Designing for Generosity // Nipun Mehta

“Change yourself and change the world. If we make that inner change outer change is bound to come in a very different way if it comes from the inside out.” Nipun Mehta

Humanising interactions, focusing on adding value rather than showing value, paying it forward, smile cards, tapping into the mindset of abundance and other great insights on the gift economy.

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Fun-raising: making connections

Over the last week or so I’ve been exploring some examples of organisations that have got their fundraising game down and are bringing it to the social age. and are able to have a wider and more positive impact because of this. From Charity: water who have perfected fun-raising, to organisations like Acumen who work mostly with large organisations. Here’s who I’ve looked at and lessons learned.

 

Charity: water are often cited as having some of the most innovative, modern and far reaching campaigns. They have a great 100% model where the money raised goes entirely to the projects whereas the funding for running the organisation is raised separately. They use technology amazingly well and make donating personal for example every donor gets a report telling them where the money went and the impact.

Their campaigns are fun and engaging. They encourage you to join a wider cause and involve your friends and family. From donating your birthday to ….

Storytelling is very much part of their work, the stories of people donating and the stories of the who having access to clean water is affecting. There is a storytelling page on their website and brilliantly engaging videos and photography are used throughout Charity: water’s impressive social media presence.

It is so refreshing to see the positive tone focusing on the impact the donations make rather than just the problem which can seem overwhelming or too big to tackle.

 

Acumen, on the other hand, focuses on support from big corporations and organisations. Their aim is to use enterprise and social investment to tackle poverty so this strategy matches perfectly. Their list of supporters reads like the who’s who of global leadership.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fjlVkMOD2M

They view their partners as a community and have a range of partnership streams from Stewards who donate $5M+ to development partners $10,000+ and in Kind partners. Partners in return get to attend partner only events, field visits and the Annual Investor Gathering & Deep Dive Sessions. It creates that idea that people like us support Acumen, that network  effect.

There is their global leadership program which allows people from all over the world to undergo training.  In terms of traditional fundraising, they also do a yearly auction of photographs in their dignity auction.

 

Do Something are a great organisation activating teens around causes they can support. Their rules are the campaign shouldn’t need a car, adult or money. It is a fascinating way of engaging young people and they have perfected their tools including texting.

What I love about their campaigns is how easy they are to connect to. They do this by making them clear and simple. For example their Teens for Jeans campaign had young people running jean drives and dropping them at their local Aeropostale store, to be given to other young people going through homelessness. Additionally they produce a yearly culture book which is a great way of sharing what their organisation does.

 

Possible Health provide a low-cost health care system in Nepal, that integrates government hospitals, clinics and community workers using their hub model. What strikes me about Possible Health’s fundraising is that although they don’t don’t have the loudest campaigns is the level of transparency. They produce not only yearly but quarterly impact reports. It explains where their funding comes from (mostly from foundations, then individuals and  company partnerships). As well as the insights they accomplished missed and shifted. This level of transparency continues in their morbidity and mortality reports.

The key things I’ve learned from studying these examples and will be thinking about for we approach “fun-raising” with Orkidstudio this year, firstly that transparency is key. Whether it’s publishing impact reports like possible health or sending reports to everyone that donates no matter how small like Charity: water. Secondly story telling makes a big impact, we relate to other people’s stories whereas numbers and statistics are hard to comprehend. Finally understanding who you want your donors to be will impact what methods are appropriate for connecting with them. Whether it’s through social media and texting like Do Something or conferences and brainstorming events like Acumen.

Some interesting reads if you want to find out more about these organisations are

Upleaf’s case study of Charity: water

Acumens’ Partner Pack

Give-well’s in depth review of Possible Health 

How to make giving more enjoyable

I was recently speaking to a friend about why giving to charity can feel so difficult. We chatted about the Christmas guilt where you realise that you are buying so much and getting so much, yet many people have very little. In response she’d given some money to a charity but it had felt flat. It all reminded me of the recent Seth Godin blog post article Cutting through Singers Paradox. In which he describes Singers Paradox, that saving a child drowning of you is a moral imperative yet saving a child dying on the other side of the world seems less so. The key difference being the immediacy. The impact of seeing a child dying in front of you and the gratitude that you would receive.

So how could a charity/ non profit bring this feeling of immediacy to far away situations? how can people feel that they are making a change by giving. The scale of the problems that charity’s or other non profits are tackling often seem so great that whatever we can give, be it time or money feels too little. Since joining a non profit design organisation, the question of how we could make the act of giving more enjoyable has come up over and over again. Because as Joey from Friends says “there’s no selfless good deed.” We all give because it makes us feel good.

A key part is creating a connection between the act of giving and the end result or the positive change. A type of 1:1 effect. Where the amount donated is linked to a specific result. An organisation that does this brilliantly is Charity: Water. For every donation you make, no matter how big or small, you receive a full breakdown and report of where the money has gone and how it has helped. This creates a connection between with the person you’ve helped, bringing it back to that human connection that we all desire. They have found a way to use information to connect and to create transparency.

Another way of imparting the pleasure of giving I’ve observed is through awareness raising activities. One of the reasons for the popularity of volunteerism and challenges such as the iron man is that they bring that immediacy of helping which seeing a drowning child in front you does. They force us out of our comfort zone and engage us in an action that has a positive reaction. You can see the issue and contribute to solving the problem. Which in turn makes us feel more engaged than just giving money.

Finally recognition is another important part. For example part of the success of the ice bucket challenge was that by nominating 3 friends you gained not only the pleasure of being recognised for the good thing that you were doing but also involved your friends and family in the act of giving. Again this is something that Charity: Water have understood. They encourage you to donate your birthday or wedding or life event, thereby creating a community of givers.

We are intrinsically social beings, with a desire to fit in. So by encouraging a culture of giving by involving those close to us and highlighting the resulting stories of change and impact. I believe that the act of giving can be made more immediate and therefore more engaging and enjoyable.

Inspire a movement

Scott Harrison: Thirsting for a Life of Service

Great talk at Ecorner from Scott Harrison of Charity: Water, an organisation that is innovating the non profit sector. The 100% model, they use where 100% of donations go to building safe water projects, which are tracked and each person receives a report on where the money’s gone and can also track it online. They are using technology to connect and to inform. From their fun looking fundraising party to their use of twitter and other online platforms to promote things such as giving up your birthday to raise money. The administrative aspects are funded through other fundraising.