New Feature: The Basics

In an effort to make the content on The Changebase as user-friendly and understandable as possible, I've launched a new feature called "The Basics". Sometimes I get so caught up in the technical aspects of CSR, sustainability and other change initiatives that I lose sight of the fact that not everyone spends as much time learning about this stuff as I do (and rightfully so!).

With that in mind, after receiving some great feedback, I decided to identify ways to involve everyone in these important conversations of change - no matter their background or experience in these areas.

Which brings me to The Basics series. Check out this section for all of the foundational information you need to be informed and aware of what's going on in change today. There are a couple of entries listed there now, and I plan to make additions on an ongoing basis.

And, as this example has proven, I really take your comments and suggestions to heart - if there's something you don't understand or want to learn more about, contact me and I'll add it to my list of Basics articles. Enjoy!

-Ashley

Share Your Stories on The Changebase

Hi Readers, As you know, one of my goals for The Changebase is to open this forum up for you to tell your own story. After all, you're interested in creating change and making a difference in your community - which, by default, means you have your own tales to tell.

With that in mind I'm thrilled to announce that Alicia Conway - MBA student, world-traveler, and a dear friend of mine - has written The Changebase's first Creating story, and it's a great one.

We talk about social entrepreneurship; that is, innovators looking to create new systems and programs that solve pressing problems. But what about people who see value in making change from within existing organizations? These social intrapreneurs are doing great work, too, and Alicia's post highlights some of the "internal changemaking" learning she's doing through conferences and other events at her business school.

Thanks, Alicia, for contributing your thoughts and enthusiasm to The Changebase! I hope everyone enjoys Alicia's post, The Value of Change from Within, as much as I did.

-Ashley

Update: Summer of Social Good

Hi everyone, I just wanted to provide a quick update to my post from a couple months ago about Mashable's campaign, Summer of Social Good.

It sounds like the campaign, raising money for World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam America, The Humane Society and Livestrong, was a big success - raising over $33,000 in just a few months. I've been checking Mashable's site since the campaign ended on August 28th, and unfortunately they haven't yet posted any information on what's coming next. However, given the trend toward using social media for social change, I'm guessing we can expect more news from Mashable and their partners in the near future.

Keep checking The Changebase for updates - I'll let you know as soon as I hear more news.

-Ashley

The Changebase Listed As a 3BLMedia Blog

I'm thrilled to announce that last week I was added to 3BL Media's  list of featured CSR and sustainability bloggers. I'm honored to be included in such a distinguished group of CSR professionals - including Mallen Baker, Fabian Pattberg, Joel Makower, and Sean Stannard-Stockton. It's also terrific to see that The Changebase is making a few waves early on. 3BL Media is a terrific resource for anyone interested in all-things CSR.

We are committed to the Triple Bottom Line: people, planet, profit. Our mission is to advance and promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability through effective communications. Using social media, blogs, and Web 3.0 interactivity, your commitment and dedication to the Triple Bottom Line has the potential to reach and influence millions of people.

I get their CSR Feed sent to me every week and it's a great collection of news, blogs, press releases, and reports from around the world. I highly recommend that you check out the site and subscribe to their feed!

Thanks, 3BL Media, for including me and The Changebase!

Summer of Social Good

These days I'm loving the cross-pollinating going on between social media and "social good"; that is, using Web 2.0 and platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites to raise awareness and create change. I was reading through my Twitterfeed today and came across a post, "10 Ways to Support Charity Through Social Media". While it's a quick rundown of a lot of ideas and strategies that most "plugged-in" change agents already know about, it did point me in one new direction today.

The Summer of Social Good is an intiative/experiment running from June 1st through August 28th with the goal of raising awareness - and money - for some very important charities: World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam America, The Humane Society and Livestrong. Run by Mashable, the hugely popular Web 2.0 and Social Media blog, the Summer of Social Good is:

...the first large scale online charitable campaign to raise funds through the power of Social Media and the Internet. The goal is to use the power of “Social Influence” via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs and other online media to raise an unprecedented amount for our fund benefiting The Humane Society, Livestrong, Oxfam America and WWF from June 1st until August 28th, 2009.

I thought this was a pretty cool idea, and as a way to show my support, I've not only Tweeted about it but I've placed the Widget in the right sidebar of The Changebase. Now, everytime you check this site between now and August 28th you can see how much money has been raised for these worthy charities. Not only that, but those talented folks at Mashable have made the Widget completely interactive: you can learn more, donate, tweet, or even share this campaign with your friends too. I hope you'll take a moment to read more about these organizations and share what you've learned with others!