall contextual problems and societal issues can really change policies. Anecdotely, I see a lot of blogs and Flickr photo streams, some YouTube and Vimeo use. Why limit yourself? There are so many other tools and platforms that are exciting, innovative, incredibly engaging, and beautiful. Here are my top digital storytelling platforms and tools for your nonprofit to try out in 2010."

Published on January 25, 2010 by Amy Sample Ward. 3 Comments

Great reads from around the web on December 8th

Published in roundup. 0 Comments Tags: bookmarks, discussion, facebook, fundraising, google, gov2.0, government, howto, list, onlineservices, postalicious, publicservice, report, resources, service, socialmedia, storytelling, transparency, webinar, whitepaper.

I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources all over the web every day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of December 8th). 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).

2009 Year-End Fundraising Guide – Online Fundraising, Advocacy, and Social Media – frogloop – “Is your nonprofit sending out 8-10 online fundraising appeals this holiday season? According to Mark Rovner and Alia McKee of Sea Change Strategies who led the recent webinar Procrastinator’s Guide to Year-End Fundraising with Kathryn Powers of Conservation International and moderated by Eric Rardin of Care2 and Rebecca Higman of Network of Good, this tactic has been helping organizations raise a lot of money. Nonprofits can expect 60% of their donations to come in between Christmas and New Year’s.”
Public ‘want to know how money is spent’ – Third Sector – “More than half of the general public would donate more money to charity if they knew exactly how it was spent, a new survey of 2,000 people indicates. The research was carried out for donation website See the Difference, which will be launched next year. The data shows that 51 per cent of people would give more if they knew how their money was spent and 40 per cent would do so if they could actually see the difference their money was making.”
Facebook Will Be Google-able (If Your Profile is Set to Public) – “At Google’s event today announcing a number of fantastic new features, including real-time search, a new partnership was announced: real-time search of public Facebook status updates. A Google/Twitter partnership was announced months ago but we assumed that Facebook wouldn’t be allowing Google to index many details of its site because the two are fast becoming big rivals. Thus today’s announcement is a very big surprise.”
Does Directgov Deliver? – “Directgov (www.direct.gov.uk) is the Government’s official website for the general public. This discussion paper analyses how well Directgov delivers on its promise to consumers to ‘provide information and online services for the public all in one place’. The analysis is approached from a user’s perspective, and highlights the types of problems consumers frequently encounter with the service. It is intended to promote a debate, and at the end of each chapter, suggestions are made for rethinking key areas so that they can deliver more effective online public services. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas on this discussion paper so please add your comments in the ‘Your feedback’ section that appears on each page. The paper will be open to comment til the end of January 2010.”
20 Questions To Start a Social Media Discussion | Brand Elevation Through Social Media and Social Business | Altitude Branding – “Let’s make something clear: you can be the person that starts asking the questions and initiating the conversations that move social media forward. You. Sitting right there. Yes, you. I don’t care if you’re the marketing assistant, the PR coordinator, the customer service manager, the HR director, or the mailroom clerk. What it takes is the intent to be part of the progress, the bravery to start an open conversation, the maturity and patience to not make it personal, and the investment in the outcomes to take it a step further.”

Published on December 8, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Morgan Sully believes We Operate Better Together

Published in community, socialchange and storytelling. 2 Comments Tags: collaboration, europe, friend, fundraising, storytelling, trip, uk.

We operate best together.

Working from this premise, this travel documentary project seeks to answer the question:

How is global social change made where media, technology and creative people meet?

Through blog posts, photos and web video, Morgan Sully, will document the stories of creative, innovative communities found in European galleries, international events, meetups, barcamps, fabrication labs, and innovation competitions.

I want to learn and ’share back’ as much as possible so that other groups doing similar things can do it together.

Maps: what we need for conversations?

Published in maps and otherblogs. 2 Comments Tags: maps, storytelling.

I think that there is something about maps that ropes all of us in. Especially Google’s maps! They are easy to use, have such a range of options (look at all of the different layers you can view in Google Earth!), and with the satellite (and now Street) view we can really see what we are looking at.

Pete Forsyth, a good friend of mine, has been working in his neighborhood of Portland, OR, on a year-long planning process for a redesign of Portland Parks & Recreation’s central maintenance facility and nursery. The architect involved recently presented six concept plans as reference points during the proposal development. Pete took these concept plans and mapped them out using Google Maps, and posted them for the community’s use as conversations and decision-making takes place building the proposal. As Pete explains, “These concepts make it possible for the public to see the current status of our work, and some of the directions we’re moving in. The Google Map format gives them a friendly presentation, that allows the viewer to click on an object to see notes relevant to it, etc.”

I think it’s an awesome way of leveraging free tools to help convey ideas and stories to your community in a way that does not require you to have a conversation yourself with all those you want to reach.

If you want to try it out for yourself, log in to a Google account and visit http://maps.google.com. In the ‘my maps’ area, click on ‘create new map’ and get started! Pete says that the point-and-click tools are very intuitive. You can even invite others to collaborate on a map with you!

How do you think your organization could use a map in its storytelling? Have you used maps in the past? What successes did you have?

Published on August 4, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

Stories as the answer

Published in storytelling. 0 Comments Tags: newmedia, nonprofits, storytelling.

Storytelling is a big hot topic for nonprofits – especially when it is done in a digital or dynamic way. Kivi Leroux Miller wrote a great post today about five key questions about organizations that should be answered with stories.

Her list includes:

1) What Do Other People Think About This Group?

Answer with Testimonials. When someone is learning about you for the first time, they’ll be curious what other people think about your organization, your staff and your effectiveness. You can talk about how great you are, but that’s not nearly as convincing as testimonials from other people who aren’t on your payroll (or even on your board).

2) Are People Here Like Me?

Answer with Profiles. When someone donates time or money to your organization, they are joining a virtual community of people who believe in the same cause. If someone is not quite sure if your nonprofit is a good fit for them, showing them that they fit in with other supporters can help overcome that barrier.

3) Does This Work?

Answer with Success Stories. Do you get the job done? Are you going to make a difference with the money I give you? Success stories show donors (and potential new donors) exactly what it is you do and how you do it.

4) What Difference Can a Single Person Make?

Answer with Personalized Giving Options. Big problems are overwhelming. If you swamp people with the enormity of the need, they are likely to tune you out and move on to something that feels more manageable.

5) Can I Come Along?

Answer with Personal Chronicles. For your supporters to fully engage with your nonprofit, you have to be willing to share what’s really going on. A small but important segment of your donor base won’t be happy with the level of detail they get in your newsletters. They’ll want more and you should give it to them.

To read the rest of the details and examples, click here.

The one question I think is missing, is: Who are you?

It is important to remember that your organization is made up of humans who do all have lives outside of the office and have passions that have brought them to the same organization for a reason. It is important to showcase your wonderful changemakers, both to recognize them as complete people, and to show your audience/community/supporters/members that they can identify with individuals in the organization and not just the mission.

How do you do this? With blogs, videos, pictures, etc. There are many ways to show that your organization is made of great people. Take pictures at your next staff meeting and have everyone make their own nametag with paper and crayons to hold up for the photo. Let everyone create a short 10-30 second video about how they discovered the organization and wanted to start working there. Start a blog on the website for staff to contribute to about things other than specific press releases, project announcements, etc.

How are you using storytelling in your organization? What is another question that you would add to this list that could be answered with stories?

Published on April 18, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Digital story-telling at its best!

Published in maps and webtools. 0 Comments Tags: maps, storytelling.

Take a look at this incredible story, told through the use of maps. It really makes me think about the dynamic way nonprofits and other social change agents should and could be using dynamic media to tell their stories and grow supporters. Watch ReadWriteWeb for Marshall Kirkpatrick’s article on the digital story!

What do you think? Has your organization tried using a dynamic tool like maps or photos online to tell a story?

Published on April 3, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Tag Archive for 'storytelling'