I began the day yesterday on the steps of the Michigan Union at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, at 2am- 50 years to the moment when Senator John F. Kennedy arrived to an awaiting throng of 10,000 students and gave a brief but impassioned address which marked the beginning of what would become the Peace Corps. Kennedy challenged U-M students, in what would become the signature line of his Inaugural address, to ask what they could do for their country, not what their country could do for them.

“How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can! And I think Americans are willing to contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we have ever made in the past.”

Kennedy issued a challenge to a generation urning to be asked. And U-M students led their generation in responding. Within 10 months of Kennedy’s Michigan Union speech, the first Peace Corps volunteers were deployed overseas. 

As the world has changed over the last 50 years and become more interconnected, inherent barriers to entry for making a difference have been lowered- abroad and at home. A young person looking to give back now has more opportunities, indeed a menu of options, locations, durations and experiences to serve.

Technology and social media have helped to make the world smaller. And while they will never replace face-to-face (I disagree with the suggestion that it is a zero-sum comparison), they undeniably have opened up the world to those who never before had the platform to voice their opinions, join a conversation or contribute in small ways to take action and create change. 

Across sectors and industries, Millennials are demonstrating that what used to be accomplished by a small amount of people- the elected, appointed, entitled, connected- can now just as well, if not better, be accomplished by a large amount of people- all of us- giving the time, money or talent that we have. The idea is that the sum of the parts are larger than the whole itself. 

I traveled from Michigan to the campus of the University of Maryland College Park to participate in a discussion on whether Social Media is a “Game Changer or a World Changer,” to bring this point home: in the 21st century we can all be citizen activists, using new tools to connect, exchange ideas, collaborative, and make a difference. In the 21st century, we have open access to information- data- that drive decision-making and problem-solving.

Recently, Malcolm Gladwell made a provocative statement in The New Yorker, in which he claimed that social media has contributed to the death of activism. He insisted that technology doesn’t build relationships- it breaks them, and that young people today are not as connected to causes and issues as prior generations- specifically referencing the Civil Rights movement.

( I was interviewed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy shortly after the article was published and offered a rebuttal to Gladwell’s charges in a podcast)

I wish Gladwell had been in Michigan this week. He would have seen his argument fall on its face. No one is saying that Facebook likes and Twitter followers are going to bring about world peace or an end to world hunger. What we are saying, and what the discussion about the future of international service kept harkening back to, is how we are going to leverage these tools- this inherent interconnectedness- to accomplish our mission and goals better. 

Lowering the barrier to entry should never be discounted. Openness and participation by all, not a few, is a paradigm shift. It should be embraced. 

Service builds leadership and civic skills that result in a more engaged citizenry. It is a domino effect that ripples across sectors, and across a lifetime. Still, the individual impact is far less than the cummulative impact- the combined whole of individual parts. 

It is this concept that defines the 2.0 world in which we live, and that is the building block for myImpact.org and our efforts to leverage social media to engage more Americans in service, demonstrate the effectiveness of service programs and advance service as a solution to societal problems- at the community, national and international levels. 

Post by Chris Golden, Executive Director

On Sunday, I took a day trip to New York City to speak on a panel on social media and new technology at the bi-annual Millennium Campus Network Conference. For 3 days, about 600 students from around the country, and several from around the world, gathered on the campus of Columbia University to discuss progress made towards the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, and how it will be imperative on our Generation to respond to the urgent problems facing our world. 

The focus of my small contribution to the Conference was how micro-actions, previously confined and singular in nature, can be amplified, magnified and combined using social media to make progress towards large problems. Faced with the challenge of a sleepy audience as I took the stage, I boldly declared that the era of “1:1 was over.” That got some attention. Then I qualified what I meant in the context of how individuals- citizens, volunteers, activisits, advocates- can do extraordinary things, and how new technology can enhance and extend offline action through new online tools.

As the story of myImpact.org comes clearer in focus, this concept- micro actions towards large problems- is one that is defining both our civic mission and our technical purpose. I presented a similar story Wednesday evening as myImpact.org began a fall series of workshop presentations at the National Young Leaders Conference to high school student leaders. 

Last month, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the 2nd annual YNPNdc [Young Nonprofit Professional Network of DC] Social Media Summit, on the topic of Social Media and Social Change. 

The daylong Summit was an opportunity for nonprofit leaders to come together to assess both the tools, but- of equal importance- the strategy behind incorporating social media into the mission and cause of an organization and/or cause. 

I spoke specifically about some of the ways in which myImpact.org has been able to use social media- coming from the perspective of a start-up social enterprise organization. We started with just a vague idea and, during one of the toughest environments ever for raising seed capital, turned to social media to introduce ourselves, build our following and our brand. 

We started a Twitter feed- giving information about the national service movement during the passage of a landmark piece of Congressional legislation. 

We started a YouTube Channel with video interviews of volunteers who we met, asking them to tell us their story- why they serve.

We started a Flickr Stream with photos from the various events, conferences and volunteer projects that we attended. 

And we started a Facebook Cause, first among our friends and then among our core group of supporters- and used it to raise $800 in 24 hours last October, during our inaugural fundraiser- America’s Giving Challenge. 

All of these efforts came full circle in February of this year when we participated in the Pepsi Refresh Project, and earned thousands of votes during the month to finish in 4th place- and a $25,000 grant.

This is the myImpact.org story. And incumbent in our mission is being an advocate to other nonprofits in how to effectively use social media. Last year, we published a paper in a General Services Administration journal titled “A Millennial Model of Engagement” describing three basic principles to engage young people both offline and online- simplicity, scalability, and being social. We believe that social media tools embrace these principles and that a social media strategy must embody them. 

The YNPNdc Summit got coverage in the Washington Association & Nonprofit Journal, BISNOW including a picture of the Social Change panelists. 

Additionally, the powerpoint presentations used at the Summit are available online for download through slideshare.

YNPNdc is a great organization working very hard to empower young nonprofit leaders in the DC region. myImpact.org is proud to be a part of this group! 

Yesterday was a good day of publicity for myImpact.org with two articles that we didn’t expect to see when we woke up in the morning!

First, we were profiled on the Rocketlance Blog as a tool that corporations should consider for their employee volunteerism programs. We’ve always thought that myImpact.org answers this need well and will be exploring opportunities for us to include a corporate volunteer program in our beta phase. It was an honor to be included right alongside some of the biggest names- and most respected services- in the volunteering space: VolunteerMatch, Idealist and DoSomething.org. Thanks to Cole Winans, CEO of Syneticus, LLC and a strong supporter of myImpact.org for including us! 

Also, the Washington Association & Nonprofit Journal BISNOW published a great write-up of last week’s 2nd Annual YNPNdc Social Media Summit. We were excited to take part in the day, learn from some of the experts in the DC Social Media Community, and contribute to a panel discussion on Social Media and Social Action. 

Check out both of our news hits and be sure to visit our online platform- which crossed 100 users last week. 

myImpact.org is back in New York City today - as invited guests to attend The #Promise- an innovative daylong conference being hosted by the organization WeSocial along with a ton of partner organizations including TED, GOOD, FastCompany, JustMeans and PepsiCo. The event is focused on corporate social responsibility- and companies are being invited throughout the day to announce their commitments- their promises. You can follow along throughout the day online at www.thepromiseny.com and by following the hashtags #thepromise (information about the event) and #promise (commitments). 

For myImpact.org- the event is exiting for two reasons. 1) As a recipient of a Pepsi Refresh Project grant, it’s an opportunity for us to attend an event hosted by the managers of that online competition- namely PepsiCo and GOOD Magazine. (Pepsi Refresh has already been talked about extensively today). and 2) With less than one week until the beta launch of our platform- it gives us a good assessment of the current status of social media & corporate social responsibility- an area that we have plans to move in to in 2011. For example, Timberland mentioned that one of the main ways that they measure their social responsibility is by the engagement of their employee volunteers. Timberland has a longstanding relationship with City Year- another myImpact partner. 

The #Promise is taking place as part of New York Internet Week- a two-week technology festival similar to DC Week- which myImpact.org will be taking part in next week in Washington.