The “New School” Obama Community
Last Tuesday’s historic election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States and his phenomenal use of the web and text messaging should silence once and for all the stubborn nay-sayers who have continued to dismiss the power of technology to communicate and build support.
According to news reports, AT&T had the single largest spike in text messaging in the company’s history—44% higher than the average of the five previous days and higher than traditional spikes such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s Eve—in the moments following the announcement of the election outcome. Of course, traditional media also surged to record highs in the hours after the election results were announced. Yet, the tremendous surge in text messaging signals something very significant that validates it as a leading communications strategy that can no longer be marginalized.
Watching live television and web-based live video feeds as America celebrated this historic election felt like you witnessing a spontaneous, virtual New Year’s celebration that you could join while it was unfolding. You could watch people texting one another, sending photos and videos all while they and you celebrated in person. And if you were one of the tens of thousands of Obama supporters on his campaign email list, you received a thank you email note from him within minutes of the announcement of his victory. Talk about a way to make people feel good and like they were part of history in the making.
In my many years writing about and encouraging support from and for the Jewish community, I have often struggled to communicate what “community” is and why it matters. Last Tuesday, I saw, I read, I texted with a community that is both “old” and “new school.” It is “old school” in how it brings together people around a shared set of experiences, values and interests. It is “new school” in its size, powerful reach, immediacy and undeniable energy. Whatever way you look at (and this blog is not political) it we witnessed a powerful expression of community in action—online and in person—all blended together to create a moment we are likely to carry with us for some time.
I hope we are all taking note and that Jewish organizational leaders are taking their young, savvy text messaging staffers out to lunch this week to learn a few things.
Talk to Me
When life is difficult, I don’t know about you, but I want to stay in touch with the people in my life who matter most to me. Same holds true in my relationships with the organizations I support.
As we painfully peel the onion layers of ramifications of the global economic meltdown, I have an increasing need to know how things are going, to share my worries, to offer help even if it has not been expressly sought and, most important, to feel that I am connected to those who matter most to me.
I also want to know what my favorite charities are doing, how they are holding up as their resources contract and the need for their support increases. So far, I have been disappointed with the dribble of communications. Maybe it is because these organizations have been too busy working to meet the crisis or maybe they expect me to search out their efforts on my own, or maybe they are focused only on communicating with their major donors. It doesn’t matter what excuse it is because the impact on me—one lonely supporter—is disappointment.
One wonderful ray of light I got via email last Friday came from the desk of John Ruskay, Executive Vice President and CEO of UJA-Federation. Here is a great example of why communicating with all your supporters often and well, especially during difficult time’s, matters. In a few short paragraphs, John told me everything I wanted to know and offered me hope that at least one organization was taking charge.
If your organization is doing important work to help people in need right now, please tell us about it! We care and want to know. We want to help. We will pass the information along to others. We will remain a dedicated supporter. Just talk to us.
Sustainability and Philanthropy—Can Walmart Show Us the Way
Sometimes things crystallize all at once.
The New York Times reporter, Stephanie Rosenblum writes this week that Walmart, the behemoth retailer whose ethical, environmental and worker treatment record has been so poor that it will now require its manufacturers supplying goods to its stores to adhere to stricter ethical and environmental standards. This is big news.
If Walmart is capable of raising its bar I am hopeful that our ethically and morally strong but often-slow-to adopt-change community will soon make some headway here as well.
Forecasting the Jewish Future: 2019
I just connected to a very intriguing Web 2.0 forecasting game. Launched on September 22nd and only alive for three more weeks until November 13th, Superstructgame, is the brainchild of The Institute for the Future (IFTF), an independent nonprofit research group founded in 1968 by Rand Corporation researchers with a Ford Foundation grant to build understanding of the future.
The forecasting game, Superstruct invites players (you can play) to imagine, forecast and plan for a brave new world of 2019 by focusing on a unique set of “future parameters” that are presented in rather sobering videos. The five video superstructure scenarios trigger your interest and encourage you to select one of them as your primary play area. Then you add your own stories, strategize with other players and create a possible future structure. The areas are defined as:
- Quarantine, where you learn “homemade bombs kill 75 people in Birmingham as fear, anger and unemployment drive unrest…”
- Ravenous, where “abandoned supermarkets have become temporary village squares in many parts of Amsterdam…”
- Power Struggle, where you are told “Masdar City’s 500,000 inhabitants match energy consumption of a U.S. suburb of 20,000..”
- Outlaw Planet, where “grieving and hacking attacks disrupt Superstruct after the issuance of its Extinction Report..”
- Generation Exile, which presents a scenario of “displaced people in Minnesota now numbering over 100,000 and facing a tough winter…”
So, I wondered if anyone in the Jewish community world was playing and/or if Superstructgame might spark interest in creating a version for our future. Could be very interesting to get some engaged Jewish people gaming about continuity, Jewish education, social responsibility, the future of Israel…and???? Anyone game to play?
Managing Negative PR in the Web 2.0 World
Negative pr has always been a thorn in the side of those of us who work hard building and protecting the reputations of Jewish organizations that do good work and put a high value on maintaining the trust of their constituents.
Yet, from time to time, even the most highly respected organization is faced with a situation that has the potential to seriously damage its reputation. I know because I have had to handle my share of negative pr situations over the course of my career. It’s never fun, difficult to get through and yet, if you follow the time-tested protocols for dealing with a pr “crisis,” you will get beyond the storm. The best “crisis pr” advice I ever heard was from Howard Rubenstein, the venerable crisis pr maven, who always started with “be prepared before a crisis strikes and always tell the truth as quickly as possible.”
So with the blogsphere now a legitimate, mainstream source of information, what must organizations do to be sure those writing about them get it right and how does an organization stay on top of the blog world to know what is being said?
Here are a few thoughts, but please add yours to the conversation.
Rosh Hashanah Musings
My email inbox is filled with Rosh Hashanah e-cards from colleagues and friends wishing me a sweet and healthy New Year. Some are quite clever and all very lovely. There are lots of e-greetings using video and animation and a couple that have taken humorous, sharp pokes at the U.S. presidential political scene. I even received a few old-school, snail-mailed holiday greetings. All these wish are nice, albeit not terribly inspiring and leave me feeling flat.
So, Monday morning as I was putting the finishing touches on the noodle kugel, I figured out what was bothering me. It’s that this is a time of reflection and hopefully a chance to focus on doing things better next year. None of the messages I got from Jewish organizations inspired me or offered me anything of substance or value.
Troubled Times
It’s proving to be yet another economically stormy September and the philanthropic community is not immune to its wrath. The damage caused by the failure of some of the most venerable financial institutions in the U.S. is still not fully known but it is clear that it has already reached around the globe and is causing lots of people and many nonprofits worry about how to weather the storm.
Well, here are few thoughts—some tried and true but worth repeating and some new—all to help you get through these tough times and maybe even find a little something good from the experience. (You know the adage—what doesn’t kill you makes you strong.)
10 Ways to Market in an Economic Storm
- Stay focused on a message of real need and how donors’ can help—especially in difficult times.
Brand Sharing 2.0
Since Web 2.0 created an entirely new way of communicating and getting information, organizations have been scrambling to figure out how to use the new tools to build their brands and find more people online who want to join them. Some organizations have been jumping into the pool with an attitude that a quick plunge is invigorating and can be a great experience, while others, especially Jewish organizations, have stayed poolside waiting for someone to tell them the water is fine.
Now even an organization with a tired, lackluster or little known brand can take advantage of the low cost of entry to the Web 2.0 marketing world and build brand awareness if it is willing to play by Web 2.0 rules. That means giving up a little control over their “sacred” organizational identities and allowing their strongest supporters to use these organizational brands as an extension of their own personal online branding efforts. It means trying out some new approaches that may not immediately deliver big dollars but can start to build a much bigger list of friends who might give you their philanthropic support later on.
