Archive for the ‘Cause’ Category

Amped to Work on Give to the Max Day: Greater Washington

Posted on: September 15th, 2011 by Geoff Livingston 1 Comment

G2M

Earlier today Give to the Max Day: Greater Washington was announced. This is a giving day for the metropolitan DC region on November 9 that is expected to raise $3 million and encourage well over 10,000 civic actions. The event is organized by Zoetica client Razoo, Community Foundation of the National Capital Region and United Way of the National Capital Area.

As noted on the Inspiring Generosity blog, yours truly has been running point on the project, an effort that has been underway since June. So, given that most of you are working on the inside of a corporation or nonprofit, or are consultants, here’s some of the stuff that makes this particular event really, really exciting to work on:

1) Give to the Max Day bridges the traditional nonprofit community in DC with the booming 2.0 digital start-up world, all to help the city’s vital nonprofits who are under fire from Congressional cuts and economic hardship. This is certainly compelling work.

2) It’s multichannel with a diverse set of marketing approaches, including direct marketing, online marketing, media relations, social media, events and advertising. Really, it’s very nice to bring to bear a fuller suite of tools.

3) The effort seeks to empower nonprofits, not for just one day, but for the long haul with a significant training program so they can become better marketers, who cultivate stronger relationships with donors online.

4) Give to the Max Day: Greater Washington is a part of Digital Capital Week, the one week Internet festival created by Peter Corbett, Jen Consalvo and Frank Gruber.

5) The event represents a significant marketplace challenge. Can an idea that worked well for a state — Give to the Max: Minnesota raised $14 million and $10 million in two similar events for GiveMN — work well for a major metropolitan city? We believe so. Ironically, I worked on the Philanthropy 2.0 report with colleague Beth Kanter, which helped inspire GiveMN. Life comes full circle.

It’s hard not to be thrilled about this effort! Having lived in DC for 20 years, this is a great way to help out the community. If you are a metro DC-based nonprofit or citizen, please join us on November 9.

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Final Punishment: Sandwich Board Shame at the White House

Posted on: September 13th, 2011 by Geoff Livingston 7 Comments

Finally, it’s time for the third punishment from The Punish Geoff Fundraiser for Mark Horvath’s InvisiblePeople.tv. Yes, the sandwich board was donned saying, “I’ve written two social media books. Please hire me.” But instead of a walk of shame in front of Congress social media savoir faire was mocked in front of the White House.

Enjoy the fun.

And do support Mark Horvath’s InvisiblePeople.tv. Mark’s journey across the continent has finished in Canada and now enters the U.S. leg as he drives back to the West Coast highlighting the hidden faces of homelessness across America.

Thanks to all of you who donated and supported the Punish Geoff Fundraiser.

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Can Bad Jumo Become GOOD Vibes?

Posted on: August 22nd, 2011 by Geoff Livingston

JumoStats

The social change side of the Internet was abuzz last week with the GOOD acquisition of Jumo. Everyone wants to know if the addition of the change media powerhouse turn around Jumo’s bad mojo.

Not much has been heard from Jumo since it launched in the fourth quarter of last year. The site promised to become the next generation gathering place for change activists. As you can see from the above traffic statistics, hype did not meet reality. Mainstays Care2 and Change.org barely felt its presence.

Goodstats

GOOD, however, has a competitive presence. A more social GOOD could become the number one online change network, uprooting Care2 and its 16 million users.

But it’s not as simple as that. Jumo has serious problems, including profitability (or cash positive as it is organized as a nonprofit) and low traffic.

Beyond that, no one has ever really answered what Jumo adds to the competitive mix. When Jumo launched, executives — including Facebook Co-Founder Chris Hughes — briefed dozens of influencers, and ignored their advice. The product launched with bugs, an over-reliance on the Facebook platform, and failed differentiate itself with any kind of distinguishing feature set or functionality. There was no evidence of strategic product marketing. Jumo was dead on arrival, and that’s why its traffic is still so low.

The combination of GOOD and Jumo may have potential, but only if GOOD seriously revamps Jumo’s interface and feature set to make it clear and valuable. Otherwise, the second coming of Jumo will also be dead on arrival.

On a larger scale, the acquisition acknowledges how hard it is to enter established markets with new social networks. New entrants need to do more than offer unclear and undifferentiated services if they are going to lure away their competitors’ communities.

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