Funding - Crowdcrafting a rockstar funding strategy
Peter Deitz
So here we are two years after intense discussion on how Social Actions
should and shouldn't be funded. In some ways, those 2 years have whizzed
by and in other ways, I feel like my entire adult life has unfolded in
the meantime.
To jog your memories, here's the link to an early discussion on funding
possibilities for Social Actions:
http://groups.google.com/group/social-actions/browse_thread/thread/94b7b74f3bc3b15b
Somehow, we made it through the last two years without ever settling on
a funding model... but that's about to change. Christine and I have been
putting together a number of wiki pages that are designed to help the
Social Actions community co-create a funding strategy that will permit
us to operate well into the future.
Starting next week, we'll be sending around invitations (via My Social
Actions, Twitter, Facebook, this Google Gorup, and direct email) to
envision funding strategies that play to Social Actions' strengths.
If you're still interested in this topic, please have a look at the link
to the wiki pages above. And feel free to join the wiki to contribute to
what's already there.
I look forward to your insights.
Have a great weekend.
All the best,
Peter
--
Social Actions
http://socialactions.com
@peterdeitz
Joe Solomon
I just wanted to say how much I admire Peter and Christine's
purposeful decision to think out loud and engage us in developing a
2010 strategy, with a starting point of figuring out Social Actions'
funding future. This is brave stuff, and worthy of our kudos, I think.
I'm definitely pumped for the conversation to start & build.
I also recently had the great pleasure to visit Peter in Montreal.
Between learning a few words of French, Peter shared some of his
inspiration for re-starting and re-committing to this conversation.
It's found in a new a book titled "The New How," all about paying "as
much attention to how your strategies are created and implemented as
to the form they ultimately take."
I <3 Peter's short review of the book on SSIR and would encourage you
to give it a read: http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/less_what_more_how_a_review_of_nilofer_merchants_the_new_how/
Looking through the archives here, I'm reminded just how much of a big
fan I am of everyone in this group -- and how excited I am for all of
us.
Bring on the process!
A bientôt,
Joe
On Mar 19, 4:54 pm, Peter Deitz <pe...@socialactions.com> wrote:
> Hi SA Google Group,
>
> So here we are two years after intense discussion on how Social Actions
> should and shouldn't be funded. In some ways, those 2 years have whizzed
> by and in other ways, I feel like my entire adult life has unfolded in
> the meantime.
>
> To jog your memories, here's the link to an early discussion on funding
> possibilities for Social Actions:
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/social-actions/browse_thread/thread/94...
Christine Egger
First off, have to say it feels GREAT to be here in this Google group
again. Joe, thanks for yesterday's message here -- the support, the
link to Peter's "New How" review, and especially the final cry to
"Bring on the process!"
We've been tweaking the wiki pages that Peter linked to earlier to
make them easier to navigate and understand. They now provide a pretty
good overview of what this "integrated funding strategy" process
involves and why we're taking it on.
At this point, we're ready to dive into the fun stuff: envisioning
possible funding strategies to support Social Actions' work over the
next couple of years. To encourage as much participation as possible,
the "online home" for this phase is a completely open Google doc with
a catchy URL:
We're giving ourselves until April 2nd for this collection phase -- to
brainstorm, toss ideas around, and otherwise create a phenomenally
diverse and inspiring collection. Thank you in advance for spreading
the word and adding your own ideas to the growing list on bit.ly/sa-
fundingbrainstorm.
As we move through this and future phases, don't hesitate to use the
wiki, Google doc, this space, email, twitter, sky-writing, you name it
to share feedback-critiques-suggestions-resources-questions on the
process, context, and task at hand.
More updates as we go and looking forward to what comes next!
Christine
On Mar 24, 8:12 pm, Joe Solomon <j...@engagejoe.com> wrote:
> Hey friends,
>
> I just wanted to say how much I admire Peter and Christine's
> purposeful decision to think out loud and engage us in developing a
> 2010 strategy, with a starting point of figuring out Social Actions'
> funding future. This is brave stuff, and worthy of our kudos, I think.
> I'm definitely pumped for the conversation to start & build.
>
> I also recently had the great pleasure to visit Peter in Montreal.
> Between learning a few words of French, Peter shared some of his
> inspiration for re-starting and re-committing to this conversation.
> It's found in a new a book titled "The New How," all about paying "as
> much attention to how your strategies are created and implemented as
> to the form they ultimately take."
>
> I <3 Peter's short review of the book on SSIR and would encourage you
> to give it a read:http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/less_what_more_how_a_review_of...
Peter Deitz
Quick clarification. If you tried clicking on the bit.ly link that
Christine shared, it's probably taking you to the Google Apps login page
for Social Actions. Sorry about that.
Here's a working Bit.ly for the public URL of the same doc:
Looking forward to everyone's ideas on how Social Actions can break free
from the typical nonprofit scarcity cycle.
PS - Joe, your post last night was hugely appreciated. :-)
All the best,
Peter
Social Actions
http://socialactions.com
@peterdeitz
>> I'm definitely pumped for the conversation to start& build.
>>
>> I also recently had the great pleasure to visit Peter in Montreal.
>> Between learning a few words of French, Peter shared some of his
>> inspiration for re-starting and re-committing to this conversation.
>> It's found in a new a book titled "The New How," all about paying "as
>> much attention to how your strategies are created and implemented as
>> to the form they ultimately take."
>>
>> I<3 Peter's short review of the book on SSIR and would encourage you
>> to give it a read:http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/less_what_more_how_a_review_of...
>>
>> Looking through the archives here, I'm reminded just how much of a big
>> fan I am of everyone in this group -- and how excited I am for all of
>> us.
>>
>> Bring on the process!
>>
>> A bient�t,
Peter Deitz
On a more personal note, it was wonderful to reconnect in person a few
weeks back. I get very few #nptech visitors in Montreal, not to mention
#nptechers who have made such a huge contribution to Social Actions.
Your visit was truly a pleasure.
I'm also incredibly grateful that I had a chance to explain in person
the influence that Nilofer Merchant's The New How has had on my
workflow. To catch others up on the story, when Social Actions started
out, we were super open by default and by design. Everything was in the
public. The sense of shared ownership was inspiring. The early successes
with virtually no institutional support or finding were inspiring.
Overtime, as happens with most initiatives, the process and
conversations surrounding Social Actions' operations and objectives
became more (although never exclusively) limited to the people working
directly on the project. Strangely, this descent into more closed
conversations increased w/ each major obstacle confronted.
The current effort to open the conversation back up reflects my belief
that more voices shaping Social Actions strategy will lead to a better
and more innovative product. This is the message underlying Nilofer
Merchant's The New How, but it's also something I know intuitively and
believe deeply but somehow lost along the way.
Thanks in advance to everyone who takes up this renewed opportunity to
participate in Social Actions' continued and inspiring story.
All the best,
Peter
Social Actions
http://socialactions.com
@peterdeitz
On 3/24/2010 8:12 PM, Joe Solomon wrote:
> Hey friends,
>
> I just wanted to say how much I admire Peter and Christine's
> purposeful decision to think out loud and engage us in developing a
> 2010 strategy, with a starting point of figuring out Social Actions'
> funding future. This is brave stuff, and worthy of our kudos, I think.
> I'm definitely pumped for the conversation to start& build.
>
> I also recently had the great pleasure to visit Peter in Montreal.
> Between learning a few words of French, Peter shared some of his
> inspiration for re-starting and re-committing to this conversation.
> It's found in a new a book titled "The New How," all about paying "as
> much attention to how your strategies are created and implemented as
> to the form they ultimately take."
>
> I<3 Peter's short review of the book on SSIR and would encourage you
> to give it a read: http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/less_what_more_how_a_review_of_nilofer_merchants_the_new_how/
>
> Looking through the archives here, I'm reminded just how much of a big
> fan I am of everyone in this group -- and how excited I am for all of
> us.
>
> Bring on the process!
>
> A bient�t,