1 Million hours pledged and counting

Courtesy of Facebook I’m keeping up to date with the folks at Getinvolved!

Under their campaign of “Power of the Hour” which promotes volunteerism in Canada, they’re asking you to pledge hours to be volunteering in 2010 and they are half way to a target of 2 Million.

Commit to making a difference in 2010. We’re challenging you – businesses, non-profits, individuals, schools, and community groups — to stand up and be counted.

As I read through the postings, I see not only individuals but also families and some recognizable companies. Click on Actions you’ll be inspired by things you can do to make a difference.

So what are you waiting for Canada? Make it a New Year’s resolution to get involved.

Micro-volunteering for the time starved

Here’s a small post for a micro concept. It’s micro-blogging + crowd sourcing + doing good all in one.

The Extraordinaries allows people to complete micro-tasks for organizations, causes or people they’re passionate about, using a iPhone or web browser, in a few minutes of spare time. For organizations, The Extraordinaries is a powerful way to strengthen relationships while leveraging their “crowds” to complete real work such as photo collection, translation and research.

Take a look at the concept brought to you by a bunch of smart young folks in San Francisco, well funded and supported by those who know how to launch dotcoms.

Doing good at work

I wish I had done more social investing when I was in business. It’s easier as you have a large ecosystem to leverage as I did when running my business. I did do some social good – giving young folks a chance, donating to all client causes, donating services and doing some creative giving through exchanges. But had I taken the time, I think we could have done more and woven some of that thinking into our team building initiatives.

I was inspired recently by Oxford University Press, who on moving their offices, cleared out the warehouse with proceeds going to World Literacy. What a great win-win-win – good for Oxford as they got rid of the unneeded books, good for World Lit as they got some funding and good for the environment as those books didn’t end up needing processing.

If you belong to a large organization, there’s probably a lot of charitable work going on. Often, I bet you feel overwhelmed by the continuous asking.  It’s a delicate balance of giving, asking, and integrating social responsibility into a business while maintaining the focus on the bottom line. But when I see the wastage in business I remember that phrase, “one person’s trash is another’s treasure.”

Those that do corporate social responsibility well are not as well known as they should be. I think the models are there, and in light of a newly recharged focus on doing good, whether that’s green, sustainability or social investing, opportunities exist to share and explore.

Which brings me to this special session at the Rotman School at University of Toronto.

Rotman Net Impact Session on “Achieving Social Impact Through Business”
Monday, January 25, 2010
5:30 sharp to 6:30pm panel discussion and Q&A; 6:30 to 7:30pm networking cocktail reception
4 EXPERT PANELISTS:
Kaz Flinn, Vice President – Corporate Social Responsibility, Scotiabank
John Smiciklas,  Manager – Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Research in Motion
Andrew Heintzman, CEO,  InvestEco
Gerald Butts, CEO,  World Wildlife Fund Canada
SYNOPSIS: panelists will share how they have wed professional careers with a desire to achieve societal impact

I’m looking forward to hearing their stories. If you’re in the Toronto area late January (and weather permits) come join me in exploring what I’m sure will be  a combination of corporate and individual commitment to doing good at work.

Holiday dinner with strangers

Sometimes it’s the small contributions that make a big impact. So this holiday season I’m responding to a request from my alma mater, the University of Toronto.

Requests from UofT

In a recent e-newsletter I saw 2 small requests as I scrolled to the bottom of the email. One from the International Students Centre asking for holiday hosts – folks who would open up their holiday festivities to some of the international students that remain on campus during the holidays.

“Help make this a happy holiday for a U of T international student”

The other was an intriguing initiative from the Alumni Office called Dinner with 12 Strangers. Requesting “Toronto-area grads to host an informal dinner party for a small group of students, as well as faculty, alumni and other members of the university community.”

“The premise: sit down to dinner with 12 strangers; get up with 12 new friends”

Cindy’s Holiday Dinner with 30 Strangers

So, in my endless quest for efficiencies, I combined the 2 programs with the full support of both groups at UofT and am hosting my own holiday dinner with 30 strangers – a combination of international students, a cross section of students interested in dining with strangers, a few alumni and other members of the UofT community, and a couple of my pals.

It’s a chance to share the Canadian holiday experience (or at least my version of it), exchange stories, make new connections and enjoy a good meal. It offsets the loneliness of the holiday season and makes the world a little smaller.

Check out your alma mater

The holiday hosting program has been in place for 30 years and the Dinner with 12 strangers happens throughout the year. Both programs as well established and well run. If you’re looking for a small way to make a big impact, check out what’s available at your school – the gift back will be greater than you can imagine.

Good inside and out

It has come to my attention that some non-profits are sweat shops. I’m not naïve so I figured there would be great variability once you peeked inside a few charitable organizations. While I can rationalize, although not condone, the pressure cooker environments of the profit driven corporate world, I find it contradictory to see charitable organizations that treat their own people poorly while focusing on doing good for those outside of their organization.

I can understand the pressure of too much need and too few resources. I can understand the cumulative stress of dealing with human tragedy. I even believe that politics is part of human nature. But I would expect that those who chose a career in the social arena would want work environments that are similarly supportive.

I’m looking to give back in a meaningful way to organizations that can and are making a positive difference to our world. I’m looking to put criteria around my choices and one I didn’t expect to have to add was that the organization treat their people well. Now this doesn’t have to be big salaries, it won’t be, or donuts on Friday but it should be a level of responsibility of management to team, and among team members to nurture each other.

I know there are many wonderful non-profit organizations out there and I am constantly uplifted by the great folks that work in these places. So as I seek to give back, and to establish metrics that guide my social investing, I’m going to peek inside and see how polluting the internal machine is.

Charity giving way to Social Investing

Measurement is hot

Less than a month ago I was noting the need for metrics for non-profits as I make my decisions on how to direct my social investing – not just giving to charity for the “feel good” reasons but actually looking at donations as an investment with a measurable return.

Turns out that measurement is quite the hot topic in the non-profit sector – sort of a tsunami that has quite a few folks living in fear of the day that they need to do something serious about measurement. Their fear is understandable. Good metrics are hard to come by.

They require good systems for collection and reporting, and efficient procedures for point of source collection without undue burden on already overburdened staff. But aside from the machinery that collects and reports, the big questions are what to collect and how to report, how to analyze to determine key findings and what to do about them.

These are systems and skills not typically found in folks that have made caring and giving, service delivery, their lifetime purpose.

Benchmarks

Besides the metrics within an organization or associated with an initiative, there are comparative metrics and benchmarks needed to give perspective on these numbers. What are the standards for this kind of industry, cause, or initiative? Year over year numbers from one organization may sound good, but how are they relative to similar organizations – their competition, if you will.

Awards for transparency

I can tell you that I felt better about my donation to Covenant House recently when I saw a large notice in the Globe and Mail, that Covenant had won the 2009 voluntary section reporting award (for excellence in financial reporting transparency) in their size category issued by a prestigious group of folks who know a few things about numbers: Queens School of Business, Chartered Accountants of Ontario and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Standards

Another group that is attempting to put some standards in place is The London Benchmarking Group (Canadian branch is at http://www.lbg-canada.ca). It’s a community of companies working toward a higher standard in the management, valuation and performance measurement of corporate community investment. Worldwide, each branch is managed by a local host organization. In Canada it’s the SiMPACT Strategy Group, experts in social return on investment.

 

No doubt there will be more about the metrics associated with non-profits. It’s a lesson that the corporate world is still struggling with as their stakeholders demand more accountability and transparency. It will be no different for non-profits and their stakeholders.

In search of good metrics

Choosing who to help

With so many good causes out there, it’s difficult to choose who to support. Many folks I’ve met are drawn to a specific cause often because of circumstances. That might be a love of children, personal struggle with poverty or family illness.

Looking for the big impact

For me, I’m looking for the biggest bang for the buck – the biggest impact. I’m looking for organizations that make efficient use of donations and have a direct, positive impact on a problem. And so I’m looking for metrics, impact measurement not just anecdotal evidence and good stories.

With my digital background I am used to pioneering measurement where little existed before. The advertising industry offered mostly tear sheets and good stories before the web came along and brought with it the capacity to measure every visit, click and sale. And I started my career in accounting where audited financial statements brought at least a level playing field so that by comparison one could achieve some level of understanding of progress.

What’s out there

So what have I found so far? A mixed bag. Yes, the bigger causes put their financial statements on their websites. You get top level numbers that show you a kind of expense ratio – how much of the input goes to the output. But aside from the feel good stories at the front the report, it’s difficult to determine the true impact of specific initiatives.

I did find an interesting site called GiveWell. It’s a bunch of financial analysts in the US that are bringing a more holistic approach to evaluating the effectiveness of donations.

Unlike existing evaluators, which focus solely on financials, assessing administrative or fundraising costs, we focus on how well programs actually work – i.e., their effects on the people they serve.

And on the other side of the equation I found an interesting report from Imagine Canada on what people give. They group giving into: donations, volunteering and helping others directly. Turns out that the churches actually get the most donations-they got 46% of the $10 billion Canadians donated in 2007! I would have thought it was one of the medical causes.

I’m sure there’s more info out there. In the mean time, my quest is to find the biggest bang for the buck. Perhaps I have to start by helping organizations define their metrics for measuring their impact.

Being thankful

It is fitting on this Remembrance Day, inspired by the speeches of country leaders and the stories of individuals and their families, to be thankful in a greater context. Today is a day that we remember those who sacrificed their lives in the name of “freedom.” For that we should be thankful.

Sacrifices are made every day. Maybe not this ultimate sacrifice and maybe not in a military context but for many, they endure a lifetime of smaller losses resulting in a profound cumulative effect. For some, sacrifice is not a choice they make but a circumstance that life gave them.

On this day of remembrance, I am thankful for what I have been given, in a larger and smaller context. I am thankful for the freedom of choice and actions that have allowed me to be where I am. I am thankful for what life gave me and continues to give.

And I will do more than remember; I commit to giving back.

What’s a strategic volunteer?

Volunteers as a free labour force

People know what a volunteer is. Generally it’s someone who donates their time to do tasks that need to be done.

A great deal of volunteering is being the labour force or service delivery for a non-profit. Think of the sorters at the food bank, the folks that teach others to read, the people-power that staff events, and the delivery folks that bring meals to the needy. The demand for this kind of labour force is constant.

I certainly can do that, giving 4-8 hours a week to do a task. And I would fulfill many an agency’s dreams as I would give it a full commitment, show up on time, and do this with full energy.

Thinking like a Strategic Volunteer

But instead of having me give you 4-8 hours a week doing a task:

• I could work with your agency to develop and execute a plan to recruit 100 volunteers that will give 4-8 hour a week.

• The plan could be operationalized to recruit 100 people annually, with an efficient onboarding process to get them productive quickly.

• It could also include a focus on volunteer satisfaction to ensure retention of this labour force.

• There may be a marketing or PR portion of the plan to promote your agency as being top in its class for leveraging volunteers. This may get the attention of volunteers and partners.

• And with results measured and internal teams acknowledged you add positive moral to your agency.

That is an example of Strategic Volunteering. Finding a core need, applying strategic thinking, operational perspective, teamwork and some innovative thinking to produce a result that sets the organization up for success.

Supersized ideas

In my old life, I used to say I supersized ideas. As a Strategic Volunteer I am waiting to supersize yours.

Find a volunteer/be a volunteer

Seems to me the hardest part of this is finding the right opportunity. So in an age of LavaLife and Workopolis and the like, there should be some matching websites out there.

Sure enough there are, although many more for just the US than global or Canadian. But I did find a good one and am sure to find more. Take a look at www.idealist.org.

What’s wonderful about this site is that is works. And the organization behind seems genuine. The problem is that I’m not sure enough folks know about it. Surely there are more than 29 organizations with 65 volunteer positions to fill.

So I guess it’s not just us volunteers that need to know where to go to find the opportunities. I guess the nonprofits (and others) need to know where to put the message so it casts the biggest net. Just like the dating sites or job posting sites, we need a couple of these volunteer matching sites to rise to the top.