Jonny's Par-tay 4 Good - Tomorrow Night!

Come par-tay with Jonny Goldstein and a few DC-based changebloggers on a special "feel the love" edition of Jonny's Par-tay. Andre, Alex and I will be live at 9pm Eastern this Wednesday, July 16, putting social marketing + social media on the table. You can chat with us during the show and ask questions - Jonny has the dirty details.

Who's on tap? In addition to our host Jonny & Scott Stead, producer:

• Andre Blackman: a friend and former coworker, who is obsessed with getting our world healthy. (He is going to own space between public health and social media - just wait.) Check out his forward-thinking blog Pulse & Signal and keep tabs on Twitter (@mindofandre)
  
• Alexandra Rampy: a new buddy (through Andre) who is new to DC, newly engaged, and a gal after my own heart. Alex is helping to coordinate the Changeblogger initiative with Britt Bravo, covers do good efforts on her blog SocialButterfly, and plays well with others on Twitter (@SocialBttrfly)
  
• Me: you know how I feel about social good, especially those charitable orgs. Thinking about getting a 501(c)(3) tattoo! I'm also on Twitter (@beautifulthangs)

The three of us are united in many ways beyond mutual adoration for social causes. For example, we all adore Nedra Weinrich, social marketing guru, so be sure to check in on Nedra while you're at it. Hope to chat with you tomorrow!

Volunteer U.0 | Your Time, Talent & Treasure

This little gem from the Buzz Bin was rounded out with commentary from Idealist.org's Jake Brewer, who wants to see improved volunteer management before additional social networks spring up to connect pro bono service with need. I agree. Read the comments on the original post for Jake's 2 cents and my latest metaphor (online communities = committees).

In the past two weeks, two separate individuals have told me about "a guy" who is planning to create a new social network for volunteers. Maybe its two different guys with the same plan. Either way, said dude(s) might appreciate some unsolicited, pre-build feedback.

Match.com for the social sector: If you've ever thought, "Hot damn, I am the Iceman of social media/marketing/PR," then you, too, have something to offer to this guy. Your ideas, for one. And your pro bono participation.

The volunteer social network in question is intended to connect needs with professional skills. It's so clever, and unprecedented. Picture a place that puts what you're good at side-by-side with what you care about. It's already been attempted to some extent but the current models are flawed.

Sure, you can already search for traditional volunteer opportunities a la Volunteer Match. But imagine a zing bang new community in which you'll be able to do legitimate social networky things, like friend people. Oooh.

Sarcasm aside, the community might provide a priceless matching service: participating organizations could search for professional services beyond their budgets and beyond labor typically needed to stuff envelopes, dig wells and serve soup.

I like your idea, Sir; it could be the ticket for vast innovation. But whoever you are, should you choose to accept this mission (and for the love of all that is good and true in this world) don't create a new network.

There are already several online networks connecting money and jobs with causes. Partner with one of them, and round out the service to include a full menu for "Time, Talent and Treasure." Idealist.org or LinkedIn sure do feel like natural fits.

Collaborating with local clearinghouses of volunteer opportunities will help keep things amicable and geographically relevant. In the District that might be Greater DC Cares and Volunteer Fairfax, among others. (Don't squash the little guy, and don't duplicate services.)

Make it fully user-generated.

To work, the algorithm of the community must allow all involved to crowdsource needs and possible solutions. Some suggested activities to help the flow:

• Wiki-washed profiles of causes/nonprofits that need services. Anyone should be able to edit the profiles and rate/review the group. Maybe there will be a ranking system! (Swoon.)
• Pass-along tools to forward opportunities to friends ("The Need Feed"). Word of mouth referrals should be easy.
• An open comment forum that allows people to comment/live chat about alternative ideas for to solve a problem, and who could be a good fit.

Personal user profiles will be effective if they're specific and searchable, including

• Your strengths and gifts (legal, finance, human resources, accounting, media, marketing, SEM, web design, origami, video production, "the digital landscape," etc.) rated on a scale from amateur to master ("I cannot do 4th grade math, but I am God's Gift at php and Rails.")
• Your preferred causes (health, microfinance, clean water, AIDS, homeless, arts, farming, GLBT, faith, environment, furry creatures, etc.)
• Your qualifications (work/volunteer experience to date) including referrals from others
• A wish list of groups you'd love to work with

Trick it Out for Sharing Purposes

The online social network would be best served as a repository of opportunity and people profiles. Content should be "embeddable" everywhere else: other online communities, blogs, nonprofit websites, mobile phones.

I might get a social media yellow card for saying so (see for yourself) but this has the makings of a splendid widget or desk top app. A few ideas:

• Pro bono needs near you (tailored to your zipcode, skills and interests)
• Crisis needs (disaster response and issue alerts)
• The latest needs identified by your favorite organizations
• Notices/referrals from friends

Final advice: get the right people on the bus at the right time

Kelly at The Nonprofiteer might have been channeling Good to Great's mantra when she posted yesterday about the need to efficiently recruit board members. First identify goals and tasks, then find the right people. Even if they lack some of the requisite skills, a little upfront training will help them learn the ropes.

With that in mind, the new network should appropriately weight passion - not just map prior experience with specified need. A nonprofit should be able to maximize your conviction to assist with a big fundraising effort, even if you don't have a marketing bone in your body. Not all pegs fit round holes, but there's more room in that hole than you think.

Anyone know the guy? What do you want him to know?

Tools are Only as Useful as Their Users

The thing I truly love about blogging is how it brings new ideas and perspectives to my periphery. In this Buzz Bin post (from June 24, 2008) I more or less stated that there wasn't much online action related to this summer's midwest flooding, and questioned why this was the case. In the original post's comments, Greg Hollingsworth (Devil in the Details) gave some good insight into why folks choose offline (not online) tools to get down & dirty.

If organizations trust consumers to create programs, and consumers want control, then why aren't more of us taking the reigns? Forget big brands for the moment. Yes, some people will create fan pages for Family Guy and Hot or Not Hotlists for Starbucks. Does this brand loyalty really benefit societal ills? Not so much.

Consider what matters. People are empowered to voice their concerns, harpoon issues, and rally support for pressing matters related to health, environment, education, politics, poverty. But they - we - don't take advantage of this privilege.

Remarkable platforms have been built to further social issues, but lie dormant. It's a reminder that support must start with self-selected community members who are compelled to act.

[ Image credit: source unknown, spotted at Lazy Habits. ]

Take Iowa/Midwest flooding. Craigslist's Iowa pages are virtually devoid of calls to action for monetary/in-kind donations or volunteers. (On the other hand, Craigslist was one of the premier resources for families and service during the New Orleans flood.)

Then there's Social Actions, a platform that aggregates user-developed campaigns across 29 do-good social networks: Care2, Change.org, Idealist.org, Razoo, MicroGiving, and GlobalGiving to name a few. Anyone can post their fundraising campaign to these sites. A search on Social Actions shows nothing on tap for Iowa.

The tools exist, but are untapped. Is there a good reason for this? Perhaps we think the Red Cross has it covered. In reality, the Red Cross disaster fund is depleted, having raised only $3.2 million of the anticipated $40 million it will take to ameliorate flooding the Midwest. Tack that up against the rising price of gas and food.

Another contributing factor in lack of action: people don't know about - or how and why to use - the tools and knowledge at their disposal. Friend Jake Brewer at Idealist.org touched on this recently:

"Where we're very well known, we become even more well known. Where no one knows us (e.g. OK, AL, SD, WY, etc) well ...no one knows us."

Per yesterday's PR Week article on "The Digital Effect," 65.9% of marketers are "very willing" to let consumers play a significant role in shaping their marketing programs. But are marketers willing to educate?

Beyond that, if people are enabled to create communities and tools on their own terms, is the average consumer willing to learn how to do so?

Again, the imperative can't be stressed for anything outside of cause marketing, CSR, advocacy, and social sector/nonprofit-related initiatives. Times are tough. Help your neighbor and educate your community.

What better hour than the present, when user-generated content is King and word of mouth is Lord?

UPDATE - JUNE 26, 5p.m.

A very thoughtful and fresh perspective was contributed via comment on this post from Greg Hollingsworth. I really appreciate his insights about the kind of turn-off-your-laptop-and-get-your-hands-dirty action that has been taking place in his home state of Iowa. For those who don't live in that area and want to help via the Internet, Greg recommends two effective donation channels: Grant Wood Area Red Cross and/or the United Way of East Central Iowa. More on Greg's insider POV here.