One of the most powerful aspects of having a blog is that anyone, anywhere can have a voice to express opinions and make a difference… this post is my way of helping World Vision change the world, my entry in TheLearnAboutPoverty.org Blog Action Day contest and a much more articulate, in-depth version of my comment on the related ProBlogger.net blog (complete with less spelling mistakes)

It’s going to be a loooong post, so grab a cup of green tea, put on those slippers and settle in.

Blog Action Day Background

“Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day.

This year the theme is Poverty. By working together on one issue on the same day– October 15th — the blogging and podcasting community can change the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on the issue of World poverty. The hope is by starting a global discussion we can all help bring about both personal actions and a raised awareness for global poverty action going on.”¹

Philanthropy 2.0 – Kiva

Kiva is without a doubt my personal charity of choice and is also the charity of choice for us all over at The Thirty Day Challenge. They do amazing work in supporting entrepreneurs in third world countries, and as such, we can do nothing but give them our wholehearted support. This is something that we believe is so in-tune with the ethos of the Thirty Day Challenge, and I implore you to take a closer look.

As they say on their website “MySpace has changed the way the entertainers relate to their fans, Craigslist has changed the way people find a job or a room-for-rent, Kiva has changed the way people give back”.

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals (or groups like the ThirtyDayChallenge) to lend directly to an entrepreneur in developing countries such as Azerbaijan, Samoa, Tanzania and Uganda. By combining microfinance with the Internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

During the 2007 challenge we raised over $6,500 for Kiva and this year we raised over $9000… and that’s just the begining. Stay tuned on the 30DC BLOG as we will be releasing some ‘uber-cool’ merchandise very shortly; where all the proceeds will go to our Kiva Account.

So whether you are a world wide phenomenon like the 30DC, one person like my friend Ross Hill (who brought B.A.D. to my attention), or a company like Infiniti Telecommunications (where we donate a % of all profits to charity) you really need to support this planet and the people in it.

• Maybe you could look at offloading some old ‘junk’ on eBay and donate the proceeds to a charity
• Maybe you could arrange for all the ‘profits’ from one days worth of sales (at our company) goes to charity
• I know a few people who donate their tax refunds to charity… It’s money they don’t budget for, so they never miss it, but it changes the world
• Ever thought about stocking a ‘particular product line’ where all profits from that product goes to charity – Could also be a great PR angle aswell
• Try and convince your boss to match charitable donations staff members make this month
• Look at offloading surplus or aged stock as a charitable act
• Donate that surpluss stock to groups such as the Basket Brigade
• Speaking of the Basket Brigade, pencil this years Packing Day into your diary
• Get some friends or work pals together and sponsor a child as a group

LearnAboutPoverty.org

LearnAboutPoverty.org was set-up by World Vision Australia as resource blog for Blog Action Day. When they heard that Blog Action Day was going to be focused on poverty this year, they sat bolt upright in their chair and immediately asked “how can we participate in this?”

Now, they also teamed up with Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger to ask the community “How World Vision Australia can develop a better blogging and social media strategy?”

In helping World Vision eliminate poverty via Blogging and Social Media, I’ve taken a slightly different approach to my entry by listing more ‘actions’ that can implemented TODAY, as opposed to ‘high level’ strategy.

Strategy is great, but in my dealings with non-profits… there tends to be an overwhelming amount of discussion around ‘strategies’… which results in wasted time and either little, costly or no ‘actionable’ ideas.

As Steve Hopkins pointed out the “need to drop ‘orange curtain’ of world vision and let the blogging (read:social/world) community see the real people working to alleviate poverty” is a MUST…

So here are my ‘actionable’ strategy ideas for World Vision, which they can implement NOW, for very little cost which will drop the curtain..

TWITTER

Create a twitter account where World Vision (WV) can tweet little bits of information about poverty and what they are ‘doing’ to combat it.

For example:

“The WV Africa team, just helped build a toilet in {3rd World Country} today.”
“Did you know that {something terrible} happens somewhere in the world ever {3 seconds} seconds”
“Thanks to our {3rd world continent} team, they gave a village in {3rd world country} water today. 476 can now drink”

I think this would be something a lot of people would follow as it would be a constant (somewhat subtle) way to be constantly reminded of the greater world we live in… and that there is more important things in the world then what “@Scobleizer is doing right now”

VIDEO BLOGGING

Showing short 2 min videos from aid workers in the field. Volunteers and WV workers, can simply record a short 2min video showing what is ‘actually’ being done. I think a lot of people have a real disconnect between the donation and the end physical result. Video blogging would be a really great way of breaking down that barrier.

By seeing the ‘moving’ faces of people donations help, and the projects it funds… it would build a stronger bond and a stronger bond creates a stronger commitment and consistency result.

And the beauty of video is that people can SEE, what is being done without having to actually know which country the work is being completed in.. This could hopefully help reduce the ‘issues’ of staff placed in hostile environments..

It’s about showing me the ‘actions’ being done…. I don’t particularly care which country it is in, as long as I can see the positive effect on another human being - We all live on the same planet, countries are just lines.

FACEBOOK APPLICATION

A Facebook application could do a similar thing to the tweets mentioned above… You will find that a lot of people would ‘install’ this application to simply “look” like they are “doing the right thing”, but even if that’s the case social proof is a powerful force.

The WV Facebook app, could be a great tool for participants in things such as the 40hr famine, to generate sponsorships and encourage their ‘network of friends’ to sponsor them. It could list ‘their funds’ raised so far and which of their friends have sponsored them (there’s that social proof thing again – If Scott sponsored Sarah, I should too)

KIVA STYLE PROJECT FUNDING

Create a social network style platform, similar to KIVA.org where people can sponsor individual projects…

“The building of a toilet in {country} requires total donations of $X”
“To give {community} clean running water, we need to raise $X”

People could then link to, add banners/buttons on the ‘project’ they are trying to support on their own blogs… That way it can go viral and their viewers/readers can get involved.

“I blog for free because I like it.. so if you want to say thanks to me, sponsor the project I support by clicking here”

BUILD A LIST

On any of the WV sites I looked at there is not a clear or obvious way for people to join the WV e-mailing list.

I know there would be thousands of people who would supply their email address in an effort to be kept-updated on all things WV. You can’t expect people to continually visit the site(s) for updates… Get their details and keep them abreast – the world is too busy, and Facebook is too distracting.

The real asset WV (or any business has for that matter) is it fans/supporters… The WV brand is only as strong as it’s ‘followers’ (theirs a web2.0 cliche) so make it EASY for these people to become part of your community buy having a ‘join our mailing list’ box prominently on your homepage.

AND yes, a mailing list is a community.

RUN SOME CONTESTS that cause viral epidemics.

Get a major to sponsor a ‘best viral video’ award each year, with the winner getting a round the world flight.

Give away a MacBook Pro to the person who creates the best ‘online flash game’ that revolves around poverty.

With every major ‘marketing/awareness’ campaign you choose to embark on, get the marketing material created via a ‘social contest’ – It removes the ‘advertising budget’ WV would otherwise invest, it creates a community, it gives budding artists/designers/videographers a chance to build their portfolio and it generates lots n lots of buzz

Go to the elance.com ‘s of the world, get them to ‘advertise’ the contest to a GLOBAL marketplace of budding artists.. and you never know, you may just find the winner comes from a third world country that needs the support/exposure – Not all poverty is financial.

Hey, here’s an idea… Instead of trying to create your own Web 2.0 social network community (which will ALOT of hard work)… just piggy back off the ones that exist… Simply go to every major web 2.0 community site, find out what there niche is and leverage off that.

www.AllRecipes.com could run a contest around the best recipe made from a ‘poverty stricken countries’ main produce… Creates exposure, conversations and donations.
www.LinkedIn.com could sponsor a Kiva style ‘mico-lending’ project… Creates exposure, conversations and donations.
http://www.iminlikewithyou.com could create a game around ‘third world countries’ and poverty
http://www.travbuddy.com – where do I start with these ideas.

So What ACTION can you take right now?

1. Support the 30 Day Challenge KIVA fund by making a donation.

2. If you are a blogger, join in Blog Action Day.

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

¹ http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/2008/10/11/join-with-us-in-supporting-blog-action-day/