Archive for the 'socialmedia' Category

What happened to my picture?

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on October 2, 2008
in socialmedia
. 0 Comments

It’s been temporarily replaced (for the month of October) by the Bloggers Challenge widget from DonorsChoose.org!

Why?

Because I want to be sure we can all easily track our efforts to raise money for classroom projects across the US!  I am part of DonorsChoose.org’s BloggersChallenge this October, activating bloggers from all sectors to create giving pages that readers and supports can contribute to.

I chose projects asking for technology from teachers who are integrating new technologies into the classrooms and lessons.  I think we are all looking at new technologies every day and fitting them into our offices, organizations and lives - so why not help teachers do the same?!

How you can help right now:

  1. Support classroom projects by donating!
  2. Find more projects you think should be added to our Challenge, just put a link in the comments and I can add them to our challenge page!
  3. Send this link to others to participate and donate!

Thanks so much for your support!  Let’s make an impact on classrooms this month that will last!

Good rules for using Twitter

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on September 29, 2008
in issues, marketing and socialmedia
. 5 Comments

Is your organization using Twitter?  Are members of your staff using Twitter to representat your organization?  The wave of companies and nonprofits joining the growing Twitter community is increasing rapidly.  That doesn’t mean every group signing on has a good set of rules though…

Jeff Trexler asked if nonprofit staff using Twitter, Facebook and other social media during the election are doing so responsibly.  On the uncivilsociety blog, Jeff writes:

One effect of online social networking technology is that it intensifies the environment that Marshall McLuhan called “all-at-onceness.” Old divisions fall away–near and far, high and low, word vs. picture–in favor of composition.

Part of this integrative process is the fusion of the personal and professional. Topics that were once taboo in polite conversation–money, religion, politics–are now a salient feature of the connected self.

In most respects I have no problem with this. I see myself primarily as a Watcher when it comes to organizational technology–I’m interested in seeing what happens but have little to no personal stake in any particular tool.

But there’s something going on that’s gotta stop.

Namely, political campaigning in social networking accounts connected to 501(c)(3) organizations.  Read more…

Jeremy Pepper, a friend and PR-Social Media guru, coins a new term with Twitteriocy, claiming too many companies joining Twitter are doing so irresponsibly.  He suggests six rules for organizations adopting Twitter (and really, these rules can be expanded to work for most social media tools):

1. Don’t have your PR firm set up and be your Twitter account.
2. Don’t follow everyone willy nilly.
3. Get Tweetdeck.
4. Be engaged. Be personable. Be responsive.
5. Be a person.
6. Twitter is not for everyone.

You can read more of Jeremy’s post as well as explanations to all of these points on the POP! PR Jots blog.

What concerns has your organization had with using social media?  What policies has your organization adopted that really work for helping staff use social media tools responsibly?

Digital Makeover Update: SYFAB’s first steps

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on August 19, 2008
in case studies and socialmedia
. 3 Comments

I just posted an update on the Digital Makeover project to the Net Squared site.  I’ve blogged about the Digital Makeover Project from Simon Fairway before (you can read those posts here and here) ad think the steps being taken are really interesting, and a great learning showcase for other organizations.

South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau is a voluntary organisation and registered charity set up to help voluntary and community organisations get the resources they need and was selected as the featured organization in the Digital Makeover project because of the organization’s openness to technology and change, and the capacity and culture to adopt new approaches. You can read more about the organization and the assessed overview here.

The first steps of the digital makeover, lead by Simon Fairway of Juvi Media and Danny Antrobus from SYFAB, have been to start a blog, a news website, and install Google Analytics.  You can review Simon’s posts to the Net Squared community about the Digital Makeover steps.  Here are some of my key questions, read more about the strategy ideas on the Net Squared blog here!

Blog

Key Questions: How is the new blog going to affect website traffic and SIFT (SYFAB’s interactive guide to fundraising)?  What are the goals for the blog’s affect on these two areas? How do you hope visitors will interact with the site and with each other?  Read more

News Site

Key Questions: What are the goals and differences in purpose for the news site vs the blog?  How can each be identified by visitors so that they can pick whether the blog or the news site is where they want to be?  Why don’t think link prominently to each other? How do you hope visitors will interact with the site and with each other?  Read more

Google Analytics

Key Questions: This is the fun stuff!  Are you using Google Analytics (or the blog software’s built-in analytics) for the website, blog, and news blog?  You should be!  Which pages or posts get the most visitors?  Which get the most comments?  Which do the most people find via a search engine?  Which statistics are most useful to SYFAB in identifying whether the website/blog/news site is reaching its goals?  Read more

Next Step

A quick next step that aligns with the above areas is to set up free Google Alerts about the organization name and industry. Creating alerts on ‘SYFAB’ and ‘South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau’ will let SYFAB staff know who is talking about the organization (whether it is resources, the website, the blog, the news site, or more) and where that conversation is taking place.  Staff can then highlight these links or news stories on the blogs or check out the other site to add information to the conversation.  It’s also useful to create alerts about the services or industry, like ‘funding advice’ or ‘fundraising in uk.’  This will let you identify other blogs, news articles, or websites discussing the same topic, so SYFAB can get involved (whether by commenting on that site, linking to it, or blogging about it).

Read more strategy ideas on the Net Squared blog post.

What experiences has your organization had using Google Analytics or Google Alerts?  What advice do you have for SYFAB while it under goes this Digital Makeover?

WeAreMedia Project - It’s week 3!

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on July 15, 2008
in issues, socialmedia and wiki
. 0 Comments

Have you checked out the WeAreMedia Project from Beth Kanter and NTEN yet? I am really enjoying this great collaborative project and experiment in working wikily.

Week 1:  Why Should Your Nonprofit Embrace Social Media?  (or not?)

Learn about basic social media concepts and principles, as well as the situations in which social media would or would not help your organization.  Here is a great presentation that introduces social media.

Week 2:  Thinking Strategically About Social Media

Learn about the key ingredients you should use for putting together a great social media strategy, how social media strategy relates to your organization’s other internet and communications strategies, and more!  You can even check out the example group exercise I contributed for creating a social media strategy!

Week 3:  The Social Media Ready Nonprofit: Dealing with Resistance

Learn about the signs of resistence in an organization, how to get organizational buy-in for social media strategies, and which policies are useful for dealing with social media in an organization.  Week 3 collaboration and contribution is happening now - join in or learn more!

What have been some of the hardest obstacles to over come in getting buy-in for social media at your organization?  Were the main evangelist, or did you have partners?

Digital Makeover Project: More thoughts on community tools

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on July 12, 2008
in issues and socialmedia
. 1 Comment

I posted a few days ago about Simon Fairway ’s Digital Makeover Project focusing on South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau . I didn’t get all of my thoughts out in that previous post, as they relate to the Issues and Priorities outline that Simon and the team put together.

User generated content vs traditional top-down information
 I think with a web site such as SYFAB’s it is a great community building strategy to integrate ways that funding advice could be given by peers as well as the SYFAB staff. Moving some of the request, information gathering, and sharing process online in a public forum-like way, could really encourage participation in the process. People who may have already gone through what someone else is asking about can provide their insights or information while the staff can supplement with data they usually provide.

Communication is difficult with outreach workers/volunteers
I wonder if establishing some basic protocols that include Google Docs or a wiki could help contain conversations or questions to an easily accessed, web-based document. Is a wiki or shared document something that other groups have used to coordinate remote and in-office workers? I am thinking of examples with campaign staff/volunteers and rural nonprofits.

Newsletter is in PDF/mailed
(You can read about this and the other issue areas in the Issue and Priorities document for the project.)  One of the most important aspects of the newsletter is the event and training listings.  What about creating an online calendar on the website, where events, trainings, workshops, major conferences, and even grant deadlines could all be displayed and easily updated?  Sounds like a great way to add value to the SYFAB website.  You could even allow for others to add to the calendar, or submit information for staff to add.  Then the SYFAB calendar would be the go-to place to find out what was going on in the funding field.

Capturing feedback
One of the easiest ways for organizations to create a feedback form without technical expertise is to use SurveyMonkey or other free online survey tools .  You don’t need to know any html or other coding, don’t need to make any forms on your website.  You can create a survey that captures all the information you are hoping to get from users of the site or of a particular program, and even add your logo and other branding materials to confirm to users that it really is your survey.  This let’s you ask for feedback, collect the feedback and analyze it in a web-based platform so there aren’t any lost emails or misplaced paper forms.

Fundraising options
As the Funding Advice Bureau, you want to be sure that you have enough funds to keep helping others secure monies as well!  An online donation process would be easy, as you would just need to set it up and place the donate button on the website.  Checking to make sure that SYFAB is listed in online platforms like Causes and Change.org will allow people around the world using these platforms to connect causes and fundraising with your organization.

What ideas or comments do you have about the above options?  Do any of them reflect conversations or issues your organization’s staff has also faced?  What have been the major conversations points when discussing these issues in your organization?

Digital Makeover Project

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on July 7, 2008
in case studies and socialmedia
. 3 Comments

Simon Fairway is up to something across the pond: He is coordinating a digital makeover of South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau, a “voluntary organisation and registered charity set up to help voluntary and community organisations get the resources they need.”  The digital makeover project will focus on SYFAB and come to “grips with their organisational challenges, and dreaming up some innovative but appropriate digital solutions for a few of them.”

SYFAB was chosen from many nominations to the Charity Technology Trust because of their pattern of innovation and openness to new technologies.  They also have a staff of 12, making them comparable to many nonprofits.

Here are some of the first areas identified by Simon and the team working on the Digital Makeover.  (Take a look at the SYFAB website and the blog as reference for the below options.)

1.  Introducing Google Analytics to the website to get a stronger understanding of the volume and demographic of site visitors and the most useful content for service users.

I think this is a great way to begin identifying and learning about core usage of the website.  Many organizations are surprised by patterns that emerge and pages that are popular, as often the view of the organization’s website by staff is very different by users.  Some things that I would look for are

2. Adding an RSS feed to the website’s funding news page, so that regular visitors can be informed of updates to the website.

I think adding RSS is a must; the news page (which is the home page with the current site configuration) as well as the training and IT Project sections (you want RSS wherever content will change and people will want to know about it!).  The blog is in wordpress and automatically has RSS.

3. Establishing a regular email newsletter, initially with events and training information. In the longer term this could provide an alternative to the funding newsletter or members’ case studies.

The email newsletter is a great transition step from mailing hard copies towards only electronic materials.  SYFAB probably has the email addresses of nearly all the members already, but it is still a good idea to send out an email to everyone explaining that an email newsletter will begin next week (or whenever) and will be distributed from info@syfab.org.uk (as an example) so they can be sure the email address is in their contact list (some spam filters will block messages sent to many people unless they are in the contact list), and to reply if they do not want to be automatically added to the distribution list (an opt-out).

4. Migrating the feedback process on-line to make it more efficient as a whole, and providing an opportunity to provide feedback directly to funders.

By migrating feedback to an online process, especially one that is shared/stored and public, you really can serve more people by doing less work!  People that have a similar situation or question can review what has already been answered instead of starting the question/investigation process over.  Creating a learning center (like Tech Soup) or forum-type approach to the question-investigation-answer process, you can relieve yourself of having to duplicate research/work but also allow for other members to jump in and contirubte their experiences and knowledge to make even better responses.

I would like to see this have two parts: one side is for the funder investigation and process, the other is for case studies and success stories.  I think it is important for a collaborative approach in finding information and researching options, but it is also really important that case studies be public and searchable, as well as include feedback/commenting just like the learning center side.

5. Offering multimedia content through the website.

I hate to see any organization adopt new technologies that aren’t appropriate for the specific goals and projects.  That isn’t to say that multimedia options aren’t applicable to SYFAB, but I don’t want SYFAB to feel obligated to grab at cool, new things.

The most valuable and directly applicable avenue for multimedia in the SYFAB site, that I see, is:

  • Record (either video or just audio) main presentations at events
  • Create a video or audio instead of a text blog entry, like a quick tip on searching for funders, or a commonly misunderstood issue dispelled, etc.
  • When compelling case stories are submitted (see #4), interviews be recorded with a representative from the organization and posted in the learning forum and on the blog

6. Re-establish the blog as an informal counterweight to the website that welcomes contributions from SYFAB’s service users.

In the Issues and Priorities document available in Simon’s initial post, it says, “Danny freely admits that if the blog is to succeed, it needs find its niche alongside the website.” This is very true!

You have a few ways of doing this, and the first is to prominently display the blog/link on the website, and vice versa.  It is also helpful to textually link to the blog when discussing something that is mentioned on the blog, etc. (linking textually means you link the words in a setence, opposed to a graphic, etc.).  The blog, if it is going to be the counterweight to the website, should be updated often, at least as often as the website is updated, which is weekly.  If finding content is the issue (though I assume finding time is the issue), you have many resources for digging up content; my favorites include:

  • subscribe to industry RSS feeds, and report on news
  • watch/subscribe to RSS feeds of social bookmarking sites (like del.icio.us) to see sites and stories that others are discovering in your field
  • share something you or your organization learned
  • interview someone from the office/organization
  • ask for feedback or experiences about a certain topic related to the organization’s work or field

As far as the blog goes, there is very little that is social about it, except that commenting is enabled.  Any other social media adopted by the organization, should be displayed on the blog: ie, if you have a Facebook, Myspace, Ning, or other social network presence, the logo and link should be included; if you have a Twitter, Pownce, Utterz, or other microblogging tool, it should be included; if you have a presence on YouTube, Bebo, Blip TV, or other media sharing sites, it should be included; etc.  There are also widgets you can create using tools like Sprout Builder that ramp up your social media feel.  You can also use widgets from tools like MyBlogLog or Twitter that show recent activity.  Wordpress (which you are using for the blog currently) has a number of widgets you can enable to show recent activity as well, like comments, posts, etc.

7.  Optimise the site for search engines.

This, like adding RSS, is a great first level step to advancing any organization’s website.

8. Development of online training opportunities and provision of interactive online resources to help organisations develop their fundraising skills and knowledge.

It would be wonderful to do either live or archived online trainings in the form of a webinar or a screencast.  You can look at tools like SlideShare as well.  Connecting these with the learning forums and case studies would be a great way to add context and user stories.  The multimedia options (#5) are a great way to begin providing some online resources as well.

Follow along with the updates on Simon’s blog on NetSquared here:  http://www.netsquared.org/blog/simonfairway/

This is a social media project, meaning you can contribute and get involved in myriad ways: blog about some of your ideas (tag it with digitalmakeover), video blog about your ideas (tag it with digitalmakeover), or post to the community blog at NetSquared (tag with digitalmakeover).  You can also speak to Simon about other ways to get involved and the project’s progress by emailing him at simon @ ctt .org

What are your thoughts about the digital makeover project and SYFAB’s options?

Twebinar, twhat?

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 26, 2008
in events and socialmedia
. 2 Comments

This morning I participated in the first Twebinar from Radian6.  A Twebinar is a webinar as you may have experienced before with a shared screen for slide show or video, a common question box, a video feed for the presenter, etc. + a live back channel on Twitter.  It was the first in a series from the social media team; this one focusing on game changing uses of social media by companies.

The speakers focused on large for-profit companies’ examples but that doesn’t mean the lessons aren’t applicable to nonprofits as well.  Here are some take-aways and thoughts I jotted down while listening in to both the videos and Twitter chatter.

  • Social media has an equalizing effect:  It can make large organizations seem small (personal) while making small organizations seem big (participating in the conversation).
  • Often, with certain social media tools like podcasts especially, you are able to put your information and messages in front of those who are looking for it/want it, without having to know where they are—opposed to a bulk mailing, for instance, where much of the cost is wasted in sending to many people who aren’t interested.
  • Simply adopting a social media tool or a social media strategy isn’t game changing, but the community around your organization or service can be.  If the constituency is already talking, interested, or its desires for connectivity are met with your tools then it can more easily be a successful switch.
  • Many organizations hear talk about using social media tools and think, “why?” The reason is simple: The conversation about your organization, your geographic area, your issue or project arena or policy effecting any of those things IS taking place, and it would only benefit you and your community to be part of that conversation.
  • It’s okay to give away your knowledge—actually, the more knowledge, lessons learned, and ideas you give away to your community, the more you establish your organization as a leader and an expert in the field (thus gaining more supporters, more donors, and more people engaged around your issue).

(You can read the responses from participants using the hashtag (#tweb) or title by look at this summmize.com page.)

I hope to expand on some of my thoughts from the Twebinar soon as well.  If you want to check it out and register for an upcoming Twebinar, check out the Radian6 Twebinar website.

What kind of questions arise for your organization when considering social media options?

More thoughts on Millenials

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 23, 2008
in socialmedia
. 2 Comments

Last month I shared some brief thoughts about the changing environment of nonprofits per the characteristics of Millenials.

A few weeks ago, Allison Fine participated in a live chat with the Chronicle of Philanthropy to discuss the topic of Engaging Millenials in Social Causes.  Quite a few people participated in the live discussion on the C of P website during the hour-long virtual event.  To reflect on some of the ideas and questions I raised in that previous post, I asked Allison:

How do you view the relationship between Millenials and older generations IN social media? Positive, negative, linear, hierarchical, leaders/followers, individuals, mentors/teachers, etc. And, do you think this relationship affects the conversations that nonprofits are trying to listen to, interact with, and learn from? Thanks!

I was thinking a lot about the way interactions and relationships between Millenials and those of older generations could effect the way organization adopt or integrate social media tools into their work.  Allison’s response was:

Hi, Amy, thanks for your question and the interesting thoughts on your blog last week. We provide astonishingly few opportunities for Millennials and older generations to use social media together. We’ve almost made it taboo, haven’t we? I would love to see younger people mentor older people on social media, what a great use of talents and skills! I think it would be a great way to unlock causes and organizations (again, back to provocative!) One of the most interesting aspects of Causes on Facebook is that there are so many causes for each issue. Take Darfur, for example. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Causes on Facebook dedicated to this issue. Before, in the proprietary age, people interested in this issue would have been largely locked into one or two organizations they knew about.

This is a long way to say that I think your interest in this area is right on the money and I would love to see more mentoring and more conversations between young and old people online or on Causes.org or even on Twitter (!) about issues that concern us all.

So, now I’m thinking about ways that organizations can use social media tools in a meaningful way that also allows all supporters (Millenials and beyond) to interact with each other.  How does your organization create places, on or offline, for supporters of all ages to interact or spread your work on behalf of the organization (fundraising, communications, etc.)?

You can read the other questions and answers from the Chronicle of Philanthropy live discussion with Allison Fine on the C of P website, here.

Thoughts on Millenials and political action

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on May 22, 2008
in issues and socialmedia
. 2 Comments

About a year ago, I sat down to write two white papers on issues I had rumbling around in my head that involved the changing roles, as I saw it, of nonprofit organizations and foundations as well as the changing relationship between those organizations and citizens.  Trust me that had I finished writing those, you would have been privy as they would have been up on the blog.  Needless to say, my brain was taken over by work as is the problem that always comes up, and they remain strings of thoughts in text files on my computer.

Today, I finally made a little time to read through Social Citizens from Allison Fine and The Case Foundation.  It tore apart all of the other things I was thinking about today and threw me back into the subject of those white papers from last year.  It was wonderful!  So, I took it as a sign that I needed to get some of those thoughts out to you all this time around.  Keep in mind that these are my thoughts and I would love a chance (read: the time) to expand on them fully, so I apologize for the brevity.  Also, these ideas do not only sprout from this recent publication, obviously, but are inspired through many reports and from my own experiences as a Millenial.

Changing Role of Nonprofits and Foundations

Because so much of the organizing and activism, and thus information and opinion, around issues is done in networks of friends and family, the problem with access to both sides of the story and the opportunity for an independent and unique opinion grows.  As views are shaped by those closest to the individual, there is much less of a chance for a network-created cause or action to include full dialogue of an issue.

Nonprofits and foundations will continue to be tied to causes, changes, actions, and groups that form in social networks and elsewhere on the web.  The role these organizations have in the relationship will change to incorporate the need for access to the big picture.

Nonprofits and foundations will become sources for information and reliable reporting.  They will be the places that personalized campaigns link to for the background and continued data on an issue.  As the fundraising and momentum building moves more and more into the hands of supporters across the web and around the world, the relationship with the aligned organizations changes to reallocate responsibilities.  As information, data, and reporting providers, these organizations will work to ensure that the multitude of unique campaigns taking place simultaneously by supporters provide an opportunity for those networks and potential interested citizens to learn more (and act more).

Changing Expectations of Government and Corporations

Millenials feel political change by individuals is impossible and that political actions like voting and participating in the political arena as it currently exists do not have the impact they want.  This doesn’t mean that young voters aren’t turning out, as we see from the numbers in 2004 and so far in the primaries that the youth vote is taking a big upswing.  But, young voters view their action closer to a symbolic step than a concrete motion.

Millenials are also very concerned about and aware of the cause-related work that corporations are involved in, choosing to support (or purchase from) organizations that are environmentally conscious, giving back to the community, and/or contributing to changing social problems.  Young people report, as it says in the report, having more confidence in corporations than they do in the government.

This could mean that instead of groups of citizens urging politicians and policymakers to make changes around issues or specific legislation, that citizens instead turn to corporations who are aligned with those issues and support them in pressuring the government.  Standing behind more than just a product, but trusting in the clout of a corporation to swing policymakers.

To go further, this could even have implications for key supporters to have a ‘role’ (of some sort) in the leadership of the corporation.  This would complete the circle of accountability between the corporation and the supporters who have chosen to be loyal to the organization because of the issue alignment.

Changing Identity

In previous generations, personal identify was defined by career/job title and field.  You were an engineer or a teacher or a scientist.  That meant something when you said it to a new acquaintance and similarly created automatic circles of colleagues even if you hadn’t met personally.

Now, as taking action for Millenials has become incredibly important and easy via the social communities and world of the web, who you are is no longer defined by the college major you graduated with.  Not only are people of my generation projected to change career fields, not just employers, many times over compared to past generations, but we have come of age in a time when learning is no longer a hierarchical or institutional activity.

The power to do something is in our hands and accessed any time we want online.  This means, Millenials will be identified with their issue-alignment and causes.  The personalized widgets for fundraising campaigns, challenges, and international issues now speak to who we are.  We find friends through the interconnected profile links of campaigns to save Darfur or cancer awareness.  My online actions and challenges are met by people from all backgrounds, job titles, and locations - but we are all working to protect the environment, or raise air quality standards, or stop human trafficking.

The way I expect not just my friends and family, but also my employers and politicians to identify me and communicate with me is also effected by the way I am defined by issues and not simply where I live or where I work.

—-

I know that is just the tip of the iceberg for three incredibly large areas, but I was going to burst if I didn’t get at least that much out of my head.  I would really, really love to hear what you think and keep this conversation going.  As the way individuals ‘live’ online is already drastically changing the way nonprofits do their work.

Where do you bank?

Published
by
amysampleward
on April 16, 2008
in community and socialmedia
. 0 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to interview Heather Cronk of PledgeBank to ask her about the campaign building site before her visit here to Portland to present at Net Tuesday about online campaign building.

What IS PledgeBank? PledgeBank is a conditional pledging tool for collective action. Let me re-word that in English: PledgeBank is a way to say publicly that you’ll do something (hopefully something that will improve your neighborhood/community/world), but only if others will promise to do the same thing. It’s a way to take that notion that there should be more streetlights, or that someone should clean up the local creek, or that it’s not too hard to raise money for new playground equipment at the elementary school and make those ideas a reality by including more people in the process. The site follows a simple formula: you create a pledge (i.e. “I will do X action, but only if N number of others will do the same”), you publicize the pledge (we give you tools to email your friends, post to your blog/website, organize on Facebook, or automatically generate flyers to post in your community), the pledge succeeds, and you give instructions to pledge signers for how to follow through. Easy as pie.

What has been the most interesting campaign to see grow/succeed? My favorite example is the Bakul Foundation’s pledge (found at http://www.pledgebank.com/Bakul-Library). They basically saw that a huge problem in their community was the lack of access to books for children, and had the crazy idea of building a children’s library locally. Rather than just hammer away on that project with a few other people, they mobilized their social networks in India and beyond — and ended up getting over 1000 people to pledge their support with time, money, books, and sweat. The library just celebrated their first anniversary last week and the children’s library is going strong, rather than still being a crazy idea in someone’s head.

What has been the most inspiring so far? To me, the most inspiring pledges are small ones with a big impact. For instance, a recent inspiring pledge is “undies4liberia” (found at http://www.pledgebank.com/Undies4Liberia). One person saw in her travels through Liberia that a huge problem in that country was at orphanages — those centers were operating with few resources and little capacity to pay attention to details. So Ashley created a pledge to collect new, clean underwear that she would deliver to the orphanages on her next trip over. While she certainly could have bought 20 or so pairs of underwear herself, including others in that process yielded 753 pairs of underwear for children at those orphanages, and many more people aware of and interested in Liberia. I think that’s pretty inspiring! (See Ashley’s success story at http://www.pledgebank.com/success#undies)

How do you see campaign building relate to the uprising in peer-to-peer fundraising and social action networks online? Well, what we try to do at PledgeBank is create ways for anyone to be an organizer, regardless of experience or training. The old way of organizing said that those who were *trained* as organizers went into a community and solved problems. The new way of organizing says that everyone is an expert in what needs to happen in their community to make it better, safer, and more just — and PledgeBank offers tools to do that by creating localized campaigns that mobilize a person’s own social network. In much the same way that peer-to-peer fundraising and social networking build on the capital one has generated through relationships, PledgeBank offers a way to “cash in” on that capital through positive peer pressure — “Since we know each other, and you care about the things I care about, I hope you’ll sign my pledge to actually get something done about a community problem.” PledgeBank is a fundraising tool, an action tool, a campaigning tool, and a social tool — all wrapped up in one site.

What is the hardest part of the campaign in your opinion? Well, the hardest part of running a pledge on PledgeBank is actually taking the first step of reaching out to your networks to find pledge signers. Once pledge creators take that first step of saying, “This is something I care about and think is a good idea,” it’s relatively easy to keep the momentum going. A friend of mine created a pledge and became obsessed with watching the number of pledge signers go up — it was really rewarding for her to get that affirmation that others cared about the same thing and were willing to publicly support her idea. But it’s sometimes difficult to take that first step.

How many countries have used PB so far, in how many languages? Well, users in 99 countries have created pledges, and we have pledges running in 13 languages (English, Welsh, Belarusian, German, Spanish, Esperanto, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, and Chinese)…with a few more in process. The site translations have all been done by volunteers, mostly using PledgeBank to get the job done (i.e. “I will translate 10% of the PledgeBank code into Ukrainian, but only if 9 others will each take on a different 10%).

If someone doesn’t want to be involved in a specific pledge, is there any other way to support the work of PB or its users? Well, the beauty of PledgeBank is in the site’s diversity. If your friend sends you a pledge they’ve created to raise money for a political candidate, but you’re not so sure you support that political candidate, you’re completely free not to sign the pledge. In fact, you’re completely free to create a pledge to raise money for a rival candidate, or to create/sign a pledge about something else altogether. One of the things I love about the site is that we try in many ways to put opportunities in front of users that they might not have known to look for, but that they end up finding interesting — we encourage users of the site to connect with other users, regardless of whether they personally know one another.

You can hear more from Heather about PledgeBank and online campaign building in person, if you are in the greater Portland area, at the Portland Net Tuesday. You can find out more about the event here, and sign up to join Portland Net Tuesday events each month.