So, I'm posting this on a rather defunct blog I used to write, not 'cos I'm planning to restart it (although I might, thinking about it) but because I couldn't think of where else to put this so people could access it easily.
Here's the idea I'm trying to get my head around and am hoping to have other people help me turn it into something useful. First a bit of context...
Last week was unexpectedly inspirational. First off, the MyCharityConnects conference (including a quite splendid presentation by @TopsAtWarChild, @RyanTaylor and @Withoutayard). That was followed by my first creative meeting with War Child ad agency, john st (more later if I decide to restart this) and then the john st dinner, with a talk by Richard Florida on the seismic shift in the economy that we're currently living through (creativity is the new black, apparently). So there I was on Friday trying to process all this and an idea came to me based on some revelations/reminders during the week.
It occurred to me that charities tend to live in a permanent state of competitiveness, furiously guarding their ideas and strategies from the prying eyees of their peers. What MCC made clear is that if charities started collaborating more and helping each other with problems, we could all benefit and make our sector significantly more creative, productive and efficient. I know I have seen other people's campaigns and thought, 'that's great but if only they had done x or y, it would have been awesome.' And I'm pretty sure others have looked at War Child campaigns or fundraisers and thought the same.
At the same time, it became clear that there is a great pool of creative talent in Toronto (particularly among the tweeps) that like to contribute ideas and some time to help out charities and social causes, but don't want to tie themselves to any one organization. They just want to help out on cool stuff but also have their own job to do for most of the week.
So, I'd like to create a forum where charity people and creative people can get together and improve ideas and make things happen. This could be a monthly, informal tweetup, or it could be an online forum where charities could post problems or ideas that need a new set of brains to make fantastic. It might need nothing more than a hashtag. It doesn't, and shouldn't be, time-consuming - it just needs to be fun for all concerned.
I guess what I'm suggesting is that we take the energy from MCC and make it something ongoing and real. A place where creative people can make good ideas great and help out good causes in the process. It will probably take a shift in attitude from those orgs who want to join, and it will have to be based on trust (ie we won't steal each others ideas). It may need to be a personal thing - Tops rather than Topsatwarchild.
Anyway, that's what I'm thinking. a little half-baked but hopefully worth a beer or to to discuss. You in?
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5 comments:
An incredible idea. Teaching non profits 'to fish' for themselves is certainly the best way for them to have a hand in developing custom, innovative and effective solutions for their various challenges.
I mentioned in my TVO interview last week that I see the social web splitting into random online brain trusts, real time human super computing for everything from social causes to theory & theology. An event like this is exactly that: community computing (tm) :)
I'm in, totally love it.
@ryantaylor
By encouraging non-profits to have conversations with each other, we can tap into our combined creativity. There are things I can do at War Child that, say, UNICEF would have problems with. But there are things they can do that I couldn't dream of. I would love to be able to use my knowledge and experience to help them, and I hope they would feel the same. I don't, necessarily, want to work for them, but I would love to make their campaigns as awesome as possible and share ideas. And I would love them to improve mine!
As the saying goes... it's not about fighting for a bigger slice of pie - it's about working together to expand the pie. I'm a fan.
(this is a bit similar to an idea I've been nursing over the past few weeks, of finding open solutions to charities' common tech needs)
Cheers,
Francis
@franciskung
I honestly love this idea! After MCC I was swimming with ideas, triggered by the incredible creativity and vision apparent in so many of the stories I heard. I would love to take part in something that aims at creating an atmosphere where we can feel free to share ideas and where others can help develop and build on them. I personally know that there is a lot I could learn from an opportunity like this and, hopefully, there is a thing or two I could add as well.
I also think this kind of forum could help anyone who feels the same way I do right now – toothless, overwhelmed, and isolated – as I advocate for changes to the way this organization reaches out to those who want to work with us. Just having James and Ryan provide feedback and suggestions on Twitter over the last week has helped me feel a little like part of a broader community. For me, and possibly for others working within a similar environment, something like this not only helps to strengthen my vision and ideas so I am better prepared to defend and promote them against the possible assault of red tape, but it also helps me feel much less alone as I do so.
I know this experience first-hand, but I also know that the Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) had their AGM on the weekend, and we focused a lot of time on creating a united front regarding the Canadian G8, and advancing issues--particularly MDGs 4 and 5, Child and Maternal Health-- at that particular conference. It was a collaborative, open forum in that regard.
@ideasinforum
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