Intensify Influence For Good

This is a blog to promote Social Responsibly and Social Good by engaging the community

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A Conversation On Corporate Social Responsibility

In the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), one of the true pioneers over the last few decades has been John Paluszek. His seminal books on CSR Organizing For Corporate Social Responsibility and Will The Corporation Survive? anticipated and accelerated the contemporary CSR and sustainable development business model. [...]

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Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

Mohammed Ali

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You have to see these Stats on Digital Usage Around the World

This report presents all the key statistics, data and behavioural indicators for social, digital and mobile channels around the world. 

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A new generation of philanthropy. 

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8 Fascinating takeaways from the World Giving Index 2013

World Giving Index 2013

Following is the fourth edition of the World Giving Index again presents giving data from across the globe over a five year period (2008-2012). The World Giving Index 2013 includes data from 135 countries across the globe that was collected throughout the calendar year of 2012. Report by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is a leading international charity registered in the United Kingdom with nine offices covering six continents.

Key takeaways as per report: 

United States has reclaimed first place in the World Giving Index In 2012, proportionally more Americans gave in some way than in any other country. The United States has therefore risen again to first place in the rankings. The key reason for this rise is that a higher proportion of Americans helped a stranger than any other country in the world in 2012.

Giving has bucked a trend, growing in 2012 The average percentage of people donating money, volunteering time, and helping a stranger globally all grew in 2012 in relation to 2011, despite a continued fall in the rate of growth of the global economy from 4.0% to 3.2%.

Helping a stranger is the key to the rise in giving to charity The overall rise in charitable activity has been driven by the increase in people helping a stranger (47% in 2012 vs. 45% in 2011). In particular, there has been a three percentage point increase in the proportion of men helping a stranger globally, up from 46% in 2011 to 49% in 2012.

Most substantial growth is in the number of people helping strangers The number of people who helped others grew by over 200 million in 2012; more than double the growth in the number of people donating money and volunteering. The use of such informal giving mechanisms, to help those in need within their community, shows the importance of personal interactions in philanthropy, especially in the developing world.

Global youth are driving the rise in volunteering Since 2011, the biggest increase in participation in volunteering has occurred among 15-24 year olds (from 18.4% in 2011 to 20.6% in 2012). This age group has gone from being the least likely to volunteer in 2008 to the second most likely to volunteer in 2012.

Women are established as being more likely to give money than men Since 2008, women have become more likely than men to donate money to charity at a global level. Meanwhile, the gap between the two genders in terms of propensity to volunteer remains the same as it was in 2008, at 2.7 percentage points. However, proportionally, more men are helping strangers than ever before.

Philanthropically, India and China have different strengths More Indians donate money to charity in a typical month than anywhere else in the world. In 2011 this number had been measured at 163 million, in 2012 it stands at 244 million. India then has flexed its philanthropic muscles in 2012. This is not to say that China is not a generous place. China’s strength however lies in the 373 million Chinese who help strangers in a typical month, more than any other country in the world.

Myanmar reminds us that giving is about more than just wealth With 85% of the adult population saying they had donated money to charity in 2012 in the month prior to being surveyed, Myanmar is in first place for participation in this behavior. The World Giving Index continues to show that high incidences of giving – in all its forms – are to be found in countries not commonly associated with philanthropy.

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Eat Less Give More

December is a season often associated with over-indulgence, especially when it comes to eating. But the end of the year …

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Trigger Happiness with these Thoughtful Acts

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  ~Margaret Mead  

1. For a change, don’t ask Santa for something this year, buy him a gift card instead?!                                    

2. Let someone go in front of you in line. Bonus if it's a long line!

               3. Pay the vehicle toll of someone behind you! #payitforward

                        4. Buy a round of drinks for the servers if you go out to eat. Everyone deserves to enjoy happy hour!                  

  5. Ask someone "How are you really doing?” Then REALLY listen to the response.

                    6. Gift a random stranger something from their Amazon wish list!

                    7. Leave a Treat at vending machine for the unsuspecting passerby!

                       8. Offer change when the person in front of you at the register comes up short.

                                 9. Smile at 10 strangers and simply say “I hope you have a nice day!” Bonus when you mean it genuinely!

                                  10. Pay for a lone diner and leave before they realize you did it.

                      11. Donate old blankets, towels and sheets to your local animal shelter. Allow their cuddles to say Thank you!

                     12. Donate some of your used books to a local library or school library. Share the magic you discovered while reading your favorite book!

                    13. Compliment someone and make their day!

               “Upon entering the Magic Kingdom, one of the security guards said to Alli ‘Excuse me Princess, can I have your autograph.’ I could see that the book was filled with children’s scribbles as the guard asked the same question of many little Princesses. Alli could not get over the fact that the guard thought she was a real princess.” - Pinterest   14. Write a letter to a child - Kids love getting mail!

                         15. Even easier and quicker than sending letters is texting. Text someone just to share something that you appreciate about them.

                              16. Share a box of sweets at your office – we vote for donuts!

                        17. Put a coin in an expired meter!

                             18. Out of the blue, send flowers to a friend!

                               19. If you’re a business, leverage what you do every day to do good. perform acts of kindness.

                       Plaza Cleaners in Portland   20. Encourage someone to pursue their dreams – someone maybe waiting for a nudge.                      

  21. Post positive messages in unexpected places!                   

    22. Leave a generous tip to a server!   

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What's stopping us from 'giving back'?

Having had conversations with friends recently, a common thread of wanting to be better human beings holds us all together. At some levels, everyone wants to spread some goodness in the festive spirit marking the end of 2013, help the less fortunate, donate their old belongings, heck one even wanted to bake muffins on Christmas day and go distribute it in orphanages! While it makes me happy to see that people know that they have the noble intent and a few are willing to DO something about it at this very moment; it makes me wonder how it’s not awareness that is the primary issue – Acting on it immediately is. But why?

Lack of Trust

Most people are iffy about donating money or objects because of the lack of knowledge about how and where the donation is being utilized. This seems to be the biggest factor stopping a noble citizen from performing a good deed.

Ease of Access

Laziness cripples most from translating their mere noble thought of giving back into constructive action. People start stocking items they want to donate but busy schedules seem to take center stage. If Charities put in some work to simplify logistics and possibly collaborate more with metro stations, restaurants, malls, schools, colleges, and offices it would trigger many more acts of kindness.

Putting “fun” back into the activity

How many charity initiatives have you attended and said “I cannot wait to do this again!” Most charities don’t think they can afford to invest in the ‘customer experience’. Or maybe more to the point, don’t believe they should. The belief that every spare dollar should go to the cause, and people will come stands true, but at times the slight nudge to make something exciting goes a long way. I recently volunteered for a Christmas crafts activity at a NGO in New Delhi that works with underprivileged children. We helped decorate stockings, singing Christmas carols whilst explaining the concept of Santa and a Christmas tree! I felt more a part of the creativity and the self initiated fun quotient. It was a wonderful personal experience for me because the contagious enthusiasm further strengthened my belief that beyond our blessings and under our skin, we are all the same. More about this soon! 

More thought should be applied to make events memorable. Entertaining. Engaging. Emotional. Interactive. And of course, no one will complain about making it more fun!

Have any ideas of how Non Profits can make activities more fun? Leave a comment!

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An inspirational meeting with ‘Mr Toilet’

I’m grateful to been in such situations many times this year - the chance meeting with some of your “dream dinner party guests”? I had the pleasure to run into Mr Jack Sim, an Ashoka fellow and the TIME magazine HERO (Environment), 2008. Just one word to describe his ideologies - Inspirational. Here are a few rather unconventional ones I’d absolutely love to share:

1)    Folks replicating my ideas? Sure, I LOVE TO SEE THAT! It’s such a compliment.

Bigger picture – great Impact cannot be achieved unless everyone comes together to create a difference. It is excellent that more individuals are inspired by his ideas; he cannot change the world alone! Everyone, together can. I strongly agree that more number of people with the common belief and an underlying passion to achieve the same need to come together.

2)    On Typhoon Haiyan – close to 6000 people died in this event and monetary support in the billions was sent in a very short time span - we are grateful for their efforts. But many more children and adults die due to poor sanitation every day, where is the money?

Bigger Picture – I couldn’t agree more. Why is it that we wait for a calamity to strike to make us compassionate individuals and fight to support the cause? Why can’t we collaborate such efforts for issues like sanitation and clean water consistently; saving many more lives.

3)    On having to work with corrupt politicians- It doesn’t matter if the politician is corrupt, do not associate to the corrupt side of the politician. Yes, he might be doing something to gain votes, but sanitation is still a good thought for the public. As long as you as an individual can make a difference to lives.

Bigger Picture – remember the impact you want to achieve and try shifting the focus to the ‘good’ in people. Everything else that follows is just the “noise” your mind could do without!

4)    On doing what you love - Doing a business is hard, doing a social business is even harder - mainly because people start questioning you and your real intent! But, more importantly, remember what you really want in your heart and then no matter what anyone else says, let it not affect your drive.

Bigger Picture – Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Know your conscience is clear, know what you want to achieve through your initiatives and strive to do more! There’s a lot to do in this world, many to help!

I think these are some very powerful thoughts. However, what struck me the most was that on a late Friday night, Mr Jack Sim was one of the last people to leave the talk. He stayed back discussing ideas with a few passionate college students, being a guiding torch for many to follow.

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Nine Valuable Marketing Lessons From a Nonprofit - Charitywater.org

Typically, nonprofits are not known for having stellar marketing strategies, but there are a few that do stand out. They recognize the power of investing time and energy in marketing...

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Charities - Make Social Media Work for You !

Charities can have a difficult time finding ways to spread their message and promote their work with their limited funds. Social Media offers a free way that charities can use to not only spread the word about their cause, but about connection, nurturing relationships, and building networks. It’s about bringing your followers closer to you and helping you grow your audience.

1.    CHALLENGE - Make a Specific Ask That is Effective & Measurable. 

Individuals know charities require help, but we’re not quite sure how we can help or if our involvement or contribution will make any difference. Think about a clear vision that your social media strategy needs to aim for.

Tip: Don’t create a digital identity just because everyone’s doing it

2.    CHALLENGE – Not finding the time

It’s not often you hear a charity or social enterprise of any size tell you that they have all the time, staff, and funds to do everything they wish they could do – the scope of the world’s social problems is unfortunately too great. We understand you have may resource constraints but social media doesn’t have to be a full-time job.

Tip: Schedule multiple posts in the pipeline to save on time

Tip: Your success does not hinge on written content alone, but it’s often some of the easiest material to procure. Example, if you host an event, snap a couple of photos on your phone and post them on your page – Individuals like being acquainted with the actual groundwork (Facebook’s mobile app allows for seamless picture uploads instantly). Individuals love feeling part of a community.

3.    CHALLENGE - Interesting content

Involving your charity in interesting events such as the ADHM may help get the ‘hooked’ element.  This will help grow your influence in your community, and increase your engagement, followers and traffic.  Share individual stories of impact.  Share stories to demonstrate why the need is so great. Individuals love feeling part of a community.

Tip: Follow the people who are doing great things. This not only includes people supporting other causes but also your volunteers and donors – show them your appreciation. Give them special incentives from time to time.

Tip: Solicit stories or photos from their supporters, and posting them as content on a Page. It really puts the people that support and champion you at the center of everything you’re doing.

  4      CHALLENGE – Influencers

Social media allows you the opportunity to connect with people who you otherwise might not have been able to reach – activate them. Don’t be afraid to reach out to influential people in your community and ask them for retweets and shares to some of your updates. 

Tip: Explain your cause to garner the support you envision

  5      CHALLENGE - Find allies in your field

More often than not, multiple charities function under the same vertical supporting the same cause – simply finding that common ground you form a stronger team to tackle the real cause at hand.  By championing your allies, you are essentially helping promote the real cause, increasing the likelihood of success. Try interacting with them on social media to build the desired momentum and then utilize the snowball effect – when more people hear about the same cause at the same time, it makes it easier to reach out to the true supporters.

Tip: Inter-share blog content clearly giving the originator credit for the post

6      CHALLENGE - Thorough involvement

Ensure you are frequent in your communication with your followers and promptly respond to their queries so as to keep them engaged with your cause. Individuals need the sense of something real and tangible and want to know how their money is being used, if at all they donate and similarly HOW they can volunteer if they so desire. Folks want to see what is happening with the project as close to ‘real-time’ as possible. Individuals love feeling part of a community.

Tip: taking a few minutes each day to read your Twitter timeline and check what your network is up to on LinkedIn may be the fastest method to stay on top of the latest developments.

  7      CHALLENGE - Be authentic

Social media shouldn’t be about competing with others, instead should be a reflection of your Charity’s personality & ethos. It should be about doing the best that you can and speaking with the voice that you want to. Also being authentic reduces the pressure; you are an expert on your own charity

Tip: speak as if you are talking directly to an individual

Tip: Get Non-Profit executives to actively engage through twitter

  8      CHALLENGE - Pose thoughtful questions to keep your followers engaged – it also provides for an effective data collection tool to understand the community perspective

Your social media presence is too important, and too easily damaged, to leave it to someone who cares about your organization, but isn’t fully in tune with the public face you want to put on things. It needs to be thoroughly understood and then put your best foot forward!

Most Importantly – Be PROACTIVE and create an emotional connect. The funds will follow.

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Money can buy you happiness. If you spend it the right way. 

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CSR and Social Media-Part 2

Read part 1 of blog here.

Noble CSR actions go unnoticed if not aligned right or given the right platform. Touching acts of kindness are only viewed by a few shareholders at the end of the year.  At its heart, besides the give back to the community, CSR is equally about the right communication. One should be empowered to share CSR activities with the entire community.

If a company is proactive, personal & transparent about its CSR efforts, then social media becomes the most powerful tool for a company. The amazing is Inevitable.  People are waiting to reward corporations for CSR - 1000 people surveyed by Landor Associates & Burson Marsteller suggest that 75% shall support socially responsible business and 55% use it as a product differentiator between brands.  Whereas, only 11% have heard of a Company’s CSR – suggesting that Companies are not communicating their CSR credentials well enough; knowing well that such communication may have a significant impact on favorability and purchase intent.

Even nestle got rewarded for it’s efforts in stopping use of palm oil.  If not involved then stakeholders will feel that nothing is being done.

    Social media marketing can be an innovative tool to address two of the biggest hurdles affecting sustainability:

Defining what it means and

A mechanism for sharing sustainability experiences which shall create new levels of engagement.

What could once be accomplished by a traditional website now needs to be supplemented by a robust and responsive utilization of the tools social media engagement offers. Despite high preference for socially responsible businesses only 13% of the same 1000 people surveyed logged on to a company website to enquire about CSR activities.

Traditionally, only the bigger corporations saw value in doing corporate social responsibility. But, social media can create immense value in the social efforts of SMEs and High Net worth Individuals as well. Size matters, not so much in whether an SME should engage in CSR but in relation to why and how?  The reason for this focus is social channels can reach wide audiences in a very short timespan, and can involve little cost in terms of the marketing budget, compared to other channels. Social media also makes it very easy for companies to listen in to what the community is saying and quickly resolve any problems before they become bigger problems.

This is the SME social media sustainability index. It is interesting to note that people are taking notice and not just measuring social impact but also how successfully companies engaged the community in their CSR activities. 

Ultimately, social media is just a communication tool like any other. But it is one consumers use to talk about brands, and the world is listening.

  Change and greatness can be sparked everywhere, but bring it upon yourself to trigger it.

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Smile, a million smiles, change the world. It really is that simple!

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The Important Decision - Where to Donate?

We all have an inbuilt emotion of ‘doing good’, which sounds promising! Most of us are internally driven to support a cause and in that drive we are forced to ask ourselves – 'Which cause should I support?' Charities are already witnessing greater selectivity among donors. Yet with charities increasingly involved in awareness campaigns, complex networks of cause marketing and often exorbitant overhead, donating to the most effective charity has never been more challenging.

We come across an array of charitable options – education, environment, animal welfare, health & sanitation, women empowerment, just to name a few. But the prevailing assumption is that we shouldn’t make judgments about which options are better than others. Even if we rephrase that question to focus on “pressing issues”, there seems to be no objective answer to that question! Comparing health & sanitation with arts & culture preservation may yield ‘obvious’ prioritization choices. There may be objective reasons for thinking we may be able to do more good in one of these areas than in another.

Source- http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Choosing-Charities-to-Donate-To

For instance, had your neighborhood cultural organization been seeking funds for better preservation of a specific art form & alongside that you came across a charity event for malaria prevention in Africa by funding $3 mosquito nets - which can you prioritize as tangibly doing more good? Given this choice, one yardstick to understand a donation would be how many lives do you impact with your donation. At the end of the day this decision would be made based on what has culturally and emotionally touched our lives the most.

Although such things are hard to measure, it is possible that donors have become more sophisticated in their giving as useful information on charities has become more detailed but can you really boil down your charitable objectives? It would be expedient to get granular with your charitable quest into the missions that matter the most to you and your family, and screen for the most effective organizations. As with most charitable endeavors, the satisfaction you derive is often linked to how hands-on you are with the organization. Getting involved or seeing it in action for yourself is often part of that fulfilling experience.

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We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill 

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CSR and Social Media- Part 1

I have always wondered why corporations function the way they do and I found my answer in a US Supreme Court case. The case in question is Dodge vs. Ford Motor Company, 1919. The outcome of this case was “The BUSINESS CORPORATION is organized and carried on PRIMARILIY for the PROFIT of the SHAREHOLDER.”

The purpose of a corporation according to the court was no longer to serve the public good as it had been. Going forward, the purpose is to maximize profit for shareholders above all else.  This is a perfectly acceptable method of operating a business. However this model leads to businesses getting into troublesome situations such as the Rana factory collapse in Bangladesh (April 2013) or the BP oil spill (April 2010).

Image from the Rana factory collapse in Bangladesh in which over 1400 people lost their lives. Brands such as Mango, Gap and Wal-Mart used this facility as a manufacturing center.

  We have seen incidents like these throughout history. What is different today is the power of influence each of us has. Influence is a powerful new currency that we hold apart from time and money. This powerful currency only belonged to a few in the past. But, the advent of social media has helped intensify each of our individual influences, giving immense power to the masses. Information flow has reached to a point where news channels are scanning twitter feeds for  latest events.  

One of the most powerful social media campaigns that stopped a major corporation from using palm oil was Greenpeace’s YouTube video.

What this video essentially achieved was to spark a mass community conversation across multiple social channels and eventually Nestle had to give in and stop using palm oil. In the process, Nestle had a PR nightmare because they got into ultra-defensive mode, blocking people from their Facebook pages and was rude to individual sentiments.

There was a time when companies used to push all marketing material. Even though traditional marketing is still an important component, what a company does NOT want is a situation in which it completely blocks itself from the community. This makes it too easy for community members to negatively target a brand.

It is easy to fear the tide of social media for the risks it can bring, but this onslaught of information could be viewed as an opportunity. Yes, social media can be used to negatively target brand reputation- but incidents like the Rana factory collapse & the BP oil spill make that situation inevitable.

The question to as is- How does one use social media to positively engage the community in their CSR activities?