Category: SmallChangeNews

Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

The list of little monks needing sponsors has been updated. Can you help with the funding? There is no admin overhead involved here. You can correspond directly with the boy you sponsor and make flexible arrangements as needed. Please email me for details about this, if you like.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

for some months now, i’ve been teetering between “trying” to make sCNN into “a thing” or letting it go as a main focus of my work, letting it continue more as a simpler, more personal (at least for now) weblog for those things that i hear about and want to put somewhere, but where? and to make or to tend, to work or to play?

in not chasing what “should be” here at sCNN, but rather just adding what “can be” here right now, “can be” because it’s already here on my screen, sCNN is becoming an initiative or experiment in non-efforting effectiveness. can it be both ease and effect? i suppose that’s the question that we’ve been stalking from the beginning.

along the way, i still think i’d like to start tagging things, as a way of futuring the whole thing, and continuing the modelling process, helping to feed the tagging wave that i hope is coming. what seems most important is that this space continues to respond to what we’re learning and what technologies are becoming available, rather than staying stuck on one tool or model.

sCNN remains a standing invitation to others who might want to join the process of blogging and tagging. as i go on longer, it will get easier to say what it is that really belongs in the blogspace and how the tagging works. as with anything else, the longer we go on, the better we are able to understand, do and share the “practice” of it.

in the meantime, since we started scnn, there are at least two other things that have popped up that are implementing the vision of scnn on a much larger scale that i ever could. they are the conversations at Omidyar Network and the functionality of the DropCash micro-donations facility.

the del.icio.us tagging function also leads out beyond my original vision of a blog of blogs, toward a future where scnn might simply be a blog about a tag — all the action could be very dispersed with many many using the scnn tag to point out and link to little individuals making a big difference. ever the challenge is to keep the focus on the purpose before the tools.

looking forward to raising these questions, and this purpose of more and more “little individuals” making good things happen, at the upcoming Omidyar Network capacity-building conference in Chicago at the end of this month. work and play. come join us!

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

This from Sue Braiden, via Omidyar Network…

Moses Kariuki is someone that I have come to have a great deal of respect for. When he finishes his University program this August, he will be travelling to the South of Sudan at Upper Nile with his friends as a volunteer. This is a dream that they’ve shared for sometime, and partnered with the great passion and devotion that they’ve displayed in cultivating their Kijiweni: An Uplift Pavilion for Africa, it becomes quickly apparent what true “better world scouts” these young men really are.

Moses is coordinating a summer candlelight Vigil in Nairobi, with the hopes of mobilizing at least 100 people to stand up for the end of genocide. Moses is hoping to send a loud message to Kenya.

The Vigil budget is $1,000, intended to include the cost of candles, “Stop Genocide in Sudan” tshirts, and travel expenses for approximately 20 Sudanese refugees who are currently in Kenya. We’ve included an extra $25 in our DropCash campaign goal to cover the transaction fees.

I invite you to join me in helping Moses and his planning team reach their goal by throwing a bit of spare change into this tin cup: DropCash

For more information, you can contact Moses here. http://www.omidyar.net/user/u590560998/

Thanks for any help that you might be able to provide with this uplift :^)

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

Scoop is a “collaborative media application.” It falls somewhere between a content management system, a web bulletin board system, and a weblog. Scoop is designed to enable your website to become a community. It empowers your visitors to be the producers of the site, contributing news and discussion, and making sure that the signal remains high.

This looks like a great way to run a community, online and beyond. First stop here at sCNN is to get the del.icio.us tagging thing figured out. Then it looks like Scoop would be a good way to expand what can happen in a blog. Someday I’ll have the time/funding to set all this up. In the meantime, maybe you know someone or some community that needs Scoop?

Would be fun, too, to set one of these up inside of an large corporate organization that was wanting to function more like a really prosperous community, no?

Thanks to Nurul Eusufzai in Chicago for sharing this.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

Life in Africa is an evolving webbed space online for good things, good people and good causes from across the African continent. They’ve been added to the blogroll as NetworkNews and Newmaker.

They need more computers to be able to bring Life in Africa to the world sooner. If you can help with sources of free or inexpensive computers for African community development projects, please let them know! Email to… nankoma4lia(at)yahoo(dot)com

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

This seems an appropriate way to return from two weeks on the road, exploring England, Scotland and Wales.

Travel is an obvious way for individual friendships and understandings to create good in the world. At servas.org friendly, curious, open-minded individuals can sign up to host or be hosted by new friends from far away places. They’ve got 14,000 individual and family memberships globally, and still counting. It’s run by volunteers, been around for 50+ years, and based on understanding, tolerance and peace. Phenomenal!

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

…added to the Network News roll. The name speaks for itself. Have a look.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

This clipping via Lenore Ealy’s Philanthropic Enterprise email list, originally from the Wall Street Journal, 4 April 2005, by Heather Higgins:

With the spirit of Sarbanes-Oxley ever in the air, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on the issue of financial abuses by nonprofits, and will consider draft proposals that would inflict broad new reporting and regulatory requirements on every charity operating in the U.S. This action — which can only be described as overkill — is in response to purported abuses discovered in the tax returns of a handful of philanthropic bodies, mainly involving self-dealing and excessive compensation.

The committee’s own proposal would impose burdens that are well beyond the capabilities of most nonprofits. Of 65,000 foundations, only 46, or 0.06%, have assets over $1 billion. Most have assets under $50 million. And of the roughly 1.4 million public charities, about 94% have annual revenue of $1 million or less; 98% have revenue of less than $5 million. Most are run with small staffs and tight budgets.

These smaller nonprofits are where people with problems often find help, where research and funding begins for everything from AIDS to charter schools, where local communities organize to keep their streets beautiful, protect the environment, return the homeless to productive society and support civic institutions. This is the sector that most often preserves the texture and strength of our communities — and that would be most hurt by many of the current proposals.

As the cost of maintaining tax-exempt non-profit status rises, the net benefit of the tax exemption itself declines. The assumption at the heart of sCNN is that the cost of reporting is already too high for some of the smallest, most active community initiatives and initiators, meaning that we are generally better off if we give directly to these activists.

If we forego the tax-exemption, we also escape the admin costs and the rest of the bureaucracy that does much to kill good works. This doesn’t mean reporting isn’t important, it means in needs to be relevant and useful, like the kind of reporting that gets done in a weblog. It’s a lot more impressive and meaningful to me if somebody is blogging an initiative daily or weekly than if they are filing the right government forms quarterly and annually.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

This came in by email…

Are you interested in youth movements? Curious how young people in other countries around the world are changing their communities and participating in political processes? Want to travel? Want others to visit you?

The Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) is working in diverse countries around the world to organize tours for young activists, academics, philanthropists, and anyone interested in learning more about the participation of youth in social change.

The first tours will be in Brazil starting on June 23 and another on July 19. Other tours are being planned for other countries as well.

On each seminar we will visit the headquarters and project sites of dozens of diverse youth organizations, learn about their work, and connect with young people themselves to talk about activism from the local to the global level.

GYAN trip leaders will provide translation, facilitate dialogue, and supply background and supplementary information to put the work of the organizations in historical and global context.

GYAN is a global network of youth organizations from almost 200 countries. It facilitates youth participation in global decision-making, supports collaboration among diverse youth organizations, and provides tools, resources, and recognition for positive youth action.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

Dean Landsman sent this to Tom Munnecke’s GivingSpace email list:

Just came across these two sites, which I believe will be of interest to many. Politics – Community – Activism – The Voices of Many Communicating with Many – New Activism using New Media/Connectivity/Convergence

Citizen Lab: http://www.citizenlab.org/

Civilblog: http://www.civiblog.org/

Ted Ernst sent this:

Global Voices is an international effort to diversify the conversation taking place online by involving speakers from around the world, and developing tools, institutions and relationships to help make these voices heard. The world is talking. Are you ready to listen?

Check the rolls in the sidebar.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

This in today from Bliss Browne. Contact her directly for more info.

I am wondering if any of you might be, or know of others who might be, interested in helping support a very exciting democracy accelerator in South Africa. Details are attached. The total budget to underwrite this event is about $5,000.

Our simple thought in hosting this creative learning exchange was that it would be stimulating and potentially important to gather committed community activists (who are also spiritually grounded) and magnify the energy of social transformation so needed at this time in South Africa. So many who work at the intersection of creativity, community and justice do so alone. Having a visible community unleashes even more generativity and brings a reservoir of hope and courage to persevere.The magic alchemy of a room full of transformers is a wondrous prospect. We are getting strong interest from remarkable people.

Andries Botha and I have put this together as a labor of love, without budget or administrative support. We are already hearing from people in informal settlements and black townships (both in Soweto and Cape Town) who would LOVE to come but need financial support for transport and accommodations. Andries and I are not in a position to provide such support, having already contributed our own time and expenses including my airfare from the US and local venue costs. We want commitment rather than money to be the currency and for community activists working on the ground to be able to participate. I’ve written a note to my few corporate contacts in South Africa to see if they might provide modest underwriting but no luck so far. Any thoughts you have about people who would appreciate the opportunity to provide funding support would be most gratefully received. Their support would enable the participation of passionate, committed, spirited people who are transforming their communities into more just and vital places.

Bliss has been working and organizing things in South Africa for more than a year now, building on her successes with ImagineChicago. Andries is a leading South African artist and activist.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

GrantCraft is Ford Foundation project site offering practical wisdom for grant makers: guides, case studies, and more. Added to the sidebar, via Phil Cubeta, whose GiftHub flagged the guide for making grants to start-ups.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

Chris Corrigan sez: “Nipun and Guri are on a pilgrimage. They are keeping a blog. As they walk around northern India, they are looking for God, for compassion for giving and receiving. I think this is the most important weblog on the internet at the moment…”

Nipun and Guri say… “Convinced that good is everywhere, we are walking in India, headed ‘South’ to find that good. At one level, we’re profiling ordinary and extra-ordinary heroes so others know about them. At another level, we have left our homes and comforts in America to cultivate our own hearts, to develop our vision to see the good in all life. It’s a journey, without a destination.”

They have also started an open source archive for profiles of people doing good…

iJourney.org is a collection of compelling individual stories. Written by volunteers, this repository offers inspiration with the simple hope of spreading more goodness in the world. We have no copyrights. Please read, share and distribute.

The project that they call the “mother experiment” is an entirely volunteer-run, globally-active community of people helping others help others.

CharityFocus.org is an experiment in the joy of giving — an experiment that is working. Fully volunteer run, we’ve come together to create small miracles and share our inspiration, in celebration of the spirit of service.

One of the more challenging bits for me was reading Nipun’s bio page about giving significant chunks (like months) of unpaid service on the one hand and still doing paid technical work for clients on the other. Eventually, I remembered that that’s what I’ve been doing now for some years. And still the practice continues. More surrender, more clarity, more experiments, more friends along the way, more space for living and working with ease…

I’ve added CharityFocus, iJourney, Nipun, and Guri to the blogroll.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

The Nepali journalists I noted earlier have posted an open letter to a leader of the Maoists. That’s right, an open letter, open rebuke, and open invitation to a leader of the terrorists who have some reputation for disappearing people they don’t like.

Some of those disappeared do later reappear and still, it was just a few years ago that my friends in Kathmandu, perhaps the safest city in Nepal to say such things, would not question the king or mention the Maoists in voices louder that a whisper. That today these things can be blogged is either real progress for democracy or real personal courage. Likely it’s both. How could they ever really be separate?

So often in developed nations too, leaders and leading organizations take up the standard of doing good for the “little people” but pursue actions and policies that actually refuse to honor and support direct action by those same people. What is happening now in Nepal, all the conversations, private and publicly posted, seems at least as democratic and much more exciting than anything I see happening in the US or the UK.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

This from Ralph Copleman via the OSLIST email listserve…

This Thursday, 21 April, is “Put a Poem in Your Pocket” Day in the partial whole system known as the USA. You can extend it across the entire world. Here’s how it can happen:

1. Select a poem (a reasonably short one)) that you like.
2. Make a copy and carry it in your pocket on 21 April.
3. Without reason or provocation, pull it out and read it to as many people as possible all day long.

Watch the whole system change.

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

Here are some little individuals taking direct, and probably dangerous, action to make a difference in politically turbulent Nepal. Their story is a fantastic example of people using the simple resources they already have to make the big changes, like peaceful democracy, they really want. Oh, yes, and not forgetting to report the cricket scores, too!

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Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork

The following questions have guided sCNN development, almost from the beginning and are answered over and over in the postings here.

The first two, “want?” and “have?” have been answered rather explicitly in longer, overview postings. The answer to “need?” tends to be posted individually as they come up. You’ll likely pick them out as you scroll through the archives.

The “will do?” answer is mostly embedded in the practice itself, in the commitment and continuity that you can see and judge for yourself on these pages. “Will do” also shows up, more explicitly, when you click “donate now” in our DropCash campaign (top of the sidebar).

What Do You Want?

• What is happening in your neighborhood, your school, and the larger world?
• What do you see and hear? …or smell?
• What are you bumping into and how do you feel about it?
• What should be happening?
• How could the most important issues be addressed or resolved?
• What do you want the solution to look and sound and feel like?
• What is your own dream project?

What Do You Have?

• Who are you and what do you already have going for you?
• Who do you know? Where are you connected?
• What’s already working, and why?
• How did you come to care about this issue?
• What gifts, talents, passions, skills and experiences do you bring to this?
• Are you spending your own time and money on making something happen?
• Do you have the funding and need people to work with?
• Who’s already supporting this project?
• Who can we contact, as references, to find out more about the good work you’ve already been doing?

What Do You Need?

• What would it take for you to make a difference?
• Are you looking for partners? Connections? Some funding? A place to meet? Some special sort of expertise?
• What kind of connections and contributions do you need to give your own gifts, and make your own contribution, more fully?
• What kind of support do you need for this project?

What Will You Do?

• What will you do if you get the help you need?
• What are your immediate next steps?
• What results will you produce?
• Where will you report your progress and success stories?
• How will all of this benefit you, your contributors and the situation and people you are wanting to serve?
• What can you promise to this project and anyone else who will join you in it?

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