Celebrate MLK Holiday as a day of service – with Citizen Effect
Jan 18th
Today, the nation celebrates and honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. For many of us, that means a day on, not a day off– volunteering and participating in community events. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a national day of service to encourage volunteering and community involvement. Dr. King emphasized the power of service toward meeting many of the challenges we face today: poverty, economic insecurity, hunger, illiteracy and environmental threats.
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you’re interested in participating, there are many ways to serve. Here are some ideas from www.mlkday.gov:
Why Serve?
- Strengthen communities
- Empower individuals
- Bridge barriers
How to Serve
- Volunteer on the day of service (check out our friends at www.VolunteerSpot.org for ideas)
- Volunteer throughout the year
- Get your organization to support the day of service
What to do
- Start early
- Set realistic goals
- Build partnerships
- Involve your partners
Serve as a Citizen Philanthropist
Mlk.gov has some great ideas on their site, but you’ll have to do all the planning and coordination – like setting realistic goals, building partnerships and involving your partners. We hope you’ll embrace this call to serve. But you don’t have to go it alone!
At Citizen Effect we’ve worked hard to bring you a complete platform that makes it easy to serve and help others. We’ve taken care of all the planning and coordination, so you can focus on service. The concept is simple: pick a project commitment, then leverage your network to raise the money. We have over 30 projects focused on critical needs such as clean water, food, education, and the environment. We also have easy to use tools to help you pick a project, then raise money by leveraging your network of friends and family to see the project to completion.
Here’s a sampling of projects started by Citizen Philanthropists, just like you:
- Dana Jill and Robin are raising $2350 to repair wells in Devki Village to give 320 people access to clean water. See the project page here >>
- Matt and Dana F. are raising $2610 to provide a childcare center for Sedla Village and will impact 192 lives. See the project page here >>
- Coral Z raised $1200 to build a multi-purpose classroom in Subtanjalla Cae and impacted 300 lives. See the project page here >>
Click here for a complete list of projects >>
Do you want to participate in this national day of service? Then let us help you achieve your goal. Apply to be a Citizen Philanthropist today >>
Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Have a great holiday! And thanks for taking part in this national day of service.
Help Haiti Now, Support CARE
Jan 14th
Port-au-Prince, Haiti is in ruins with over 2 million people affected, and thousands dead. Your help is urgently needed.
President Obama said, “responding to a disaster of this magnitude will require every element of our national capacity,” and all of us are part of that effort. Let’s work together, as Citizen Philanthropists, to help the people of Haiti.
“We currently have 133 personnel on the ground in Haiti and are deploying additional staff immediately to distribute food, hygiene kits and water, as well as to deliver emergency health services.” – Dr. Helene Gayle, CARE president and CEO
Please consider making a donation right now, to help CARE provide critical services >>
Around 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck 10 miles off the coast of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince and triggered a tsunami warning for the region. A series of more than 30 aftershocks measuring 4.5 and higher on the Richter Scale, followed throughout the night and into the morning. The combined effect of this earthquake and its aftershocks has devastated Haiti and in particular its capital, potentially leaving thousands dead and many more without shelter or access to basic necessities.
As with all disasters, clean water, shelter, food, and medical aid are urgently needed in Haiti. Because of their special needs, and the fact that they are often less able to flee, women and girls are especially during emergencies, and they will require immediate assistance. Mothers with infants and pregnant women will also require special supplies and health care services in the wake of the disaster.
“The immediate need is to rescue people trapped in the rubble, then to get people food and water. We’re particularly worried about the children, because so many schools seem to have collapsed. Children were still in school in the afternoon when the earthquake hit, so there are many children trapped. It’s horrifying.” – Sophie Perez, CARE’s Country Director in Haiti.
CARE plans to start food distributions using stocks of high-protein biscuits from warehouses in Haiti. In addition, the 133 CARE staff who are already on the ground are coordinating with U.N. agencies and other aid organizations to gather more detailed information about the damage and will rapidly scale up their response based on these assessments. CARE’s staff in Haiti has extensive experience responding to disasters, and CARE is also immediately dispatching humanitarian crisis experts from around the world to address the crisis facing Haiti.
What CARE is doing
CARE is deploying additional emergency team members to the devastated city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti to support the 133 staff who are already on the ground in Haiti. These staff will be selected from around the world for their expertise in emergency relief. Together, this team will work to coordinate with U.N. agencies and other aid organizations to gather more detailed information about the current conditions and quickly develop an effective, coordinated response. This effort will include providing earthquake victims with basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, and emergency medical aid.
Why?
Haiti and its capital, Port-au-Prince, have suffered the worst earthquake in the country’s history, a disaster that has devastated the Western hemisphere’s most impoverished nation. Although exact numbers are not yet available, the death toll is expected to be catastrophic. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands may be dead. Without immediate assistance, conditions in Port-au-Prince and Haiti’s other affected areas could significantly worsen. The few health and humanitarian resources that were formerly available in the region were likely destroyed during the earthquake. CARE has begun responding to Haiti’s urgent need by providing critical relief in the country where the organization has been operating since 1954.
How?
CARE will draw upon its existing resources stored in Haitian warehouses to immediately begun assisting Port-au-Prince’s survivors. In addition, with the help of Delta Airlines, selected CARE staff are quickly being flown into the region. The combined CARE team will then perform assessments in concert with other aid organizations and U.N. agencies that become the basis for the response plan that the team will subsequently help institute.
Visit the project page today and make your tax deductible donation >>
Citizen Philanthropy Named One of Top Four Social Good Trends of 2009
Dec 29th
This is the time of year when everyone takes stock of what’s happened over the last twelve months.
Here are some interesting wrap-ups from around the blogosphere, highlighting citizen philanthropy, micro-philanthropy, social entrepreneurship and other ways of doing good.
4 Social Good Trends of 2009
Mashable’s Melissa Jun Rowley focused on what’s possible as a result of social media and web 2.0. Melissa points to some interesting organizations that are leading the way. Not surprisingly, we thought Citizen Effect deserved a spot in the Citizen Philanthropy category 
The top four trends highlighted in the article include:
- Citizen Philanthropy
- Social Action Video
- Micro-Activism via Mobile Apps
- Transparency, Cause Marketing & Real-Time Search
Read the original article here >>
The Top Moments of the Decade in Social Entrepreneurship
Nathaniel Whittemore does more than look back over the last year. He’s taken the long view. His list covers the technology, the people, the publications and the organizations that really sparked a revolution in social entrepreneurship.
Some of the highlights include discussions of the role of the iPhone, the financial crisis, even the rise of eBay.
Read the original article here >>
Beyond the Classroom – Micro Goodness! Part 1 and 2
From Nelle’s blog. Nelle’s a good friend of Citizen Effect, but that’s not the only reason she’s on this list. Her two part post is chock full of great links on the topic of micro-goodness – what Nelle describes as, “things you can do, offer, think of or add– that contribute positively to your day and to positive energy… and mine… and our community.” Part one contains the discussion. Part two has all the links to resources, articles, sites and organizations.
Apple iPhone vs Android Platform Apps Sold and Market Size
Nov 21st
Disclaimer: I’m an Apple fanatic. That said, I just wanted to share some interesting numbers showing the growth to date of the iPhone/iPod Touch app platform against the Google Android app platform.
I’m looking forward to watching this develop and to getting my hands on the Android 2.0 devices. In the meantime, here are some numbers I picked up from some July ‘09 AdMod data (linked below).
First, consider the absolute app numbers:
- Android SDK was released 9/23/2008. In about 14 months it reached about 10,000 apps.
- iPhone SDK was released 3/06/2008. In about 14 months it reached about 70,000 apps (in 18 months it reached about 100,000).
Second, consider the number of users:
- Android, approximately 3 million users
- iPhone and iPod touch, approximately 50 million users
Third, consider the likelihood of purchasing a paid app (according to AdMob):
- Android 19% likely to pay
- iPhone 50% likely to pay
Finally, consider total market size:
- Android market size: $5 million (sold monthly)
- iPhone/iPod Touch market size: $200 million (sold monthly).
So if you believe AdMobs numbers, Apple’s market is worth about $2.4 billion annually. Very interesting to watch this unfold.
Good article on all this stuff:
http://gigaom.com/2009/08/27/how-big-is-apple-iphone-app-economy-the-answer-might-surprise-you/
Enjoy this new photo set of images from Thailand
Nov 12th
The photos in this set are from a trip I took to Thailand in 2007.
Click here to view the slide show on flickr.
Here’s a peek:
Cyborg: Steve Mann, the founder of wearable computing
Nov 9th
My uncle recently told me about Steve Mann. It turns out Mann is the self-proclaimed founder of wearable computing and arguably the ultimate social media maven. That’s because he’s gone for periods of up to two years lifestreaming, before anybody even knew what lifestreaming meant.
There’s a good interview with Mann on YouTube.
Inside Apple’s industrial design lab
Nov 9th
A rare glimpse behind the scene’s of Apple R&D facility in an interview with Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President, Industrial Design. Click here for the original article.
“I remember the first time I saw an Apple product,” says Ive as the camera pans across a busy Apple Store. “I remember it so clearly because it was the first time I realized when I saw this product I got a very clear sense of the people who designed it and made it.”
Or watch the video clip from Google.
Israel: Leader of Business Innovation
Nov 9th
Great video forwarded to me by a good friend who knows about this first hand. I’m looking forward to reading the book. In the meantime, check out this video interview from CNBC.
Apple Closing Quickly on RIM Smart Phone Market Share
Oct 27th
Market research firm ChangeWave today released its latest quarterly Consumer Smart Phone survey, which includes survey data taken in mid-September highlighting market share trends for Research in Motion, Apple, and Palm.
In the horserace among manufacturers, the release of the iPhone 3GS has led to a big jump in smart phone market share for Apple and has placed them within striking distance of Research In Motion — whose slew of models are still number one but have fallen to their lowest level in two years.
The report is an expanded analysis of data touched upon in September that showed Apple’s smart phone market share rising from 25% to 30% between June and September. The new analysis compares iPhone market share to the performance of Research in Motion, which has trended slightly down to currently stand at 40%, and Palm, which appears to be stabilizing at approximately 7% of the market after a steep decline from its leadership position earlier this decade.
