Good Works - Servant of Chaos

Don’t Waste Your Search Budget Like the Easter Show

Case Studies, Digital Strategy, Good Works

As the Chair of not-for-profit youth media organisation, Vibewire, I know the budgetary, sponsorship and resourcing challenges faced by groups who are dedicated to what I call “good works” in our society. So whenever I look at the work of not-for-profit organisations or community groups, it always disappoints me to see them wasting the resources that they have available to them.

So when I started looking for information on Sydney Royal Easter Show, I was disappointed to see paid search being thrown away as follows.

Considering the strength of the organic placement (I used a clean browser for this), this paid piece is like throwing money away. It’s like they ticked the box for “paid search” and moved on to the next piece of their digital presence.

Clearly the Royal Easter Show folks could have spent the paid search budget on the iPhone app that is advertised on their site (can’t be found in the App Store) or in a beefed up community presence on Facebook where the links between website activities and show-based events/promotions could have been easily orchestrated.

While it is great to see people explaining how mums can download colouring-in pages from the website and take them along for entry in a competition – these on/offline activities are the no-brainers that drive loyalty and action. They simply make life easier for your event participants.

And that should be the goal of any digital strategy. Because ease of use drives action. And the best action is ticket sales.

Queensland: Open for Business – Operation Sunshine

Community, Good Works

Earlier this year, when cyclone Yasi and flood waters tore through Queensland, I was amazed, worried, heartbroken. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Queensland over the years – doing motorbike tours up through the Sunshine Coast and the hinterland, walking through the Daintree, visiting the Great Barrier Reef and chilling out at Port Douglas. And each time I visited, I always found great, almost hidden, locations and unusual people to meet. The floods and cyclone Yasi made me wonder what had happened to these places and people.

So I was pleased to find out about Operation Sunshine. Cricketer, Matthew Hayden has taken a camera crew on a road trip (everyone loves a road trip) to meet Queenslanders all the way up the coast – from Gold Coast to Port Douglas. There are some great photos and stories coming out of the communities and towns along the way. But what Operation Sunshine shows is that Queensland is “open for business” – and that the best way to help the people of Queensland recover is to visit.

But if you are like me and just can’t jump on a Jetstar plane, then you can do the next best thing:

Follow Matt’s adventures on the Operation Sunshine blog
Like Operation Sunshine on Facebook
Join Operation Sunshine on Twitter at @OpSunshine

And then, when it’s time to head north to escape the winter of the southern states, spend some time in Queensland – and bring a touch of sunshine everywhere you go.

Join Earth Hour Tonight

Good Works

I’m looking forward to an hour of darkness. Share it with the people closest to you – for the good of us all.

Two Weeks Can Change a Child’s Life

Good Works

Do the crickets sound louder than sirens where you live?

If so, the Fresh Air Fund would like to talk to you. The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2010, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

Sounds great, right? But just take a close look at the faces of the kids in this video. Clearly this experience is really has an impact.

How can you help?

I’m glad you asked!

If you or someone you know is able to host, please sign up now. In 2010, The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family program, called Friendly Town, gave close to 5,000 New York City boys and girls, ages six to 18, free summer experiences in the country and the suburbs. Volunteer host families shared their friendship and homes up to two weeks or more in 13 Northeastern states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.

More than 65% of all children are reinvited to stay with their host family, year after year. Learn more here.

Friendly Town host families are volunteers who live in the suburbs or small town communities. Host families range in size, ethnicity and background, but share the desire to open their hearts and homes to give city children an experience they will never forget.

Hosts say the Fresh Air experience is as enriching for their own families, as it is for the inner-city children. There are no financial requirements for hosting a child. Volunteers may request the age-group and gender of the Fresh Air youngster they would like to host. Stories about real Fresh Air host families and their New York City visitors are just a click away!

Click here to learn more about becoming a host or call (800) 367-0003!

You never know, the experience that changes a child’s life may change yours too!

300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds

Good Works, Storytelling

Not a bad piece of animated infographia from the Post Carbon Institute. Good to see a broader range of complex stories being communicated this way.

From Little Things, Big Things Grow – WorldNomads and the World of Micropayments

Corporate Social Responsibility, Good Works, The Social Way, Videos

For some time I have been mulling over an idea. I’m grappling with the complexity of the world in which we live and with the changes I can see taking place before my eyes. I’m working through what it means to work, to live and to make a difference to our families, our friends and our colleagues. And I am doing this in a practical way – in my work for SAP North America’s Premier Customer Network and also as a member of the board of youth not for profit, Vibewire.

I have been drawn to sites like Kickstarter.com and Kiva.org that transform the relationship between individuals and organisations (and amongst us as well) – and I like what they are doing and where they are going. All these things are starting to weave together in my mind, loosely, under what I am calling The Social Way. But is there an example?

No doubt you will have heard about micropayments – small transactions that, when pooled together add up to a whole lot. We see them everyday in our ATM withdrawals (press YES to allow us to charge you $2 for this transaction). But rather than having a micropayment roll into your general revenues, what if you could use that to do some good? How big could it go? What broader impact could make with micropayments?

In this TEDx talk, Chris Noble from travel insurance company, WorldNomads.com, talks about their Footprints program, and how in the wake of the Asian tsunami in 2004, that WorldNomads put the idea of micropayments to the test. By simply asking customers whether they would add a donation to their insurance premium, WorldNomads transformed and galvanised their customer base into something greater – into a community with a shared purpose. And that purpose was not just to have a good time – but to DO some good.

Listen to the story in Chris’ own words. It sounds very much like The Social Way … or at least one of the paths we can follow.

Learning About Local Action: Our Efforts to Save the Bushland at Castle Hill

Good Works, Life

When I first came to look at the house where I now live, I was struck by the towering trees and the piercing blue sky that framed it. It seemed amazingly “Australian”.

To my great surprise there was a large undeveloped block of land behind the house – quite a rare sight in this neighbourhood! Over the last 100 years or so, this land had been variously an orchard, grazing land for dairy cows and bushland native animals. Prior to that it was part of the the government farm that encompassed this whole area, setup in 1802 to help feed a starving colony. The traditional owners, the local Dharug people – and their famous warrior chief, Pemulwuy have lived here for millennia.

castlehillfarm

Since the early 20th Century by a family of German migrants, the Pragers, who had strenuously resisted any efforts at subdivision. But after their death, the land was sold and development planned.

While this was going on in the background, I was enjoying the occasional stroll through this “local forest”. The Pragers had introduced a range of plants but there was still a thriving crop of native bushland that seemed to be home to all manner of native species. Certainly the male Gang-Gang Cockatoos loved the 200 ft trees to showcase their genetic prowess – screeching across the valley in search of a mate.

But what I didn’t realise until reading the species impact statement accompanying the development application was that this site was home the critically endangered Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest. In the last 200 years we have decimated this once plentiful tree species – with less than 5% remaining in remnants only.

The land also contains another “endangered ecological community” – the Shale Sandstone Transition Forest – and serves as the home, feeding and roosting grounds for up to six threatened species. Just on the surface, it appeared that this small pocket of remnant forest deserved protection.

A group of local residents got together to discuss a response. We wanted to preserve as much of this bushland as possible. We wanted to allow future generations to be able to imagine what the local landscape once looked like. And we wanted them to be able to experience it first hand – close by.

But for many of us, engaging with development applications – with the processes of review and approval at the Council and Government levels is beyond our experiences. So in many ways, residents groups face an uphill battle articulating – in the right form and at the right time – their objection or opposition to plans.

But we wanted to try. In fact, we gathered over 70 signatures at two public meetings. We’re learning a lot as we go – and are documenting as we go. If you are part of a local residents group, then I hope you can learn from what we are experiencing.

You can follow our experiences at our blog – Save the Hills Bushland – and you can join our Facebook Page too (the more the merrier!)

Oh No, It’s Movember!

Good Works

For the last few years at this time I grow a moustache. It’s not just for the sheer style – but to join other men in raising awareness around depression and prostate cancer. This movement, which has now become a global phenomenon is known as “Movember”.

Why do I join in Movember?

This year alone, over 3300 men will die as a direct result of prostate cancer. These men could be related to you – fathers, brothers, uncles. And in many cases – especially when caught in its early stages, prostate cancer can be CURED. But, of course, that means getting the men in your life to see a doctor regularly.

So, if you, or a man in your life is over 50, make sure they get along to their GP to be tested.

The Movember Foundation also supports beyondblue – the national organisation dedicated to raising awareness around anxiety and depression. And as we get nearer to Christmas, you may also want to consider The Perfect Gift for a Man.

What can you do to help?

To start with, you can talk to the men in your life about prostate cancer and depression. Encourage them to talk to each other and to seek help where needed. Then you can: