Black Card Circle’s Executive Leadership Exchange – Shanghai, China

13 May

This is something I’m very excited about!  A dear friend of mine, Lotay Yang, CEO of the incredible Black Card Circle (and Founder of Black Card Circle Foundation, a personal favorite nonprofit), is hosting a ground-breaking, once-in-a-lifetime event in China.

This historic event will be at the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong,  a stunning facility synonymous with excellence and renowned thought leadership.  An overview of the program, which is a remarkable bridging of the United States and China around the film and media industries, sounds simply amazing.  As a passionate fan of Chinese culture and history, and student of Mandarin for several years now, I can’t imagine a more unique and rare opportunity to learn in the most hands-on way possible all about doing business with China.

BCC Executive Leadership Exchange (ELE) Curriculum

Through Black Card Circle’s Executive Leadership Exchange (ELE), participants will gain valuable insight into the Chinese film industry, develop crucial Chinese relationships, and learn how to produce film with the support of the Chinese government.

Pudong, Shanghai (June 25, 2012-June 29, 2012)

The 5-day itinerary includes opening and closing festivities, one day of acclimation and seminars on the history and culture of China, one full day of industry excursion, three days of intensive seminars, and several professional interactions off site.

The Chinese Executive Leadership Academy Pudong – Shanghai, China, where the Black Card Circle Executive Leadership Exchange will be held June 25- 29, 2012.

Contents and Courses:

1. China Culture and Values (Chinese history, culture and customs)

Professor from CELAP or professor from Shanghai International Studies University

2. Chinese Business Etiquette

Haishan Jiang, Vice President of CELAP or

Gengfa Liu, Vice Director of Department of International Exchange and Program Development of CELAP

3. China Foreign Investment Policy and Business Environment

Tong Tao, Director of Department of Investment Promotion, Shanghai Foreign Investment Promotion Center

4. The Development and International Strategy of Shanghai Film

Ruigang Li, Deputy Secretary-General of Shanghai Government (Formal President of Shanghai Television Station), or

Jingjun Hu, President of Shanghai Media Group

5. China Film Industry

History and development of Chinese film industry, the management and mechanism of Chinese film, the international trade and cooperation of Chinese film.

Tong Gang, President of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television or

Peikang Lai, Vice President of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television

6. Strategic Leadership

Jieren Xi, President of Department of Leadership Research, CELAP

7. The History and Strategy of Shanghai Film Industry

Tour to Shanghai Chedun Film Studio

Zhonglun Ren, President of Shanghai Film Group, Vice President of Shanghai Media Group

8. Tour to Shanghai Film Studio and US-China Film Industry Mixer

A visit to the Shanghai Chedun Film Studio, Shanghai Film Museum, and Shanghai Film Group; Mixer with famous Chinese producers, film markers, actors

9. The Development and Changes of the City of Shanghai

Tour to Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre

10. The Exploration and Practice of Creative Culture Industry

Tour to Zhangjiang Animation Park

Other activities

1. Opening Ceremony;

2. Visit CELAP;

3. Professional Mixer.

If you or a colleague are interested in one of the most unique opportunities available for really being immersed in the business, culture, magic, and incredible knowledge China offers, do check this program out.  It has never been available before now and should not be missed!  For any questions, please contact Black Card Circle here.

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Social Good Stars: Global Philanthropy Group’s (@GlobalPhilGrp) Maggie Neilson

27 Apr

This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post.

Amy Neumann

Writer, Speaker; Social Good Marketing and Branding Consultant

Social Good Stars: Global Philanthropy Group’s Maggie Neilson

Posted: 04/26/2012 12:21 pm

This is the seventh installment of the Impact series, #SocialGoodStars. The people highlighted here are passionate, dedicated philanthropists, strengths to their communities, and social media masters. They also happily share their vast knowledge with others, making them shine as leaders in the Social Good world. You can read the seventh interview with Ryan Scott, CEO of Causecast, here.

“The world is more malleable than you think and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.” ~ Bono

When it comes to world-shaping, Maggie Neilson, Partner and CEO at Global Philanthropy Group, has tremendous insight. With a background including working with some of the world’s best-know philanthropies and brands with Social Good vision, she has first-hand experience with helping to shape and develop impactful projects globally. Many of her clients are celebrities with a wide reach and equally big passion to help. Additionally, Maggie was on the United Nations‘ International Year of Microcredit Leadership Team, Synergos Insitute‘s international development programs around child malnutrition in India, sustainable global food programs and health programs in Africa, and has been a featured speaker at Harvard and Columbia on microfinance. She weaves her love of helping into every aspect of her life and her work, and shares some of her wisdom below.

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Photo courtesy of Global Philanthropy Group

You and your partner Trevor Neilson have worked with many well-known philanthropists, such as Bill Gates, Bono, Sir Richard Branson, President Bill Clinton, Rachael Ray, and numerous others. Are there strategies they share that individuals and organizations can also use?

Yes. Each of these individuals — as well as the corporations we work with — effectively leverages their unique strengths and passions. Bill Gates’ analytical approach and focus on measurable outcomes is unparalleled. Sir Branson deploys Virgin’s marketing genius to help launch new philanthropists. President’ Clinton uses his global network to build high powered coalitions. Rachael’s cooking expertise and approachability enable her to uniquely help people improve their eating. Every person can use what they have to make a change. Just look at what you care about, what you have and who you know. Some of the best philanthropic efforts I’ve seen in recent years have been by kids using what they have.

With your long track record of successful international projects, what changes have you seen in the global landscape because of things like social media and instant access to information?

Social media and information access have been an incredibly powerful tools in philanthropic work. Whether it is a rural farmer receiving crop price data via mobile phone or millions of young people learning quickly about African child soldiers from the Kony 2012 campaign, we see things that were not imaginable a decade ago. However, as with all tools, there is a downside. Pimps and johns can reach sex slaves within a click or two. I heard a john once say that he could order a girl as fast as a pizza. That’s sobering to say the least.

Based on trends you see now, are there new ways you envision individuals and causes interacting a few years from now?

Yes. Technology advances and the challenging economic environment are going to simultaneously result in more informed donors due to better information services and reporting as well as more effective, outcomes-oriented nonprofit organizations. In some cases, this will be due to mergers and acquisitions among duplicative organizations.

Having worked with the United Nations on microfinance/microcredit projects, what role do you see microfinance playing globally now, with the growth of smartphones, apps, text-based fundraising, etc.? What are your thoughts on microdonations becoming a bigger piece of fundraising internationally?

The current state of microfinance is transitional. Whether it achieves its potential will largely be determined by three issues; How can we protect already vulnerable people from abuses by unsavory microfinance practitioners? How can we scale up the provision of microfinance services like savings and insurance which help protect against the natural life events that often lead to extreme poverty? And how can we continue to unleash more commercial capital for microfinance use by low income customers?

I am very excited about the potential of microdonations. If, as I mentioned, we can improve the quantity, quality and usability of data available to donors, this could create a sizable, nimble funding stream.

Can you highlight a couple good examples of kids being involved in causes? What are some resources you’d suggest to parents who want to help their kids get involved and develop a passion for helping others?

This is one of my personal passions. We are in a time of great change in terms of who does what between the government, non-profit and corporate sectors. Everyone – including every person of every age – has the opportunity to be involved in philanthropy. Two good resources are Clover by Clover and Acme Sharing Company. Also organizations like Baby Buggy let parents give back in a way that is easy and makes a difference.

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Maggie Neilson, Partner and CEO, Global Philanthropy Group. Photo courtesy of Maggie Neilson.

Learn more about Maggie and Global Philanthropy Group’s work on Facebook, Twitter @mrneilson, and LinkedIn.

Amy Neumann is a social entrepreneur, writer, speaker and consultant on social good marketing. Check out her Charity Ideas Blog and follow her on Twitter @CharityIdeas.

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Social Good Stars: @Causecast CEO Ryan Scott on the Future of Cause Marketing #nptech

29 Mar
This article originally appears on The Huffington Post.
Amy Neumann

Writer, Speaker; Social Media Consultant

Social Good Stars: Causecast CEO Ryan Scott on the Future of Cause Marketing

This is the seventh installment of the Impact series, #SocialGoodStars. The people highlighted here are passionate, dedicated philanthropists, strengths to their communities, and social media masters. They also happily share their vast knowledge with others, making them shine as leaders in the Social Good world. You can read the sixth interview with Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark here.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” -Theodore Roosevelt

Ryan Scott, CEO of Causecast, is a visionary idealist with a plan. He is a successful entrepreneur and thinker; a humanist and a philanthropist; and an investor and adviser to many interesting companies and charities. Also, he co-founded two of my favorite sections of the Huffington Post: Impact, and Education. His passion for doing the right thing — like not charging nonprofits a cent to use Causecast’s platform to help their cause — has helped spur global growth in cause marketing and its effectiveness. As a leader in the cause marketing field, he has some inspiring and thought-provoking insights into the future of Social Good.

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Photo courtesy of Causecast.com.You are widely regarded as the “Father of Opt-In Email Marketing.” You gave people an additional voice and freedom (to opt-in, or not) before people even asked. How did that affect your charity vision?

Opt-in was the result of my sense of social justice. We have the technology to ask people to subscribe rather than spam them and force them to opt-out – or in the case of the postal world, just spam them without regard for whether or not they want to get off the list. We have the technology for mass customization so what is the excuse for not using it? We can do direct marketing in an ethical way on the internet, and in fact we have to, so let’s do it.

My charity vision comes from that same sense of social justice. We ask nonprofits to solve the world’s toughest problems with a challenging business model. As a society, we reward selling sugar water far more than we reward building wells. This perverse incentive does nothing to solve the issue of lack of clean water, but it creates the altogether new problem of obesity. Clearly this is not sustainable. Capitalism can and must be better leveraged to help nonprofits do their work. It’s just too powerful of a force to ignore. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to harness the power of capitalism and by vastly improving this mutually beneficial partnership we will start to actually solve the world’s most pressing problems.
As a proponent of environmentalism and social justice, what social media platforms have jumped out at you as far as helping there?

The major social networks and publishing platforms can have a huge impact on social awareness and change. I can’t point to just one — as a marketer you have to use them all for their strengths. Unfortunately this is not one of those questions that has an easy solution.

You are active with many organizations, including Keiretsu Forum, the President’s Council of Planned Parenthood, the Long Now Foundation, and the Methuselah Foundation, among others. Are there trends you’ve seen online that have helped with expanding these causes?
Developments in the online world have increased the capacity of nonprofits and opened up new possibilities. For example, at Causecast we introduced free donation processing, which makes giving far less costly, and the ability for nonprofits to participate in workplace giving programs of corporations, also for free. But there are also pitfalls to online cause innovations. There is so much noise online, and it can be easy to create an app that is too difficult for NPOs to follow. Worse, I’ve seen some cause marketing campaigns where the brands are getting much more value than the nonprofit partners. I’ve seen many smaller nonprofits spend valuable time promoting a brand but competing against far more popular nonprofits, giving them no hope of winning. The time spent promoting the brand would have been better spent honing their core fundraising skills. Luckily there a lot of exceptions to this, for example Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program in which all participating organizations walk away with something for their time, and organizations are paired with other organizations of similar size, making it more fair.
What other trends do you think nonprofits can leverage right now to help advance their message?

Workplace giving and volunteer programs are becoming a critical aspect of employee engagement, which is an essential key to employee recruitment and retention. Traditional corporate philanthropy only goes so far — companies need to get their entire workforce involved in order to make a difference, and nonprofits should make sure that they’re exposed to employee-based streams of fundraising and volunteerism. When employees get involved with nonprofits as a part of workplace programs, everyone benefits — nonprofits, the engaged employees and corporate bottom lines. That’s why Causecast developed a technology platform to help nonprofits connect with business workforces.


Social good marketing gets a lot of positive coverage these days. Do you feel it’s a win/win for brands and nonprofits? How do consumers/donors benefit from these social good partnerships?

It’s always a good thing when the private sector supports the public sector, no matter what the reasons. But cause marketing can feel like just that — marketing — if it’s not backed up by authentic engagement by the employees of the company.
Where do you see “Social Good/Cause Marketing” heading in the next two years?

Cause marketing is clearly the future of marketing. In fact, when you see that 90% of consumers will switch brands to one that supports a cause, you quickly realize that all marketing will be cause marketing. Despite some attempts at causewashing, it’s here to stay.

As you can tell, I’m really excited about employee cause engagement or workplace giving and volunteering. In fact, I predict all cause marketing campaigns will ultimately be launched to the public from within the workplace, by the employees of the corporation, not solely from the marketing department. Because what, after all, is the heart and soul of a company? Its staff. If they pick the nonprofits the company should support, if they are involved in crafting and promoting the campaign, it’s as authentic as it can be.

Soon, and this is our most active area of development, we’ll see companies competing with each other to make the most positive social change. I can’t think of a better reason to be hopeful for the future than that.

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Ryan Scott, CEO of Causecast.Learn more about Ryan Scott on LinkedIn, and follow him on Twitter @ryan_scott.

Amy Neumann is a social entrepreneur, writer, speaker and consultant on social good marketing. Check out her Charity Ideas Blog and follow her on Twitter @CharityIdeas.

Follow Amy Neumann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CharityIdeas

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The Unpredictable Freedom and Sweetness of Chaos – @Zen_Habits

16 Mar SocialMediaforSocialGoodpin82401868152090060

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of things that don’t go exactly as planned?  We all do! But as Leo Babauta of the fabulous ZenHabits.net explains in this post, maybe that’s not a bad thing.  In fact, maybe it holds secrets to nourishing our creativity and passion.  Read on to see how!

The Unpredictable Freedom and Sweetness of Chaos

‘You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.’ ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Post written by Leo Babauta. (Originally appears here on zenhabits.net)

I’m going to share a productivity, planning and organizational hack that will change your life. It will yield some unpredictable results, but if you approach it the right way, it could bring some of the most amazing work of your life, along with freedom, joy, exhilaration.

What’s this miraculous hack?

It’s a simple one: let go. Let go of control and allow yourself to be swept away by the powerful currents of life. Let go of planning and embrace not know what will happen. Let go of productivity and be open to new ideas, new opportunities, spontaneous creativity.

The Case for Chaos

Consider what we’re doing when we plan our day, our week, our year: we are trying to exert control over life, and predict with our plans the course our lives will take today, this week, this year.

We are saying: this is what I’m going to do today. This is how things will go. If I get these things done, life will be good. This is my idea of what this day will hold.

Now consider this: we have absolutely no idea if any of this is true. We cannot predict the future with any kind of certainty, and the idea that we can plan based on these shaky predictions is a nice fiction, but a fiction nonetheless. We do not know what will happen today, much less the rest of the week or month. Knowing what will happen this year? What a crock!

And consider: what if we could know? What if we could accurately predict every single day, and plan each day exactly? Would this be a great thing? I submit that it would suck infinitely more than not knowing. Having foreknowledge of the future means we know what will happen each day, which means not only will our days be ridiculously boring, but we’re stuck on one unshakable path. Foreknowledge means a crazy lack of freedom.

So we don’t know what will happen, nor should we want to. We can try to plan, but those plans are not based on real knowledge and probably won’t happen, so planning is a waste of time.

What can we do instead of trying to predict what will happen, instead of planning? Learn to embrace uncertainty, and be open to change. Learn to let go of control, and surf the ever-changing wave. Let unpredictability rule, let randomness be the force of our life, let spontaneity be the rule.

Embracing Chaos for Good

Some random thoughts based on my experiments with letting go:

  • Work is better with chaos. While the idea of having peaceful order to our workday is a nice one, it’s an illusion. And it’s frankly boring. Work based on fun, play, and spontaneity is more interesting. Imagine a project that is started with a spontaneous idea, and then changes course as you do it, embraces the ideas of strangers, ends up in a fantastic new place you could not have possibly foreseen when you started. This is how I did my last book, The Effortless Life, and it was one of the most fun I’ve ever had on a project. It’s how I’m doing all my projects now, actually.
  • A year that isn’t planned. When I started Zen Habits in 2007, I had my year planned out in detail, with goals, actions and weekly plans. That, of course, was tossed out the door as soon as I started writing Zen Habits and meeting my first readers, who changed my life with their feedback and kind attention. My life was turned upside down, my plans became meaningless, and I learned that while life is unpredictable, that unpredictability can bring some amazing things.
  • Be open to new possibilities. I learned, that first year of Zen Habits, to be open to new opportunities. Time and time again, new doors opened for me that I didn’t know — couldn’t know — would even be there. I saw the new door opening, considered it, and went in. That happened repeatedly, and taught me that there is no way to plan a path when you don’t know what each step will bring, what changes will happen to that path as you walk along it.
  • Be open to strangers. Let’s say you plan your day rigidly. You’ve got your productivity system honed, you’re cranking out the tasks. You are a productivity machine! But now you randomly happen upon a stranger who says hi. You say hi back, and now you have a new opportunity: you can talk to this stranger, get to know him. But then you’d deviate from the plan! Do you stick to the plan, or talk to the stranger? Well, sticking to the plan would be more productive, and give you more control over your life. But if you talk to the stranger, you might make a new friend. You might learn something you’d never have learned otherwise. I’ve made some of my best friends like this, because I was willing to deviate from my plans and talk to a stranger.
  • Chaos is creativity, and creativity is chaos. They are the same thing. Creative work doesn’t happen by plan and control. Sure, some of the worlds creative geniuses were detail freaks, but they didn’t make a plan to come up with a creative genius idea — it came to them because they were open to random thoughts, explored paths no one else had thought to look down, took an idea they saw from someone else and twisted it in a new way. Creativity comes from a place of chaos, and it’s only when you open yourself to this lack of control that you can come up with your best creativity.
  • Some things to read: Two of the best books I’ve read recently embrace the idea of uncertainty, and they also happened to come at me from two of my best friends — both of whom I met almost randomly on the Internet. My friend Jonathan Fields wrote Uncertainty, and it’s a great exploration of some of these ideas. My friend Mary Jaksch sent me a book the other day called Bring Me the Rhinoceros that is an excellent use of Zen koans to explore similar ideas. Both books highly recommended.
  • When we let go of our expectations that others will make us happy, we enjoy them more. We get angry and frustrated at people because they don’t act the way we want them to. We expect others to try to make us happy, to go out of their way to give us what we want. This is not why other people exist. When we let go of these expectations, we accept people for who they are, and learn to appreciate this uniqueness.
  • If you don’t expect things to go as planned, you are open to the unplanned. Something might arise that is unexpected, and if you go with it, you’ll have to let go of your previous plans. This can be a wonderful thing. Many people (including the old me) get frustrated when new things come up that were unplanned, when plans go awry, but it doesn’t have to be frustrating. Just expect plans to change, or don’t really plan at all. Expect unplanned things to happen, and when they do, smile.
  • Embrace not knowing what will happen. This is the ultimate freedom. You don’t know what you’re going to do today, nor what will come up. You are locked into nothing. You are completely free to do anything, to pursue any creative pursuit, to try new things as they come up, to be open to meeting new people. It can be scary at first, but if you smile when you think of not knowing, you’ll soon realize it’s a joyous thing.
  • When you’re not focused on one outcome, you open the possibility for many outcomes. Most people are focused on specific goals (outcomes), and relentlessly pursue that outcome. They then dismiss other possibilities as distractions. But what if you have no predetermined outcome? What if you say that anywhere you end up could be good? You now open an infinite amount of possibilities, and you’re much more likely to learn something than if you only try to do the things and learn the things that support your predetermined outcome.

‘It’s a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful.’ ~Hiromu Arakawa

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Volunteers Have Big Hearts, But Not #TinyCars – @VolunteerSpot

8 Mar

As Fuel Prices Soar, Tiny Rate For Volunteer Mileage Still Tiny – from VolunteerSpot.org.

When VolunteerSpot started our Tiny Cars campaign a little over a month ago to raise awareness of the problem of the tiny volunteer mileage rate (just 14 cents a mile allowed for reimbursements or tax deductions), gas was around $3.39 a gallon – far higher than the $1.30 when the volunteer mileage rate was set in 1997.

Now, just five weeks later, gas is costing an average $3.75 per gallon and is projected to travel well past $4 by May or earlier.

Sadly, there seems to be a threshold for how much of this volunteers can take. In the last couple weeks, news outlets across the country have been highlighting problems for nonprofits unable to staff up their volunteer ranks due to the high cost of driving. Some are losing existing volunteers who, according to news reports, are being forced to choose between food for themselves and gas for their volunteer commitments.

Congress controls this tiny rate – not the IRS – and only they can take the necessary steps to fix it. The best current legislation in the House only addresses the issue of reimbursement not individual tax deduction – but it does make the rate much better.

Wouldn’t it be great if representatives in Congress seized this opportunity to provide real relief for millions of volunteers (who vote) and join in a painless display of bipartisan cooperation by fixing the Volunteer mileage rate?

Action Suggestion:

Continue to tweet, post, blog and spread the word about TinyCars using hashtag #TinyCars.

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Social Good Stars: Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark (@craignewmark) on Causes and Tech

2 Mar
This article originally appears in the Huffington Post.
Amy Neumann

Writer, Speaker; Social Media Consultant

Social Good Stars: Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark Discusses Intersection of Causes and Tech

Posted: 02/29/2012 9:42 am

This is the sixth installment of the Impact series, #SocialGoodStars. The people highlighted here are passionate, dedicated philanthropists, strengths to their communities, and social media masters. They also happily share their vast knowledge with others, making them shine as leaders in the Social Good world. You can read the fifth interview with LinkedIn’s Meg Garlinghouse here.

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” ~ William James

The internet has opened many doors, and Craig Newmark was one of the first entrepreneurs to help open them and start making a difference, back in 1995. Craig is the founder of Craigslist, the web-based platform where people can help each other with everyday needs. It is now one of the 10 most-visited English language web platforms, serving every continent on earth (except Antarctica).

Craig has devoted much of his life to the philosophy that we all need to help one another, and has taken it to new levels via his philanthropy. He is devoted not only to making a difference, but to helping others make a difference, too.

In March 2011 Craig launched Craigconnects, his initiative to link up everyone on the planet using the Internet to bear witness to good efforts and encourage the same behavior in others. Craigconnects seeks to support technology and platforms that enhance connectivity, help more people and organizations do good in the world, and improve and ensure media integrity.

Craigconnects evolved from Craig’s many years of personal involvement with nonprofit organizations and issues he considers vital. He serves on the board of directors for 3 nonprofit organizations, advisory boards of 11 others, and provides personal or financial support to dozens more who use the internet to help solve social issues, provide for America’s returning veterans, drive funding for school projects directly to the classroom, or help government agencies and groups with innovation initiatives.

And he happily admits, although he no longer wears a plastic pocket protector and thick black glasses that are taped together, he is still a nerd. Which is a good thing for all of us, and for social good: Read on to learn why.

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Craig Newmark, Craigslist founder and founder of the nonprofit Craigconnects.org. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Canciello, unali artists.

You founded Craigslist 17 years ago with the philosophy to serve the community, help one another, keep the internet free, and treat people the way you want to be treated. How have these ideas shaped your philanthropic efforts?
That philosophy is pretty much ingrained in me, I guess it’s my Sunday School days talking. That also includes that I should do a better job at being my brother’s, and sister’s keeper.

Over the last decade, I started getting serious about that, supporting nonprofit and related groups, people with boots on the ground, people who actually get stuff done. They tell me they need help with social media, both consulting and actual practice. Specifically, I figure I got a bit of a bully pulpit, which I need neither for my business or self, so I dedicate that position to the efforts which need a hand. (Strictly speaking, I’ll also use it for my own entertainment, like posting the results of my pseudo-birdwatching).

The mission of your nonprofit craigconnects.org is “Using technology to give the voiceless a real voice and the powerless real power.” Can you share your ideas on how things like mobile, faster internet connections, social media, and other technology changes are morphing the landscape of philanthropy? What are some ways nonprofits and causes can benefit?

The Internet is becoming an everyday part of our lives, not only when we’re in front of our desks, but all the time. Mobile tech is making the Net ubiquitous in all manners.

People are using the Net in many forms to encourage people to work together for mutual good, sometimes like helping each other get through the day. One trend in that direction is “collaborative consumption” like various car-sharing services.

Philanthropic orgs can adopt these trends to get the word out about their efforts, for specifics including:

  • outreach to constituents
  • awareness of social ills, sometimes ones we’d rather ignore
  • volunteer enlistment
  • fundraising

The proliferation of such efforts is noticed by people of good will who start to realize that often many good charities get stuff done in redundant ways. That is, even I notice that more than one philanthropic organization does the same thing as others. As we notice that effect, well, we start to expect that similar orgs will cross silos and work together.

That’s called the “sea of goodwill” in the military families and veterans community, with some unity arising via the National Resource Directory, nrd.gov.

Similarly, groups helping in the voter protection effort come together in the Voter Protection Coalition.

One side effect is that even the more well-intended but naive folks, like me, see that there are fake nonprofits who tell a good story, but don’t get results. That’s being addressed by groups including Charity Navigator, GuideStar, and GreatNonprofits.org. I don’t feel the bogus efforts will survive this trend, but it’ll take a while.

With Craigconnects.org, you’re working on making positive changes in some key areas: Military Families and Veterans, Back-to-Basics Journalism, Public Diplomacy, Open Government, Consumer Protection, and Technology for Good. Can you talk about that?

Some efforts have emotional appeal for me, like regarding military families and veterans; I figure if someone’s willing to take a bullet defending me, I should do something. Similarly, I feel an ethnic connection to issues involving the Middle East.

Other areas involve the survival and success of the American democracy. I like to say that “the press is the immune system of democracy” and I’d like to make that real again, via the preservation of factchecking, etc. Another area is the preservation of everyone’s voting rights, hence working with voter protection groups.

You are very engaging and personally involved across many social media platforms. How do you work that into your busy schedule, and what effect do you think it has on your philanthropy efforts?

Well, whatever needs to get done, I just do what it takes. I understand that people take “time off” or “vacations” which I don’t get. Might have something to do with “having fun” which is also a mystery to me.

If you could suggest a couple things to individuals who want to make a difference, what would they be?

Volunteer for efforts they believe in, nonprofit, political, or whatever. That could involve real life, offline work, or cash contributions.

It can also involve social media. Expressions of support really mean something, including original posts, or Facebook likes, or Twitter retweets. Even better, active sharing to one’s social graph, that really helps.


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The best way to reach Craig is through the craigconnects website.

Or connect with Craig via Facebook, @craignewmark on Twitter, or on Huffington Post.

Amy Neumann is a social entrepreneur, writer, speaker and consultant on social good marketing. Check out her CharityIdeasBlog and follow her on Twitter @CharityIdeas.

Follow Amy Neumann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CharityIdeas

15 Positive Sites to Make You Smile

25 Feb
This article originally appears in The Huffington Post.
Amy Neumann

Writer, Speaker; Social Media Consultant

15 Uplifting Sites Focused on Positive Stories and Ideas for Good

Posted: 02/25/2012 11:06 am

Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. ~ James M. Barrie

There is no shortage of news these days, every place we turn. Much of it is less-than-positive. Looking for something different? A little more thoughtful, light-hearted, happy, fun, and inspirational? Here are a few great choices.

All of these sites focus on uplifting and creative news stories, ideas, and information. Check them out to bring a little sunshine into your day.

The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project is the memoir of a year spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Daily adventures in pursuit of happiness.

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The Huffington Post: Good News

Daily Good news. Positive, uplifting, inspiring stories from the Huffington Post.
Happy news that shows the good in the world around us.

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Zen Habits

Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness.
It also happens to be one of the Top 50 websites in the world and is uncopyrighted.

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Tiny Buddha

Tiny Buddha is about reflecting on simple wisdom and learning new ways to apply it to our complex lives-complete with responsibilities, struggles, dreams, and relationships. A leading resource for peace and happiness.


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Happy News

Real news. Compelling Stories. Always positive.


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Optimist World

Daily good news headlines, inspiring stories about charities, positive corporate social responsibility activities, sustainable travel, optimistic stories from the world of sports, and more.

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TED

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

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1000 Awesome Things

“1000 Awesome Things might be described as optimism for the rest of us. Sunny without being saccharine, it’s a countdown of life’s little joys that reads like a snappy Jerry Seinfeld monologue by way of Maria Von Trapp.” – The Vancouver Sun

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Good News Network

A “Daily Dose of News to Enthuse.” Stories confirm what we already believe: good news itself is not in short supply; the advertising of it is.

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Gimundo

Good news… Served daily.

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GOOD

GOOD is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward. Since 2006 we’ve been making a magazine, videos, and events for people who give a damn.

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USAToday Kindness

Kindness is your daily source of inspiration and guide to making a difference in fresh and exciting ways, no matter where you are. Exclusive interviews, fresh takes on news stories, plenty of tips, and links to interesting resources.

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Gives Me Hope

People sharing uplifting stories. “Life is beautiful today!”

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Ode Wire

Around the clock and around the world, OdeWire is always looking at the most authoritative news sources for stories that focus on solutions rather than problems, and on positive changes rather than negative ones.


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Daily Good

Receive a news story, an inspiring quote, and a suggested action each day that every person can use to make a difference in their own lives and the world around them.


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Amy Neumann is a social entrepreneur, writer, speaker and consultant on social good marketing. Check out her CharityIdeasBlog and follow her on Twitter @CharityIdeas.

Follow Amy Neumann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CharityIdeas

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