Signing up for World Poopin’ Day will “poopin” your account once on March 13. It’s a statement of solidarity with everyone else who does the same thing every day.

You don’t know exactly when it’s going to happen. A billion people don’t have a toilet. Their problem is far more serious. Yours is just funny. Help us spread the word and make a difference.

The not for profit aimed to leverage the power of Twitter and Facebook by getting people to sign up and approve an impromptu poop post on their accounts to raise awareness for the campaign.

Did you poop yesterday?

Toronto-based TVO has a great site connected to its Green Heroes show. It’s a good example of multi-platform documentary filmmaking, showcasing the TV show’s subjects online and providing a forum for discussion and rapid dissemination. The 6 x 30 minutes series showcased individuals who imagined a plan for environmental progress and forged ahead to make it reality.

The clips are short and tell compelling stories, whilst the site offers opportunities to watch more or act on a number of environmental campaigns. For not for profits this could also be a worthwhile avenue (at a smaller scale perhaps) given the Canada Media Fund’s support of convergent projects.

Note on the video: amazing that despite encouraging developments in the U.S. and Belgium these electrical cars are not licensed for use in Canada. Shame.

How do you get thousands of people from around the world to march together without leaving the comfort of their own homes/offices? The Big March did just that. An entirely digital effort, the March aimed to gather momentum for a petition asking the British Government to protect children from bullying.

Companies and charities took part in great numbers, registering by creating an avatar of themselves. The campaign began 15 September on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and continued until the day of the March, 15 November, when “tens of thousands of avatars marched sequentially and in real time across over the sixty partner websites.”

The result was nothing short of amazing—not to mention adorable.

The initiative was created by digital marketing agency Arnoldkip for Saatchi & Saatchi X as part of Beatbullying’s anti-bullying campaign. Brilliant.

NetSquaredCamp was on this weekend. Hosted by Nettuesday, the one-day “unconference” brought together “nonprofits, activists and social entrepreneurs with their friends and allies in the world of technology and communications (social media folk, developers, designers, writers, marketers).”

An unconference is a gathering whose agenda is assembled on the fly by attendees. This particular bunch chose to explore measuring and management tools for social media campaigns, questioning the true cost of social media, which platforms to use, how to tap into tribes of followers rather than building your own and how to use these new forums to further social change. The sessions were each 50 minutes long and consisted of, in some cases, loose exchanges between audience and speaker, in others, more structured talks.

The day was about sharing knowledge, in all possible directions. Meeting like-minded people and discussing tips, tricks and tools of our trades. The SFU venue was perfect, offering a central meeting area in the atrium and several smaller rooms to convene in for break out sessions. There were 20 available slots for topics and 17 were filled in the 10 minutes it took for attendees to pitch and jot down their proposed sessions in the schedule. Talks were lead by the likes of Cecilia Lu of Kiwano Marketing, Caroline MacGillivray of Beauty Night Society, Heather O’Hara from Potluck Café Society, Darren Barefoot from Capulet Communications, to name a few.

The format of the “unconference” is akin to attending school: you get from it as much as you put in. Anyone could propose to lead a discussion or a theme to include. No nonsense leadership at the outset and committed participants made for a trouble-free, enjoyable day, peppered with valuable insights and new connections.

Who knew staying indoors on a sunny summer day with a room full of socially-minded geeks could be so much fun?
How was your NetSquared Camp Day?

Ex-Google, ex-Ebay product developer Art Leyzerovich gives a nice overview of value propositions and imperatives to attract users. Relevant for profit and not. Found on the super-informative Passion meets momentum.

1. They love to shop. They appreciate quality and are willing to spend for it.
Many GenYers believe they are immune to advertising tactics and are knowledgeable about brands. This makes them perhaps more fickle but just as engaged with brands and less leery of the negative aspects of advertising. A Keller Fay Group study indicated that teenagers have, on average, 145 conversations about brands a week. Twice as many as adults do.

2. They influence their family’s buying choices.
Millennials enjoy close relationships with their parents who, in general, are more knowledgeable about children and less strict than their own parents were. GenYers are loved and grow up certain that they can achieve great things. This confidence and complicity with their parents gives them great power in the household.

3. They are gregarious and communicate often through technology.
GenYers, as we all know, are adept at using social media—though texting remains their medium of choice—and, even offline, tend to travel in packs (see Apple or Abercrombie & Fitch stores for compelling proof of this). In both off- and on-line interactions there are “influencers” who, if privy to the right information, can have great impact on getting the word out about a product or an initiative. Millennials don’t differentiate between a physical store and an online presence, making it crucial for brands to perform well in both realms.

4. They, as their Baby Boomer predecessors, believe they can and should change the world for the better. Despite older generations’ fears that the Internet might have negative effects on our cognitive abilities, it seems Millennials are as socially engaged as their older counterparts. As shopping is a tool for expressing their individuality, so choosing to support brands who visibly care about social and environmental causes give GenYers reason to feel good about themselves. The empowerment they’ve been made to feel by their loving parents and the unprecedented clout they enjoy in the world—it’s decidedly cool to be young right now—bode well for our future if Millennials opt to use it to effect change.

Social media is everywhere and its attractiveness to businesses and nonprofits is now established without a doubt. It’s time to pursue it.

Beverley Pomeroy, Founder of Pinc Giving—an innovative business focussing on online social giving—is speaking in a 4-part workshop for nonprofits. The series, taking place in Vancouver through to May, will focus on leveraging social media for social change from strategy through to implementation and measuring results.

So if you’ve just been flirting with Facebook or toying with Twitter here’s your chance to get closer before you commit.

How long have not for profits relied on grants, charitable donations and corporate sponsorship to survive? Too long. With crippling budget cuts in BC and the still-precarious state of the economy, this situation is made all the more difficult, particularly for smaller organizations.

I believe part of the issue resides in the perception that social profit and business profit are mutually exclusive. I’m certain the majority of business leaders don’t feel that way and yet there’s a lack of implementation.

The only way widespread change will happen is if the public (you and I) continues to demand it, prompting corporations to respond, and if not for profits & businesses alike take an active part in proposing and developing relevant initiatives and partnerships. By partnership I don’t mean sponsorship—we give you money, you show our logo in all the right places and do all the work—but a real exchange for everyone’s benefit.

One example that comes to mind is Sumac Ridge’s annual contribution to Dining Out For Life where the winery donates $1 for every bottle sold anywhere in BC during the entire month of March.

Pepsi’s Refresh Project is another example. The initiative is providing a framework, funding and follow-up support for ideas proposed by businesses, individuals and non-profits and chosen by popular vote.

In both instances the investments of time, products and resources signal a durable and meaningful commitment that benefits both entities and produce tangible results. Do you know of other examples of successful partnerships between corporations and organizations with a social or environmental focus?

So why is it that some business owners come up with flimsy excuses to justify getting a student or an acquaintance to create their company’s identity or promotional materials. While I’m the first to demystify what we do as creative consultants there is something to be said for hiring a professional. The most obvious one is that in this competitive market you need to be visible. Sending your organization out there without a proper identity is just plain cruel. Despite all of its qualities, you’re setting it up to be teased and mocked or, worse yet, completely ignored.

Here are a few tips to facilitate the process of finding someone who can help put you on the map:

Set aside a realistic yearly budget for marketing and design
If you have no idea what design services might cost, call a few studios and get budget quotes. Alternatively go to the library and consult the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: 
Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. It outlines pricing guidelines for design services for organizations of various sizes.

Do your homework
Visit the Graphic Designers of Canada’s website—or your country’s equivalent. These sites are full of tips for working with designers and feature links to reputable studios or independent designers in your area.

Narrow down your options
Pick 3 to 5 studios whose philosophy, process, or aesthetic strike a chord with you. Consider working with an individual rather than a studio if the size of your budget or project is more suited to that approach.

Go beyond the basics
Meet with them to discuss your specific needs and to see if you might be able to work together. Take a good look at samples of previous work, not to verify that they’ve already done exactly what you need for someone else but that they are able to resolve a variety of design problems in appropriate and engaging ways.

Start the relationship right
Be upfront about your budget and clear about your goals. A designer’s skill-set shouldn’t be limited to making things aesthetically pleasing, it should also encompass strategic thinking to find the best ways to overcome your specific challenges. Get written estimates from each short-listed candidate outlining the deliverables and, if the deadline is looming, a timeline for completion.

Once you’ve found the right fit, the relationship should be one of partnership where you can each benefit from the other’s expertise to make a better end product. Your organization will be on its way to the second date in no time at all.

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This post was originally written for our fundraising partner Blueprint Fundraising & Communications

Idea Killers Illustration by Scott C

I was speaking with a not for profit client the other day and was surprised yet again at their willingness to budget for printing but not for design. This is not new, you might say—and I would agree—but shouldn’t it be behind us then, as vestiges of the days where design was undervalued and its true power misunderstood? Whilst the tight budgets of certain not for profits certainly justify spartan spending, shouldn’t design be on the top of the list of judicious investments?

Design doesn’t save lives, it doesn’t change people’s minds and it doesn’t manufacture products, but one thing design thinking does do rather well is save money. Most would agree that design is problem-solving, but what does that really entail? To resolve an issue you must be able to:

1. explore the problem—by asking the right questions, examining different angles

2. explore the context—what are the sources and consequences of the issue, who is involved, who should be involved, are there precedents or similar situations elsewhere?

3. explore the options—how can the issue be broken down into manageable chunks, what resources or chain of events are necessary, how can defining and framing the problem facilitate its resolution?

If design thinking is applied consistently it can have far-reaching impact on three levels: strategic (goals), systemic (process) and practical (execution). Here are a few examples:

Strategic
1. planning campaigns and events to maximize results and target spending wisely

2. engaging with audiences, volunteers and stakeholders to identify the necessity for evolution or change

3. tailoring your messaging for precise audiences and calls to action

Systemic
1. improving processes & relationships within your organization

2. identifying redundant or inefficient workflows

Execution
1. increasing efficiency in the development and rollout of communications

2. leveraging expertise and relationships with suppliers

3. building recognition & trust with your audiences by maintaining a consistent quality and tone in your communications

Addressing even a few of the elements listed above would decrease an organization’s spending and at the very least increase its efficiency and reach. Viewed in that light, wouldn’t investing money on talent to bring that thinking to your organization make sense?

If you’re not currently working with a professional designer, why not? If you are, how do you currently benefit from the expertise of the designers you work with? As a designer, how do you convey the added value that design thinking brings to the planning and execution of an organization’s graphic communications?

NB See more of Scott C’s amazing illustrations