NotFound.org has been set up to make use of 404 pages on websites. They are asking people to install their application and a picture of a missing child automatically gets published on every ‘page not found’ of your website. Together, we can find them.
Below is an example. What a brilliant idea.
Take a look at their really slick site too! http://getunreal.com/
Simplicity increases chances of engagement and Plan UK are making it really easy to get people involved in International Day of the Girl. This is a pure awareness play by Plan UK (although they are looking to capture data, which is ok). All you need to do is go to Facebook and download one of the skins they have for Facebook or Twitter, go to their you tube page.
Dan Pallotta‘s shook up the Fundraising/Non Profit world with his book Uncharitable and he is back now with a new book “Charity Case” which is “a blueprint for a brave national leadership movement to change the way the public thinks about charity”
In piece on the Wall Street Journal titled “Why can’t we sell charity like we sell perfume” Dan outlines some of his thinking. I hope that Dan can shake things up a bit and that some of the lazy comments that aren’t thought through by journalists and politicians get less airtime than these well thought through arguments. Below are some highlights from the Wall Street Journal piece, but click here to read the entire article:
Today, Americans are the world’s most generous contributors to philanthropic causes. Each year, we give about 2% of our GDP to nonprofit organizations, nearly twice as much as the U.K., the next closest nation, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Some 65% of all American households with an income of less than $100,000 donate to some type of charity, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, as does nearly every household with an income greater than $100,000. These contributions average out to about $732 a year for every man, woman and child in America.
Yet we cling to a puritan approach to how those donations are spent: Self-deprivation is our strategy for social change. The dysfunction at the heart of our approach is neatly captured by our narrow, negative label for the charitable sector: “not-for-profit.”
It’s time to change how society thinks about charity and social reform. The donating public is obsessed with restrictions—nonprofits shouldn’t pay executives too much, or spend a lot on overhead or take risks with donated dollars. The conventional wisdom is that low costs serve the higher good. But this view is killing the ability of nonprofits to make progress against our most pressing problems. Long-term solutions require investment in things that don’t show results in the short term.
He outlines 5 key areas of change:
First, we allow the for-profit sector to pay people competitive wages based on the value they produce. But we have a visceral reaction to the idea of anyone making very much money helping other people. Want to pay someone $5 million to develop a blockbuster videogame filled with violence? Go for it. Want to pay someone a half-million dollars to try to find a cure for pediatric leukemia? You’re considered a parasite.
A second area of discrimination is advertising and marketing. We tell the for-profit sector to spend on advertising until the last dollar no longer produces a penny of value, but we don’t like to see charitable donations spent on ads. We want our money to go directly to the needy—even though money spent on advertising dramatically increases the money available for the needy.
A third disadvantage for charities is the expectation of a home run on every at-bat. If Paramount Pictures makes a $200 million movie that flops, no one calls the attorney general. But if a nonprofit produces a $5 million community fundraising event that doesn’t result in a 70% profit for the cause, its character is called into question. So, naturally, nonprofit leaders tend to avoid daring new fundraising endeavors that might put them at risk.
A fourth problem is the time frame during which nonprofits are supposed to produce results: immediately. Amazon.com went for six years without returning a dime to investors, who stood by the company because they understood its long-term goals. But nonprofits are expected to send every donation immediately to the needy.
Finally, the for-profit sector is allowed to pay investors a financial return to attract their capital. The nonprofit sector, by definition, cannot.
Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal
You need an hour for this, but if you are looking for some great information on Social Media ROI, put the kettle on, stick your out of office on, and listen.
Oh and its not me, its from the fantastic Altimeter Group.
Australians have a way of putting positioning things, really clever and accesible. Mental Health is a tricky topic, but we ask each other every day, are you ok? This campaign taps into that, but ultimately wants people to really check if that person is ok!
R U OK?Day is a national day of action on the second Thursday of September (13 September 2012), dedicated to inspiring all people of all backgrounds to regularly ask each other ‘Are you ok?’
By raising awareness about the importance of connection and providing resources throughout the year, the R U OK? Foundation aims to prevent isolation by empowering people to support each other through life’s ups and downs.
Here Hugh Jackman explains the idea (typically dont like celeb endorsement, but this works)
So many Irish causes could come together for their own version of this day, it’d be cool if it wasnt a fundraiser either.
This is incredible. You sign up to allow facial recognition and then you get check in deals. Love it
This would work really well with a donate call to action I think
Great innovation here
Econsultancy have had some good pieces recently on how retailers are embracing digital. The big fear for retailers seems to have been that customers are going to their store to view and try on products and then using their smartphones or going home and going online to get a better deal. With this mentality retailers turn their backs on digital as it is a threat and some have even tried to block internet access in their stores, so customers can’t do this. This kind of thinking makes you redundant. If you look at the likes of HMV who almost ran away from the threat of digital downloads, they are no practically irrelevant and constantly trying to catch up. On the flip side, if you embrace the technology and customer behaviour, you can win.
M&S are testing “an array of digital goodies” at one of its stores just outside Liverpool. According to Econsultancy the new store will “…use high definition TV screens to showcase products, staff equipped with iPads, virtual counters, lots of QR codes and free wi-fi.”
This is really smart by M&S, they are looking at consumer behaviour and trying to enhance the customer experience. I had a recent experience in a Schuh, where a shoe was out of stock in the store I was in and due to my 2 year old pulling every shoe from the displays and onto the floor, I had to leave. But I went on to their fantastic mobile enabled site and reserved a pair of the shoes from the store nearest to where I work.
By using digital technology you are enhancing your customers experience, in your store. This makes them more likely to want to stay there longer and the longer they stay the more likely they are to purchase.
We are going to see a lot more of this. Exciting stuff.
Animal Shelter charities are always looking for ways to get homes for their animals. Here is the most genius one I have seen . CatRoulette.
(thanks to westlife fan and cat lover Karl Waters for this).
Conor Byrne's Blog 