On-Line Melding Of 'High-Touch" With 'High-Tech' For Philanthropic Uplift

INTRODUCTION

As a donor advocate and committed listener to the voice of the giver, I seek technology that gives givers and those they give to, friendly access to web networks. Learning together by openly sharing and proving out ideas is key to innovation in uplift philanthropy. To do that again and again joyfully, takes relationships based on earned trust, learned on-the-fly, on-line.

To do that, we must move, as MIT's Neil Gershenfeld says, from "just in case learning" to "just in time learning". That's what we're creating at this gathering. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5008294

The High-Tech . . . High-Touch Dance

One high-tech executive said that every time he introduced a new high-tech product, he required his engineers to accompany it with a proven high-touch strategy and human engagement. How do we do that?

Pivotal Questions When Dancing For Uplift On-Line

"Do I trust you?" (Integrity)
"How much do I trust what you're saying? (Credibility)
"How much will I risk sharing with you and asking from you? (Vulnerability)
"How can I put to work what you shared with me? (Usability)
"How can I hold you to account for what we agree on?" (accountability)

When we craft and practice ways to answer those questions in our on-line conversations . . . "communities of practice" and "knowledge management" will, I believe, move from jargon to a journey of mutual discovery.

Building Intimacy & Trust On-Line

Getting beyond, "You show me yours and then I'll show you mine" requires some of these pre-requisites:

"Belief that the world is out to do you good?" (Paraphrase of Albert Einstein)
Non-manipulative reciprocity (Robert Cialdini) (Link to article)
Engagement in give-back and give-forward behavior (The movie "Pay It Forward")
Consistency (Can I count on you time after time?)
Predictability (Do I know what I can count on you for and where you stand?)
Belief that "the juice will be worth the squeeze" (Anne McGee Cooper) www.amca.com

As my Aunt Delia used to say, "Chucky don't talk to me about trust. Trust comes from making and keeping big and small promises and cleaning up your messes quickly when you don't." Ah, but how to build trust on-line? Some seed ideas to fertilize:

Adopt agreed upon ground rules for civil on-line behavior with predictable consequences if one strays from the path (Link to "Ground Rules" article)
Adopt ethical standards and sniff tests (One example - The Oregon Ethics Commons "Guidelines For Ethical Decision Making")
Invite people who have demonstrated the desired behaviors.
Establish explicit accountability mechanisms that are transparent

Freedom To Fail & Failing Faster

One prerequisite for trust on-line is a safe learning environment or container where as Perry Cochell, senior Boy Scout fundraiser says, mistakes while learning here are held sacred.

Now, how to make that operational? It takes what I call reframing "failure" as "not-yet-success". It's a not-yet-success as long as it is ethical; legal; consistent with the mission; done by a team and not a solo super star; rigorously debriefed for every scintilla of learning and the learning's shared widely for prevention and role modeling. Successful software development teams are willing to let go of their cherished mistaken certainties and make a 180 degree shift is something doesn't work. Are we?

Ears To You - A Frame of Reference For Listening On-Line

When I listen to uplift conversations on-line, I do so with four underlying beliefs. As humans we are:

Hard-wired to give or at least have a strong predisposition to give
Cannot NOT give and feel good about ourselves
Faced with the possibility that much of the pain in the world comes from not giving
Faced with the probability that much of the joy in the world comes from giving and . . . receiving.
(www.philanthropynow.com click on "Articles" "Are We Hard Wired To Give")

Giving May Be The Most Selfish Thing You Can Do

(Dean Ornish, "Love & Survival") (Link to Amazon reviews and comments)
The "do something instinct" that Tom Munnecke munnecke@gmail.com alludes to, has legs to stand on. The biochemistry and neuroanatomy of giving are just now being probed. There are measurable changes in immune system functioning when giving of self. The "volunteers high" and influence of Oxytocin, the "hug-drug" that makes people more likely to place faith in another person, present some interesting possibilities in uplift philanthropy. http://www.oxytocin.org/oxytoc/trust.html What if there was a giving gene?

The Measurement of Social Impact

Why measure? Mindshare takes off on-line, when as David Bonbright of www.keystoneproject.org says, "conversations revolve around performance on social outcomes made possible through relationships of mutual learning". He notes that measurement can't happen without relationship. "We measure to improve our understanding of how to solve problems better . . . and to drive learning."

Two Evolving Sniff Tests Before Social Investing On-Line:
Self-Sufficiency & Giving Forward

Web tools now make possible the faster shift from charity giving to social investment. Givers increasingly give to nonprofits that demonstrate moves toward self-sufficiency. Instead of begging for money, social entrepreneurs can attract financial and in-kind support by delivering desired services and information on-line.

When givers and nonprofits create the expectation that recipients of services and dollars give forward to someone else some of what they have received in care, money, services and goods, they enhance self-esteem and transform receivers into givers. Mark Frazier www.openworld.com researches how to do that.

Carpe Diem

The words, "But we've always done it that way" and "If it isn't broken . . . don't fit it" are being replaced with "How can we honor the past and create a preferred future" and "Fix and improve it before its broken". That's why I'm enthused about being here with you.

Comments welcome at advocate@philanthropynow.com
503.297.1490, Submitted November 17-18, 2005

Albert Einstein reminds us:"To raise new questions, new possibilities,
to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination."

Online Melding of "High-Touch" With "High-Tech" For Philanthropic Uplift