If you have visited Austin, Texas you may recall that we love to talk about Austin.  There is something special about this town. The first session I attended at SXSW Interactive was 'Why Austin is the Killer App'  moderated by Heather McKissick and Bijoy Goswami the founders of Austin Equation.

Austin Equation is trying to determine the ingredients that make Austin so extraordinary and the equation they have come up with is Experience + Community = Scene. They theorize that multiple vibrant scenes in an accepting environment are what make Austin remarkable.  I believe that you can apply this equation to non-profits and cultivate a fan base as devoted to your cause as Austinites are devoted to preserving the uniqueness that is Austin, Texas.

Experience

A recent study by Ryan Howell touts that experience makes people happier than possessions, and that we would rather participate than purchase.

What kinds of experiences can you/do you offer your constituents that relate to your cause? 
How can you make your events, volunteer days etc. unique, relevant and special for those who participate?
How do can you promote the community aspect of your events? 
What sorts of activities help facilitate a sense of community?

Community

What sort of social currency can you trade with your constituents or can your constituents trade between each other? How can you facilitate that?
What tools are out there for you to organize your constituents or for your constituents to organize others around experiences/events related to your cause?
How can you use Twitter, Facebook and other online tools to foster a community related to your cause?
What content is needed to build a community around your cause?

Community feeds experience and experience feeds community. Create a scene around your cause and you might be able to get as many evangelists as Austin, well maybe… this town is pretty great. 

It’s less than 24 hours until the masses start filling the Austin Convention Center for one of the biggest and best Interactive conferences of the year: South By Southwest.

My favorite part of SXSW in recent years is the flood of nonprofit and socially conscious topics, speakers and movements that are becoming more prevalent on the line-up. And for anyone attending the event and looking for some insight into how to get in on the philanthropic and social advocacy action, here are some of my recommendations on sessions, events and activities that have gold stars next to them on my personal event agenda. (For news and happenings from the live event, feel free to follow me at @jordanv on Twitter)

1. SXSW Web Awards: Last year was the first year SXSW introduced the Advocacy award and this year there are some amazing nominees up to be recognized for their creative and effective use of interactive for social good.

2. The Nonprofit Technology Bash will be the best place to mingle and meet with folks from all across the nonprofit technology sector, as well as kick back and have some fun on the last night of the Interactive conference. And for all you people using Four Square, it's also one of the official Check-in for Charity locations (hint: new badge anyone?)

3. The Beacon: Lounge with a Conscience! Beaconfire Consulting will be hosting the “Lounge with a Conscience” throughout the Interactive festival.  The lounge will be the place to meet the best and brightest socially-conscious Geekeratti at SXSW and catch some unplugged local music. 

4. The HardlyNormal Cup of Coffee, Social Media for Social Good series. For three mornings (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) in the BeaconFire Lounge, respective leaders and experts in the field of using social media for social good will be speaking and recording an online tv series. Chris Brogan, Beth Kanter, Jeff Pulver, Kari Saratovsky and LifeChurch.tv will all be featured and sharing their standards of “now communication” with Mark Horvath who is leading the discussions.

5. Games for Good panel Monday, March 15 at 12:30 PM– “You made an amazing, educational, and progressive game using the latest in gaming technology- now how do you get people to actually play it? Hear from the nonprofits that have made it happen.”

6.Technology For Results Not Profits panel Saturday, March 13 11:00 AM– “When technology is leveraged around passion and purpose for the sake of results not profits, powerful things can happen. While most non-profits are not known for technology, some are, and they are defying the traditional business models that drive technology.”

7. Crowd Sourcing Innovative Social Change panel Sunday, March 14 at 03:30 PM – “Social media builds buzz and raises money, but what about real, on-the-ground change? The Social Change Challenge will crowdsource innovative ideas from nonprofits to change the world. We'll share big ideas for using social media for nonprofit program delivery and some good tips for crowdsourcing for social change.”

8. Digital Marketing for Non-Profits panel Saturday, March 13 at 03:30 PM– “How to work with limited marketing budgets and a failing economy to build an online brand, raise awareness of a cause and fundraise effectively.  We'll also talk about how you can get sizeable online grants and free/discounted help from key professionals.”

9. Change the World, Lives, with Bikes core conversation Tuesday, March 16 at 11:00 AM– “This core conversation will talk about how cycling, the bike, and social media are changing the world and lives. You'll learn about Livestrong's community and Bike Hugger's blog, events like the Mobile Social, and the millions who follow Lance Armstrong on Twitter. It's a discussion of bike and pop culture and socializing the good with these Interweb tools”

10. Uprising Tide panel Saturday, March 13 at 03:30 PM - "Inciting Online Communities into Offline Movements - Ready to put your tech community on the map? Some unlikely instigators from New Orleans did just that with little more than passion, a bus, T-shirts, and some duct tape. Let them show you how to create an organic net-roots movement that upends traditional power structures
and galvanizes your community."

11. Yes Mr. Lessig we can Change Politics panel Sunday, March 14 11:20 AM- "Last year at SXSWi, Larry Lessig introduced Change Congress, a movement to clean up corruption in Congress. But that's only the beginning. All elected offices (local, state, and yes even Congress) need more techies, scientists, and engineers. Now! Why techies should run for office -- and how they can win."

12. I Don’t Trust you One Stinking Bit panel Saturday March 13 12:30 PM- “What gives people confidence on the web? Bringing together experts in social capital and online trust, we help you build the company your users can love and call their own.”

13. In code We Trust: Open Government Awesomeness panel Friday March 12 2:00 PM- "In Code We Trust" is the new motto for Government in the 21st century. Across the country, geeks inside and outside of government are developing a new model for a participatory and transparent Federal, State and Municipal governments. Built upon open-source tools, open standards, and best practices, this panel will highlight practical examples of initiatives from private, public and government sectors."

14.Don't Stop Believin: Singing our Way to Changing the World Monday, March 15 at 05:00 PM - "Karaoke came on like a ninja...stealthily entering North American pubs and Koreatowns. But it wasn't here to enterain, no. Karaoke came to unite us in song. In fact, Karaoke is a core part of our reMix culture and this panel will show you how. This stellar group of speakers (some of whom wrote books on the subject) will uncover the real impetus behind the karaoke revolution."

15. The Future of Influence Saturday, March 13 at 11:00 AM- "The ability to share online has allowed consumers to control and filter the web. For brands and publishers, tapping into Influence is critical to social media's future. What is influence and how is it measured? Leading voices in social media from multiple backgrounds will define the value of influence, discuss best practices, and predict future impact. Data will be shared! This panel is sponsored by ShareThis."

16. Why Gen Y Wants to Wrok “With” You , Not “For” You Monday, March 15 at 03:30 PM- "Put aside the negative stereotypes of entitled, rebellious 20-somethings and take a minute to dig deeper and see what makes us tick. At almost 80 million strong, the Gen Y workforce is shaping the cubicle nation and the way brands are forced to engage consumers. It's more than a desire to wear t-shirts and jeans to work; it's a new mindset. As we digital natives migrate into a workplace full of Boomers and Gen Xers, worlds collide. Truly learn the concept of ''with'' vs. ''for'' straight from the minds of 5 diverse and successful Gen Yers!"

Of course there are a TON more sessions, events and yes, parties I'm looking forward to but these are all the to-dos on the top of my list so far. Looking forward to seeing all you other do-gooders and techies out and about it the coming days. I'll be posting from the event, and if you see me around the convention center stop by and tell say hi!

Bombers, biopsies and brown M&Ms – what do they all have in common?  They each tell an interesting story about checklists, a simple notion whose time has come, according to Atul Gawande in his recent book The Checklist Manifesto.

Gawande is a surgeon who, as leader of a World Health Organization taskforce, developed a general checklist for surgery that has prevented thousands of deaths and reduced complications by more than a third.  Using examples from aviation, construction, and finance, he shows that checklists, when developed thoughtfully and used with discipline, can avoid errors and free us to perform with greater confidence in almost any field. In effect, checklists can be a critical bulwark against information overload and complexity that challenge all of us. 

The book is a quick read, with several engaging stories.  For example, one of the icons of the Allied victory in World War II was the B-35 bomber.  It was a big leap in aviation technology at the time, with 4 engines, long range, and large payload capacity – the war probably couldn’t have been won without it.  However, I didn’t know that this airplane was almost rejected by the US military when it was first tested in the 1930s, when it failed catastrophically during its first public test.  The military cancelled their order and Boeing nearly went bankrupt. However, a group of pilots and engineers worked to develop a set of checklists that helped prevent pilot errors. It was primarily the adoption of checklists, not major technological changes that made the difference.

These checklists are a critical part of aviation today. Anyone who has flown a commercial flight has probably heard the cabin crew running through cryptic elements of a larger pre-takeoff checklist with the pilots.  Remember the “miracle on the Hudson” last January?  Gawande reviews the important role pilot checklists made in saving all the passengers and crew.

OK, biopsies is an alliterative stretch here, but Gawande discusses his development of a surgical checklist, based largely on the successes of Dr. Peter Pronovost in reducing hospital infections. Pronovost reveals some interesting points about institutional and individual resistance to change in his recent NYT interview.

The “brown M&M” story is a classic rock and roll urban legend – one which turns out to be true.  Van Halen’s contract with venues and promoters included a clause that there would be “no brown M&Ms in the backstage area”.  This is typically explained as adolescent ego-tripping, but it turns out it was part of a checklist.

As the band explained it, their touring show required a lot of technical support – heavy equipment, lots of electricity, sturdy stages, etc.  They had been burned a few times where concert venues promised to have everything needed for Van Halen to put on their show, but when the band arrived, there were serious issues – a door on the loading dock not being large enough, for example.  To solve this, they put a clause in the fine print requiring the brown M&Ms. They didn’t really care about the candy, but it was a proof point that the venue was serious about meeting their conditions.

Most of us already use checklists in some form. As a personal example, I have adopted two checklists that have made my life much easier.  I adapted a version of David Allen’s Travel Checklist for work trips, and then created a separate list for things I take to the gym.  Each is just a list of things I should think about bringing – the actual contents will vary from trip to trip.  The list helps me pack more quickly, avoids (or mostly avoids) forgetting important items, and helps keep me calm and focused.

The point of Gawande’s book (and this post), is to think more creatively about the challenges of complexity in our life and work, and how we can in effect “avoid the avoidable errors.”  Checklists are one important tool we can all use to standardize and “error-proof” our work and life. How are you managing complexity?  Are you using checklists?

Rapid response is a top-of-mind topic for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes right now. Earlier this year Molly posted 7 quick tips to taking action quickly in times of need and numerous other resources and learnings have been put out since with the issue at top of mind for nonprofits and charities around the world (see: 5 Social Media Lessons From the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort by Geoff Livingston, Helping Haiti: Places to Donate, Creative Fundraising Ideas and Being a Smart Donor by Britt Bravo, How to Communicate in the Shadow of Disaster -- Guidelines for Respectful but Effective Outreach by Nancy Schwartz, The Social Media Response to Disaster in Haiti by Amy Sample Ward and Text-to-Give Fundraising Campaigns Take Off by Joanne Fritz amongst others) 

Being prepared for an unforeseen surge of donations is something every nonprofit should be positioned for, and the swell of attention doesn’t need to come only from a natural disaster. Unanticipated press coverage and subsequent attention on your cause can be the result of change of law or a court’s ruling. It may even be as simple yet unexpected as a pop culture figure bringing an issue to the forefront through controversy. The lesson far too many nonprofits learn the hard way is how to be prepared for unplanned events.

In a follow-up piece to Molly’s original 7 quick tips, a new guide entitled “Be Prepared When Your Mission Calls” is now available with an in-depth look at rapid response preparedness and case studies on nonprofits that have leveraged the best practices outlined here to maximize fundraising and outreach success in times of need. 

A few of the top takeaways from the guide include:

Respond Quickly - When communicating during times of crisis, simplicity and effectiveness are far more important than design or prose.  A straight-forward communication will help your supporters understand your organization’s position to the crisis and how they can support your efforts.

A quick response requires a quick setup – the more time you spend on approving messaging is less time you have to harness the energy and interest around your cause. Plan and prepare to the best of your ability so that you can respond rapidly.

Adjust Your Message - Sometimes messaging around an event requires sensitivity. But don’t let that inhibit your creativity to turn this concentration of awareness into something positive for your organization.

For example, The Polly Klaas Foundation,  a national nonprofit committed to promoting child safety, demonstrated a unique way to adjust its message to help with emergency response while remaining true to their mission.  In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, the Polly Klaas Foundation sent an email to their house file urging people to donate to specific international disaster relief agencies that “focus on protecting children who have been separated from their families, and helping those children reunite with family members.” This was an exceptional example of an organization finding a creative way to further their mission and adjust to a disaster despite the fact that donations would support other organizations.

Know the Plan - Working quickly sometimes is accompanied by haphazard decision making. The unintended fallout of such mistakes can be missed opportunities, offended donors or worse, PR problems. The number one mistake any organization can make is not having the right message on the right donation form at the right time. Planning for these events and knowing your anticipated response helps you to minimize the opportunity for error and maximize your capacity to seize the benefits a media spotlight can provide.

The Guide outlines the above best practices in detail, provides additional best practices and tactics to follow and offers examples from nonprofit peers highlighting successful ways they've followed the guide's tips.

Have any other lessons learned or tips to add to the list? Know of an organization who exemplifies how to respond rapidly in times of need? Share them here so the nonprofit community can be better prepared the next time the need arises.

As I look back at my communication’s and development career technology has changed the way I work - I remember the days when we had a major product launch and had teams of people in New York and Washington D.C. the morning of the announcement to "run" the press releases to the key media outlets/reporters. Technology has changed all that. I can hit the send button and send the press release to everyone who wants it at the same time. My mobile phone’s GPS has also changed getting me to the right place mostly on time. Because of technology reporters are no longer confined to the publisher’s building – my last press tour took me to the homes of reporters in three small towns for kitchen table product demos. (With virtual meeting tools and video conferencing, we’re even doing less of that.) As an event fundraiser, I remember fighting for walkie-talkies during fundraising events, just to stay in touch with my co-workers and volunteers. Do you remember how hard it was to get in touch with a key volunteer once they headed home for the evening... (Man I’m old – two miles up hill, both ways through the snow kind of old.)

Of all the communication technology the mobile phone is probably as disruptive as any... I noticed last night how it has changed dating for my teenage daughter.

As a father, I like the fact that when my daughter and her boyfriend are sitting together on the couch they continue to text friends, while they talk with each other and watch TV – I encourage the keeping of hands on mobile devices at all times. Had W. Bruce Cameron'sbook "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" been written today, we’d add a chapter about the benefits of boyfriends who continue to text friends while on dates with one’s daughter. That’s probably a better story for a post on fatherhood though. But I digress...

The most recent development with mobile technology is that of a giving platform. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake close to $50 million was given through this channel. Although gift amounts were limited to $5 to $10 dollars an estimated 6.5 million people used their cell phone to donate. This was unprecedented level of giving through this channel and might mark the tipping point for greater adoption.

We teamed with Edge Research andSea Change Strategies on a national survey of US charitable donors conducted one week after the earthquake in Haiti, and during intense fundraising efforts for emergency relief – this is part of a broader study that will be released in the coming days on the contrasting charitable habits of Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Matures to provide the nonprofit sector with insights on cultivating the next generation of American donors.(This is the same team that gave us the ground-breaking research on the "Wired Wealthy.")

Here are some of the key findings. 

• 77 percent of respondents were aware of the Haiti text-to-donate efforts
• 17 percent of Gen Y respondents and 14 percent of Gen X made a donation to Haiti relief efforts via text message, and 3 percent of both Boomer and Mature respondents made a donation to Haiti relief efforts via text message
• 28 percent of respondents with a mobile Facebook application texted a gift 
• Generally speaking, 15 percent of all respondents were willing to donate via text message after an emergency occurs and 11 percent were willing to donate via text message if a friend is raising money
• Just three percent of donors say that they received a text/SMS message from their top charities this year
• However, those who have received information from a top charity through text/SMS, feel that it is an important way to stay in touch with the charities they care about (71% say it is important).

 You can download the full study at: www.convio.com/mobile2010

When you look at this data, the results Convio’s clients are having online with fundraising, advocacy and other forms of engagement, the segmentation and donor relations pathways that are now available through open database systems like Convio Common Ground, all tied to modern technology it is an exciting time to be part of this sector. While the economy is having a negative impact, it is also driving innovation as people look for more efficient and effective ways to operate their organizations, to reach and cultivate donors and spread the word about their causes.

The only certainty we face is change and those that embrace change will be best positioned for the future. We must adapt to change, to data intensive applications and new technologies that push us in new directions and beyond our comfort zone.

Now, its' time to send an "REI" text to my daughter as she’s upstairs watching TV with her boyfriend. What does REI stand for? It’s dad for "response expected immediately." Much like mobile fundraising – donation expected immediately...oh how the world has changed.