My Social Impact

Penguin Classics team up with (RED) for typographic...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:12:00 -0500

Penguin Classics team up with (RED) for typographic covers

“Penguin has collaborated with AIDS awareness fund (RED) and a team of designers to produce new covers for eight Penguin Classics. Each cover replaces the usual black band with red, employing a quote from the text of the book.”

(via Creative Review)

(via TechCrunch) “Affiliate fees are all over the web and...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:06:24 -0500

(via TechCrunch)

“Affiliate fees are all over the web and often we don’t even know that we are clicking on affiliate links when we click through to make purchases at our favorite online retailers. On average, affiliate fees can range from 3 to 10 percent of the price of a product. Browsarity is hoping to put money collected from affiliate programs to philanthropic use, and keep a portion for itself in the process. The Y Combinator-incubated company has launched a Firefox plug-in that will rewrite any unclaimed links to a participating online retailer with an affiliate link, and donate any fees collected towards the charity of your choice.”

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Your input needed

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:41:17 -0500

We are working on a few very exciting projects including webcasts, fellowship opportunities, and more.

Next up, a creative philanthropy campaign. We need your input, and are open to anything. Leave your answer in the comments or email neha@mysocialimpact.com. What is your craziest, kookiest idea for a creative philanthropy campaign?

Harvard Professor creates device that costs a PENNY to diagnose disease in the developing world

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:24:00 -0500

This is every kind of awesome:

“George Whitesides has developed a prototype for paper “chip” technology that could be used in the developing world to cheaply diagnose deadly diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis and gastroenteritis.

His efforts, which find their inspiration from the simple designs of comic books and computer chips, are surprisingly low-tech and cheap.

Patients put a drop of blood on one side of the slip of paper, and on the other appears a colorful pattern in the shape of a tree, which tells medical professionals whether the person is infected with certain diseases.

Water-repellent comic-book ink saturates several layers of paper, he said. The ink funnels a patient’s blood into tree-like channels, where several layers of treated paper react with the blood to create diagnostic colors.

The paper chips are expected to be used in concert with mobile phones, which are exploding in popularity in the developing world.

Since people in remote parts of Africa and Asia often have to travel great distances by public transit or foot to reach a medical clinic, patients simply can take photos of the chips with cell phones and then send them to larger cities for diagnosis. And Whitesides said his group is also working with a cell phone maker to develop apps that would tell patients the results of their tests automatically if doctors aren’t available.”

FULL ARTICLE

Hannah Teter: Olympic silver medal, heart of gold

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:50:27 -0500

Hannah Teter: Olympic silver medal, heart of gold:

am-neubs:

From Christian Science Monitor:

To be sure, snowboarding has been very good to Teter – to the tune of $1 million a year in prizes and endorsements, according to Forbes magazine. But Teter belongs to that family of Olympic athletes for whom sport and the Olympics have merely been the means to engage in a much broader sphere of action.

Her Hannah’s Gold foundation, in association with the charity World Vision, has adopted a town in Kenya and raised $178,000 to help establish access to clean drinking water.

Even her much-discussed maple syrup supports a cause, with the proceeds going to orphans of AIDS in the Kenyan community she has adopted.

“I’d just like to see athletes awake. And aware,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s so much going on and so much to know… . We stay in our little boxes and don’t think much about the outside world.

Reading List for Global Development

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:45:29 -0500

chrishughes:

I generally think Acumen Fund is a great organization, not only because of the work that they do, but how thoughtful they are about doing it.

No surprise that they put together a phenomenal reading list for the participants in their Fellows program. Anyone who is interested in development should read at least a few items on the list. I would highly recommend Collier’s The Bottom Billion (non-fiction, book written for a general audience) and Rushdie’s Midnight Children (fiction) as two great starting points.

"There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer."

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:42:31 -0500

“There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.”

- Pearl Harbor (via juliusmarelle)

love love love this story - NYT: Seeing How Far $100 Can Go

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:26:00 -0500

(via NYTimes) Andrew Marantz paid strangers to walk through Bryant Park holding hands and sharing secrets. Joshua Krafchin walked up and down a B train begging people — to take his money.

Amy Coenen placed 20 $5 bills, each inscribed with quotations on the theme of giving, in places around the city — the straw container at a Starbucks, the floor of an apartment building lobby — where they might be found and inspire generosity.

And Helen Coster slipped the whole $100 into a thank-you card and asked a friend to hand it to the clerk at Duane Reade who regularly cheers her up.

As acts of philanthropy go, none of the above would rate particularly high on any measure of effectiveness. They do get points for creativity, however, which, to Courtney Martin, the 30-year-old minor-league benefactor who spawned them, is an undervalued aspect of charitable giving. “Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted,” she likes to say, quoting a fellow maladjust, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Ms. Martin is not a civil rights leader. She’s a Brooklyn-based writer who, five years ago, was shocked to find herself in possession of a six-figure book advance. She wanted to give a chunk of it away, but was not sure how. So she decided she would make it someone else’s problem — nine other people’s problems. She chose nine thoughtful friends, gave them each $100, and told them they would be expected to account for what they had done with it at a gathering a month later.

Heart-warming high jinks have ensued ever since. Saturday night marked the fourth annual dance-crazed celebration of what Ms. Martin calls the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy. Since that first year, Ms. Martin has been joined by several other small-time philanthropists, who bestow multiples of $100 on admired acquaintances. This year 16 inductees committed creative acts of kindness, some of them kooky, most of them thoughtful.

Someone is publishing the writing of New York students in a nonprofit literacy program. Someone else bought a video camera for a public high school in Canarsie, Brooklyn. One recipient, who runs a Web site to encourage female writers, decided to give the money to the most frequent commenter on the site, who turned out to be a former correction officer with dreams of a life in the arts. Several people doubled down by donating $100 of their own money, part of the ripple effect that so often gives small, charmed gestures reach beyond their scope. (The ripples go as far as San Francisco and Athens, Ga., where others have started their own chapters of the Secret Society.)

There’s nothing original or YouTube-worthy about sending $100 to help in Haiti, but people did that, too, which also thrilled Ms. Martin (who said she also gave considerably more money to traditional nonprofits). “I could not argue giving away 100 flowers is as important as giving money to Paul Farmer,” Ms. Martin said of the anthropologist who helped found the medical charity Partners in Health. But, she added, there’s something to be said for “a visceral engagement with joy and spontaneity, and injecting more of that into our lives.”

It’s a great technological trick that it now takes no more than a text message to send $10 to Haiti. But with that simplicity comes a certain passivity. There is a benefit, too, to having a creative challenge built into some personal charitable giving — innovation of all kinds requires ownership, reinvention, elaborate consideration.

What if every philanthropist had to get up in front of some party of their peers and riff about how they had spent their money? All kudos to Bill Gates, but how might he surprise the world with an infinitesimal portion of his foundation dollars if he had his monologue at a Secret Society gala in mind?

Or what if every average Joe just made a pact with his five best friends that they would get together once a year and share how they donated their money? To start, they’d surely get around to actually donating that money: and yes, accountability is as much the point for Ms. Martin as celebration.

Ms. Martin does not harbor illusions of global impact. For her, there’s elation in thinking small, in considering what even the most starving writers or unemployed marketers or over-mortgaged homeowners can do.

One young teacher who used the $100 to buy notebooks and food for a writer’s group with two former students has since given each of them $50 of his own to give away. And one of the subway riders who took $25 from Mr. Krafchin told him she was going to send it on to Haiti relief.

The urge to pay it forward was in evidence Saturday night at the party, held at the Underwater Lounge in Brooklyn. Kamy Wicoff, the 37-year-old founder of that social network for female writers, high on the energy of the event, suddenly felt a surge of generosity toward the bartender.

“In times like this, we all could use a boost beyond the classic philanthropy,” she recalled thinking. So she left her a fat tip: $100 felt exactly right.

How They Donated $100

A look at 10 of this year’s recipients and how they spent their $100.

• Turned the writing of New York City children in a literacy nonprofit into books.

KATE TORGOVNICK, 30, editor, thefrisky.com, Brooklyn Heights

• Distributed 10,000 pennies to friends throughout the country to drop so there would be more lucky pennies for people to find.

BECKY FRIEDMAN, 29, television writer, Carroll Gardens

• Posted a query on Twitter about how to spend $100; a reader offered to match it if he donated to an abortion-rights group in Texas, which he did.

ANDREW GOLIS, 26, editor at Yahoo!, Sunnyside, Queens

• Inspired by Lewis Hyde’s book “The Gift,” bought a handmade platter on etsy.com and gave it to a friend, who she hopes will pass it on to others.

LORETTA RAE, 33, photographer, Williamsburg

• Slipped $100 into a thank-you card and asked a friend to give it to the clerk at her local Duane Reade who makes her feel like a million bucks whenever she buys toothpaste.

HELEN COSTER, 33, journalist at Forbes.com, Upper East Side

• Gave $100 to the most frequent commenter on her Web site, who turned out to be a former correction officer aspiring to write.

KAMY WICOFF, 37, founder of SheWrites.com, TriBeCa

• Donated $60 to the Red Cross for Haitian earthquake relief, and $40 to a man on the subway who gives sandwiches to the homeless.

IVETTE FELICIANO, 27, television producer, Crown Heights

• Gave to four established nonprofits that work in Haiti.

ERIC HAGLUND, 32, communications specialist for a research group, Washington.

• Fixed an old bicycle he found on the street to give to someone whose bike was stolen.

MICHAEL RADPARVAR , 27, Internet entrepreneur, Alphabet City

• Gave the money to a woman he sees collecting recycling on the street.

DAVID RADPARVAR , 24, Internet entrepreneur and Michael’s brother, Alphabet City

“Bill and Melinda Gates announced plans Friday to invest...

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:19:24 -0500

“Bill and Melinda Gates announced plans Friday to invest $10 billion in the fight against a number of illnesses including AIDS and said the record donation could save nearly nine million lives.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, they said the 10-year program will focus on vaccines for AIDS, tuberculosis, rota virus and pneumonia.

“We must make this the decade of vaccines,” said Bill Gates.

“Vaccines are a miracle,” added Melinda Gates. “With just a few doses, they can prevent deadly diseases for a lifetime. We’ve made vaccines our priority at the Gates Foundation because we’ve seen firsthand their incredible impact on children’s lives.”

Since stepping down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in mid-2008, Bill Gates has devoted most of his time to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a philanthropic organization he set up with his wife Melinda. He remains part-time chairman of the software giant.

The foundation directs most of its attention to global health, education and agriculture in the third world and has committed more than $21 billion since it was established in 1994.”

(via cnn)

theshallowend: Working Proof is such a nice idea. Artists sell...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:41:25 -0500

theshallowend:

Working Proof is such a nice idea. Artists sell their work on the site and choose a cause to which a portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated. This pretty print by Amy Ruppel is the latest addition. (via Poppytalk)

"The “Hope for Haiti Now” charity album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts, becoming the first..."

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:51:17 -0500

“

The “Hope for Haiti Now” charity album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts, becoming the first digital-only release to achieve this feat, according to sales data issued Wednesday.

The album from Friday’s national telethon sold 171,000 copies, Nielsen SoundScan said.

”

- ‘Hope for Haiti’ is first digital-only release to debut atop pop charts (via ryking)

proust73: Haiti: Is this the best picture in the world? Meet...

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:54:48 -0500

proust73:

Haiti: Is this the best picture in the world?

Meet Kiki, Boy Wonder, alive and well after eight days under the rubble of earthquake-blitzed Port au Prince.

Kiki was saved after an incredible operation, in the Nazan district of the Haitan capital, mounted by US earthquake experts.

The heroes and heroines were members of urban rescue squads from New York and Virginia, some of whom had been involved in the 9/11 horrors of New York in 2001.

©Matthew McDermott / Polaris / eyevine

"Boy, 7, raises $160,000 for Haiti appeal" -- Via CNN.com

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:45:16 -0500

joeross:

My name is Charlie Simpson. I want to do a sponsored bike ride for Haiti because there was a big earthquake and loads of people have lost their lives,” said Simpson on his JustGiving page, a fundraising site which launched his efforts.
via cnn.com
His goal was £500.00.

He has raised £112,407.07 as of the publishing of this post.

His donations page is here:
http://www.justgiving.com/CharlieSimpson-HAITI

Direct donation link:
http://www.justgiving.com/Donation/Sponsored/Default.aspx?pid=2205791

purchase the hope for haiti now album on iTunes

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:41:32 -0500

purchase the hope for haiti now album on iTunes:

all proceeds go to charity

networkevangelist: After an amazing social media campaign...

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:44:14 -0500

networkevangelist:

After an amazing social media campaign @Invisible won the $1 million dollar Chase Community giving prize. Their work is inspirational and their campaign will become on of the premiere case studies for non profits using social media.

Brilliant Work. I’m thrilled they won. Congratulations Invisible Children

Congrats to Invisible Children for winning the Chase Community giving competition!

"Twitter Looks To Help Bring Hope To Haiti With Hope140.org..."

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:39:39 -0500

“Twitter Looks To Help Bring Hope To Haiti With Hope140.org http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/22/twitter-haiti-hope140/ by @jasonkincaid”

- TechCrunch

Google's Satellite View of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:37:01 -0500

Google's Satellite View of Port-au-Prince, Haiti:

(via ideasareawesome)

bill gates' new website

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:09:58 -0500

bill gates' new website:

for some good reads

thedailywhat: Help Haiti: Doing their part to help, Uncommon...

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:51:47 -0500

thedailywhat:

Help Haiti: Doing their part to help, Uncommon has released a series of “Haiti Relief”-themed iPhone cases, promising to donate 100% of the proceeds to the Red Cross Recovery and Relief Efforts.

The attention-grabbing cases “also [act] as an ongoing reminder to friends and strangers that the rebuilding of Haiti will go on long beyond the media coverage.”

FYI: You can never do too much.

[doobybrain.]

follow @billgates on twitter

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:56:04 -0500

follow @billgates on twitter:

big welcome to bill gates!