United Causes Blog

End : Means :: Chicken : Egg

2013-04-17T17:10:00.001-07:00

Organizations always have more to learn...

Especially those in the fast paced start-up and social media worlds. Thus, we are in a large learning curve as we try to completely understand individual behaviors in the charitable sector and their interactions and engagement online.

We are very curious to see what Facebook learns from their users as they implement video ads to their platform. Will there by any lessons other than those surrounding the bottom line?

Creating means to sustain a mission and create an end is very important. Yet, if we think of the end and the means as one in the same, we will find it much harder to stray from core organizational morals and beliefs. Yes?

Very baby steps here...time to start crawling again...thank you for the support!

Good for whaaaat?!?

2012-06-06T10:24:00.002-07:00

As Facebook spirals into the vortex that is our U.S. stock market and examples of using social media and networking to organize for a cause grow more impressive by the day we want to ask....

What role do these sites (FB, Twitter, MoveOn, Care2, etc.) play in the world of activism? What role should they play?

We will help stimulate discussion with a little note of our own below:
Our belief is that current social media as well as cause networking sites do one or both of the following two things that keep them from launching the world of activism into a more organized and successful endeavor.

1. They use the mathematical power afforded to us via the internet and computers to connect, usually, corporate advertisements with the individuals who seem to like a similar product to what they are selling. In other words they "commercialize" the powerful automation function which has become inherent in these communication technologies.

2. They predetermine which causes the site will be active in organizing. This could mean organizing only one cause as a single organization or organizing only "left" leaning causes such as Care2.com or Change.org.

These realities tend to "water down" the power of communication technologies to organize the world of activism or they simply leave out large constituencies which are needed to reach critical mass and cultivate resolutions on any particular issue. This leaves activist groups with no reliable source for organization due to either the misuse of technological functions or the political leanings of a particular organization.

Please share your thoughts with us! What do you think of our point of view? Ready, set, discuss....

Our roots...

2012-05-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

A long time coming and a post is here...a brief one at that.

Slowly but surely our wheels are turning. Some much needed reprieve was taken due to various projects and health aspects but the time is upon us to re-energize ourselves and this important project.

Please click the picture below to view the literature which is the theoretical foundation of our online platform and understanding of how it can cultivate offline action.

More to come shortly...

An Important Visit...

2011-03-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

With a comfortable informational site live, some new media, and a brochure to communicate the service United Causes will provide and the values of the organization, it is time to start moving forward. Our next steps include expanding our network of potential members and identifying those who may be interested in corporate partnership. These steps will be in full swing at the end of April, starting with a visit to Santa Barbara, CA.

United Causes has been asked to sit on a panel of professionals at the University of California Santa Barbara, Communication Department, Career Day on April 30th. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to network with students and other professionals in various communication industries.

While in Santa Barbara we will be meeting with non-profits to hear their reaction to, and ideas about, our platform. We will also be meeting with individuals to start building a network of possible equity partners and start talking about programming and marketing in the second half of the year.

Shifting gears from designing an informational web site to the more practical and legal areas of business has been a good challenge, and in the process we have listed and defined the five products and services United Causes will provide over the next 2 years.

1. Cause Networking Platform

2. Cause Advocacy Messaging / Corporate Action Sponsorships

3. Peaceful Protest & Non-Violent Social Movement Education (within first year)

4. Video & Voice Conferencing (second year)

5. Incentive Based Catalog of Artwork & Music (second year)

For more information about these services, our trip to Santa Barbara, or to become involved with our process please Email us, contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or share your thoughts and ask questions here. Thank you!

And the beat goes on...

2011-02-12T10:29:00.000-08:00

A little under six months into our endeavor the informational site which explains why United Causes' exists, how we choose to accomplish our goals, and what we will provide for individuals and organizations is complete.

It feels good for us to have this site live. Our focus will now shift from developing the informational site to networking with co-workers, friends, and others as well as creating materials to present United Causes to potential benefactors, business partners, and members. Through this process the feel of sign-up and use of profiles for members as well as creating responsible revenue streams will each become more concrete in concept.

Another piece of United Causes future plans was birthed with the help of Fiona Cox, a singer songwriter from the UK, whose wonderful voice was incorporated into the very important files which communicate why United Causes is different and what United Causes will provide for individuals and organizations. Please visit her site here: Fiona Cox.

United Causes has the goal of incorporating the arts into our site as incentives for individuals and organizations to stay active. This may be one free song or a percentage off artwork and perhaps something as generous as free tickets or a small commission piece of art. We believe networking and collaborating with those in the arts is a natural fit. Musicians and artists often use their gifts and talents with the goal of helping others; and for these artists we hope to give them an avenue to become as successful as possible.

Please continue to engage in dialog and ask us anything about our process!

Subscribing to our blog and your support on Facebook means everything to us at this point. Thank you, and we wish everyone much health and happiness as 2011 continues on.

A Corner Just Ahead...

2010-12-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

Our second presentation, in Santa Barbara, CA, was in front of a small group of friends which proved helpful in discussing the practical challenges United Causes will face. The week after our presentation a meeting with Andrew Flanagin, a Communication scholar at UCSB whose research along with Bruce Bimber and Cynthia Stohl has proved most influential in the conceptualization of United Causes and how to develop a platform that facilities collective action at every level, was a wonderful affirmation of our direction.

What is to come?

Our new site template is finished and 3/5 pages are all but complete. However, over the next couple months we will be developing media for individuals and organizations that communicates the benefit of United Causes to both of them as well as differentiating United Causes from the other cause networking web sites in existence.

Furthermore, during and after the site is complete our focus will turn more "legal". We will be getting our "ducks in a row" so when we take ourselves to California and begin networking for business partners and programmers to start the physical construction of United Causes we are as prepared as possible.

We see the corner up ahead...but first some work to be done!

Your support means a lot, so please continue to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Thank you!

A preview of our new site: United Causes

A Step Forward

2010-11-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

As we continue to network and enter into discussions with those interested in United Causes' platform we want to keep you updated about our progress while encouraging feedback about our process.

Our first presentation to a group of people will be November 17th. The Poipu Rotary Club has shown interest in United Causes' and for this we are thankful. Rotary is a natural fit for United Causes. Their global presence, commitment to ethical business practices, community outreach, and humanitarian values are all part of United Causes. We believe Rotary's goals of gaining new members, organizing global actions, and orchestrating local events would be greatly enhanced through our platform.

At our Nov. 17th presentation we will be unveiling our preliminary action templates for individuals and organizations as well as our participation scale. Both of these are at the core of United Causes' ability to facilitate collective action and collaboration between our members. This opportunity is very exciting for us and we hope Rotary will be a great partner in the weeks, months, and years to come.

For information about our presentation or if you are interested in viewing our action templates and participation scale please respond to this post or contact us through email or on Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you!

Stay Tuned!

2010-09-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

In the next month we will be finalizing a 4th web page to our site. There will be information about the power of the internet as a collaboration and communication tool for social and political change, specific information about United Causes' role in this environment, and information about our own causes that we hope to further such as internet access for impoverished people and free information sharing, networking, and collaboration online.

After this page is up we will be shifting gears away from our design and become focused on developing the functions, feel, and template of United Causes. This process includes matching databases, ensuring a simple and focused user interface, and making sure United Causes values and goals become strengthened through its site functions.

All throughout this process we hope to create an organization that demonstrates a new way of interacting with our global environment and actualizing the communicative power of the internet for organizing peaceful and non violent collective action and becoming a vehicle for social and political change.

Welcome!

2010-09-05T14:36:00.001-07:00

Over the next 2 years we will be using this blog as a way to communicate our progress and gain ideas, from you, about how United Causes can best evolve.

We will be posting short essays, news articles, videos, and holding quizzes to keep you engaged and informed. This blog will also be a space to discuss how United Causes' values and goals will shape its functions and intuitively connect individuals and organizations through the social and political causes they share.

If you wish to send us an email please do, at info@unitedcauses.com, but be sure and come back to express your thoughts and engage in dialogue with United Causes and its members.

Thanks for coming.....blog away!