The picture of me that was printed on my temporary ID badge made me look creepy. The security guard had taken the photo just as I let my smile go, so I looked slightly sinister. But I wasn't allowed inside without a badge, so I stuck it on my jacket anyway. He handed me my driver's license back, and motioned me to pass through the metal detector. I was already a bit unsettled; locked doors and video cameras were the only things that had greeted me outside the facility. Having to pass through … [Read more...]
Game mechanics for causes – Catalysts for Change
April 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Nothing is more captivating than a well-thought out game. That's why more and more initiatives are building games (or using game mechanics) to create positive social change. Here's a new one that launched today - it's called Catalysts for Change, and it gives players a game-like competition for sharing and responding to ideas about solving the world's social problems. It's a bit like Quora meets Twitter meets Trivial Pursuit. Here's a video they put together that provides a brief … [Read more...]
Adopting failure and risk in the non-profit world
March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
For-profit businesses publicly fail all the time. When they do, it's not the end of the world - learning from one's mistakes (and those of others) can be an enormous factor in long-term success. In the non-profit world, though, failures are often swept under the rug. But since non-profits deal with lives, not dollars, why isn't "learning from failure" a more widely adopted practice? A new service called Admitting Failure wants to change that. In this post, we'll look at why the for-profit … [Read more...]
Being Humble when you’ve raised $12.6 million
March 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
What would your reaction be if you walked into Starbucks and the barista told you that you could pay whatever you wanted for your coffee? Oh, and if you wanted all the money to go to charity instead, that'd be cool, too? In addition to buying 17 carmel macchiatos with the 13 cents you found in your pocket, you'd also probably wonder who in Seattle lost their sanity. Well, that's exactly the pricing model Humble Bundle offers. They provide limited-time offers on bundles of video games, in … [Read more...]
Is the criticism of KONY 2012 legit?
March 12, 2012 By 3 Comments
It's been a full week since Invisible Children launched their now-famous "KONY 2012" film, which seeks to raise awareness of Joseph Kony, an African war criminal who's responsible for the death and abduction of thousands of children. Seven days old, and KONY 2012 has garnered nearly 100 million views. With all this attention, both the film and Invisible Children itself have received their fair share of critics. Are the attacks warranted? In this post, we'll deconstruct the criticism and find … [Read more...]
Does Giving Get Any Easier?
March 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Concepts that turn people into first time givers are always interesting. Converting a "non-giver" into a "giver" isn't an easy hurdle, but it's a crucial one: no one will ever be a lifelong donor until that first dollar has been given. So while it's not uncommon for non-profits to ask for $5, $10, or even $25 for a first time ask, a new site called Philanthroper rachets that number all the way down to a buck. It's as easy a donation experience as I've found anywhere. Here's how it works. … [Read more...]
Will Causes end up the Yahoo! of web philanthropy?
February 16, 2012 By 1 Comment
Causes.com was one of the more exciting things to happen in the online philanthropic space when it launched in 2007. Here was a charitable platform that offered something truly unique at the time - deep integration with Facebook - just as the social network's user growth started to chart skyward. Moreover, Causes founders Joe Green and Sean Parker had close ties with the early Facebook team, giving them a strong connection that any startup would envy. Early advantage doesn't sustain But … [Read more...]
A platform for social business
February 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I wrote the post below this week for my friends at Design Impact, a wonderful non-profit in Cincinnati that uses design thinking to tackle poverty around the world. The original post can be found here. ---------------------- "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it," says Simon Sinek, visionary thinker and speaker. In other words - being genuine matters. This isn't true just for people; it also applies to businesses. And consumers are increasingly demanding that businesses to … [Read more...]
How do you think of Haiti?
January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As today is the two-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, you're going to hear a lot about how much progress has been made rebuilding the country. From both the media and non-profits alike, they'll be plenty of stories about "how many tons of rubble are left", or "how many buildings have yet to be rebuilt." Those are the same questions that I asked the first couple times I visited Haiti in 2010, and my friends and family did the same after each trip. But after visiting Haiti on several … [Read more...]
Pinterest is just a bunch of bumper stickers
January 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Pinterest is mainly a site for (mainly) women to share things they love. Recipes, fashion, and furniture abound. But that didn't stop me from trying it out. After all, Pinterest has been experiencing massive growth, so it must be doing something right. In this post, we're going to take a look one thing it's doing particularly well, and what this means for causes. Pinterest has done a great job of allowing users to curate their own identify, by giving them simple, visually appealing ways to … [Read more...]
WeTopia around the interwebs
December 2, 2011 By 1 Comment
In case you missed some of the press that WeTopia has received this week, here are some of the highlights. Happy reading! Huffington Post - Facebook Game 'WeTopia' Allows Players To Donate To Charity By Building Virtual Village TechCrunch - Backed By Ellen DeGeneres And Others, Sojo Studios Launches Facebook Game ‘WeTopia’ Fast Company - WeTopia: What Would Happen If Zynga Made Games For Good? Good.is - WeTopia Transforms Online Gaming Addiction Into Social Good Gamasutra … [Read more...]
Why did SwipeGood fail?
December 1, 2011 By 1 Comment
I've written about SwipeGood in the past; I was impressed by the simplicity in which they allowed consumers to set aside a little money for charity. But SwipeGood will be shutting its doors soon, evidenced by this message they sent to their users recently: Hey SwipeGoods, It's with a heavy heart that I say SwipeGood is shutting its doors soon. No new users will be able to sign up. However, existing users will be able to log into their accounts and see their previous donations for several … [Read more...]
Playing for Good
November 29, 2011 By 5 Comments
I've been waiting a year and a half to write this post. For the past eighteen months, our team at Sojo Studios has been working on WeTopia, a social game on Facebook that allows players to support some of the world's best charities through game play. Today we announce the "preview" version of WeTopia, which is now available worldwide. What exactly is WeTopia? Our How It Works video explains it best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T7tbo79nVQ I'm extremely proud of what our team has … [Read more...]
Evolution of the Online Donor (via Network for Good)
November 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Network for Good recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and they created this iconographic to help illustrate some of the changes in online giving that have happened during the past decade. … [Read more...]
Thanking by Giving
November 24, 2011 By 1 Comment
My dad once said that the best way to feel like you have enough money is to give some of it away. It sounds counterintuitive, but the act of giving something away does make you feel that you already have sufficient supply of it. While I'm thankful that I was taught to have this attitude, I'm mostly thankful that I am able to give at all. There are a few billion people who can't make that claim, and it's only by sheer luck that I ended up on the other side of the coin. The ability to give, even … [Read more...]
When Daily Deals and Causes Combine
November 21, 2011 By 1 Comment
This blog is all about finding innovative (and easy) ways for people to engage in philanthropy. Here's a no-brainer - daily deals site Living Social has started to offer cause-related deals, in which your donation is doubled by a corporate sponsor. The current offering is for Marine Toys for Tots: Today, we're offering an opportunity to express our gratitude for all we have by helping those who have less. Donate $5 to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and Toys"R"Us, Hasbro, and other … [Read more...]
3 Things to Try for National Philanthropy Day
November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Today is National Philanthropy Day, an event established by the Association of Fundraising Professionals: National Philanthropy Day®, November 15, is the special day set aside to recognize and pay tribute to the great contributions that philanthropy—and those people active in the philanthropic community—have made to our lives, our communities and our world. What makes philanthropy so special is that no one is required to give of themselves. There are no national laws or regulations … [Read more...]
Ask or Engage?
November 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I'm starting to realize how important personal relevancy is when charities ask for money. I believe that a donation appeal from a brand that hasn't made itself relevant to donors would have to be 10x as effective as an appeal from an engaged brand, in order to have the same result. Case in point: I received two solicitation letters in the mail this week - both of them mediocre. One was from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS); the other from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy … [Read more...]
Thanks
November 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Always nice to get a little recognition... … [Read more...]
3 Ways Zynga’s CastleVille Promo Could Integrate Causes Better
October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Zynga, the heavy hitter in the social gaming space, announced a new cause-promotion last week for one of their new games, CastleVille. While Zynga should be commended for making efforts to support causes through its marketing, they've fallen short of integrating charity into the promotion as well as they could have. Here's how the promo works: visit the CastleVille page on Facebook and "Like" the game. Then, select one of three non-profits to whom you'd like to designate a donation from … [Read more...]
