How The Community Can Help Itself

We often talk about ‘capacity building’ and ’empowerment’ in the NGO world without remembering that a necessary part of both these processes is letting go of some of our power at the center.

I’ve written about examples from around the sector that really put those principles into practice – and here’s another one” 10:10 have a new ‘Pioneers’ project that I love. What do they do? Well…

“Advice, insights and inspiration from some of 10:10’s most successful carbon-cutters. Each of the 12 hand-picked Pioneers has led an  exceptional 10:10 effort within a business or organisation, and is ready to share the stories and expertise they picked up along the way.”

The framing of the entire thing is very strong –

• positive labelling – these pioneers are now recognised leaders, giving them additional credibility internally
• the knowledge is in the community (and gained from experience) – no need for external experts
• diversity of pioneers – private, public and third sectors

Faith vs. Spirituality

“Faith is a belief in the ‘somethingness’ of life, a belief in love and compassion. Religion organises these beliefs into certain formulas and gets angry when people don’t follow its formula.” Richard Holloway

h/t Charlotte Millar

Link Loving 05.04.12

• Some really nice events taking place at the Festival of Transition.
• What does leaderlessn look like? Nathan Schneider.
• Hendrik Tiesinga sketches out the basic elements of a new political and economic operating system.
• Rufus Wainwright and Helena Bonham Carter get together and everything is wonderful.

Did Occupy Have A Plan?

Watch this webinar and find out.

Link Loving 04.04.12

• The future of nonprofit storytelling – story trends. CauseVox.
• How to get started in storytelling for fundraising. Cara Jones.
• 900-year old church goes 100% renewable. Sami Grover.
• Apply to win an SMK Award for campaigning.
• Loving IDEO’s idea of an inspiration break, as well as a tea break. Haiyan Zhang.

Understanding The Treasury – For Campaigners

If you’re ‘lobbying government’ and haven’t thought about the role of the Treasury, then you haven’t done your power analysis.

Once you start thinking about Treasury – there are three things you need to know:

1. If reality doesn’t match Treasury’s model, Treasury blames reality – not the model
2. The rest of Whitehall lives in fear of Treasury, therefore strengthening Treasury even further – you will need a coalition of departments to win
3. Treasury’s greatest weakness is it’s perceived strength (read: arrogance) – by staying under the radar, you can win

Campaigning With Common Cause – Next Wednesday

Hello friends,

Another month – another opportunity to come together to ask big questions about campaigning!

Next Wednesday evening we’ll be looking at the messy application of values-led campaigning in the ‘real’ world, with questions like:

• Does our understanding of shared values mean the end of single issue campaigns?
• How do we adapt the language of Common Cause so that it becomes usable in everyday life, but still holds meaning?
• Can we work with one value to encourage a ‘neighbouring’ value (bleed over effect), and what does that look like in practice?

Practical details –

• Where: Development House, 56-64 Leonard St, London EC2A 4LT
• When: 6.30-8pm, Wednesday 11th April
• Bring: Nibbles and good questions

See you then and there!

Casper

PS. Please do pass this on to any colleagues/pals who might be interested. Ta

Link Loving 03.04.12

• Former President Nasheed of the Maldives says that action on climate change is now more important to his country than democracy. Thought provoking. Decca Aitkenhead.
• How TED makes ideas smaller. Megan Garber.
• Keys to creativity: daydreaming, persistence and ping pong. Teressa Iezzi.
• How Conservatives lost faith in science. Alan Boyle.
• Want to make sure the lights don’t go out? Invest in solar. Natalya Sverjensky.

Freedom Song – Social Justice Movie To Watch

In conjunction with starting to read Ella Baker’s biography, I watched ‘Freedom Song‘ this past weekend – a story of what happens in a Mississippi town when the Civil Rights movement came through. Sweet Honey In The Rock produced (?) it, or at least did the music, which itself is always an invitation.

You can watch the whole thing on Youtube, part 1 is here –

If You Sell Shampoo

Imagine if we put all the creativity/energy/good ideas of the thousands of people selling us slightly different types of shampoo into thinking through how we can re-create our economic/political/social systems.

Wouldn’t that be more interesting for them too?