Archive for October, 2010

generationOn’s Heroes

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

by Kienan Lacey, Manager of Marketing and Development, generationOn.

Heroes.

Everyone has a hero in their life.

Whether it’s a superhero or a family member, we all have heroes we look up to. But not all of us realize that we can be heroes too!

It doesn’t matter how old you are or where you live. We can all be heroes by taking action and volunteering.

I work at generationOn, the newly-created youth service division of Points of Light Institute, an organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action that changes the world.  At generationOn, we believe in the power of KIDS to change the world, and the power of volunteering to change the lives of kids.  This is why I am so excited for the launch event of generationOn this Saturday, October 23, 2010 (9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.), at the Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway in the heart of Washington, D.C.!

I have planned many service events over the years, but nothing like this before! The generationOn launch event is not just a day or service- it is the start of a service movement- a global service movement- that will teach all kids that they can be heroes in their community by volunteering.

Just steps outside of the White House, hundreds of kids will participate in meaningful service projects like creating fleece scarves for the elderly or decorating reusable tote bags to help the environment.  And everyone will have the unique opportunity to go on a tour of the Extra Mile, my most favorite monument in Washington, D.C. This amazing monument is so special because it honors American heroes who changed our world for the better through service. Kids will learn about Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, and more!

With the support of a generous, $5 million investment by the Hasbro Children’s Fund, generationOn is helping young people develop into healthy, empowered, creative problem-solvers and global leaders.

October 23rd will be a historic day for our next generation of heroes. I am proud to work at generationOn and hope that everyone will join me and the generationOn movement!

This is the time! Become a hero! Make your mark and make a difference!

Kienan Lacey is the Manager of Marketing and Development at generationOn. She become involved with the organization as a volunteer and has worked there for the last three years. Kienan was born and raised in New York City and graduated from Santa Clara University.

Change Notes: Make A Difference Day 2010

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

"Volunteer"Friends,

Twenty years ago, USA WEEKEND magazine created Make A Difference Day, and since then Points of Light and its mobilizing arm HandsOn Network have partnered with it for this largest national day of community service.  This unique day captures the amazing power of the circle of giving.  Over the years, millions of volunteers have served millions of others and, in so doing, have transformed their own lives.

Circle of Giving

One of my favorite stories of last year’s Make A Difference Day is Olga El Sahamy, who read about the nation’s mayors calling for people to volunteer and about Make A Difference Day. She decided to help the homeless of New York City by providing hot meals.  Olga, her husband, and teenage son stayed up until 2 am cooking 50 servings of rice and chicken and packaging them with fruit and dessert. Early the next morning they drove into Manhattan and distributed the food to those living on the streets of New York.

Their story reflects that circle of giving – when Olga’s huband Mostafa immigrated here from Egypt 32 years ago, he had very little money. He ended up homeless on the street for eight days, depending on the kindness of strangers.

Upcoming Highlights of This Year’s Make A Difference Day

This 20th anniversary of Make A Difference Day on October 23 will be an extraordinary day of service.  Here are just a few highlights:

Points of Light Institute will launch generationOn, our new youth division, by celebrating the day with hundreds of youth volunteers of all ages at the Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway in Washington, DC.  At this event, hosted by The Hasbro Children’s Fund, the philanthropic arm of Hasbro, Inc., and managed by our affiliate Greater DC Cares, kids will bring with them their personal commitments to service and participate in service learning activities inspired by the work of American volunteer pioneers.  The Pathway honors service giants such as Cesar Chavez, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Also in DC, will join forces with White House staff, White House Fellows alumni and representatives from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to build a KaBOOM playground at the new home of the Hyde Leadership Public Charter School.

Citi is joining us as a Make A Difference Day sponsor and will engage an extraordinary 45,000 of its employees who will volunteer in 950 projects across 77 countries.

The NBA and NBA Players Association are promoting the Day through ESPN, ESPN.com, and individual players’ social media accounts. Shaquille O’Neal of the Boston Celtics said in USA WEEKEND,  “My parents taught me: If you can help someone, do it. Why? Because it’s the thing to do.”  Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns said earlier this month, “We all have the opportunity to take action in a way that shares our vision for a better world…Make A Difference Day is a chance for all of us–kids, teenagers, adults, even NBA players–to get started.”

More than 1,000 volunteers with the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee will winterize the homes of several hundred older adults.  HandsOn North Texas will host its second annual Volunteer Challenge, involving more than 700 volunteers in 25 projects across three counties.

New York Cares is mobilizing 700 volunteers to refurbish 100 public schools. Volunteers with HandsOn Central California are repairing the homes of low-income families and seniors.

Singer Melissa Etheridge, who teams with Hard Rock for its Pinktober breast cancer awareness campaign, will make her benefit concert available for download (taped last month) on Ustream on Make A Difference Day.  The video includes a shout-out to Make A Difference Day volunteers.

To capture stories of service, Cisco Systems has donated 100 Flip Video cameras to project leaders, who will upload the videos to .

If you have not already done so, please join us in Making A Difference this Saturday. You can create a project or register for projects throughout the country by clicking here.

In Service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

Every Night I Sleep with Diabetes

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

by , GoodNCrazy.com

My husband has type I diabetes and is insulin dependent.  He has been since he was 15 years old. Thankfully it’s under control and he is a healthy active father, husband, lawyer and all around GoodNCrazy guy.

Twelve years ago, I watched his disease significantly improve.  He no longer had to endure 2 and 3 insulin shots per day, instead he moved to an insulin pump dripping insulin directly under his skin for up to three days a time.

This changed his life, and it also changed mine.

We no longer needed to precisely time our lunch hour, gone was the huge stress over whether we had enough food or insulin on an airplane trip and I stopped having panic attacks when I spent nights away worrying that he might not be able to get to his sugar tablets without me.

Even with the many amazing technologies and gains in the treatment of Type I Diabetes (T1D), there is still a long way to go. I used to work in molecular biology research and I understand what it takes and how slowly progress is sometimes achieved.

Because of this, my husband’s disease changed me in another way too.  I’ve become a committed volunteer, actively raising awareness and funds for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and their work to one day find a cure for T1D.

Our family works to volunteer our time, money and support to the Diabetes cause as much as we can. We ask friends and family to support us as a family as we Walk for a Cure. And then we match the overall cash contribution we raise with our own funds. I  also hand out fliers to my church group, my PTO and my bookclub.

I routinely rely on social media and my social network to support JDRF and it occurred to me that some of the things I’ve been doing could work for anyone trying to build awareness and raise support for a cause.

Here’s how I am using social networks to help JDRF.

My blog: I use a paypal button and encourage people to donate, and when I have opportunities to help another blogger with HTML problems or social media consulting that I otherwise might charge for, often I ask them to simply donate what they can to my Cause Button. I also share stories about my family and our Walk-A-Thon participation.

Twitter: I help raise awareness, supporting , retweeting and sharing links.

Facebook: JDRF has created a fabulous complete with information, and a question and answer spot.  I am part of the JDRF’s Fan base and I regularly “like” and share their links.

I hope you’ll think about bringing the cause you care about to your friends fans and followers online!

Keep on making a difference!

Carissa Rogers in a former life was a molecular biologist.  In her current life she is the chief researcher of parenting dos (and some don’ts), new recipes, and for spice pretends to be a photographer…a mom of all trades. She blogs at GoodNCrazy.com, and writes for various online magazines. She has three good kids and one crazy husband. Find her on Twitter: @


What is Type 1 Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, debilitating disease affecting every organ system that strikes children and adults suddenly, and lasts a lifetime.

What are warning signs?

Frequent urination is one of the telltale signs of type 1 diabetes, along with excessive thirst, lower than normal energy/tiredness and weight loss. Early diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is important and can help prevent the risk of a potentially deadly condition, especially in young children.

What are the different types of Diabetes?

Type 1 (insulin-dependent or juvenile) Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset)

Creative Community Needs Assessment Ideas

Monday, October 18th, 2010

There are many methods you can use to identify needs in your community.

Here are just a few creative ideas:

Mind Mapping

  • Draw your map (issue, root causes and effects on individuals and community).
  • Consider the following questions:

-What are the issues facing your community?
-What are the root causes of this problem?
-What are the effects on the individuals and the community?

  • Brainstorm project ideas.
  • Evaluate and prioritize the project ideas.
  • Focus on your top idea.

Conduct a Survey

  • Ask young people what their greatest concerns are.
  • Give them a list and have them rank their concerns.

Hold a Community Forum

  • Have an open microphone to share community problems/dreams.

Interview Senior Citizens

  • Ask senior citizens about societal changes (for the best/worst). What are their greatest fears in the community? What are they proud of in your hometown?

Three Wishes

  • Throughout the week, ask people what they would wish for (given unlimited power/resources) if they were granted three wishes for their community.
  • Keep a list of the dreams people share.

Watch the News

  • What stories leave you feeling disturbed or unsettled? Cut out articles in the newspaper that make you sad or angry.

Utopian Towns

  • Think of all the places you’ve been. What is your favorite city to visit? Why? How is that different from your hometown?

I Have a Dream

  • Read Martin Luther King’s well-known speech.
  • Think about your own personal/community dreams, and write them down somewhere.

Group Goals

  • Does your town have a set of goals? What about your school/organization/neighborhood?
  • Research and find out what the groups around you are trying to do.
  • Look around – What special events are going on around town? What organizations/ businesses/schools are really struggling to reach their goals or keep up with society?

Ask Your Legislators

  • Find out key issues at the forefront of the national agenda. What are the serious dangers that face our country and our world?

Sixty-Minute Search

  • Get a street map of your community, divide up the territory, and have group members search their area for needed improvements. Mark the “hot spots” on each map and discuss area needs.

Using the Social Web to Drive Real-World Social Action

Friday, October 15th, 2010

by , Hand’s on Network

I’m in Las Vegas today with of VolunteerSpot, of KaBOOM and of Crowdrise. We’re presenters in the Cause Track at the Blogworld New Media Expo talking about how to use the social we to drive real world social action.

In other words, how can anyone mobilize friends, fans and followers to take real actions that make a difference?

As we planned the session, it occurred to the four of us that that people are still inspired and motivated in traditional ways – even if it’s happening through a new medium.

In our session today, we hope to gather the collective wisdom of those in the room to create a more complete list, but as we head in to our workshop, I’ve outlined a few of our ideas for applying the best practices of traditional volunteer management to distributed action in the social space.

We’d love to know what ideas you have and what you would add to this list. 

Leave us a comment with your ideas, won’t you?

Here are some of our initial thoughts…

Make a personal appeal - the number one reason people volunteer is because they were asked.  This doesn’t mean they were asked via a mass e-mail, a generic tweet or a mass Facebook event invitation.  Someone they knew asked them personally.  Keep this in mind when recruiting within social networks.

Tell a compelling story - never underestimate the power of story!  Tell your story.  Why is the cause important to you?  How and why did you get involved?  What kind of change do you believe is possible if others get involved?  If you speak personally and from your heart, your friends will respond.

Make folks feel part of something larger than themselves – all of us want to find meaning in our lives.  You’re not just asking for help, you’re offering people an opportunity to contribute, to participate in making a difference.   Let this help you overcome your fear that you’re burdening folks with your request.

Make your ask relevant – think about the needs/concerns of your social media networks and how what you’re asking of them speaks to their needs and concerns.  Let them know what they’ll get out of it.  Don’t be shy about this one.  The truth is that all of us end up getting more than we give when we volunteer.  We’re transformed for the better by the experience!

Think creatively- How can you spread your ask beyond your immediate network? Brainstorm ways to create incentives for your network to pass it on. Can you make a game out of it? Might you offer a prize to the person who recruits the most people to join the effort or raises the most money for your cause?

Make it easy – remember volunteers have to be eased into a commitment. Make it quick and easy to take immediate action, ask for specific actions and small commitments first and work up to larger commitments.

Don’t waste volunteer’s time, be organized.  (Enough said?)

Invite volunteers to get involved in planning and shaping the next project.  (First you ask the mom to make cookies for the bake sale and the next thing she knows she’s President of the PTA!)

Report back – let people know the larger impact they’ve made possible.  Share the results of your team’s collective action.  How many students were tutored?  How many houses renovated?  How much money was raised?

Don’t skimp on the thanks & recognition.  Always thank and recognize your volunteers and donors.  You can send them an e-mail, call them, write on their Facebook wall, send a tweet out about them… just don’t forget to thank them.

What would you add?

Related Posts & Articles

The Unique Birth of the Peace Corps

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

by Michelle Nunn, CEO, Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

Yesterday I participated at a 50th Anniversary Peace Corps Symposium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Often, when I tell my family and friends what I am doing that week or where I am travelling, I can see their eyes glaze over. But when I told them about celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, I could sense them light up – “that sounds cool.” The Peace Corps has a kind of glow, a magic. It conveys a visceral sense of idealism and transcendent purpose.

Former Senator Harris Wofford was one of the architects of the original Peace Corps with Sargent Shriver. He spoke yesterday of the unique birth of the Peace Corps. It actually was, in some measure, conceived improvisationally, during a speech at the University of Michigan on Oct. 14, 1960.  It was 2:00 am, after one of the Nixon/Kennedy campaign debates, and Senator Kennedy made an obligatory stop, running hours late, expecting that nobody would still be at the planned rally. Instead, he was greeted by 10,000 students in the street. His speech was less than three minutes long, and this is the passage that became the inspiring image of the Peace Corps. Kennedy said:

“How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can! And I think Americans are willing to contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we have ever made in the past.”

Kennedy asked those students that night to step up and fufill that vision, saying that “unless you comprehend the nature of what is being asked of you, this country can’t possibly move through the next 10 years in a period of relative strength…I come here tonight to ask you to join in the effort…”

Kennedy collapsed in bed after the speech, but the students took that moment of passion, inspiration and creativity and created a petition with 1,000 signatures asking the President to launch a program that called upon the nation’s young people to serve the world.

Senator Kennedy took note and asked Sargent Shriver and others to create a major policy proposal for what was, within 10 days, coined and framed as the Peace Corps. So, as Senator Wofford  recalled, it was really the unique intersection of public leadership, grassroots activism, and engagement that together gave form to this “best face of America.”

I wonder how we can capture the nation and the world’s imagination for other forms of service and for the broader civic movement in the way that the Peace Corps has and continues to do? What is the nexus of leadership, innovation, and activism that can define the next 50 years of international service?

Related Article:

University of Michigan marks 50th anniversary of Peace Corps founding

Can Social Media Really Help Achieve Our Mission?

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

by , HandsOn Network (with special appreciation to WhatGives?!)

As the staff crusader for social media at HandsOn Network, I’m always looking for ways to demonstrate that an investment in social media can and will result in an increase in volunteer recruitment, retention and/or recognition.

Ever since I read Lessons from Obama: Lessons for Online Communicators in 2009 and Beyond, I’ve been obsessed with how we might be able to connect our online activity to our off line social action.

Social media marketing strategist Paul Gillin summed up the lessons from Obama report in thirty three seconds the Social Media for Social Good Forum at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service last June.

How are you connecting your online social activity to your organizations mission and goals?

How are you tracking results?

What have you learned so far?

Have you seen a correlation between your online activities in the social space and volunteer mobilization?

Related Posts:

  • Joe Rospars on Effective Organizing
  • Mobilizing Volunteers with Social Media
  • Finding the ROI in Social Media
  • 4 Tips for Using Social Media to Mobilize People

Change Notes: A Vision for a Big Society and Citizen Action in an Interdependent World

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

"Volunteer"

Friends,

Several weeks ago, I was privileged to join Points of Light Founder, philanthropist, and UN Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers on a visit to 10 Downing Street to talk with Cabinet Members and key leaders of the new UK coalition government led by Prime Minister David Cameron.

We talked to them about their aspirations for “The Big Society” - the theme that Prime Minister Cameron has embraced to describe his administration’s goals. As he describes it, his goal is to “build a country defined not by what we consume, but by what we can contribute…a country, a society, where we say, I am not alone. I will play my part. I will work with others to give Britain a brand new start.”

Ray and I talked about the founding of Points of Light and the modern national service movement. In re-telling this story and seeing it through another lens, it was remarkable to reflect upon the growth of volunteers over the last 20 years. Young people are participating at double the rates, and we have 25 million more volunteers participating each year than we did two decades ago. Some of the hallmarks of this success have been extraordinary continuity of Presidential leadership around service, the emergence of a strong and coordinated grass-roots service coalition, the passage of the historic and bipartisan Serve America Act last year, and unprecedented federal investment in national service and civic infrastructure.

During my visit, I was struck in turn by the rich institutional leadership in the UK around volunteer engagement and how much we have to share and learn from one another. And, just as President Obama has launched his Office of Social innovation and Civic Participation, the UK is piloting and experimenting with fascinating new hybrids between business and nonprofits, and with extraordinary, innovative models such as the “social impact bond” to attract private capital to solve deep-rooted problems” and a “Big Society” bank to foster social enterprise and innovation.

Shortly after the London meeting, I attended the annual conference of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City and heard from inspirational political, civic and entertainment figures from around the world.  CGI is an amazing testament to the innovation happening around the globe. We have much to learn from social entrepreneurs who are capturing market dynamics to create social good for those living on $2 a day or less. Business, government, nonprofits, and citizen leaders are working in creative new alliances, enabled by technology and shifting paradigms of organizing, to tackle intrinsic issues.

For example, building off programs underway in Peru and India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has launched an initiative to provide 100 million clean stoves to the poor throughout the world by 2020, significantly reducing carbon emissions in developing countries and, even more important, the daily exposure to toxic smoke of the women who do most of the cooking.

In a cooperative effort called the Global Road Safety Initiative, seven of the world’s largest car companies, including GM, Ford, Honda, and Toyota, have committed $10 million to address critical road safety issues in parts of Asia and South America, using guidelines developed by the World Bank, World Health Organization, and others.

As a number of us anticipate a gathering around global service this week at the University of Michigan, on the steps where John F. Kennedy first articulated his dream of a Peace Corps, I am struck by the circle of change that wraps us and by the boundless possibilities for a citizen change movement that is global, multi-lateral, and reciprocal.

We can take an online tool such as Ushahidi, created in Kenya to use data entered from cellphones to pinpoint locations of political violence, advance it through virtual participation from volunteers all over the world, and then apply it to identify areas for oil spill response on the Gulf Coast, to locate flood victims or infrastructure breakdowns anywhere.

Further reinforcing the importance of international civic engagement, this week Service World, a broad-based coalition to scale volunteering internationally, launched  OurServiceWorld.org, to provide organizations and individuals with the opportunity to promote the importance of volunteering across borders and to become actively involved.

In a speech at UC-Berkeley this year, President Bill Clinton cited the concept of communitarianism, a form of social responsibility and activism in which private citizens step up to address “the gaps in the social fabric” unfilled by governments. He said it is “the idea that we are in an interdependent world, and we will either make a community of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities, or we will pay the price.”

The possibilities for acting and learning on a global level are all around us. Over the last few days, I participated in IBM’s extraordinary Service Jam, and I corresponded with people from South Africa to Australia. We have an unprecedented opportunity to engage with a network of global change-makers. It is, indeed, a ripe moment to build upon the foundations of the past and possibilities of international service for the future.

In Service,

Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

How Will You Make A Difference This Year?

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Every October, on Make a Difference Day, thousands of neighbors help each other in meaningful ways.

For almost 20 years Make A Difference Day has catalyzed and inspired millions of people to create self-directed change in their own communities and in their own lives.  Make A Difference day has become the largest national day of service – with over three million people serving in one day.

Each year 10 outstanding Make A Difference Day volunteers from this initiative are honored for their contributions with a monetary award generously provided by Newman’s Own.

As Make A Difference Day 2010 approaches, we’d like to recognize some of the Make A Difference Day honorees from years past."volunteer"

Seventeen year old Lucas Metropulos was a low-income kid in coastal Florida who had never caught a fish.  Regardless, Lucas began teaching a weekly fishing class after school for eight to eleven year old kids.  He taught knot-tying, casting, netting, cleaning, and sustainable fishing. The classes normally culminate with a trip to a fishing pier.

For Make a Difference Day last year, Lucas managed to secure a 70-foot charter fishing boat and crew, round up 10 chaperones, and collect donations for a post-trip supper.   Twenty children, ages 8 to 11, caught kingfish, triggerfish (and two large ones that got away!)

Olga El Sa-hame-y of New York read about Make a Difference Day in USA Weekend magazine and decided then and there to act. She and her husband Muh-stafa  El Sa-hame-y stayed up until 2 am cooking 50 servings of chicken with rice and packaged them with fruit, beverages, and dessert.  They drove the meals into Manhattan and met their son Alex and four of his friends. For the next few hours, the seven of them distributed their food to the homeless, seeking them out in doorways, under trees and in subways.

Make A Difference Day, like all transformational service efforts, creates virtual circles of helping.

Often the helpers become the helped.

For instance, Anna Tris-vane, 79, of Providence has fostered nearly 40 children, and her 60-year-old home showed the wear and tear of a lifetime of hard use.  The nonprofit  “Rebuilding Together Providence” and Lowe’s partnered to rejuvenate her home on Make A Difference Day.  A team, including plumbers, painters, and electricians, caulked, added kitchen cabinets, renovated the bathrooms, installed new locks, and much more for the Tris-vane home. .

These examples illustrate what ordinary people can do to create change in the daily lives of others and, in the process, weave the fabric of community that unites us all.

You can be part of it!

  • Spread the Word
  • Create a Project
  • Find a Project
  • Get Resources
  • Share Your Story

5 Ways NOT to Engage Volunteers Online

Monday, October 11th, 2010

by , HandsOn Network (with special appreciation to WhatGives?!)

We continuously strive to recruit, retain and recognize volunteers, right?

So we’re always looking for new and innovative ways to mobilize people to make a difference in our world.

At the National Conference on Volunteering and Service last June, the Social Media for Social Good Forum explored ways nonprofits could use social media to engage people in social change.

During the Q&A period, one participant stood up and asked,

“What shouldn’t we do?”

What a good question!

Here’s a look at how the experts responded.

1. Don’t Treat Social Media Like A Conventional Marketing Channel

Social media marketing strategist Paul Gillin said,

“If you treat social media as another channel, you’re going to blow it.”

Gillin reminded us that social media tools aren’t the same as traditional “one to many” communication channels.  We have to remember that social media create a “many to many” or “any to many” conversation.

Some marketers, Gillin said, see social media as another way to deliver the press release. If that’s what you’re doing, he cautioned, don’t bother.

, who headed up President Obama’s social media strategy and action in 2008, now Founder and Creative Director of Blue State Digital, backed up Gillin’s remarks by reminding us that when we choose staff members or volunteers to serve as the voice of the organization on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social media, we should choose someone who is “outbound,” someone who is a natural conversationalist that wants to engage with the community of supporters and potential supporters on an ongoing basis.

Organizations should still do conventional marketing, Rospars said, but they shouldn’t take their marketing material and shove it into social media.

2.  Don’t Say “We Need You To Help Us”

Like Scott Heiferman from Meetup.org, Joe Rospars reminded us that people are more interested in being part of a collective than in simply following instructions.

He warned that asking them (the little unimportant people) to help you (the oh, so very important people) can create artificial distance between an organization’s staff, board or leadership and the individual supporters.

Rospar’s, like Heiferman, suggested that it’s more effective to say, “Let’s…”

3. Don’t Waste People’s Time

Joe Rospars also reminded us to be careful not to flood social streams with our content, but rather to carefully calibrate what we say, where we say it and when.

I’ve heard Twitter compared to a business cocktail party and Facebook likened to a neighborhood block party or backyard BBQ.

As the party analogy suggests, the type of conversation varies in each space and organizations need to be aware of and in tune with that.

4. Lead By Example

Co-founder and Chairman of , reminded us of a key tenant of Servant Leadership – to set the standard by your own willingness to do what you are asking others to do.

In this context, I took his words to mean that we should be the kind of engaged online citizen we wish our fans and followers to be.

5.  Follow the Lead of Those Following You

Dorsey talked about handing the keys to our nonprofit social media accounts over to the young people that support our organizations or causes.

I imagine this might just be the hardest piece of advice for nonprofits to swallow.

Hand over the keys? Give up control?

If we can’t get as far as handing over the organizational voice to a volunteer leader, we can, at minimum, take our cues on how to behave in the social space from our own fans and followers being mindful of their ideas, contributions, leadership and voice.

Related Posts:

  • Joe Rospars on Effective Organizing
  • Mobilizing Volunteers with Social Media
  • Finding the ROI in Social Media
  • 4 Tips for Using Social Media to Mobilize People