The Networked Nonprofit

Sometimes I’m an early adopter, and sometimes I move a bit more slowly.  When Beth Kanter and Alice Fine’s book came out last summer, I moved a bit more slowly than most to purchase a copy and begin reading.  I’ve moved even more slowly when it has come to writing a review. 

I bought my copy last October in an effort to better articulate my own experience with social media, while at the same time leaning on the learnings of others in the sector.  What I like best about the book is that it starts with a very basic approach that helps to build credibility for social media as a tool for driving change, and then continues to give a variety of tools, approaches, and information, to help users of social media to make the most of their online efforts.

Of particular interest to me was the chapter devoted to a describing how social media enables to engage with others on an unprecedented scale.  From blogs to twitter, to facebook, we are able to connect with people in a way that has not been as readily available to past generations.

Beth Kanter and Allison Fine lay out a number of too.s and means for engagement from the highly technical (like social media mapping) to the highly relational and empowering (like crowdsourcing).

The authors, although highly capabale in the academic arena, write this book as practitioners to fellow practitioners.  In terms of being ‘peer-reviewed’ work, the authors have attracted the eyes and attention of many in the non-profit and social media sectors.

I had the privilege of meeting Beth Kanter last spring while attending a conference called the !deation as a representative of Nuru.  She was every bit as congenial, friendly, and encouraging in person as she is online, or in her books.

One aspect of social media that receives a lot of buzz, but I didn’t see a ton of information addressing in the book was the realm of analytics and metrics.  Perhaps it is because if one is engaged in a relationship with folks who are friends, fans, or followers of a non-profit, then there is less need to track how the relationships form.  I know that in my personal life, I don’t apply analytics to determine how I make friends, I just meet people from a wide array of backgrounds, and I find myself wanting to become friends with them as I get to know them.

If you are in the non-profit world, and you use social media, I would highly recommend The Networked Nonprofit. It isn’t a long book, and it is chock full of information regardless of your level of involvement in the realm of social media.  (And you can read it in one sitting~but you will probably want to re-read!)

Choosing To Be Nuru

I had hoped to get this post up sooner, but as with so many things, life seems to move really fast, and before you know it, days have gone by. The image above was taken by my former roommate, and coworker at Nuru, Derek Roberts. He's an incredible photographer, and a pretty amazing friend too.

But this post isn't about him, but it is about something that he and many others around the country are doing. It's about choosing to be Nuru.

The word Nuru is a Kiswahili word that means light and has a connotation of hope for the people who speak the Kiswahili. Recently, I’ve been amazed to see a number of people around the globe who are standing up and joining with the efforts of Nuru International (the social venture for which I work) to end extreme poverty for the people of Kuria, Kenya.

A few weeks ago, my good friend Jake Harriman who is the CEO of Nuru International and a former WVU student flew into the area to host a series of fundraiser events in and around the Morgantown area. The goal of the weekend was to have a few members of the Nuru family host a fundraiser event in their homes and invite their friends to find out more about Nuru’s story and how they could join us in our efforts to end extreme poverty, together, one community at a time.

Over 60 people attended the events and celebrated the success of Nuru during our very short history. Along with the celebration, we were able to raise enough funds in recurring giving to empower 130 families out of extreme poverty in the second poorest district in all of Kenya.

Personally, I’m really excited that so many people in and around Morgantown are so supportive of Nuru. Nuru has some strong roots here in West Virginia and at WVU, and I love the fact that people from our state are joining together to have a global impact.

It’s hard to fathom that one out of six people on our planet live on less than the buying power of $456USD/year. It’s easy to get discouraged by the magnitude of a billion people living in extreme poverty. It feels like too big of a problem to do anything about, and the problem even feels so far away from anything we can conceive.

But the world is closer now than it has ever been before. Thanks to many recent advances in technology, we are literally more connected across the globe than we have ever been in history. And, you and I have an incredible opportunity to make a tangible difference in ending what I believe is the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation. In Nuru’s model, it takes only $29/month to empower an entire family out of extreme poverty. That’s less than $1/day for someone here to make a tangible difference for a family they may never meet.

In the future, we are hoping to have similar events in different towns around the country. In a few weeks we will be in Columbus, OH and Chicago, IL. I'm also looking at visiting Parkersburg and a few other locations for the same purpose in the future. Our hope is that more people would join us in being light and hope for others, and would help support our efforts as we work to end extreme poverty, together, one community at a time. Wanna help? Send me a message or comment on this blog, or even go the old fashioned route and call me on the phone. :)

I’m honored to be a part of what Nuru is doing, and I would love for you to consider joining our efforts!

Be hope. Be light. Be Nuru.

Managing the Non Profit Corporation

A couple months ago I had a facebook conversation with one of my mentors, Jeff Kern. He was the CEO of Great Commission Ministries for many years, and he’s an extremely organizationally savvy guy. During the conversation, I asked him if there were any books he would recommend for learning how to work/manage a non-profit organization that consisted mainly of volunteers.

Immediately, he recommended Peter Drucker’s Managing the Nonprofit Organization and I was really thankful. I was thankful because I had heard of Drucker (he was an organizational/business guru), and I had just ordered the book from Amazon two days before so I was glad I didn’t pick a lemon.

So I started reading the book, and there is so much great stuff in it’s pages. Not only does it share great principles and practices, but each section includes interviews with individuals who have led some massive nonprofits like the American Heart Association and the Boy Scouts of America.

I really enjoy the book because it doesn’t just keep principles in the world of the theoretical. It gives very tangible examples of how organizations have grown and thrived in an environment where the bottom line isn’t products being sold, but rather lives being changed.

As I read the pages of this book, I could hear echoes of this book in virtually every other book I’ve read in the last ten years on the subject of leadership. This book is great, and it is among a handful I would recommend to anyone working in the world of non-profits. It’s not edgy and hip, but it is very principled, sensible, and helpful for folks trying to make a tangible difference in this world through their endeavors.

Just thought I’d share this brief review and recommendation for anyone out there who might be interested.

Be Hope To Her Retrospective

BH2O+ Day of Recap Video from Nuru International on Vimeo.

Yesterday, Nuruuploaded a video celebrating itsBe Hope To Herevent. This nationwide event was the first event of it's kind Nuru hosted, and after you see the video, I think you will agree with me that it was a HUGE success.

Here's what happened. Women on eleven college campuses walked through the center of their campuses with yellow five gallon buckets and went to a water source to fill them. Then they walked through their campus carrying these buckets on their heads to a final destination where there was a rally, clean water, food, music and a wide variety of fun.

At the same time these women walked, men on these campuses held posters or helped educate folks in other ways.

For over one billion people, this kind of walk is a part of daily life. You can scroll back through my blog entries to see a video that explains this a little bit better too.

Part of the reason why Nuru did this is because it is raising funds for FOUR deep water wells for the people of Kuria, Kenya. Want to help? These wells will cost several thousand to get drilled, but if you want to give and support this endeavor, visit the Nuru website and donate.

Oh, and if you watch the video closely, you just might see a familiar face in it. ;)

Water Girls

Water Girls, originally uploaded by Nuru International.

Over the lenten season, I attempted cut down my purchases of beverages and keep an accurate budget of what I spent during the course of the lenten season on beverages. It was kind of shocking to see how the total came out. I tried to keep track of times that people offered me other drinks (whether it was me or them, somebody had to make the purchase).

As a result, I realized that on average, I probably would have spent about $3/day on beverages. A cup of coffee here, and a soda there, and some juice at this spot all kind of add up. Of course there were days when I probably wouldn't have bought anything, but I think I realized over the course of time that I take for granted that I have all of these choices.

In the end, the amount I donated was a combination of what I would have spent combined with the amount I actually did spend on occasion (there were a few times I downed a coke, a coffee, or a vitamin water), and a little bit on top just to round everything out.

It's been an eye opening time with regard to the access to a variety of beverages and even more so to the availability of clean drinking water at my disposal.

If you get a chance, check out this website, and perhaps take stock of the simple pleasures like water that we all take for granted.

And, if you are so inclined, I encourage you to give to Nuru as well. It's a great organization, and they are planning to drill four deep water wells during the month of May for the 5000 people of Kuria, Kenya.

Will you join me in helping to bring lasting change to the people of Kuria?

Dry Tears

Dry Tears, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

I've had a lot of stuff I wanted to blog this week, but I forgot my camera cable in West Virginia and I was in Michigan for a conference with GCM during the week (more on that later). For now, I'd like to introduce a couple of friends I met during the 58 conference . . .

As part of the 58 Conference I had the privilege of picking up a couple of people from the airport. These guys names were Conner and Kyle, and when Conner was a freshman and Kyle was a junior in high school, they started a non-profit called dry tears.

Yep, you read correctly. While they were both in high school, they started a non-profit organization. It all started when Conner was reading a magazine article that was talking about poverty. You see, he found out that there were kids in our world who were so dehydrated that when they cried they didn’t form tears.

Conner and Kyle thought there was something wrong with that, ]so they started raising money and paying for wells to be dug. So far they have been part of over a dozen wells being dug. High school students—changing the world. Can you believe it? They’ve raised thousands of dollars and partnered with organizations like Blood:Water Mission and Living Water International to see wells dug in Sub-Saharan Africa. We’ve already started talking about a future collaboration between them and Nuru International in Kenya.

Beyond changing the world, Conner and Kyle are a couple of really cool guys. Conner is a senior in high school, and Kyle is a sophomore now at University of Georgia. They are passionate about following Jesus and making a difference in our world. These guys are both articulate and intelligent, and they also stayed at my house with me and my roommates this weekend.

Over the course of our time together, we shared a lot of laughs and some great stories. There’s something awesome that happens when brothers dwell together in unity, and with one mind.

I’m glad my friend Tiffany with Invisible Children told me about these guys, and we were able to get them to come to Morgantown. There’s something really motivating to a group of high school and middle school students when they see a couple of their own stepping out to make a change. And that’s exactly what Conner and Kyle are doing. They are making a change.

I know my life will be different as a result of meeting them. They inspired me. Check out their website, and spend some time with them, and I’m sure you’ll be inspired too. May more of our young people (and our old people) awake from the sleep that tells us that our contribution does not matter.

May this note wake you up to the crises in our world and motivate you to do something about them.