Have you heard of ServiceNation?  Because of my work in National Service, I have heard about ServiceNation since its inception and have been watching its work and growth with great interest.  Last year, representatives made a presentation at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Atlanta to all the AmeriCorps grantees in attendance.  The energy about what they were doing was great - I even had one of their reps, a young man from Alaska, come to my session on measuring the impact of nonprofit programming and ask for a few minutes to share about more about ServiceNation with participants.

From their website, “This campaign now focuses on building a national grassroots movement aimed at inspiring widespread public support for increasing voluntary community and national service opportunities, solving problems with proven service strategies, and elevating service as a core ideal of civic engagement. ServiceNation encourages all Americans to step forward and take the lead in bridging our divides, strengthening our communities, and building a more vibrant democracy.”

Especially given the economic times in which we find ourselves, ServiceNation is a movement which deserves our support.  Check them out and join me in signing their Declaration of Service. 

You can also find ways to volunteer through their partnership with Network for Good and USA Freddom Corps, as well.  Within 20 miles of my office, there were 1820 opportunities - so surely there is something for everyone that wants to get more involved.

I am reading a book by Dave Evans, Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day, because I am trying to get up to speed on using Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media for business purposes.  Wow - what a lot to learn!!  The exercise for Day One involves reviewing blogs and wikis to learn about them.  One of the examples given was the wiki for One Laptop per Child (ONLP).  I had heard of the program before but really did not know much about it.

According to the wiki, the mission of OLPC is “One Laptop per Child creates educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.”

The website gave the following update: “OLPC launched its second Give One, Get One (”G1G1″) program on November 17, 2008, following last year’s popular program which supported the production of over 150,000 XOs. This year the XO laptops will be shipped to donors through Amazon.com, and the program includes Europe. Visit laptop.org/xo.”

For $199, you can give a child in a developing country a laptop.  The Amazon page says:”Why give a laptop to a child in the emerging world? If you replace the word “laptop” with “education” the answer becomes clear. You don’t wait to educate until all other challenges are resolved. You educate at the same time because it’s such an important part of all the other solutions.  The XO laptop was designed especially for children. So no matter who they are or where they live, this computer has the perfect features and software to get them excited about learning. Just imagine how the world would change if every child had the tools to unleash their full potential.”

What a great project and such a low “ticket price.”  Check it out at www.laptop.org and perhaps your business can join the effort and give the gift of education. 

…And I still don’t really get wikis…

The whole social media thing is mind boggling to me!  I did not pay much attention initially because it seemed more social as opposed to business oriented.  Now I am hearing about the business applications all the time!  So…I spent a lot of time this week trying to figure out Facebook and Twitter as ways to get the word out about my work and the resources that I offer for both business and nonprofits as well as be in contact with people of like mind. 

I started a group on Facebook called Business Philanthropy - Do Good AND Do Well.  The purpose of this group will be to “share ideas with other entrepreneurs and small and mid-market business owners and executives who like you are committed to business social responsibility and who want to run more effective business philanthropy programs. Share ideas and learn about the many ways your company can support local and global nonprofits through strategic contributions (time, dollars, and inkind) and commerce to make a real difference in the community and grow your business.”

So please join the group and get in on the discussion!

Strategic Partnerships with Businesses

Got a little time - want to help an emerging entrepreneur from the comfort of your own office?  Today I got an email from MicroMentor seeking new mentors.  MicroMentor is a nonprofit program that connects emerging entrepreneurs with volunteer business professionals in mentoring relationships.

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I got an email today from Hands Up Holidays.  They found my site and requested to be linked with me.  So I went to their site to check them out and I REALLY like what they are doing!

Hands Up Holidays is a travel company based in London that combines eco-sightseeing with a meaningful taste of volunteering. Their website says their volunteer adventures ”are for you if:

• you are interested in having a break, want to explore a destination, and also give something back to a local community.
• you value meaningful interaction with other cultures - achieved through the medium of volunteering.
• you value small group or tailor-made sustainable tourism practices that directly benefit local communities.
• you do not have specific skills, but have a lot of enthusiasm and a positive attitude (OR if you do have specific skills, we will match your skills where possible.”

Sounds great to me.  I especially liked that they say, “It is our hope that after experiencing a Hands Up Holiday voluntourism trip, you will feel inspired to  volunteer for a longer period somewhere (even in your home town), or become a lifelong advocate or donor for the Community Development project you got involved with.”

Hands Up Holidays also offers corporate trips that blend both community service with relaxation or adventure. “This works well for companies that are seeking to both reward employees and also improve their Corporate Social Responsibility profile; ideal for:
- Incentive trips
- Team building trips

These trips are formulated after close consultation with your Senior Management and HR regarding the goals for your organisation.

Some of the benefits of such a trip for your company include:
- Higher staff motivation and employee loyalty.
- Social image enhancement of your company.
- Measurable results with a tailor-made project (we can include a team building component as well).
- Contribution to a better world.”

Hands Up Holidays is a founding member of the Ethical Tour Operators Group, part of Tourism Concern that is committed to sustainable tourism that benefits local communities and the environment.

I am looking for a great adventure for my 50th birthday later this year…I will definitely check them out as an option!  You should too!  Click here for their eBrochure.

Over the weekend I was in San Francisco attending Brendon Burchard’s Nonprofit & Corporate Partnership Seminar.  It was intense - over 27 hours of training in 3 days - but VERY good.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to partner with businesses and/or nonprofits - especially the big ones!

I first heard of Brendon at Christine Comaford-Lynch’s Rules for Renegades Summit in Irvine, CA last spring.  Brendon was one of her speakers and the main reason I chose to attend her Summit.  I was intrigued to hear Brendon speak as I had never heard of him before and wanted to learn more about his approach to partnerships because of my own work in this area.  Well…he was certainly high energy, a great speaker…and he had great content.  He talks about partnerships at the graduate level and uses business/marketing speak while doing it.  I knew I could learn a lot from him so signed up for the 3 day intensive.  It did not disappoint!

Brendon is his own best example of leveraging partnerships to grow his business exponentially over the past three years.  He wrote a great book, Life’s Golden Ticket, which I have read and really enjoyed.  And the level of strategy he developed to launch and grow book sales is impressive.  He established partnerships with three major nonprofits - Junior Achievement, Kiwwanis, and the YMCA - serving over 30 million people.  To oversimplify it, he offered them a percentage of his book sales in return for leveraging their distribution networks.  And that’s just where it starts - he speaks for them and about them, has helped develop leadership curriculum, has helped them develop partnerships with each other, and the list goes on and on.  His partners love him and he is one of their strongest promoters.  It has been win-win-win-win…..

If you want to do high level partnerships, this seminar is a must!

This weekend, I attended Christine Comaford-Lynch’s first Rules for Renegades Summit in Irvine, CA.   It was an inspiring event with world class trainers and over 200 business people in attendance.  One of the trainers that I most appreciated was Alex Mandossian - a marketing guru with many fabulous tips and strategies.  As a trainer myself, I enjoyed his energy, presentation style, and use of visuals and handouts in addition to the content.  As a new member of his “fan club”, I bought his Stick Strategies Program to learn how to develop new ways to engage prospects and customers in my business.  Alex also has a teleclass program on Virtual Book Tour Secrets that started yesterday that I was lucky enough to get in to learn cutting edge ways to promote my book, Business Philanthropy: How Smart Companies Give Back, which will be published this fall. 

I first heard about Alex from Christine Kloser, of Love Your Life Publishing and the Get Your Book Done Program.  Christine is my book coach and will be publishing my book.  Christine’s will be promoting her new book, the Freedom Formula, through a Virtual Book Tour that Alex is helping her with. 

Doing some research, I learned about Alex’s SmartStartGiving micro-giving program to benefit Kiva. According to the email I received after signing up for notification about future SmartStartGiving calls, “SmartStartGiving (SSG) is a consortium of micro-fundraisers with the objective to become the organization that funds the most Kiva small businesses in 2008.  The collective aim of SSG is to utilize the leverage of micro-fundraising to empower entrepreneurs in developing countries to uplift themselves out of poverty forever!”

Alex’s email also stated “In 2008, the final Friday of each month will be designated as “Kiva Micro-Fundraising Day”.  I’ll donate a minimum of $500 out of my own pocket and request micro-donations of $10, $20 and $50 from entrepreneurs on our SSG subscription list … just like YOU.”

The “micro-fundraising” calls start at 8am Pacific (11am Eastern) and will be 40 minutes in duration.  Here’s the remaining 2008 schedule is: June 27th, July 25th, August 29th, September 26th, October 31st, November 28th, and December 26th. Alex extends an open invitation to join in and pass on the word to as many entrepreneurial friends and colleagues as possible.

What a great idea!  Alex is helping raise the visibility of Kiva, an organization with the mission ”to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.  Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.”  He is also raising dollars from his broad network to support his efforts with the developing country entrepreneurs Kiva assists.  And, by choosing Kiva as the organization to support, the donated resources go to specific entrepreneurs, not into some big black hole.  Cool, eh?

I plan to be on his next teleseminar for SmartStartGiving and will make a donation - I like Alex and what he is up to…AND microfinance is the cause I selected a couple years back as the primary focus for Business Nonprofit Connections, Inc.’s philanthropic efforts.  Join us!

I rented the movie the Kite Runner over the weekend. I had read Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling book last year and was touched deeply and saddened by the story.  I worried the movie would no be able to do justice to it - and I am glad to say, that was definitely NOT the case!  The movie was very good.  I recommend it highly.

What was especially interesting to me (and something I had not seen before) was that when the DVD started, I had a choice of either playing the movie or playing the movie with a PSA.  A PSA on a DVD…???  Huh!?  So I chose that option to see what that was about.  Up comes the author briefly talking about his book but then moving on to highlight what is happening in Afganistan today and the important role NGOs (nongovernmental organizations = aka nonprofits in the U.S.) are playing.  Then the kicker…he goes on to say how the viewer can get involved to support this vital work and a web address appears on a black screen.  www.takepart.com.  What a great idea!  Caught my interest immediately!

So of course I had to investigate.  Seems there is a whole organization called TakePart that I had not yet heard of.  My Google search of the book title and take action…came up with a link.  When I got to this attractive web site, I read “The Kite Runner is a compelling and inspiring story that provides an opportunity to explore the political, cultural, and social dynamics of Afganistan.  TakePart is proud to privide a platform to both affest and discuss these dynamics.”

I started digging around on the site and really like what they are up to.  TakePart is a social action network for education, entertainment and social change via awareness, action and activism.  Their tag line is “Inspire. Connect. Act.”  They offer a free membership: ”Real change starts with people passionate about nurturing an action and dedicated to growing and spreading it. That’s what takepart is all about.  As a member, takepart gives you the action tools to make change:

• Organize and grow with like-minded individuals
• Connect actions to videos, blogs and media
• Add your own voice and content to the community
• Expand your resources with our action dashboard
• When you take part, your actions make a difference. Join today!”

The Kite Runner is only one of the movies they are featuring on the site.  All together, there are eight listed including: An Inconvenient Truth, Darfur Now, and the Visitor.  What a great way to learn and be able to DO something constructive to make a difference.  Check them out and sign up!  Learn more and be a part of the solution to our world’s problems!