Are We Being the Change?
Do you wish the world was a _______ place?
A) Better
B) Safer
C) Greener
D) all of the above
This Christmas, I’m donating $100 to the North Texas Food Bank. Last year they served 37 million meals. With their special magic, they turn every dollar donated into $8 worth of food. That is, they turn every $1 into 4 meals!
Here’s my offer and our social media experiment:
- Retweet my announcement with the bit.ly link and I’ll give an additional 25 cents.
- Leave a comment here about what you’re doing to be the change. For each comment, I’ll donate another 50 cents. You don’t even have to make a donation, but you can.
- Better yet, give me some link love and I’ll donate another $1.
Cumulative, so if you do all of the above, I’ll donate another $1.75 to NTFB thanks to your good lovin’. I’ll go up to $500 total and reserve the right to pay out the remaining $400 over the course of 2010.
Ya dig?
I’m the changing man. Change is what I do. Hope I’ve helped a little with my OST wave. And my occasional tweets.
Thanks for being the change, Ron. You’re waves and tweets are very helpful. I’m learning so much from you!
What a terrific idea! I am retweeting you, and the only gifts I am “buying” this year (as in many years past) are gifts of service to seva.org, heifer.org and kiva.org – no one in my family or circle of friends needs another “thing” but they always appreciate knowing that someone will eat or see or be able to grow their biz as a result of a donation in their name.
May your holidays be filled with the light of wisdom and the warmth of compassion,
Ken
Thanks so much, Ken! I appreciate your comment and response. I received something from Oxfam (ala Heifer last year), really enjoyed the idea of it. I’ll add another pile of change to the kitty!
The organization I work with, The Idea Hive, is trying to make the world a better place through consulting with organizations who are social benefit organizations. We don’t help organizations who are not actively trying to make the world a better place.
Thanks for taking the time, David. I really appreciate your comment and content and I’m adding another stack of quarters to the kitty!
This is such a wonderful idea! I am being the change by lending my time to those in need. Trying my best to keep this earth a greener and safer environment to live in. It’s one thing to say you want to change the world it’s another to act on it and have a real part in doing so.
It’s another thing entirely, isn’t it? I appreciate you and your comments. Please feel free to chat up everybody else in here. It’d be neat if we could all meet. Thanks again!
Feels sorta weird to spend your money…(I’ll chip in $17.50 to cover me and 9 others). I’m making the world better by training trainers to enrich lives, and by helping out causes I care about with modest donations. I really got swept away by the fatcyclist story (http://bit.ly/8TqiQ8) and chipped in…and helped out the most innovative, non-traditional business school in the world (http://bit.ly/6nTHFx) where I want to be smart enough to be a teacher someday.
I’m psyched that you’re gonna add enough to cover 10 people! You da man. I’m still processing that fat cyclist story — already a social media parable. I’m like, how can the rest of us capture that? I’m gonna go check our your links now.
wow…how wonderful is this?? Thank you for giving back and making adifference!!! YOU are amazing at spreading joy!!
@spreadingJOY
Thanks, Miss @spreadingJOY! I knew you were being the change and placing packets of joy around your corner of the world. I could have sworn I sent a reply to you when you first posted here, but I don’t see it, so I’m doing it again. Thanks so much for taking the time and I’ll put some more money in the kitty for you!
I had to think about this a bit
Totally caught me off guard and you raised the bar! You are the most innovative change maker I know! That had to be said, so now here we go:
I set aside an amount each month that I split 50-50 between Food Banks here and helping animals in need. In Michigan, the humans and the animals are suffering greatly. On twitter I RT for animals in need, donate to charities whatever I can, re-tweet for Lost & Missing people (there are more alerts than just AMBER, by the way), Safety (including don’t text & drive and cycling amongst others), and any other service that would be beneficial to people to make their life better, safer, or more productive.
I try to help people if I am aware they have a problem. Whether I know the answer to a problem, can find the answer, or need to research it; the result is the same. Helping people makes the world a better place to live in.
I started blogging and am using that medium to provide information on a variety of topics. The one coming up Monday is especially close to my heart: Holiday Miracle Twitter Style. True story that unfolded just this week of a last minute stay of execution for a young yellow lab in a shelter in Louisiana. Christmas this year wasn’t much money but it all went to help with the cost of moving the lab to his forever home in Arizona. I am sure my children and grandchildren will understand and agree it was the right thing to do. LIFE is more important than things.
A friend is making some plans that I am not at liberty to reveal but I have offered to do anything I can to help in any way. It is a major commitment of time and energy for the good of others. Very worthwhile undertaking so am proud if I can help make a success of it.
That is all I can think of right now. Thank you for doing this, Suzanne!
Thanks for your kind words, Anita! You are an amazing woman. I’m so happy to hear about the yellow lab in LA. I’m sure your family’s proud of this miracle! Lemme know when your blog article drops. I’d like to read the full story. Thanks so much.
Hello Suzanne;
We are helping make a change by providing everything everyone needs to “Be The Change” in their Community, City, and around the world. I have set up a web site that I will donate all the proceeds from, to the North Texas Food Bank not just once or twice a year but every month. Our goal is to make a difference in the world and with enough people helping, All of us will accomplish it. God Bless you and Have a Merry Christmas..
Sincerely;
Adam
@OneCaustATATime
That is soooo awesome, Adam! Thank you. I’m gonna go check it out and follow and the whole she-bang. You let me know how I can help you in the future. Oh, and I’ll put some more quarters in the stack for ya!
Thank you for your kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity. And thank you for doing this interesting experiment. In the spirit of sharing in the other comments – our family collects what we would have spent on a gift, pools it, and each year one of us (rotating) gets to decide where the whole pool goes. We only spend about 30 minutes discussing options and reasons during our Thanksgiving. It isn’t much in the way of due diligence, but we bond together over common values such as efficient, local, and noticeable impact. We haven’t transformed our gift giving toward the kids in the family – they still get junk.
But I am working on it! This year my mom worked with each child in the family to hand-make small gifts for everyone. That feels like another good way to teach generosity of spirit.
Oh Nurture Girl, you’re so welcome. Thank you for sharing your family traditions for the holidays. That sounds really lovely. The kids may still be getting “junk” but they’re also getting fabulous role models and witness. I’ll add some more quarters to the stack for you!
Congratulations on a cool way to use the social web to leverage donations!
Hope you’ll have a chance to look at the digital philanthropy/challenge offers ideas that we’ve been mapping out at http://www.openworld.com … our way to “be the change” is to offer microscholarships that help students in emerging areas research opportunities for sustainable grassroots initiatives.
Best,
Mark Frazier
Openworld.com
@openworld (twitter)
Mark, Thanks so much for your comments. I will definitely check out Openworld.com, especially to look for microscholarships. This has been such a fun, gratifying exercise to learn and meet the most awesome people. I’ll add some more money to the kitty for you.
I super-admire you for this.
Food is such an important part of life. This is a great way to make a direct impact on someone’s life. Thanks for letting us help.
The world?
Better, for everyone.
Safer, without having to feel secure.
Greener, because it’s just more efficient.
Thanks, Doug. I appreciate your time and comments. You’ve been such a help in showing me the less-glam parts (can I say that?) of social media. I’ll add some more money to the kitty!
You asked me to say how I’m being the change. Feels a bit trumpet-blowy to think I am, but it’s for a good cause so I’ll give it a bash.
I’m being the change I want to see in the world by empowering the book industry as best I can, promoting the idea that we are all in it together. Readers, authors, agents, publishers, retailers, journalists etc are all word nerds and we all need to work together for a future that supports us all. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Writers are not in competition either. We all have our own voices and when voices come together you get harmonies. If you simply focus on ghost-written celebrity autobiographies or ‘misery lit’ the tune is too thin. A nice big choir full of all different voices can sustain a tune rich with harmonies. Sustainable, harmonious business is the change I want to see and that is the change of which I am a part.
This is the place I set up for Word Nerds – from publishers to rappers – http://wordnerdarmy.blogspot.com The pen is mightier than the recession.
I really enjoyed reading that summary of your initiative and the motivation for it. I especially enjoyed the turn of phrase about harmony in explaining that it’s not a zero sum game. Resonant. Thanks for posting here; I’ll add some more money to the kitty!
Amen, sister!
This year Lisa and I had a conversation with our daughters about Christmas, and what the focus should be – not on self, but service to others. We are going along with the ideas of the “Advent Conspiracy” (http://www.adventconspiracy.org/) and focusing on helping provide clean water to areas of the world that so desperately need it.
Thanks for the great post!
Oh, I can hardly wait to check out Advent Conspiracy. Of course, I knew you were being the change and I’m so glad you told us about it here. Thanks so much! I’ll add some more money to the kitty for you guys!
Making change! Check out The Fat Cyclist, he is doing some great work raising money for Livestrong and World Bicycle Relief. http://www.fatcyclist.com/
Are YOU the fat cyclist I’ve heard so much about? Or is it a club and you’re just one of them? Congrats on your great job, keep up the good work, and I’ll put some more money in the kitty for you guys! Thanks!
This is a wonderful idea! I applaud your effort.
I’m currently a full-time student, so I don’t have a lot of money to work with, but I love helping out non-profits everywhere. So rather than donate my money, I donate my time and skills. I offer up my services as a web designer to non-profits who need help with redesigning or creating websites of their own.
Fabulous, Clarissa! I love volunteering. It’s like Kat said above — I get more out of it than the “recipients” do, all put together. I need it to get “out” of myself and my stuff. I can’t wait to visit your site and learn more about which non-profits you support. Thanks so much!
c’mon people! this is free and easy and it helps so many! leave a comment! 4 comments feed 4 people!
Oh my, that’s so smart, Amelia! I hadn’t even worked out that math yet. You’re right, I guess, four comments feed four people. Thanks so much for posting! I’ll add some more money to the purse for you!
What a great idea!
Thank, Justin! I’ll come look at your site later. Looks neat-o. Take care!
I do what I can, but I don’t like to toot my own horn very much.
Thanks for your comments, Jan. I’ve never been good about tooting my own horn either, except when I think I my enthusiasm can be contagious! I’ll put some more money in the kitty for you!
I’m new to this. How dod I do all of the above? That is a great and easy way to help out!
Yay, Paula! Thanks for asking. You’ve already done it! I’ll add money to the kitty on your behalf. Meantime, you can retweet if you haven’t already. The link love is when you post a link to this blog from your blog. But, if no blog, no worries. I’ll add some money to the kitty for you!
So, this year its been very hard to make financial contributions to change for me. However, I’ve been really trying to step up what I can do personally. So I’ve let those ideas manifest in three ways:
1. Stepped up my random acts of kindness. It may not sound like much of a change but I think ever little good thing matters and makes a difference in the world around us, and it costs me nothing but an extra thought and maybe going a little slower during my day.
2. Volunteering more. Particularly with my church and their youth group. I’ve really been trying to reach out to this kids going through one of the roughest periods of change in their lives (I know it was for me.) The amazing thing, is I think this has done more for me personally than all the kids I’ve interacted with combined. Having all those girls look up to me really makes me re-evaluate my actions every week.
3. Support other people’s message with my influence. Though money is tight, I do have a fairly wide circle of peers that I can influence. Either through my social connections, my leadership roles or just by handing the baton to someone who wants to run with it I’ve been trying to get other people actively involved in charities that speak to them.
Thanks for this Suzanne! Expect some link love tomorrow or Wed.
Kat
Thanks, Kat, for your comments. I completely agree and admire all that you’re doing. I dare say it’s more impactful than “just” money. You are a servant leader, indeed. Looking forward to the link love. I’ll add some more money to the kitty for you! Hope to see you in the New Year.