If you are new to the issue we are addressing in this post – changing the name of the Community-Driven Institute – come up to speed here.
Well this is it – we believe we have finally found the name that says what this organization is about at its core. With that, several key decisions remain.
Now more than ever, we really need your wisdom.
We have spent months discussing both the process of changing the name and the name itself. We have done so here at the blog, on listserv discussion groups, on Twitter and Facebook, in conference calls and in one-on-one conversations.
Having taken all that incredible conversation to heart, we are excited to move forward.
So first I want to share how we came up with the name. (And yes, that includes sharing the name itself.)
And then I want to share what’s next, which is, of course, the nothing-is-ever-simple part.
Listening to What You Told Us
Those of you who have been through the Community-Driven Institute’s classes know there are two parts to figuring out complex situations. The first is about asking great questions that reach for the highest potential of any situation. The second is about listening to the answers in a way that provides deeper insights than just the words that are spoken.
When it came to asking questions, you have all been amazing in helping us question and think and reach for words that spoke to the organization’s potential. You asked questions we hadn’t thought to ask ourselves. You helped guide us to find clarity. To say thank you hardly seems adequate.
From there, though, it was our job to listen and find insights in the broad array of answers to those questions. In that process, several things became clear.
1) The Dogs That Don’t Bark
It isn’t just Sherlock Holmes who finds insight in the dogs that don’t bark. Dimitri and I have, for years, tried to hear the things people were either not saying, or saying quietly. We have found that sometimes the highest wisdom in the group is being shared in whispers by people who are almost embarrassed to say it aloud.
That alone is powerful. But when that same whispered wisdom is being shared in the exact same words, over and over, that’s when we know it is time to sit back and listen. That is what happened with the name we eventually settled upon – over and over, people quietly suggested the exact same name.
2) Action!
Many people suggested the use of action in the name. More than one person mentioned the newly branded “FeedingAmerica” (the artist formerly known as America’s Second Harvest), noting that one instantly knows what the organization does and is about, in large part because of the action in that name.
3) What Does the Name Make Possible?
Through the CDI’s core values, we know that the more we find the highest potential of any situation, the more likely that everyone will agree with the outcome. For each of the names that were suggested, we asked what those words suggested was possible. The answer kept coming back to the same high-level response – the same words again and again.
The Name: “Creating the Future”
Yes, it is the name of the blog. It is the subtitle of The Pollyanna Principles. Of the six principles, it is the critical one around which all the rest revolve: “We are creating the future with each and every action we take.”
In our classes and workshops, it is what we teach people how to do. It is the conversation we are kindling sector-wide. It is the purpose behind the in-person convening we do in communities and in online discussions.
It is our essence. Whether they are board members or funders, social entrepreneurs or executive directors, consultants or volunteers – we help social change agents create the future of our world.
BIG Decisions Remain: We Need Your Advice!
Having decided on the name of the organization (with a trademark filing now in the works), there is one big decision remaining.
That is because the domain names CreatingTheFuture.org and .com are already taken. While the name of the organization is one thing, the organization’s address in the great mass of tubes that are the world wide web is another matter.
The people who own those web address names are willing to sell them. Purchasing both will cost somewhere between $5,000 – $10,000. To purchase only CreatingTheFuture.org may cost as much as $4,500 (it may be some less. The owner has already come down from his initial price, knowing this is a charitable effort. Our contract to purchase the name allows for some flexibility depending on monies we are able to raise).
So the decision is as follows:
Should we raise money to buy one or both domain names / web addresses?
(And perhaps that is 2 questions. Is it enough to own just one?)
OR
Should we use a different web address than the organization name – for example CreateTomorrow.org/.com – which, BTW, we already own?
Here are the factors we are considering in the decision.
Reasons for having the domain be the same as the name
• Reaching for the vision of the organization will require changing the conversation in the world of social change / nonprofits / NGOs – an effort we have already undertaken in many arenas, including this blog. To what degree will it impact our effectiveness in advancing that conversation if the message (as represented in both the organization’s name and the URL) is not consistent?
• To advance that conversation, we want to hit the ground running with as complete a message as possible from the start. Again, to what degree does a fractured name / URL fracture the message?
• The web is THE portal to what is now CDI and will be Creating the Future. Unlike a bricks-and-mortar chain like McDonald’s, with thousands of locations to make an impression, there is only ONE portal to us. Will it confuse if that portal does not share the organization’s name?
• Practical matters arise as well. Multiple names/URLs could easily confuse. A single name will be easier to remember, easier to find, consistent with the blog (which is already called Creating the Future), etc.
Reasons for NOT having the domain be the same as the name
• We would have to raise the money to purchase the name. Is that an appropriate thing for which to raise funds?
That is our thinking so far (based, for the most part, on the thinking you have shared with us).
And so here is the last batch of questions for which we could really use your help.
1) Are there reasons on either side of the decision, that we have not considered?
2) Given our mission and vision and purpose, is this an appropriate purpose for which to raise funds?
3) And in the back of my mind, the nagging question: If the choice is “Buy one or both,” do you think we could raise the money to do so?
So what do you think?
June 12 update: After 33 comments (at last count), the decision is in. Read it here!
Creating the Future – the ‘once and future’ name! Brilliant!
Love the name…if it weren’t late at night, I might say more…
But have you thought about using Creatingthefuture.net ? Perhaps that is available…
What a wonderful process and what wonderful modeling. And the NAME. Of course! As for your dilemma. HEre is what jumped out at me. You wrote:
The web is THE portal to what is now CDI and will be Creating the Future. Unlike a bricks-and-mortar chain like McDonald’s, with thousands of locations to make an impression, there is only ONE portal to us.
This sounds like a pretty persuasive reason to raise and spend the money. What is at stake if the ONE portal fails?
And then of course I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some Creating The Future Magic you could weave to offer the person who owns it now some in-kind work for an org or issue s/he cares about?
good luck.
Your process has been fascinating. Talk about walking your talk! Thanks for letting so many engage with you. As was mentioned above, it seems to me that the website should match your brilliant name – and if each of your followers sent you $10 or $20, you could raise the money in a flash. Maybe your next entry should have a PayPal attachment. It’s all in service of Creating the Future!
I’ve not actively contributed to the name change conversation – as a journalist, headline writing always was my biggest challenge – but I must continue to offer kudos in the transparency demonstrated throughout this process.
It’s more than a name change, as important as it is. It’s building consensus on that common vision, and modeling for those of us who have joined you on that journey how it can and should be done. What an incredible learning process. What a privilege it is to be a new member of this incredible community.
Actually…
The pride I’m feeling right now is one of those outcomes of the process itself that, as consultants, we should be creating for participants in similar kinds of settings. The modeling continues!
Throw up the donate sign already!!! Or let me purchase a part of a letter. Or make it a tiered system. Or let us help you and have a daggone tweet a thon! We love you and the name. So, lets get to it. I have 25 bucks right now to throw at you!!
One other thought:
I love the name. Its forward thinking and participatory and makes me want to be a part of that. And why not have a virtual party when you raise the funds. Lets do a tweet happy hour and celebrate you and Dimitri and all that you do. or even a skype happy hour. Lets have streamers and champagne and think and talk big thoughts.
I think you want both so that you can have the ability for the redirect when someone types in .com and it might just feel better to know that .com and .org have found their rightful homes.
Congratulations,
Ericka
I love the new name, Hildy. It’s big, bold, and it gives me chills. I think you need the URL (at least the .org) to make visitors to the site feel like the mission is as big and bold as it truly is.
Do you know the people behind CreateTheFuture.com? It seems like they have a mission similar to yours.
This has, and continues to be an amazing process. Not only does everyone who has contributed to the discussion feel a part of the organization but we also had the opportunity to learn with you and from each other. It was fascinating to watch the popcorn effect is people reacted to each new post. Kernels of wisdom flew everywhere 🙂
Some of that wise discussion evolved around where people would be looking for you online. They will be looking under creatingthefuture.com or org. My thought is that the domain name is very important for another reason. One more thought. If transparency and authenticity is at the core of what Creating the Future is doing, what does it say about the organization when the domain doesn’t match? Just thinkin…
I like the new name. It has movement and action to it.
As for the name decision, I personally would explore getting a domain that contains “CreatingTheFuture” in it while not limiting yourself to ONLY being CreatingTheFuture.org or .com. Ultimately, the domain helps, indeed. But a well thought out SEO strategy will ultimately land your web site at the top of the Google search results (which you already have, BTW, even though your domain is not CreatingTheFuture.anything – http://www.google.com/search?q=creating+the+future)
The key to landing that spot (which is how a lot of your organic traffic will get to you) is: the title (check!) and a fresh page where basic SEO practices are met regularly (post titles, links with relevant keywords, etc.)
Hope this helps and congrats on this move!
Hildy/Dimitri: I agree with the individual who posted above re: CreatingtheFuture.net and seeing if that is available.
As to whether or not to purchase the other 2 domains, that’s a business decision that I assume depends upon whether or not those domains are in ACTIVE use or not or the possibility that they will BE in active use by another entity and create confusion. You don’t want to be competing with sound-alike domains.
Can you raise the money to purchase them? Well, do you want investors? I can’t recall if the CDI is non-profit or not. If it is, I doubt there’s a grant for this kind of thing. And I don’t imagine too many individual donors would find the use of their gifts to purchase domains so that someone else can’t have them as an attractive opportunity.
I’d say that if you opt to purchase the domains, that is something to be paid for out of operations or via a loan or corp. line-of-credit. Unless you can package the domain purchases into some kind of package that would provide for other marketing/development for what is now CDI, I can’t imagine that there would be much funding for something like this.
But, you don’t know until you explore it. Good luck!
SUE
Wow – you guys rock. SO much to think about. And we are excited that the name is resonating so clearly.
Just a moment to respond to some factual stuff. First, .net is not available. The owners of that domain will not sell it. We are under contract to purchase .org and have been in negotiation to purchase .com – the two that were most meaningful.
We also have explored variations of the domain (such as hyphenated, etc.) and they are all taken as well. And if the decision is to purchase a name, we might as well buy the name we would most want!
I also want to share that CDI is in the process of becoming a tax exempt organization, every step of which we are doing openly and transparently here at the blog. You can read more about our reasons and the process here: http://www.communitydriven.org/About/AboutUs-DemonstrationProject.htm
I think that’s it for factual clarification.
HG
I think we should always come from the place of highest professionalism. Which means it is definitly worth the money to buy one of the names. Mathcing your web site name to your organizational name is expected by the public. Personally I like the .org version! Go for it! You are worth it!
I am seeing two interesting threads of this discussion. One is posed by Manny and others who wonder, from a purely practical standpoint, if we really need the name to be the same as the domain.
The other is posed by Nancy and others, who are looking at alignment of message, alignment of walk and talk.
Fascinating to see how both questions focus on “Is it really necessary?” from completely different points of view. (One of the many reasons this discussion continues to blow my mind!)
I have posted here and elsewhere in the past (and teach at CDI) that when we have either/or decisions to make, a way of cutting through the Gordian Knot is to ask, “What’s the worst that could happen?” for each scenario.
So what’s the worst that could happen if we buy CreatingTheFuture.org?
And what’s the worst that could happen if we DON’T buy it?
Thoughts? (And just as an aside, this conversation is SO helpful, I can’t begin to say!)
HG
Have you asked the domain owners to consider their current tax obligations? There may be some advantage in donating the domain(s). Similarly, have they been asked about sponsorship opportunities that may be available on the site? Do you have enough traffic to make this desirable? We usually see a very large increase in traffic following a name change – as much as double.
To your question, yes, I think the domains are worth having.
David
The worst I can imagine happening if you buy the domain or domains is that you have to raise money for it. I don’t know exactly what consequences this might have. It might drain your funds from other things, and you might have to make sacrifices. (I don’t know exactly what, so I can’t be more specific.) The folks pitching in the funds might feel fatigued, and they’ll be less eager to pitch in for future fundraising efforts. It might be stressful and time-consuming to raise the funds.
The worst I can imagine happening if you don’t buy one or both of the domains is that someone horrible buys one or both of them, and it does damage to your brand. People get you confused with the horrible person, saying “Oh, Creating the Future? Isn’t that that Neo-Nazi group trying to create an all-Aryan-all-the-time future?” That’s the worst-case scenario, but it’s pretty darn unlikely. The more likely bad-case scenario is that the domains continue to be squatted, and you lose some traffic from people ending up at the wrong site. Good SEO will get you probably 70-80% of the traffic you’d get if you had the domain (a guesstimate), since many people will google you instead of typing in a URL directly. So, reasonably-bad case scenario is that you lose 20-30% of potential visitors. Is that worth the cost (financial and otherwise)?
Hope this noodling helps (:
-Pace
LOVE your noodling, Pace – thank you!
🙂
Other thoughts? What’s the worst that could happen if we do either – buy it or not?
HG
I’m having trouble coming up with a worst for buying the domain name(s). Maybe the donated funds could have been used for something else, but what is more important than establishing a strong presence for the organization to build on?
Giving supporters another way to be a part of the organization by helping create the identity we can all embrace – no downside I can see there either.
Pace did a great job of outlining some of the worst that can happen if you don’t purchase. Made me shudder!
Yikes, that’s a big chunk of change for URLs. (At least in my experience.)
But I now wish I’d gotten FundraisingCoach in .net and .org when I coined the term Fundraising coach years ago. (At least I think I coined it. There were no Google results for it back then!)
I didn’t scoop those up for the same reason I didn’t register FundraisingCoach for a trademark: I figured a rising tides lifts all ships.
I do still figure that but now that FRC is becoming my main business, I wish I had the brand consistency across domains. People may think that I used a .org since I work with nonprofits…sorry I used that word! *grin*
I think $10,000 is awfully expensive. But it’s probably a small investment in the long term.
I’d say go for it. Ask us to chip in. But you’ll never regret having the URL of your organization.
I think the names need to match, and that owning creatingthefuture.net won’t be good enough as people will assume it’s a .org or .com and type that in or find the wrong one through a Google search.
To me, buying a domain name seems like a needed investment, just like the cost of incorporating. I like the idea of bartering with the domain name owner to bring the price down.
However, I see there is a http://www.createthefuture.com site that has some overlap in nature of work; is that going to be a problem? Could you be sued successfully for creating a name that might confuse clients?
Just took a quick look at http://www.uspto.gov and see that there are quite a few trademark registrations for Create The Future and Creating The Future. You may want to have your lawyer take a look before you invest any more in the name.
Dave: Just a practical point – we are working with our attorney already on the trademark. We’re on it!
HG
Have you discussed making a trade with the domain names – CreateTomorrow.org/com for CreatingTheFuture.org/com as part of the deal? Do you want to part with CreateTomorrow?
Wow. I have read it all twice. Some thrice. Here’s what I’m synopsizing:
1) If we look at worst case scenarios, the worst case for buying the domain is that we find we can’t raise the money for it.
2) If we look at the worst case for NOT buying the domain, everything from alignment of message to someone else actually using those domains for evil (and totally screwing with our message in the act!) and everything in between.
What I am hearing is “Creating the Future should own CreatingTheFuture.org and should go for it to raise the money to do so.”
So first, the question of “Are we missing anything?”
And second, the question, “Should we raise the money to buy both? Or aim at just .org? Or aim at buying both, and if we don’t have enough only get one? Or…?”
Thoughts?
HG
Hildy,
I realize that I’m late to the name change party discussion, and feel free and for that I apologize.
I always find it valuable to ask the “new Coke question” meaning what happens if we do this, and what happens if we don’t. You’ll remember that in the 1980s Coca Cola introduced “new Coke” because it surpassed original Coke in all the taste tests. What they didn’t tell anyone though was that they were pulling old (classic) Coke off the market. As you know that is now regarded as one of the biggest marketing blunders in US business history.
I did a quick search and there are 2.4 million instances of “Community Driven Institute” on the web, which speaks to the great job of getting the word out that you and others have done for many years. When you do a search on “Creating the Future” there are 48 million hits, including ones about creating your ideal future from your dreams, creating the future garden, etc. That’s too many people searching for a term with too many undefined or very different meanings.
I think you’d be better off sticking with Community Driven Institute and concentrating on the good and important work that you do. I’ll guarantee that with a name change you’ll go through at least two years of starting every conversation with “We’re Creating the Future, we used to be the Community Driven Institute: and you;ll spend way more time explaining the name change than you think you will.
Regards,
Bill
Bill Huddleston
The CFC Coach
New email: BillHuddleston1@gmail.com
Totally agree with Bill. Two point four million instances of “Community Driven Institute” on the web is a lot of baby to throw out with the bath water. Per Guy Kawasaki, “Art of the Start”, Creating the Future is actually your “tag line” as in CDI – Creating the Future!
“A tag line is for your customers; it’s a guideline for how to use your product or service. For example, Nike’s mantra (for the employees) is “authentic athletic performance. It’s tag line is “Just do it.” Also, consider what Marc says above re cost of domains. $10K if financed is a lot of debt to de-leverage in the shadow of the Great Recession.
Bill and Jonathan:
First, the decision to change the name was made quite a while ago, the reasons and thinking behind which is linked in all the blog posts to this post. So while I wish you had been part of this discussion at that time, the decision has been made that the name will be changed to one that better serves our potential to do our work.
Second, though, I think we need to clarify re: quantity vs. quality. If 2.4 million people were coming to our site every day, this would be a very different question!
On page 1 of Google alone, while yes, we are a lot of that page, one of the entries is “Weather Institute – Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon …”
Second, as Manny points out, we are already the #1 position in Google for Creating the Future. And that’s before the name change!
So there is the factual matter of separating the wheat from the chaff in the “number of times the WORDS (not us, but the WORDS) community-driven come up in Google.”
And then there is the unfortunate timing that the discussion of the name change is at its close. I so wish you had been part of the rich discussion that has taken place over the past few months here!
However, you can rest assured that the discussion came from a place of our highest potential for achieving our vision and mission – creating the future of our world. And that within that, we will be clearly focusing on how to bring along those who already know us by a name that has been outgrown and no longer serves us best for creating that future.
HG
If youve already made the decision on the name, then youve made a *bunch* of defacto decisions – and IMO, the URL is one of em.
Let me elaborate, just in case:)
Does it make sense for Pollyanna to have Creating the Future on her business card and http://geocities.com/32432356/CTF as a URL?
Not really. And of course, you know that.
Your phone listing will be CTF. Your cards will say CTF. Your brochures will say CTF. Etc.
Guess what your URL has to say.
The money is an obstacle, sure. Its the only obstacle, Ill bet.
If CTF lasts another 20 years, $10k is tiny compared to other investments youll make – and pales in comparison vs the frustration of giving out another URL for 20 yrs and telling the story about how you couldnt/didnt get it, yada yada.
$10k is also tiny compared to the revenue the name will help generate.
The tax implications are worth pursuing. If their accountant cant defend the $10k tax-wise, should the price be that high? Is it defensible when it appears as a charitable contribution?
Inquiring minds…:)
So many people assume a web address is a .com that I’d recommend getting the .com…
Mark:
As always, you have clarified and given a framework for action. (Good thing that’s what you do for a living!)
🙂
We have established a paypal account for donations. We’ll do the fundraising, starting right this very moment. (Ericka, we’re waiting for your $25! 🙂 )
Help us here!
We’ll see how much we raise. If we raise enough for both, we’ll get both .org and .com. If we raise enough for only one, we’ll decide together (all of us) which one to get.
Let the games begin!
HG
I keep getting a “Fatal Failure” notice when I click on the “Help us Here” link. Help!
Oh well, I am clearly showing my own techno-ineptitude. I think I have fixed the link, but we’ll find out!
Thanks so much for wanting to click, Rebecca!
HG
Raise the funds as part of a launch package. Who doesn’t want to create the future?
Hildy, you have always answered a question with a deeper question, so I hope you will understand that I am doing so here only to stimulate thought and not to make a point:
Why do you lack the $10,000?
Hope this helps.
Steve
Steve:
Can you clarify the question? I cannot imagine you want to know my personal finances (to which the answer is simply, “Because I don’t have it!”).
So my deeper question is “Can you give me a bit more to go on?”
🙂
Or perhaps, “What is your thinking behind the question?”
Hildy
I’m certainly not asking about your personal finances (transparency has its limits)!
Rather, in the context of this discussion, I’m curious if YOU have carefully considered why the organization, which has been around for a while now, and which is supposed to be a demonstration project for a Community Benefit Organization, is thus far failing to garner sufficient community support be able to cover even the cost of this domain name acquisition?
I know that this is a hard question. I’m asking it in good faith, not so much to learn the answer, but to make sure that you are asking the question.
Hope this helps.
Steve:
It’s not a hard question at all. As we have noted in posts starting back in December of last year (and as we note at the CDI’s site http://www.communitydriven.org), this “organization” is in the process of becoming – it has been, heretofore, incubating within our consulting firm, where Dimitri and I have supported all its activities, with no outside support, for the past 2 years.
The development of the Consultants curriculum and production of those classes; the facilitation of the dialogue here and at #NPCons and across all the social media channels; the development of the podcast series at the Chronicle of Philanthropy; the mentoring of individuals who are finding their way in the world of social change; and the 237.6 other activities that have been initiated by the CDI over the past 2 years have been supported entirely by our consulting firm, as we waited for CDI to be ready to leave the nest – which, quite excitedly, it is now!
As we prepare for the CDI / Creating the Future to head off on its own this year, its infrastructure is starting from scratch, while its mission work is soaring. And prior to building a board or getting our tax exempt status, we needed to know what to name this new entity – to put on the incorporation forms, to file with the IRS etc.
As we have noted in previous posts on this topic, the name “Community-Driven Institute” was a placeholder name we used, knowing it would change when the institute was its own thing. As several folks have suggested in a previous post in this thread, sometimes things just need to name themselves, and we need to be patient with that process. That has happened here, and we are so pleased we didn’t work hard to name the institute years ago, before it had the opportunity to create itself and show its essence.
So thanks for clarifying. To be honest, even if the CDI had been around as a separate organization for years, I am still not sure we would have $10,000 laying about (this is the sort of initiative for which organizations frequently seek “project funds”). But because this is a start-up, without the tax exempt status that would allow us to even apply for such funding, it is all brand new!
I hope this helps to clarify.
Hildy
My thought would be that you file your 1023 immediately as CDI so that you can begin soliciting tax-deductible contributions and possibly some seed money grants that would help pay for the marketing you need to do (i.e. domain name purchase). File for Creating the Future as your d/b/a/ and as soon as you have enough in contributions to pay for the URL, then start using your d/b/a exclusively.
I guess I’m not sure why you are not filing for exemption immediately, with just the minimum required incorporators serving as the initial board. Or file and form your board now and ask each board member to contribute $500.
I’m not sure how successful you will be simply getting people to give you money to pay for a new URL. I’d like a new computer, but even if I went to my diehard fans, followers, and true believers, I don’t think I could ask them to pay for my new computer. It’s simply my cost of doing business.
As a 501(c)(3), you’d be in a completely different boat and would have a greater chance of success in raising the money.
My $.02 (figuratively ;-))
Thanks, Renata –
The issue you raise about “just file now!” is actually the very issue that led to the idea last December to use the CDI as a demonstration project in transparent engagement.
We had intended to file with the IRS last December. When we asked a group of trusted advisors for their thoughts, half the group said, “Act as a model of how this would be done well. Get policies in place, form a diverse board from the start, not just some incorporators. Don’t rush it; do this as a model for how it is done ‘right’.”
The other half said, “Do it fast. Get the tax exempt status as quickly as possible, so you can raise money. Then take slow, deliberative time to build the board the way you would want it.”
That’s when we said, “Wow, if these very smart people are telling us 2 different things…” and eventually our internal discussion about that became this demonstration project. More about that here: http://www.communitydriven.org/About/AboutUs-DemonstrationProject.htm
Raising the money is therefore all part of the experiment, and either way, we will learn from it, which is what a demonstration project is all about.
That said, we have already received some donations without really asking. That fact alone – that folks are giving without being asked – tells us something. If Ericka’s comment above is any indication, I think people feel this is not about “us” asking “them” for money, but all of us together building something, which is at least how it feels to us. It feels overwhelming to know it’s not “us” in here and “everyone else” out there, but all of us together.
So while I know you were being glib about asking for a new computer as a consultant, we aren’t asking for something new and shiny for ourselves. The domain names will be the very first building block in creating a new kind of organization, aimed at indeed Creating the Future of the world.
It is the most joyful process I’ve been part of in all my years of working in this sector. We are proving that we can indeed engage openly and publicly about the kinds of things most organizations keep to themselves. And that people who want to create a more effective way of creating social change will respond. In fact, they already have – not just with money, but more importantly with their wisdom and their ideas and their experience. And that has already made this new organization far stronger than it could have been if we were on our own.
Now as for that 2¢, the donate button is here:
🙂
Hildy
Hildy,
I guess what worries me is that this is being held out as a demonstration project, which essentially invites us to come look at how you’re doing things. What we find is a little surprising, frankly: a donate-now PayPal button just to raise the money in small amounts for a domain name. Where is the community support?
To be fair, and as you have pointed out, in many ways ways you are just beginning. So sure, time will tell. I’m rooting for your success!
Even so, it is not an answer (or at least a very satisfactory one) to say that first, you have to have a domain name, or even file for U.S. federal and state tax-exempt status. In the organizations I founded (a feed-the-poor agency, two private schools, and a church), I always started by sharing the vision with those in the community who were in a position to make significant start-up cash donations. It was often slow, hard work, but only once I had sufficient capital and an initial board of directors who also made significant start-up contributions, would I launch the organization and, armed with a strong initial success, build from there. It seems to me that this critical step is being bypassed, or at least being significantly deferred.
My recommendation would be to capitalize on the high visibility of your work by immediately tapping private individuals willing to make initial significant charitable contributions to get this properly off the ground. This is no different from the advice I give law clients when they come into my office with a dream about creating a new nonprofit organization (aka Community Benefit Organization). I advise them that until they are able to find supporters to help them properly launch, which includes an infusion of start-up capital, they should not be going forward with formation.
Everyone wants to know if your model is sustainable, much less whether or not it can change the world. Right now, there is a chasm between the emerging and positive persona of the organization, and the reality that it hasn’t yet garnered community support in the form of significant, sustaining financial contributions. A lot of eyes are on this. You have our attention, and our good wishes!
Steve
All good points, Steve, all of which will be discussed here when we are ready to talk about sustaining this entity. First, we will discuss what the entity is – together. We will shape it – together. That’s what open source and transparency are all about!
We will then, as Social Actions did so brilliantly earlier this year, open the fund development planning process to the world – not the fundraising itself, but the creation of the plan. (Thank you, Christine and Peter, for the brilliant open source modeling of what is possible. We are so honored and humbled to have you by our side!)
http://wiki.socialactions.com/Funding++Strategy+-+Introduction
Yes, in the past, a common way of founding organizations has been to get a few key players to provide support. Having founded two organizations ourselves, and having built those diaper banks without having that kind of key-player support but instead having engaged a huge swath of the community to build it from the inside out and the bottom up, my own experience is from the exact opposite end of the spectrum.
What that means is that if there are two ways to start a sustainable organization, there are likely even more. I trust that an open process will figure that out, and that is tremendously exciting to me. The cool part is that we don’t have to have the answers. We just need to trust that others will bring their own brilliance to the discussion, as they have in this discussion. Again, the power of open source, transparent engagement.
As to the supposition that we simply posted a “donate” button, that button came after 4 blog posts specific to this issue over several months (if you don’t count the ones last December about our goals, and the series on transparent engagement, which would bring that number closer to 10).
Those 4 posts alone garnered almost 100 comments. Add to that the rich conversations that have taken place at LinkedIn, at Twitter (thank you, Twitter! 🙂 ) and Facebook, on conference calls with CDI grads, and yes, in private discussions with supporters who have just called / emailed / DMed to express their thoughts. I think that is about as far from just posting a “donate button” as we could get.
As to your question, “Where is the community support?” I would refer to your post at Charity Channel (if you are a CharityChannel member, you can find that in the Consultant archive) that the definition of “community” is indeed one of the issues we will grapple with as we move forward.
One definition of “community support,” as you note above, is a base of large donors who have the wherewithal to get an effort off the ground.
Another definition of “community support” is the one we see right here – the number of people just in this comment thread alone who have either already donated or have asked, “Where’s the donate button?” After 100 comments and a bazillion tweets and Facebook comments to support us in this work, I’m guessing some folks reading your comments, who have been part of this discussion since the beginning, are thinking, “What am I, chopped liver?”
To be honest, Dimitri and I have been so touched and overwhelmed at the support of this large, wonderful, far flung and WOW supportive community that it has brought us both to tears several times in the past few days. Awestruck. Overwhelmed. Lost for words.
It is all a grand experiment. And the cool thing about an experiment is that there is no “fail” or “succeed” – there is just learning. I am so honored to have so many people excited to learn together with us, arm in arm. To me, that alone is a big part of what transparent engagement is all about!
Thanks for being part of the discussion, Steve.
HG
Hildy,
You sure are connected to lots of smart and innovative and deep thinking people. Every time I read a new comment by someone I am so impressed by the depth of what is written. I am inspired by the transparency of this process…I don’t know that anyone can truly envision the amount of learning that is taking place by so many people as a part of this process. And you ability to answer the posts, when people bring up different issues is mind boggling to me.
I think it was Debra Beck who expressed a sense of pride and a feeling of ownership as a participant. WOW! I feel the same. If that is able to be produced through online conversation, just imagine what is possible for an organization with people in the same location engaging frequently.
I feel such great appreciation to you and everyone else who is participating in this process. I am not always clear how I think about each of the issues as they come up, and I am fascinated by the conversation.
I think of the Pollyanna Principles so often now as I chat with others in community benefit organizations…I am eager to arrive at a day when the ideas there are understood and embraced by the masses of consultants and organizations…the hand wringing and complaining about boards and volunteers gets tiresome.
So keep doing this Hildy…it is incredible! And yeah, I love raising the $ for both URL’s…makes total sense to me. I can’t imagine that you won’t surpass the amount you need. My guess is that you should be prepared with some other ideas for what to do with the excess!
My comment about “where’s the community” was misconstrued, or at least it became a convenient way to spin my comment for rhetorical purposes. Enough said on that.
I guess I don’t understand the last statement, that there is no “fail” or “succeed,” but “just learning.” It would be admirable in a Star Wars movie (did Yoda say that?), but in the real world, if you expect others to take up the cause, they want to see success and not failure. I’m sure you’ve written on this point somewhere too, so to save time just send me there (blog, book, or whatever) and I’ll enjoy reading it!
Steve
Hildy mentioned my posting to CharityChannel’s CONSULTANTS discussion list. Not everyone is a member, and so I thought it would contribute to the dialog to post it here as well.
(Because Steve’s comment is quite long, and because it deserves its own discussion, I have turned it into a Guest Post here http://hildygottlieb.com/2010/06/12/guest-post-charitychannels-steve-nill-on-the-cdi-demonstration-project/
I hope you will take some time to respond to Steve there. It’s a great post, and it didn’t deserve merely being Comment #44 in a long thread. Thanks for making it available, Steve!)
Hildy
As someone who was probably part of the “take it slow” group initially, I think that you have held a series of terrific discussions and given many community members repeated chances to influence the direction of the organization. It’s time to register and make fundraising easier.
Jane:
I am loving how it is this very discussion (not just this post but the whole process) that has moved you in that direction. I am looking forward to learning as much from the discussion of whether to file fast or slow as I have learned from the discussion of how to determine the new name.
LOVING this process. And haven’t yet found the down side to working through decisions publicly that would normally be made privately. It may take longer, but look at the bounty of good stuff that comes of it!!! (The old adage about going slow to go fast comes to mind…)
HG
I have to echo earlier posts and commend you all on the transparency applied to the process and the way you sought and engaged your audience in the decision-making.
Launching the campaign to raise the funds necessary to buy the domain names will be a significant step as well. I hope the sellers are kind people; these types of transactions are exactly the type of cyber-squatting issue people get upset about. In addition to locking in the domains, I would also make sure to lock in the other various social media platforms (Facebook comes to mind)so you can continue to control the brand as you wish.
-Adin
Adin:
I’m smiling at your line, “I hope the sellers are kind people.” They both know we have to raise the money to buy the domains, and have both shown a willingness to be “kind” as you note. We are just starting to begin the fundraising, and we have 30 days in which to raise it under our contracts for purchase. We are hopeful that with all the support shown here in this thread, we can do just that!
🙂
HG
As the discussion here continues, a quick note that we will be keeping a fundraising tally here at the blog. If you have not already added your gift, imagine this: The difference we are making, just in this discussion, is at the heart of the difference the CDI / Creating the Future will be making sector-wide.
We know it is possible to make this sector’s work more effective at creating the future of our world. We are excited to have a name that says so. And we are counting on everyone who has given so generously of their wisdom to help us make this happen!
Thank you all!
HG