Often when I talk to people about engaging with customers or donors online, their reaction is that they aren’t ready. Not yet. Soon. Once this other thing happens. When we talk further, the root of their reluctance is a fear that things have to perfect.

You’re not perfect now and you won’t ever be perfect. Get over it.

Everything is an experiment and it’s your job to learn from mistakes and improve. At the 2009 NTC conference, Clay Shirky brought the idea of iterative learning and informed failure home. The theme carried through many other panels as speakers used the conversational hooks Shirky set up in his keynote to bring the idea to life with further examples. I came away from the conference with the imperative to fail harder and that advice is still relevant.

Recently I presented on a webinar to over 200 people. (Thanks to Janet Fouts for inviting me to join her). I was nervous, but afterwards I thought it went great. In some ways it had, but the feedback comments were a wake up and more than a little deflating. My nervousness had led me to ramble a bit and people thought  I could use more practice and perhaps some public speaking lessons. My audio equipment was also on the fritz during the presentation and people had trouble hearing me. How embarrassing! Panic! I’m never presenting again and I never should have tried. Right?

Wrong!

The feedback taught me ways I can improve. What do you know, I’m not perfect. More preparation and practice? I can do that. Get better audio equipment? I can do that too. Speaking to 200 is different than what works one-on-one. The feedback also taught me what I was doing right that I can do more of next time. People liked my examples and the places where I got hands on and really descriptive about how specific strategies have worked for me and played out in the trenches.

A You-Shaped Hole in the Wall

The fear that you aren’t perfect usually brings a posse of friends home for  dinner.What if we’re not compelling enough? What if someone says something nasty about us online? What if this takes all our time and we never get to the real work? What if no one cares? What if we’re not interesting enough? What if we make a mistake?

I love the West Wing TV show and can’t resist a good quote when it’s relevant, so I’ll share one now from Leo, the Chief-of-Staff on the show. In the episode “We Killed Yamamoto”, Leo admires the spirit of failing harder in one of the senior staff after a costly mistake.

“You know, it was a screw up, but I got to say I love the way he did it–full speed, bam. Like there’s a Sam Seaborn-shaped hole in the wall.”

Right on. The questions that accompany our need for perfection are important, but without a willingness to experiment you’re nowhere because until you start you don’t know what’s going to work best. By all means, be strategic and have a plan. But be prepared to change gears if its not working. Tweak, react, learn, rinse, repeat. It helps me to think out the worst case scenario (in detail) and remember that there are no bombs going off.

That’s what’s on my mind today. Fail harder, fail informedly. What about you? How do you get past the need for perfection? What shape hole in the wall are you busting today?

ToMamaWithLove is in full effect at the moment and as of this posting supporters have created 66 heartspaces showing their love for their mamas.

I’m planning a marathon Ustream session this Friday from 7am-7pm EST and I want you to join me! I’ll call people over Skype and broadcast the calls. We’ll talk about your heartspace, your fondest, funniest, most surprising memories of your mom, and our mamas have helped us dream and fly. You can share whatever is in your heart. We’ll also look at videos, photos of Mama Lucy‘s work with the Twitterkids, and check out inspiring heartspaces on the site. It’s going to be awesome!

If you’d like to join me on the call please contact me with the following:
2-3 times you are available Friday to join the broadcast over Skype – for example 8am, 10:45am, 2:30pm (times in EST please!)
Your Skype username
Do you have a webcam?
Do you have a microphone?

You can email me (Avi AT EpicChange DOT org), contact me on twitter (@MeshugAvi), or leave a comment. I hope you can join me! I am so looking forward to this. In the meantime ToMamaWithLove is rocking and the site is a lot of fun. Go ahead and create a heartspace now for your mama too!

Mother’s Day is this weekend and I’m all set with my gift – I built my mom a heartspace on Epic Change’s Mother’s Day site. This is a big shift for me since I’m usually scrambling at the last minute to send a card and hoping it arrives in time for the big day.

The idea of To Mama With Love is that people around the world express love for their mamas and the donations collected from heartspace sales support the dream of one special mama to build a home for children in her village. Mama Lucy, Epic Change‘s partner in Tanzania has dreamed of opening a boarding house for students with difficult family situations or living arrangements.

Creating a heartspace on the site is easy and you can include a note, pictures, and youtube videos to personalize it for your mom. Check out what I wrote here.

Happy Mother’s Day!

10:30 Friday session with Wendy Harman, George ??, and Aaron Smith – moderated by Marcia Stepanek. (I’ll try to get the slides up soon from Marcia too)

Slacktivism has a mixed and debated history.

Lots of folks see slacktivism as superficial.

“What plagues most slacktivism campaigns is their unrealistic assumption that, given enough awareness, all problems are solvable” -Evgeny Morozov

Evgeny’s article on the topic set off a flurry of discussion on the Progressive Exchange list.

Examples:

• Project NOAH
• Free Rice Game
• Invisible People -> un-stereotyping
• Armchair Revolutionary – a social game
• Do Something – teen activism program with over 35K active users – encourages on the ground action.

25% of online population is participating in online civic actions and participatory civic culture.

Wendy – shares that she was having a crisis before the earthquake. Red Cross had great presence, but she still felt that people weren’t  meaningfully involved. The mgive text2give program restored her faith, though who knows if it’s replicable. This is a great reminder of the importance of being present before a crisis.

Discussion of the importance of collecting data as you engage with people.

~5% of the 100,000+ Haiti text donors opted in to receive future communications from Red Cross.

Qs from Marcia: What’s a safe bet, the top two things that are sellable to higher-ups to do things differently?

George – the idea that followers are potential money, votes, tangible results. What works. Demonstrate where involved people came from.

Wendy – Facebook Fans doubled and Twitter Followers tripled after Haiti, but what does that mean really? Almost nothing unless you figure out how things connect to and fulfill your mission.

Aaron – Inform people for five minutes a day. If you can engage people meaningfully for a short period you are filling a need and on the right track.

Marcia – Important to be crowd-wise. Chose the right tools for the right task, experiment, start slowly, measure, iterate for success, and keep it fun.

Wendy on ROI – keep stakeholders’ goals in mind and your own ROI will be met. Listen and be part of every conversation going on. Use the tools and live in the communities where you issues are being discussed. (If you can do that and stay sane! There’s another #10ntc session for that.) I pressed Wendy on that a bit and her thought was that you better staff up and get equipped to enter all those conversations if you aren’t already. Make it a business priority.

George – think 90% story, 10% tool

Book recommendations – Zilch, Clay Shirky’s – Here Comes Everybody, Marcia’s – Swarms

I’ve decided to liveblog some sessions here at the NTC.

Charles expressed a big beef with groups claiming to be engaging activists when what they really want is money. Money is a fine goal, but be upfront about your intentions.

Charles offered to create a google group for our session participants. Also a plug for NOI’s upcoming organizing Bootcamp.

More soon!

My friend Tamar emailed me a link to Seth Goding’s nano-MBA program with nothing else but the subject line “YOU NEED TO DO THIS”. After reading about Seth’s idea, I decided I’m down for it so today I’m applying to spend 5 days in May with Seth and ten other remarkable people working at organizations making the world a better place.

Here’s my favorite line from the Squidoo page:

“The leverage you’ve got is incredible, and I want to help you use it.”

The leverage we each have  today is astounding, yet how often do we really leap at the ideas we have, really jump at opportunities?

I enjoyed the questions in the application and it gave me a chance to reflect on my experience at Epic Change so I thought I’d post some of what I wrote for the application here as well.

Here are my reflections on the purpose and mission of Epic Change, the organization I work for:

“Epic Change connects grassroots changemakers with the resources they need to transform their communities. We make interest-free loans to fund infrastructure projects in the developing world. Our pilot project is a partnership with a woman named Mama Lucy Kamptoni, who is building a primary school in Arusha, Tanzania.

Epic Change works with remarkable individuals and trusts them as equal partners to make the right choices for the next steps in their work. The founders have a deep awareness that the best solutions usually come from leaders who understand their own local communities. Many people and organizations working in Africa lack that humility and assume that Western education and funding are the only paths to achieving the best solutions. I chose to work at Epic Change because of this radical trust. I started as a volunteer and then last year applied for grant funding so I could be part of the full time staff.

The most remarkable thing about Epic Change is the way the organization is rethinking the traditional donor – recipient relationship. The stories and voices of our partners are powerful and we make it a priority to put a spotlight on them whenever possible. For example, at Shepherds Junior, our partner school in Tanzania, the sixth grade, many teachers, and our partner Mama Lucy, who founded the school, are all on Twitter. This has enabled students to participate in Epic Change’s other programs, like TweetsGiving, as equal partners since they were able to express their gratitude and interact with other participants online.

I realize and celebrate the reality that tons of nonprofits are using social media tools in their work today, but the depth of connection that we have achieved between our donor and partner communities through these means makes me really proud to be part of Epic Change. We’re forming one community and the stories shared and connections formed are as inspiring and enriching as the infrastructure projects we fund.”

These are my thoughts about where I’m going and where I’ve been? (In 357 words)

“I was raised in a loving family in Norfolk Virginia and South Florida. After losing my dad at a young age, my mother got up off the matt stronger and raised my sister and me by herself. She is a life long role model and I owe much of my integrity, creativity, determination, and joy for life to her. The dinner table conversations we had about her work as a major-gift fundraiser at arts and Jewish organizations continue to inform my career choices working in the nonprofit sector.

In college at Harvard, I was involved in homeless and housing advocacy, directed a student-run shelter, and was a leader in Jewish student life. After graduating in 2008, I moved to Washington DC and worked in online communications for the New Israel Fund, a liberal Israel social justice organization. A year later I had the opportunity to work at Epic Change, where I was already an active volunteer.

By November 2008, I had already been exploring the nonprofit technology field for some time. I subscribed to the right blogs, read a lot of the right books, was learning to use a lot of the tools, and I was meeting great people in the field. Despite all that, it wasn’t until working on the first TweetsGiving campaign that year that the full potential of social media for nonprofits clicked for me. We asked people to tell us what they were grateful for and to help build a classroom at our partner school in honor of that emotion. People brought their hearts in droves and an immediate global and highly emotional community formed.

I believe that relationships make social change possible, so I care a lot about communities. I’m always learning and experimenting. Sometimes my ideas fall flat, but the failures inform the next success. I see myself continuing to work with organizations leveraging technology to empower their communities. The thrill I get from sharing “aha” moments I have had in this learning process makes me confident I’m on the right path.”

Check out the program Seth is putting together – you still have until tomorrow to apply! I think it will be a wonderful week of learning and experimenting, but even if I don’t get to participate the questions made me think and I’m glad I got to reflect in this way.

Happy Passover to all!

Beth Kanter uses her birthday each year to raise funds for the Sharing Foundation, and her birthday wish this year is to send 53 Cambodian kids to school.

Beth does so much to advance the field of nonprofit technology and for many people she’s their first introduction to the field. I am no exception. In the spring of 2008 I was just discovering social media and also thinking about what I would do after graduation. When I found Beth’s Blog I shot her an email with a few questions. She wrote back and said I should make it to the NTC. I didn’t make it there until the following year in San Francisco, but Beth’s encouragement made me realize just how welcoming people are in the nptech community.

Beth’s public exploration and research continue to advance the nonprofit sector. Her mentorship and leadership foster a better nptech community. I can’t imagine how many people she’s helped along over the years, but I’m happy to be among them. I just donated to the cause and I hope you will too.

Thank you Beth, and Happy Birthday!

College Confidant, a new social enterprise started by five Harvard students, thinks the answer is simple: college students.

The service is the project of Nitesh Banta, Amy Skaria , Tej Toor, Kai Wu and Amit Patel. The team recently won the Harvard College Entrepreneurship Forum Elevator Pitch Competition. Way to go guys! I hear Tej did a bang up  job giving the pitch, but everyone helped her prep and gave valuable feedback in preparation.

It’s worth noting that I’ve blogged about another of  Nitesh’s projects, Summer Workation, before. Since then, Nitesh has been in high gear with Summer Workation, attended Singularity University‘s summer program which is pretty interesting on its own, and now with College Confidant he hopes to “increase accountability for high quality college counseling”.

College Confidant matches curious college applicants up with current college student advisors who share their interests. The idea is that since current students are familiar with the applications process having recently been admitted themselves. College Confidants can share a unique perspective on a range of issues that applicants have questions about. With the professional college admissions advising often costing upwards of $200 an hour, the prospect of advice from a student at your dream school for $12-$20 is appealing.

CC is hoping to connect you with the right Chinese speaking, oboe playing, Premed, Soccer star at Stanford to advise you. You’ll get the inside campus scoop on your favorite clubs, sports, and activities and get to reflect on how best to frame your involvement in your application.

It’s an interesting idea and in this market the team will likely have a strong first mover advantage. They already have Confidants trained to advise on admissions questions at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford with more schools on the way. Once word gets around campus and students sign up to be Confidants on lots of campuses it will be awful hard for a competing service to gain as much traction. And with a spiffy new website and a growing presence on Facebook and Twitter, word is definitely spreading.

What was your college admissions process like? Would you have found College Confidant’s service helpful?

Once we get started they are all over the computers. For most of them it’s the first time they’ve ever used one. They’re tickled when they get the hang of it. Double clicking, notepad, saving documents, drag and drop, folders- they take turns learning the basics. One student, Edmund, pulls me aside to ask if the copmuters have games. I’m not sure so I tell him I’ll find out and show him when class is over. 10 minutes later I come back and see him and Gideon happily playing pinball Later on we do a lesson for the teachers. They pick it up quick and realize how much time excel can save them in compiling semester grades.

It’s 6 am in Arusha and the birds are waking up too. It took a whole day to get here. I left at 10am Monday from Washington DC and finally made it to Tanzania at 2pm Tuesday.

Getting off the plane was a trip- right onto the tarmac the way it used to be in Tel-Aviv. Then I’d forgotten the address of our apartment here while I was filling out the entrance form. The agent waved me through to go get the address from Sanjay waiting outside -”just come back here once you have it.”

The 45 minute ride from the airport to Arusha is eye opening. The road is bumpy and superdusty. A few wispy dust cyclones actually emerged in the road in front of us!

Cars drive on the left side of the road. You can see Mt. Meru in the distance looming over the whole landscape. We passed a bunch of small villages on the way- lots of storefronts plastered with advertising. Signs for Coke, Pepsi, Kilimanjaro beer, Tigo and other cell phone carriers, are everywhere! Big run down, almost airport-shuttle looking vans called dalla dallas are everywhere, each one crammed with 30-40 people.

In spite of all the dust and how dry it is, there are areas that are incredibly lush. There is some serious greenery here too- banana trees, Eucaluptus and Jacarandas which are my favorite here. Jacaranda trees are in bloom now with huge tufts of bright purple all along main avenues. The center of town is much more developed – lots of hotels, restaurants, shops, and a visiting circus (really). The gap between rich and poor is apparent everywhere here. Walking into a tourist hotel is like stepping into another world.

Kilimanjaro beer is amazing. Do we have this in the US? Why not? Also the coke is better since it’s made with sugar cane instead of corn syrup.

Wednesday morning we made it out to the lower school at Shepherd’s Junior which is around Mama Lucy’s house -the classroom we taught in used to be her front poorch. We took a ride in one of the school’s vans and Mama Lucy met us there.

A note on Mama Lucy

This woman is incredible. She’s packing some serious kindness and has this huge infectious smile. We greet her with Shikamoo which is what people say out of respect when greeting their elders here. It translates literally to “I touch your feet”.

It was a holiday in honor of the country’s first president, Nyerere, but class five showed up to meet with us anyways for their computer class. These kids are awesome. They are so respectful. When anyone walks in they all stand – that reminded me of yeshivah. They address their teachers as teacher instead of Mr. or Ms. “Good morning teacher Stacey!”

Once we get started they are all over the computers. For most of them it’s the first time they’ve ever used one. They’re tickled when they get the hang of it. Double clicking, notepad, saving documents, drag and drop, folders- they take turns learning the basics. One student, Edmund, pulls me aside to ask if the copmuters have games. I’m not sure so I tell him I’ll find out and show him when class is over. 10 minutes later I come back and see him and Gideon happily playing pinball Later on we do a lesson for the teachers. They pick it up quick and realize how much time excel can save them in compiling semester grades.

In the afternoon we pick up AJ and Melissa Leon who’ve joined us here for the next weeks. Melissa has taught ESL by using twitter before and she’s got a whole curriculum for teaching the kids at Shepherd’s Junior ready.

In town in the evening I exchange some dollars so I’ll have some spending money. The exchange rate is $1 = 1300 shillings. The wad of shillings I get back from my hundred dollar bill feels like monopoly money.

Everything is new here. I’m enjoying learning a bit of Swahili, meeting new ppl, and the kids most of all. More soon.

Tutaonana! (See you soon, or lehitraot)

I wrote this from 30,000 feet on my way to The NTC, The Nonprofit Technology Network’s (NTEN) annual conference, though now I’m finally posting it from the conference hotel. I’m excited. I’ve been looking forward to this for over a year since Beth Kanter told me I ought to go last spring.

If it had worked out for me to attend last year I would have been overwhelmed and a bit lost. I’m sure I’ll still be overwhelmed this week (there are 1,400 folks coming to this shindig!), but this year I have the advantage of going with the anticipation of meeting up with friends and many people I’ve spoken and collaborated with via phone, email, and twitter.

This year 09NTC for me is a reunion. I feel like I belong and that I have ideas to contribute to the discussions. If you’d like to get a taste of the conference, but won’t be attending, you can be there virtually with me since I’ll be liveblogging! I’m flattered that Holly Ross asked me to help in this way and excited to be joining such a great team of bloggers in this effort. There are apparently some neat features in the liveblogging tool that I’ll get to play with like polling the audience, twitter integration that will pull my tweets while sessions are going. You can visit my ntc liveblog directly from here.

My session picks

There are so many great sessions, and I’m still undecided about some time slots so these may change, but here are my picks for now.

On Monday

10:30 I’ll be at “Online Outreach – The Seven Things Everyone Wants”
1:30 I’m at “You Made a Video, Now What?” with See3′s Michael Hoffman
3:30 at “Email Segmentation – Targeting works”.

Tuesday

10:30 I’m at “Old School Best Practices Applied to Social Media – Is social media for me?”
1:30 at “Community Management – Evolution of Online Communities”
3:30 at either “No Country for Old Media – SM Flash Causes, Twestival, etc.” or “Learning From the Presidential Campaigns”.

Day of Service

Sunday morning I got to participate in NTC’s Day of Service. Britt Bravo and I met with Albert Bricker from the St. James’ School which is a Bay Area Catholic school. We talked about blogging strategy, focus, and tools. It was a lot of fun and Albert’s actually already up.