Articles by: thinksocial
About: thinksocial
Trends that are Shaping Social Media in the Public Interest: Social Looping
Social looping occurs when organizations meaningfully connect people to the impact their participation (financial, social or political) has created for a cause and provide tools to inspire and enable those people to reach out and encourage their social graph to take further action.Why have online initiative such as charity: water, DonorsChoose.org and Kiva grown so fast and generated such brand affection? Effective social looping has a lot to do with it.
Supporters of a cause or charity want to know the destination of their donations, and non-profit organizations and donation platforms like charity:water, DonorsChoose.org and Kiva are answering that question with information and powerful storytelling and images. Furthermore, they are making it easy for their participants to share specific people and initiatives in need and the celebrate the successes along the way.
Examples include:
- Online microfinance platform Kiva.org posts on its website profiles of entrepreneurs, so lenders can see who they are donating to. There are also profiles of lenders in the community, and background information on the microfinance institutions that receive the donations and send them on to the entrepreneurs. Kiva also posts statistics and financial information online, with an explanatory section on “How Kiva Works”; and Kiva representatives say that there will be efforts for even greater transparency, including a contest for user-submitted videos about the Kiva model, after criticism that earlier versions of Kiva.org’s language suggested that lenders were indeed able to donate money to a particular entrepreneur (much like the “sponsor a child” charities of last century).
- Other fast-growing charities that try to illustrate where exactly donations are going include Invisible Children, a non-profit that spreads awareness about child soldiers in Northern Uganda, educational charity DonorsChoose.org, and charity: water.
- Invisible Children, for example, as part of its Schools for Schools campaign, blogs photos of schools being built thanks to donations from Invisible Children supporters.
- DonorsChoose.org posts photos and thank-you notes from the students whose classrooms received requested school supplies or were able to go on an educational field trip based on donations from the site.
- And on its web site, charity: water uses Google Earth maps to track progress of wells and other charity: project projects and their partners across the world.
Read the full Social Media Blueprints report and learn about the other trends that are shaping the use of social media in the public interest: Social Media Blueprints 1.0
Posted in: Trends | Tagged: entrepreneurs, kiva, microfinance, socialgraph, sociallooping
ThinkSocial Awards: What happens next?
Thanks to everyone who participated during the public phase of voting for the inaugural ThinkSocial Awards.
We have been delighted with the response and are excited to report that over the six days, 2,500 people cast over 7,500 votes, helping to draw attention to the incredible list of selected nominees.
In addition to the amazing number of votes, we have also been blown away by the quality of comments left on the ThinkSocial website, on Twitter and also on the Uservoice voting application. Hearing all about the nominations directly for those of you who have experienced them first hand has been a truly inspirational part of this process.
So, what happens next?
We are working closely with our expert panel of jurors who are currently reviewing all thirty three nominations and providing their own assessment against the awards criteria. We will combine these assessments with the public votes together with feedback from the Paley Center to make the final determination as to who should win a ThinkSocial Award.
On November 19th 2009, at The Paley Center for Media’s International Council Event, we will present three awards, recognizing outstanding examples of innovation, which represent powerful models for how social media can be used to address global problems.
We will be making an announcement regarding who won and who received special commendation very soon. You can keep up with ThinkSocial and be the first to hear by following us on Twitter.
In case you didn’t have a chance to view the nominations you can see them all listed here: http://think-social.org/awards/final-nominees
We’re absolutely committed to keeping the conversation alive and want to hear from you. What did you think of the nominations? Who did we miss? Who should we highlight and recognize in the future? What did you think of the voting process?
Thanks again for your support and participation.
ThinkSocial Awards: Betterplace.org “Connecting people who need support with those who want to help, worldwide”
VOTE
Name: Betterplace.org
Nominated Category: Organization
URL: http://www.betterplace.org
Area: Collaboration, Advocacy, Action
About:
German foundation betterplace runs betterplace.org, a space where people who need support can connect with those who want to help.
Description:
Created in 2007 by two merged groups of people (betterplace and the former Platform.org) interested in how the Internet can further social good, what’s now known as betterplace.org forwards on 100% of donations. (Operating costs are covered by private supporters who believe in the betterplace mission.)
For individuals, organizations and corporations, better place connects those in need with donations in kind, of money, know-how and volunteering. Individuals and companies can search on the web site for local projects that they can contribute to. Individuals and organizations can request support and report on progress of projects, so their peers and supporters can keep in the loop.
To show how “good” a person or project is, persons and projects can “vouched” for by “project visitors” and “advocates” who have seen or participated in a particular project first hand. There are also local and international NGOs—whether a slum-specific Indian NGO or something as big as Oxfam—that are called “project carriers,” or trusted experts on the site. (This “web of trust” between helpers and those who need help is broken down handily here in the “about us” section on betterplace org. A feature that illustrates this web for all projects will be implemented soon.)
This may sound like a lot, but really all one needs to get a project on betterplace.org is a committed individual that will describe it on the web site and will report project progress on its project blog. “Over time advocates, visitors, organisations, companies and supporters can form around the project,” betterplace.org says. “The more meaningful a project appears to people, the faster this web of trust will form and the more support you will get.”
On the web site, when you scan through the different listed projects, you can see star ratings on each, as well as graphs that show fundraising progress. You can look at different projects as categorized by region (South America, Oceania, Africa, etc), by categories (education, health, food security, among others) and by fiscal type (non-tax deductible, or tax-deductible for German donors). You can also search members of the betterplace.org community to find particular individuals or organizations, and track what they’re doing through the “dialogue” section—part of the web site where you can find the latest news and blogs posts on projects.
The Basics:
WHO: Betterplace Foundation
WHAT: Betterplace.org, a social collaboration space where people who need help and people who want to help can meet and keep track of projects for social good.
WHERE: Based in Germany, but with opportunities around the world and participants worldwide.
HOW to get involved: Sign up – it’s free. Then either submit a project or look for one. Follow updates on the betterplace blog.
WHAT other people are saying:
What do you think?
- Comment on this entry and tell us what you think. Who else should we be highlighting in this category?
- Share these initial selections with your network, through Twitter, Facebook etc
Learn more about ThinkSocial Awards here.
Thanks for your support and participation.
Posted in: Non-profit, Organization, awards | Tagged: Action, advocacy, collaboration
ThinkSocial Awards: Care2 "Living in a greener, healthier fashion — thanks to a web community's toolbox"
VOTE
Name: Care2
Nominated Category: Organization
URL: http://www.care2.com
Area: Online Community, Advocacy, Action
About:
Care2, started by Randy Paynter, calls itself the largest online community for people involved and interested in green living, human rights and animal welfare.
Description:
Care2.com gives folks a chance to stay on top of worthwhile causes and news, search for tips on anything form how to be a more conscious consumer to farmers’ market recipes, and connect with the community’s 11 million members. How the site functions is dependent on the community. The Care2 News Network, for example, dubbed C2NN, depends on members posting news stories, videos or podcasts elsewhere online and uploading them to C2NN; other members can then vote or “note” stories they particularly like. Well “noted” stories get pushed to C2NN’s “front page.”
For immediate action — if you’re looking to better more than yourself, but perhaps those in need of aid on the other side of the world — Care2 has a “take action” section where members can sign petitions or start petitions for various causes, blog, and start or join Care2 community groups. There are also charitable actions tied to web site’s free e-cards. Sending different e-cards benefits different charities; with one in particular, Care2 promises to purchase one square foot of rainforest for each e-card sent.
Started in 1998, out of founder Paynter’s apartment, Care2 is now a certified “benefit corporation,” with 12 million members and 400 non-profit partner organizations.
The Basics:
WHO: Randy Payner (founder)
WHAT: The Care2 site provides tools for people to live a greener, more socially and environmentally sound life — whether those resources be articles and advice, or online petitions.
WHERE: U.S. based, but with causes all over the world.
HOW to get involved: Become a member, sign a petition, support a cause, etc.
What other people are saying:
Ode magazine on founder Randy Payner
Times (UK) piece on how stray dog gets to the U.S. from Iraq thanks to a Care2 petition
What do you think?
- Comment on this entry and tell us what you think. Who else should we be highlighting in this category?
- Share these initial selections with your network, through Twitter, Facebook etc
Learn more about ThinkSocial Awards here.
Thanks for your support and participation.
Posted in: Non-profit, awards, organization | Tagged: Action, advocacy, community, green, welfare
ThinkSocial Awards: Care2 “Living in a greener, healthier fashion — thanks to a web community’s toolbox”
VOTE
Name: Care2
Nominated Category: Organization
URL: http://www.care2.com
Area: Online Community, Advocacy, Action
About:
Care2, started by Randy Paynter, calls itself the largest online community for people involved and interested in green living, human rights and animal welfare.
Description:
Care2.com gives folks a chance to stay on top of worthwhile causes and news, search for tips on anything form how to be a more conscious consumer to farmers’ market recipes, and connect with the community’s 11 million members. How the site functions is dependent on the community. The Care2 News Network, for example, dubbed C2NN, depends on members posting news stories, videos or podcasts elsewhere online and uploading them to C2NN; other members can then vote or “note” stories they particularly like. Well “noted” stories get pushed to C2NN’s “front page.”
For immediate action — if you’re looking to better more than yourself, but perhaps those in need of aid on the other side of the world — Care2 has a “take action” section where members can sign petitions or start petitions for various causes, blog, and start or join Care2 community groups. There are also charitable actions tied to web site’s free e-cards. Sending different e-cards benefits different charities; with one in particular, Care2 promises to purchase one square foot of rainforest for each e-card sent.
Started in 1998, out of founder Paynter’s apartment, Care2 is now a certified “benefit corporation,” with 12 million members and 400 non-profit partner organizations.
The Basics:
WHO: Randy Payner (founder)
WHAT: The Care2 site provides tools for people to live a greener, more socially and environmentally sound life — whether those resources be articles and advice, or online petitions.
WHERE: U.S. based, but with causes all over the world.
HOW to get involved: Become a member, sign a petition, support a cause, etc.
What other people are saying:
Ode magazine on founder Randy Payner
Times (UK) piece on how stray dog gets to the U.S. from Iraq thanks to a Care2 petition
What do you think?
- Comment on this entry and tell us what you think. Who else should we be highlighting in this category?
- Share these initial selections with your network, through Twitter, Facebook etc
Learn more about ThinkSocial Awards here.
Thanks for your support and participation.
Posted in: Non-profit, Organization, awards | Tagged: Action, advocacy, community, green, welfare
ThinkSocial Awards: Design 21: Social Design Network "Design competitions for the greater good"
VOTE
Name: Design 21: Social Design Network
Nominated Category: Collaboration
Area: Social networking, social action networks
URL: http://www.design21sdn.com
About:
DESIGN 21 – a collaboration between charitably inclined lifestyle corporation Felissimo and non-profit UNESCO — is dedicated to work that looks good and does good.
Description:
As a social network, it keeps members looped in on how people around the world are using design to make a difference. Online, you can connect with other socially conscious folks, designers, non-profit organizations, interest groups and others.
Central to DESIGN 21 are design competitions geared toward specific, tangible goals—ones in which, once completed, you can actually see results if the winning design is implemented. One early challenge asked DESIGN 21 designers to create temporary emergency shelter for deployment in a natural disaster; DESIGN 21 partner UNESCO has sponsored several competitions, asking for logo ideas and other elements for campaigns. In the challenges, the public votes online after designers submit applications; the entire process can be tracked on the web site.
As part of the DESIGN 21 community, members can participate in the site’s “Interview Series,” online events where you can post questions for design leaders like Design 21 director Haruko Smith and environment-motivated designer/Designers Accord founder Valerie Casey. Under the site’s “SHARE” section, members can also blog — or search for others’ blog posts by design or by social theme — and share resources with each other.
Members can also directly help non-profits that request work via the Web site, i.e. help with web site development or technical renderings, by answering calls through design21’s “ACT” section. There, individuals or companies with some need post requests for everything from web programming help to designs for an HIV/AIDS-education toolkit. Also through the site, DESIGN 21 sells what they call the “Allumonde” ring, a Richard Hutten design that ranges from a set of $25 colorful acrylic rings to $2,500 for an 18-karat gold ring. Twenty-one percent of the proceeds give back directly – 19% to a non-profit of your choice, and 2% to UNESCO DREAM centers, which provide arts and culture opportunities to kids in post-conflict regions of the world.
Felissimo also runs clothing-and-accessories site Social Designer, which works like a socially-motivated Threadless Tees: one can submit designs, vote on them, and purchase them, with proceeds for different designs going to organizations like microfinance powerhouse Kiva, the American Cancer Society and 826National, a children’s reading and creative writing center.
The Basics:
WHO: DESIGN 21, a collaboration between Felissimo and UNESCO
WHAT: A social network for socially conscious people and designers who want to work toward social good, DESIGN 21 runs competitions to create products to help people and uses social networking tools to connect its members
WHERE: Worldwide
HOW to get involved: Join up – membership is free, though corporations and non-profits must apply first. If you’re a design savvy, you can participate in design competitions; or help out the non-profit requests under “ACT.”
What other people are saying:
What do you think?
- Comment on this entry and tell us what you think. Who else should we be highlighting in this category?
- Share these initial selections with your network, through Twitter, Facebook etc
Learn more about ThinkSocial Awards here.Thanks for your support and participation.
Posted in: Non-profit, awards, collaboration | Tagged: blogs, design, Felissimo, kiva, non-profits, socialdesign, threadless, UNESCO
ThinkSocial Awards: Design 21: Social Design Network “Design competitions for the greater good”
VOTE
Name: Design 21: Social Design Network
Nominated Category: Collaboration
Area: Social networking, social action networks
URL: http://www.design21sdn.com
About:
DESIGN 21 – a collaboration between charitably inclined lifestyle corporation Felissimo and non-profit UNESCO — is dedicated to work that looks good and does good.
Description:
As a social network, it keeps members looped in on how people around the world are using design to make a difference. Online, you can connect with other socially conscious folks, designers, non-profit organizations, interest groups and others.
Central to DESIGN 21 are design competitions geared toward specific, tangible goals—ones in which, once completed, you can actually see results if the winning design is implemented. One early challenge asked DESIGN 21 designers to create temporary emergency shelter for deployment in a natural disaster; DESIGN 21 partner UNESCO has sponsored several competitions, asking for logo ideas and other elements for campaigns. In the challenges, the public votes online after designers submit applications; the entire process can be tracked on the web site.
As part of the DESIGN 21 community, members can participate in the site’s “Interview Series,” online events where you can post questions for design leaders like Design 21 director Haruko Smith and environment-motivated designer/Designers Accord founder Valerie Casey. Under the site’s “SHARE” section, members can also blog — or search for others’ blog posts by design or by social theme — and share resources with each other.
Members can also directly help non-profits that request work via the Web site, i.e. help with web site development or technical renderings, by answering calls through design21’s “ACT” section. There, individuals or companies with some need post requests for everything from web programming help to designs for an HIV/AIDS-education toolkit. Also through the site, DESIGN 21 sells what they call the “Allumonde” ring, a Richard Hutten design that ranges from a set of $25 colorful acrylic rings to $2,500 for an 18-karat gold ring. Twenty-one percent of the proceeds give back directly – 19% to a non-profit of your choice, and 2% to UNESCO DREAM centers, which provide arts and culture opportunities to kids in post-conflict regions of the world.
Felissimo also runs clothing-and-accessories site Social Designer, which works like a socially-motivated Threadless Tees: one can submit designs, vote on them, and purchase them, with proceeds for different designs going to organizations like microfinance powerhouse Kiva, the American Cancer Society and 826National, a children’s reading and creative writing center.
The Basics:
WHO: DESIGN 21, a collaboration between Felissimo and UNESCO
WHAT: A social network for socially conscious people and designers who want to work toward social good, DESIGN 21 runs competitions to create products to help people and uses social networking tools to connect its members
WHERE: Worldwide
HOW to get involved: Join up – membership is free, though corporations and non-profits must apply first. If you’re a design savvy, you can participate in design competitions; or help out the non-profit requests under “ACT.”
What other people are saying:
What do you think?
- Comment on this entry and tell us what you think. Who else should we be highlighting in this category?
- Share these initial selections with your network, through Twitter, Facebook etc
Learn more about ThinkSocial Awards here.Thanks for your support and participation.
Posted in: Collaboration, Non-profit, awards | Tagged: blogs, design, Felissimo, kiva, non-profits, socialdesign, threadless, UNESCO
New York is about to get full on good and ThinkSocial is proud to support!
A proud partner of The Feast Social Innovation Conference, The Feast gathers the world’s greatest innovators from across industries and society to empower, inspire and engage each other in creating world-shaking change. A creative look at the world’s toughest problems, The Feast Conference presents the most innovative solutions, insights, and best practices as a catalyst toward action.
Hosted by All Day Buffet, The Feast will be held on Thursday, October 1st at The Times Center in New York. Speakers this year include William Drenttel (Partner of Winterhouse), Matthew Bishop (Chief Business Writer of The Economist), Joshua Viertel (President of Slow Food USA), Annie Duke (Professional Poker Player), Becky Straw and Ron Arnold (COO and Director of Water Programs for Charity Water), Uffe Elbaek (Founder of The Kaos Pilot) Ken Banks (Founder of kiwanja.net & FrontlineSMS).
Check out the full schedule here: http://feast09.sched.org/
Tickets to this are almost gone but start at $99 for fellow tickets and (depending on how gracious you can afford to be) range from $250 and up thanks to their microsponsorship model.
Posted in: Uncategorized | Tagged: feast, socialinnovation
ThinkSocial Awards: Submit Examples & Join Us in Recognizing Outstanding Innovations in Social Media
On November 20th 2009, at The Paley Center for Media’s International Council Event, ThinkSocial will be recognizing three outstanding examples of innovation, featuring – an individual, an initiative and a collaboration between institutions, which together represent powerful models for how social media can be used to address global problems.
The International Council event is Co-Chaired by Frank A Bennack, Jr., Vice Chairman and CEO, Hearst Corporation, Jeffrey Bewkes, Chairman and CEO, Time Warner, Inc., Philippe Dauman, President and CEO, Viacom, Inc., Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Corporation, Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon Corporation, Anne Sweeney, Cochair Disney Media Networks and President, Disney-ABC Television Group, and Jeff Zucker, President & CEO, NBC Universal and will be attended by one hundred of the top media executives from around the world.
Do we need another awards program?
Over the past year the new communications platforms and applications collectively known as social media have taken center stage in the United States and the world’s democratic discourse and civic life. Much as the rise of broadcast media transformed our public, political, cultural and social institutions and practices – the use of social media is creating new turning points across a wide range of human activity.
Now is a perfect time to recognize and encourage those individuals, initiatives, and institutions which are demonstrating truly innovative and courageous leadership in the use of social media for public purposes.
Through this website we have already begun to highlight important social media work through interviews with leaders such as Craig Newmark and Jimmy Wales and through case studies of initiatives such as charity: water; and we have hosted events and created rich media around conversations with leaders such as Jacquelyn Novogratz of the Acumen Fund.
Next steps
In the coming weeks we will begin sharing with you examples that we have selected through our research. These examples will form part of the awards selection process.
Do you have a story to tell about an innovative use of social media that had a far-reaching impact? Do you represent an organization that is exploring the full potential of social media tools for the public interest?
We invite you to submit your story by completing the submission form here.
Alternatively, if you would like to recommend an individual, initiative or collaboration between organizations that we should be highlighting you can email us through our site here.
And for updates and more details on our inaugural ThinkSocial Awards feel free to follow us on Twitter.
Posted in: awards | Tagged: ABC, awards, CBS, clinton, disney, google, hearst, NBC, paley, TimeWarner, viacom
ThinkSocial Awards: Submit Examples & Join Us in Recognizing Outstanding Innovations in Social Media
On November 20th 2009, at The Paley Center for Media’s International Council Event, ThinkSocial will be recognizing three outstanding examples of innovation, featuring – an individual, an initiative and a collaboration between institutions, which together represent powerful models for how social media can be used to address global problems.
The International Council event is Co-Chaired by Frank A Bennack, Jr., Vice Chairman and CEO, Hearst Corporation, Jeffrey Bewkes, Chairman and CEO, Time Warner, Inc., Philippe Dauman, President and CEO, Viacom, Inc., Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Corporation, Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon Corporation, Anne Sweeney, Cochair Disney Media Networks and President, Disney-ABC Television Group, and Jeff Zucker, President & CEO, NBC Universal and will be attended by one hundred of the top media executives from around the world.
Do we need another awards program?
Over the past year the new communications platforms and applications collectively known as social media have taken center stage in the United States and the world’s democratic discourse and civic life. Much as the rise of broadcast media transformed our public, political, cultural and social institutions and practices – the use of social media is creating new turning points across a wide range of human activity.
Now is a perfect time to recognize and encourage those individuals, initiatives, and institutions which are demonstrating truly innovative and courageous leadership in the use of social media for public purposes.
Through this website we have already begun to highlight important social media work through interviews with leaders such as Craig Newmark and Jimmy Wales and through case studies of initiatives such as charity: water; and we have hosted events and created rich media around conversations with leaders such as Jacquelyn Novogratz of the Acumen Fund.
Next steps
In the coming weeks we will begin sharing with you examples that we have selected through our research. These examples will form part of the awards selection process.
Do you have a story to tell about an innovative use of social media that had a far-reaching impact? Do you represent an organization that is exploring the full potential of social media tools for the public interest?
We invite you to submit your story by completing the submission form here.
Alternatively, if you would like to recommend an individual, initiative or collaboration between organizations that we should be highlighting you can email us through our site here.
And for updates and more details on our inaugural ThinkSocial Awards feel free to follow us on Twitter.
Posted in: awards | Tagged: ABC, awards, CBS, clinton, disney, google, hearst, NBC, paley, TimeWarner, viacom
