In today’s world, revolutions begin electronically.  Armies are assembled with the touch of a few buttons.  It is easier than ever to have your voice heard.  So why not use that voice to improve your city?

I am happy to introduce you to the Government 2.0 concept.  This genre of web and mobile based applications are bridging the gap between you and your local government.  Utilizing these products, the proactive citizen can email issues or photos directly to city officials.  See a sign that needs to be fixed?  Unsettled with funding appropriations in your area?  Did Garbage pickup omit your house?   Here is your chance to let the powers that be know about it.

For those of you in Birmingham, my good friend Evan Metrock, through his startup Metrocket LLC, has just released an iPhone application that does exactly this.  It is called Better Birmingham, and the product is free for download through the iTunes app store.  A simple form assembles all pertinent information and sends it to the appropriate office.  Contact information is included for the communities of Vestavia, Hoover, and Mountain Brook and will expand to the entire Birmingham area in future versions.

If you live elsewhere, you may also be in luck.  New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and other major metropolitan areas have been utilizing the applications for a while now to streamline Transit Systems and Public Relations. Bypass the red tape and get things done in your city!

DoGood!

matt

Feel free to email me: matt@DoGoodedness.com with questions, suggestions, or if you are interested in writing a guest post!

Occasionally, when the weather is nice, I like to spend my lunch hour exploring the sidewalks of downtown Birmingham.   The walk serves as a reminder: both in how far the city has come and how far it has to go.  While there are blocks that show signs of progress, many still exude a loss of hope.   Seeing the latter, it is easy to get discouraged.

Thankfully, there are plenty of success stories that show us what we are capable of.  With the right people and wholehearted determination, change can be affected.  Just take a look at The Zone Project in Harlem.

You may have seen an American Express commercial recently that features the charismatic Geoffrey Canada and the impact his Harlem Children’s Zone has had in one of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods.  “If we can fix this block,” he says, ”then we can fix the next block and the next block and the next.”  By 2011, Mr. Canada aims to have revitalized a hundred.  Not surprisingly, this attitude is attracting an audience around the country.

What makes this program different is the approach that HCZ has adopted.  In revitalizing a block, every problem is corrected.  Each building is considered, as they address all of the issues that poor families are facing in the area: from crumbling apartments to crack houses and underperforming schools.  Piece by piece, the standards, as well as expectations, are raised.

This attention to detail is born from HCZ’s “whatever it takes” attitude.  Every child is accounted for.  Education is a cornerstone and progress is closely monitored from preschool to college.  Instilling this accountability in children eventually leads to a similar attitude in the surrounding community.  HCZ leaders refer to this concept as “building a culture of success.”

Consider this approach when trying to create change in your area.  After all, a rebuilding effort is more than bricks and mortar.  It involves fostering an attitude that cares, as well as cultivating a self worth.  If people feel as though they are being invested in, then they will in turn become vested in their communities.  Build your value one block at a time.

DoGood!

Matt

Feel free to email me: matt@DoGoodedness.com with questions, suggestions, or if you are interested in writing a guest post!

A few months ago, I joined several of my coworkers to participate in Junior Achievement’s annual calling campaign.  For the better part of a day, we sat at our makeshift workstations leafing through call sheets – trying to warm strangers just long enough to sucker them out of some money.  Although the cause was admirable and certainly worthy, I couldn’t help but get frustrated with the process.  For the hundreds of calls placed that day, the room’s success rate was unacceptably low.  Volunteers left demoralized and quite accustomed to hearing the word “no.”

This topic, I had planned to explore a while ago, but was emphatically reminded today when an (888) number showed up on the cell phone.  Admittedly, I had given a decent amount to the organization a few years back.  However, now I was being asked for $300 on the spot without any warning or personal connection (the last give was to a friend going overseas for their program).  No disrespect to the caller or group, but this is primarily a waste of everyone’s time.

With the plethora of media outlets these days, it is time for the nonprofit sector to embrace new ways of campaigning for cash.  Gone are the days of mass phone calls and incessant mailings.  The new emphasis is on time-effective and focused campaigns.

I was delighted to see how efficient some of the Haitian fundraisers were.  In a matter of hours, a handful of initiatives had already brought in funds totaling in the tens of millions.  Our expectations literally changed overnight.

So how did they do it?

Twitter

This does not come as much of a surprise to most of you.  With 75 Million users and the ability to directly and immediately send information to loyal followers, it is no wonder that this site can be so helpful.  Encourage retweets by those who care about your cause and word will spread very quickly.

Of course, information at the speed of light is only as good as the infrastructure you have in place to support it.  Use your tweets to point patrons directly to a donation page that explains in more detail.  Make payment as easy as possible and have receipts emailed immediately.  In the event that you are a large enough organization for such a partnership, look into a text message option where carriers will charge a nominal fee to bill customers on your behalf.

Personal Pages

One of the organizations I work closely with has changed up their annual drive by creating personal, customizable pages for every interested party.  Why would they do this?  Because they have found that these people are their best assets.   They are more apt to attract donations on an individual site than a generic one.  Additionally, this instills a sense of pride that pushes fundraisers to be more proactive.

Facebook

Once again, nothing revolutionary here, but the key to Facebook is using it the right way.  If your organization has open events, they need to be posted on FB.  Allow attendees to invite more people, thus compounding your reach.  If a reputable nonprofit in our area is having a fundraiser, the invite will inevitably circulate to someone in our circle.  This, most notably, costs nothing.  Think of the money you could save on mailings and printed invites…

A fan page on FB will allow you to corral people and to contact them directly with minimal effort.  Just like followers on twitter, you can send messages directly to them and keep them abreast of happenings with your nonprofit.

DoGood!

Matt

Feel free to email me: matt@DoGoodedness.com with questions, suggestions, or guest posts!

Admittedly, I am only halfway through the book Stones into Schools, but the message contained in these pages is begging for an article.  I am happy to oblige.

Building upon the 2006 bestseller Three Cups of Tea, Stones follows philanthropist Greg Mortenson as he proves a universally beautiful point:  The best way to promote peace is not with guns, bombs, and military force, but rather with books, teachers, and schools.  Greg and his rag tag band known as the “dirty dozen” venture to civilization’s most remote areas to carry out their mission.

Empowering People

Much of the ignorance and intolerance in the world is derived from a lack of education.  Here in the United States, we take this liberty for granted.  Schools serve to empower individuals, and in such high profile battlegrounds as Afghanistan, groups like The Taliban are well aware of the threat.  They, like many other militant organizations, thrive on creating fear – a fear that can be quelled through learning.

Greg Mortenson co-founded the Central Asia Institute (CAI) in 1996 to carry out his mission in the remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  As of 2009, CAI has built more than 130 schools, focusing primarily on those for girls: who have been intentionally left out of what schooling has historically been offered.  Because of these efforts, young women are earning high-school equivalent degrees (or better) and going on to pursue careers previously thought to be unobtainable by societal standards.  As household pillars, these mothers will eventually pass along such high expectations to their offspring…and it spreads.

If you want to help fight the war on terror, consider what Mortenson has done.  While our country is spending millions of dollars every day to send troops into battle, the CAI is bettering the next generation of Afghanis (and conveying Western compassion) for a fractional amount.  Please consider donating to their cause.

At Home

Similarly, many of our battles here in America can be fought with a larger focus on education – not only in schools but also in society as a whole.  Whether the problem is obesity, crime, debt, or racial/ethnic intolerance, progression begins with the instatement of a solid knowledge base for our children.  A greater emphasis has to be placed on early development, and families need to reinforce the idea that learning does not stop once they get home.

Get Involved

There are plenty of ways to help improve the education of children in your own community.  Regardless of how busy you may be, there is an opportunity out there that will fit your schedule.  Find time to read in local classrooms, help with an after school program or simply donate books to the Literacy Council or Better Basics.

For those of you in the Birmingham area, I encourage you to participate in Birmingham Reads on April 14^th.  This annual event strives to have volunteers reading in every elementary school classroom in the city.  For more information, check out our Events page.

DoGood!

Matt

Feel free to email me: matt@DoGoodedness.com with questions, suggestions, or guest posts!