Can 500 Planners Change the World?

[Edward Cotton]

Attending the AAAAs Planning Conference, it struck me that planners might be into lending their brains to good social causes.

So, could NING and FACEBOOK play a role?

Could we post monthly briefs from real non-profits and donate some of our time and are mental hard drives to attacking their problem?

At the end of that month we would present the non-profit with some thinking and hpefully, a couple of local volunteers who are interersted in helping that non-profit implement.

OR...

We could pick one big social cause and attack it- the Plannersphere would then distribute this thinking to non profits working on the cause?

It might seem hard to implement, but I am sure we can all make this work.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Ed

[Mike Arauz]

This sounds like a great idea. I think we could work on a few briefs a month. I think the challenge will be to collect all the input and package it into a concise document for the client.

[El Gaffney]

So the Live Earth guy and Bruce Mau made you want to change the world too? This a fantastic idea, and I would love to brainstorm on process for getting the initial non-profit brief through what we deliver. Feel free to hit me up over email if need be to keep the momentum going.

Worked a bit with Taproot - http://www.taprootfoundation.org/ - we'd be less formal of course, but i believe could provide even more valuable and timely assistance. I think we may find that in some cases the most important thing we can do is help them redefine objectives and consider what behaviors they can create, while in others we'll be able help them understand their org's perceptions (shoot, with 500 planners we should be able to get a nice sample size for research). The "possibilities" are grand.

[ken fisher]

This certainly came up more than once at the conference. My feeling is why stop at the brief when we can use the smarts of 500 planners to brainstorm a non-profit founded and run by planners. That kind of end goal is the spark for real motivation.

I think there is a real need for evolving the old non-profit model of connecting an organization with a group in need by devising a way to more directly connect haves with have-nots. I recently read about a non-profit website that connects teachers directly with people willing to donate the supplies they are lacking. There's LinkedIn for professionals, craiglsit for renters & eBay for products; where is humanitarian 2.0. I think an idea centered around connecting individuals with individuals would work for 2 reason: 1) We'd cut out the middleman and connect directly with the person in need, 2) It would be possible to monitor the outcome of volunteering or donating, see an end result and provide the means for an ongoing, two-way relationship.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, whatever we end up doing, I'm in too...

[Edward Cotton]

We are building a PLANNING FOR GOOD group on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4736469785&pwstdfy=679594...

Please join us...

[Edward Cotton]

The group on Facebook is taking off..

86 people in 24 hours...

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