The Charity Place

Serious fun from SXSW - the Social Media Nonprofit Poetry Slam

I've just been catching up with this session - run yesterday at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas - via the Twitterstream and the links to various blogs that people have shared in their tweets.

Conducted entirely in rhyme (yes, really), the session was moderated by Beth Kanter, with contributions from:

• Danielle Brigida - National Wildlife Federation
• Wendy Harman - American Red Cross - National Headquarters
• Carie Lewis - The Humane Society of the United States
• David Neff - American Cancer Society [Judge]
• Katie Paine - KDPaine & Partners [Judge]
• Holly Ross - NTEN [Judge]

Unsurprisingly, Twitter is mentioned heavily - along with a range of other social media - in the examples shared by the panel.

Beth has kindly shared a comprehensive range of content from it here, on her blog - including the slides, transcripts of the poems recited by each of the panelists, along with a variety of links to help you get a fuller picture of the nonprofit case studies, experiences and insights that the session pulled together and shared.

And here's a video (via the NTEN blog) of the panelists in action:

Looks like a lot of fun, whilst making a serious point about how charities - and brands in general - are re-evaluating their traditional views on metrics, measurement and ROI to account for a different style of engagement with supporters through social media. 

It's really quite clever to deliver a session on measurement and metrics in such a unusual and engaging way - reflecting how social media enable nonprofits to engage supporters in helping them meet their challenges in new and innovative ways.

Beth also shares some reflections from the session on her blog here.

A truly unusual proposition

I just received an email from Oxfam with the most unusual ask I think I can ever remember getting from a charity: To knit a square for a giant, knitted petition.

I read on to find out 'How a giant, knitted petition could make a big difference to mums in poor countries'.

Now, I can't even knit, but I'm so taken with this campaign that I requested a guide without giving it much more thought.  Let's just hope it's simple -- and can succeed to teach me the basics of knitting where my so many members of my family previously failed -- because Oxfam want me to take a photo of it and upload it to the Flickr group they've created for the campaign.

Brilliant.

If that wasn't enough, they have provided a selection of banners for supporters to use on their websites and blogs.

Oxfam have come up with something really different here -- that stands out from so many of the other asks made by charities.  It also lends itself to sharing of content on and offline (the Flickr site shows people getting together to knit), and provides the tools to do this.  All of this gives the campaign real impact, and turns it into an experience, by injecting elements of community and fun alongside a serious message.

Who knows, as well as helping to reduce mortality rates in pregnancy and childbirth safer for women in poor countries, I might finally even learn to knit.  Sounds like a win-win to me.