Latitude

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

First Things First

Boathouse Group is an advertising agency based in Waltham, MA, that also happens to manage a smart, local “microcharity” called SmallCanBeBig.org, which was voted the charitable recipient of this year’s Twestival Local Boston.

“Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but work from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact… a Twestival or Twitter-Festival is a global series of events organized by volunteers around the world under short timescales, which bring people offline for a great cause.” (For a list of cities and a history of Twestival, please visit the Twestival home site here).

Please see details at the bottom of the page for how you can contribute and, (if local to the Boston area), connect with some new people for a great cause this Thursday evening, September 10th, in Cambridge, MA.

From Personal Experience to Personalized Giving

Boathouse CEO, John Connors, founded the organization in the midst of Boston’s climbing homelessness rates–but, particularly, after he witnessed a hard-working woman’s difficulties in paying her utility bill (he helped to have the utilities turned back on).

SmallCanBeBig.org works with about a dozen local charities to find families in need, and enhances the donor’s experience so that individuals can donate any amount (as little as $1) to families with specific troubles, and garner a sense of their own positive impact on the people they’re helping–100% of the amount donated goes directly to a landlord, utility company, or medical provider awaiting payment.

A More Giving Giving-Experience

The SmallCanBeBig.org Web site places an emphasis on the personal narratives of the people they help, preserving dignity and confidentiality, while imbuing the stories of potential recipients with liveliness and individuality. The organization has begun crowdsourcing copywriters via Twitter to help make the “facts of the matter” come alive for each family in need.

Living up to its name, SmallCanBeBig.org utilizes a crowdfunding model for each family, setting a goal (ex. “$1000 keeps a family in their home”), whose progress is openly displayed on the donations page.

On the Psychology of Giving

Mark Nikolewski, who designed the site and heads up social media for SmallCanBeBig.org, shared some of the fast-growing organization’s insights and observations about community engagement and the tricky task of incenting charitable donations.

Mark cited three attributes in SmallCanBeBig.org that seem to have proven most important to individuals making donations:

100% - every cent of the donation goes to help the family specified by the donor.

Direct – donations don’t go right to families but, rather, directly to landlords, utility companies, and medical providers awaiting payment from the families.

Local - about 70% of SmallCanBeBig.org‘s donations come from the Boston area.

Still, 30% is a good amount which come from non-local sources– some as far away as England, New Zealand, and Australia.

Steeped in the nitty-gritty of SmallCanBeBig.org‘s social media, Mark also observed that Boston locals who hear about SmallCanBeBig.org from non-local sources (say, a friend tweeting from California) seem more likely to take an interest in the organization; local organizations that are recommended “remotely” may leave a stronger positive impression on an individual.

Additionally, Mark noted the importance of presenting only a manageable amount of information on SmallCanBeBig.org‘s Web site (there are 6 families that one can give to right now), which prevents donors from feeling discouraged regarding their ability to help.

We worked very hard to avoid what has been coined ‘the paradox of choice’–the trouble being, when a person is given too many choices, they don’t make any. Theoretically it might be nice to have a lot of families on the site at once for people to choose amongst, but, really, the tendency is to get bummed out and think, ‘Oh, well–what good can I do?’. So we try to address that sense of helplessness or apathy by limiting the number of choices.

Mark Nikolewski, Boathouse Group

Talking About Giving

To get the word out, SmallCanBeBig.org has shown some resourcefulness. The organization has created its own media (all in-house, including the soundtrack by copywriter Josh Kahn), and advertised on Hulu:

SmallCanBeBig.org attracted the attention of springwise.com, an organization that publishes new, noteworthy entrepreneurial ideas. It also procured the support of writer Jay Hathaway in promoting a SmallCanBeBig.org rendition of Matt Jones’ famous “Get Excited and Make Things” shirt. (For images and the full story, click here.)

To find out more, you can visit the SmallCanBeBig.org blog here, stop by their Web site to make a contribution, simply tell a friend, or see details below regarding the Twestival Local Boston.

Twestival Local Boston Details

When:
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 @ 6:30pm

Where:
OM Restaurant
92 Winthrop Street
Cambridge, MA

How much?
$20
(100% of the proceeds go to the local non-profit SmallCanBeBig.)

About SmallCanBeBig.org
SmallCanBeBig.org, a new all volunteer micro-charity dedicated to helping families on the verge of homelessness. The site provides a new way for people to directly help families on the edge by using the Internet to harness the power of small donations. It is unique in that it’s direct and 100% of every donation goes immediately to address a specific expense or urgent bill like rent, utility or medical expenses. Donations provide the help necessary to get families back on track, so donors know exactly how their donations make a difference.

SmallCanBeBig.org is using social media to promote social change. Grassroots in its approach, they are using social media tools such Twitter and Facebook as well as a dedicated street team to help spread the word about the organization.  SmallCanBeBig.org helps connect those with a little extra to families without enough.  And since their launch in mid-January, 946 donors from 45 States have raised over $75,000.  A total of sixty-two families—including 135 children—have been helped.

Header photo courtesy of billselak’s flickr, (cc) some rights reserved.