After completing the reading this week, and reading everyone’s blog posts, I was still “stuck” and not sure what I wanted to write (strange, because I typically have more than enough to say, and this is also the reason for my extremely late post this week.) While I did find the reading this week interesting, it was Kramer’s discussion of creating “actionable knowledge” that stood out to me after reviewing a Facebook post by an organization I “like.”
In addition to Kramer’s article, I have been reading The Dragonfly Effect and the authors use this same terminology in discussing effective approaches to be used by nonprofits. In this case, the authors are more concerned with how nonprofits approach and engage potential supporters, rather than specifically building knowledge in the manner discussed by Kramer. According to the book/authors, there are four design principles that “enable others to take action,” they are;
Easy. Make it easy for others to act. Prioritize your calls to action. Your campaign is more likely to succeed if people understand what you need and can take action.
Fun. Consider game play, competition, humor and rewards. Can you make people feel like kids again?
Tailored. People gravitate to programs in which they perceive they are uniquely advantaged to have disproportionate impact.
Open. No one should have to ask permission to act. Provide a frame-your point of view and a story-and empower others.
When I compared this outline, and the examples provided by Kramer, (I was really impressed by the preschool example) to the information I received, it highlighted the weaknesses of traditional nonprofits discussed in the reading. The Facebook post was informational (always good) but did not provide the reader with information that could be transitioned into action. Instead, it simply lead to a “huh, that’s interesting” type response. While, clearly, interesting is better than boring, it did not/could not inspire any action, even among the most highly engaged supporter.
Does anyone else notice this trend in the information you receive/read/review? Does the information ever leave you with a feeling of “ok, now what?”
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