Category Archives: Social Responsibility

Eco-Persuasion: A Model for Connecting with Your Audience

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green earth[Dalya’s Note: This guest post was written by Patricia Dines. She is a freelance writer who’s been inspiring constructive eco-action for 20+ years and can be found at www.patriciadines.info or www.askecogirl.info.]

In my conversations with people about eco-action, one common question they have is how to talk with folks who don’t care about their issue, or worse, respond in non-factual and argumentative ways.

Understandably, most of us want to avoid conflict, keep conversations agreeable, and steer clear of the strident activist tone that turns people away.

However, simply skipping these discussions can leave us feeling unsatisfied, because we know that literally life and death is at stake for so many people, animals, ecosystems, and the planet itself.

So how can we communicate about these issues both pleasantly and effectively, and, through that, help our culture cheerfully shift from eco-destruction to eco-sanity?

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Now Available: New Independent Publishing Resources for Changemakers

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ebookLooking for a new way to attract and engage prospective donors, clients, or customers? Today’s audiences often bypass traditional fundraising or advertising. Instead, they want relevant and useful content that they can act on right away. Are you offering them that?

A book or e-book (maybe even a “free-mium”) is a great way to share your experience and insights, bring more visibility to your cause or organization, and establish yourself as a passionate and credible “author”-ity in your field.

Vital components of your overall marketing strategy, books and e-books can be recycled across many communication and fundraising channels (online and offline). You’ll make a winning impression when you can say: “We wrote the book on that topic!”

With e-books and books so easy to create these days, what’s holding you back? And how can you make them work for your organization?

My website now houses lots of great new resources for current and emerging self-publishers—especially leaders of social sector organizations:

Conference call: Independent Publishing for the Changemaker: Advice on how to use this ultimate marketing technique: what’s involved and how to get started (handout plus recording)

Webinar slides:

  • Publishing Your Ebook for Greater Business Impact
  • Thinking About Hiring an Independent Editor? Start Here!

Detailed handouts:

  • The right team for the indie publishing process
  • Where to find an independent editor: professional associations
  • Websites of interest to the indie writer/publisher

Download your copies HERE.

Conscious Capitalism in the SF Bay Area: what is it and where is it going?

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conscious capitalism logoI recently sat down for a conversation with Margaret Ryan and Anna McGrath, co-directors of the Bay Area Conscious Capitalism chapter, a new part of the global movement of businesses with a triple bottom line: people, planet, and profits.

Margaret and Anna outlined some of the fundamentals of the international conscious capitalism movement and highlighted their plans to further the work via the Bay Area chapter. You can listen to the full 30-minute interview HERE.

For starters, Anna and Margaret offered clear and compelling explanations of how conscious capitalism focuses on running a business that embodies a deep commitment to the purpose of positively and holistically impacting all of the people (stakeholders) involved in the work, as well as the planet itself. These ideas of a “purpose-driven organization” expressed through “stakeholder integration” comprise the first two tenets of the movement. The other two are:

 1)  “Conscious leadership” that is authentic and collaborative on a daily basis in recognition that every employee is leading his or her role

and

2)      “Conscious culture and management” with decision-making by everyone in the organization’s structure and operating systems, in a way that moves beyond the outdated centralized systems of the industrial age

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Describe how your work embodies your deepest values and guiding principles

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principles[Dalya’s Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book, Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

Back away from the practical specifics, and take a bit of a philosophical approach.

Ask_yourselfAsk yourself: What fundamental values or concerns have led your readers to your organization and its mission?

For instance, you and your readers might particularly value the physical and emotional health of young women; the dignity of refugees; the artistic expression of senior citizens; the conservation of wildlife in your region; the science education of middle school students; or waterways free of pollution.

Because of your shared values, you can make some basic assumptions about what your readers understand and agree on. In your written pieces, build on those assumptions about what works, what does not work, and what important beliefs should be upheld. You will naturally hit on the core thoughts and feelings your readers harbor, as they pertain to your mission and activities.

Ask_yourselfAsk yourself: How would your organization complete this sentence to clarify shared assumptions about the world, how it works, and what is important?

“Our organization focuses on ______ and we value ________________ . We believe our work is important in the world because ______________ .”

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Evoke a vision of your success

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success[Dalya’s Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book, Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

Your readers want to be inspired by the world you would like to see. Your organization, of course, will play a role in realizing that vision—so help your readers visualize it right now.

Ask_yourselfAsk yourself: If your organization were to meet with great success and fully accomplish its mission, what would that look like?

You may want to ask this simple question of your colleagues as well. Perhaps your organization even has a formal “vision statement.”

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Examples

Here are a few vision statements of values-based organizations:

1) Foundation Center: A world enriched by the effective allocation of philanthropic resources, informed public discourse about philanthropy, and broad understanding of the contributions of nonprofit activity to increasing opportunity and transforming lives.

2) Global Exchange:  We envision a people centered globalization that values the rights of workers and the health of the planet; that prioritizes international collaboration as central to ensuring peace; and that aims to create a local, green economy designed to embrace the diversity of our communities.

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You might also develop a more informal image of what you are working toward. For instance, some organizations have held community gatherings or stakeholder retreats to paint murals or assemble collages representing the world they want to create.

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