Giving Compass
  • Sign In
  • About Us
    About Giving Compass How We Choose Content and Organizations Annual Reflections Our Newsletter
  • Getting Started
  • Learn About Issues
    Topic Guides
    Animal Welfare COVID-19 Criminal Justice Democracy Disaster Relief Education Environment Health Homelessness Immigrants and Refugees Racial Equity Women and Girls
    Curated Articles
    Partner Collections Giving Compass Selections See All Articles
  • Give to Causes
    Issue Funds & Intermediaries Projects Nonprofits
  • Get Involved
    Philanthropy Resource Directory Events Volunteer Opportunities
  • Partner With Us
    Nonprofits Authors Use Our Content Services Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
Sign Up
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Sign In

A Problem Worth Fixing: Bringing Local Communities Together Again in the Digital Age

Giving Compass May 17, 2018
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
Click here for more.
A Problem Worth Fixing: Community Engagement in the Digital Age | Giving Compass
  •  Share
  •  Save
  • 58 shares
Share

[Photo credit: VolunteerMatch]

At a moment shaped by toxic social division and digital disruption, it is easy to agree that our communities and democracy would both be better off if we could persuade more good people to get involved and give back. With community service levels at historic lows, it’s time to pivot in a new direction. We must rethink our nation’s prevailing community engagement strategies and find new ways to use technology to bring communities together again in the digital age.

Challenge: Creating More Community Engagement

Politicians, businesses and philanthropists have all at different times stepped up to promote the virtues of service, but unfortunately none of the efforts have effectively addressed the underlying challenges.

We believe the reason so many well-intentioned efforts to stimulate greater community engagement over the last two decades have failed is because the problem is harder than it looks. When challenged with the issue of low engagement rates, many of us believe the solution is to inspire, persuade or convince more people to engage. It is for this reason that the conventional response to declining community involvement has been focused on either providing a greater incentive – a national service stipend, for instance – or launching high-profile campaigns to inspire more people to view community service as their civic, moral or patriotic duty.

But stimulating the “supply” of available volunteers is, at best, only half the solution. The other half is effectively connecting their interests and skills with a cause that needs their help. And doing that at scale is not easy.


Philanthropy is a complex topic, and others found these selections from the Impact Giving archive from Giving Compass to be good resources.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    4 Lessons for Companies Investing in Gender Equity

    Giving Compass' Take: • FSG explores gender equity as it relates to impact investment, giving advice for businesses that want to contribute to this area: Data, partnerships and embracing complexity are all keys. • How can we look beyond Corporate Social Responsibility efforts in terms of creating more opportunities for women? Are there ways for foundations and nonprofits to engage in change at a systems-level? • Here's a full guide for donors in advancing gender equality. Companies can create shared value by advancing gender equity at 3 levels: Developing products and services that address the unique needs and interests of men and women Strengthening the supply chain by integrating and building the capacity of women-owned businesses and female entrepreneurs Creating an operating environment that addresses gender inequities and barriers to business growth Nearly 10 years ago, Harvard Business Review published “The Female Economy,” noting that it represented a greater business opportunity than India and China combined. It is important to note that investments in shared value opportunities across these 3 levels require different expectations in terms of financial returns and social impact. For example, investments in products and services may have a shorter time horizon to showing business and social results, while investments in the operating environment may require a greater risk tolerance and patience for showing results. As a result, we see 4 steps that companies can take to best position their gender-related investments for success: Holistically examine the relevance of gender equity to your business. Don’t forget the data. Partner with NGOs. Embrace the complexity. As more companies recognize that increasing the overall opportunities for women is good for business, we look forward to partnering with leaders who are authentically engaged in this area. We welcome your feedback on additional steps that companies should consider to make the most from their gender-related shared value strategies. Read the full article about lessons for companies on gender equity by Laura S.L. Herman and Alexandra Geertz at FSG.


Effective community engagement is not simply a motivational problem, it is a much larger market problem.

Solution: Rethinking How We Use Technology

If low engagement rates are in part a symptom of a larger market failure, then we have the knowledge and tools to fix it. Craigslist, eBay, LinkedIn, Etsy, AirBnB, Uber, Kickstarter, and even Tinder are all useful examples of how technology has been used to reimagine and reshape our lives by creating and expanding new networked marketplaces. They bring people together in news ways and at a scale impractical without technology.

There is no doubt we can do the same for community engagement, but not until more people think about the problem differently so that we can rally the resources, talent, collaboration, and leadership needed to invest in better solutions.

Imagine if Match.com was just a national PR campaign encouraging more people to date, instead of a platform for connection? It would get people talking, but without the technology it would be just as hard to find a date as it was before. Dating, like volunteering, is about relationships. It is not just about an interest in connecting, it is about making the right connections.

Like dating, volunteering is a very personal experience. It’s only natural that different people will be drawn to different causes and opportunities to serve. So while nonprofits and community groups are looking for volunteers that match their needs and missions, volunteers are looking for opportunities that match their passions and skills. Without a framework to effectively align these interests you end up with a gap — or a market failure — that limits engagement, dilutes impact and too often leads to disappointing experiences.

In the 21st century we need to not only promote the virtues of community service, we need to design, fund and support digital systems optimized to meet the social capital needs of civil society at scale.

The Path Forward

What is most exciting about this challenge is the opportunity to bring the transformative power of new technologies to a social problem worth solving. There are more than 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S., 100,000+ local schools and tens of thousands of municipalities and local groups that depend on volunteer support. It is a huge market that is universally underserved.

At VolunteerMatch we are working to change that. Over the past two years we have been surveying our nonprofit users to better understand the services they need to more effectively attract and engage volunteers in our rapidly changing world. What we have heard over and over, is a need for:

  • Smarter mobile platforms
  • Better social media tools
  • Greater personalization
  • Improved communication systems
  • More peer-to-peer engagement and
  • An open API platform where interoperability and innovation can thrive

In short, they want a taste of the digital revolution that is threatening to leave them behind.

We have already begun work on what we are calling VolunteerMatch 3.0 or what might be best described as a vision for transforming the web’s largest database of volunteer opportunities into a social network to build social capital in the social sector.

To succeed we will need to expand our network of talent to include the brightest minds in data science, product development, engineering, design, communications, behavioral research, and AI. We will need to build new features, expand our reach and diversify our mission-related earned revenue streams. We will need new allies, advisors, partners and funders who share our vision and values.

As a nonprofit ourselves we understand the power of generosity and are excited to be partnering with philanthropy for the first time in more than a decade to capitalize this transformation.

____

Original contribution by Greg Baldwin, President of VolunteerMatch.

  •  Share
  •  Save
Share

Looking for a way to get involved?

Learning with others and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for Funding, take a look at these events, galas, conferences and volunteering opportunities to connect with individuals like you.

Loading...
Learn More

Are you ready to give?

If you are interested in Funding, please see these relevant Issue Funds, Charitable Organizations or Projects where you can get involved.

Loading...
Learn More
Connect

Loading...

Loading...

Learn More
Take Action

Loading...

Loading...

Loading...

Learn More
More from
Giving Compass
  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    Pancreatic Cancer Facts
  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    How Formerly Incarcerated People Can Get Back on Course
  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    Frequently Asked Immigration Information
Follow Us
Newsletter

Become a newsletter subscriber to stay up-to-date on the latest Giving Compass news.

About Us
  • About Giving Compass
  • In The News
  • Contact Us
  • Content at Giving Compass
  • Partner With Us
Trending Issues
  • Environment
  • Homelessness
  • STEM Education
  • Equal Pay Act
  • Gender Equality

Copyright © 2021, Giving Compass, LLC

•
  • Privacy Policy
  • User Agreement

Sign in

Your personal information is confidential at Giving Compass. For more information, please visit our privacy policy. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use.