The Glue Network’s original tagline was “Love Requires Action” reflecting our belief that, to LOVE our fellow human beings around the world requires that we take ACTION where there is injustice, suffering, or despair.  Action means more than just reading about these issues, discussing them, or tossing a few cents to good causes at the cash register.  It means doing something that makes a meaningful difference.

Our nonprofit partner StandUp For Kids recently took action in a big way through their “48 Hours on the Streets” campaign by rallying 1,500 volunteers across 20 cities to hit the streets looking for homeless youth and helping them with support and services to find their way to a better life.  16 years of this program have helped 10,000 youth and raised $500,000.

Full story…  http://www.standupforkids.org/newsletter/April2013Newsletter.pdf

Introducing MADiL (pronounced may-dil and stands for Make A Difference in Life), maker of the most fun new product we’ve seen in a long time.

MADiL lets you express your individuality by customizing your flip flops  with colorful bands and creative charms.  I bought a pair for myself and one for my daughter and then some bands and charms we can trade and share.

And MADiL gives a full 10% of online purchases to social causes.  Buyers get to choose where the charitable dollars go and share the experience with their friends (giving and social sharing powered by Glue!)

MADiL is setting a new standard for socially responsible brands and we’re proud to be their partner.  See the launch announcement from MADiL’s founders below…

MADiL Launch Announcement

Welcome to MADiL…a new generation of flip flops!

MADiL was founded with a fun and creative spirit and a strong desire to do good.

Introducing MADiL flip flops, bands and charms. We’ve reinvented the traditional flip flop by adding an interchangeable band in the upper straps to which you can attach charms. Mix and match them to express your individual style and personality or trade them with your friends.  Kind of like a charm bracelet for your flip flop, but way more fun!

We’re also introducing a new way to give back.  We’ve committed to giving back 10% of all flip flop sales to nonprofit projects, but here’s the twist…YOU choose where your give-back dollars go! By selecting one of the nonprofit projects featured on our website, customers can easily choose where their funds go, get updates on the progress of their projects and invite their friends to support their causes. To achieve this we’ve partnered with a third party, The Glue Network (www.thegluenetwork.com).  The Glue team brings extensive expertise in philanthropy, a tech platform, and a suite of vetted nonprofit partners.  By partnering with the Glue Network, MADiL can offer a rich selection of giving alternatives to our customers and keep it fresh over time while ensuring that our giving dollars have meaningful impact. At MADiL, it’s easy to make a difference in life…and why not be stylish while you’re at it!

Peace, love, & flip flops.

Devra & Helmut

mymadil.com

twitter.com/MADiLfashion

facebook.com/madilfashion

The Glue Team is honored to be included in this year’s Enterprising Women of the Year Awards, with our CEO, Lynley Sides recognized as a top woman entrepreneur.  Thanks, Enterprising Women magazine!

Press release follows…

The Glue Network announces that its CEO, Lynley Sides, has received the Enterprising Women of the Year Award for 2013 from Enterprising Women magazine. This award honors women business owners who have demonstrated that they have fast-growth businesses, mentor or actively support other women and girls involved in entrepreneurship, and stand out as leaders in their communities. Many of the award recipients are also leaders in key organizations that support the growth of women’s entrepreneurship. Winners will be recognized at the 11^th Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration on April 3 and 4 at the Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“The Enterprising Women of the Year Class of 2013 is a remarkable group of women leaders,” said Monica Smiley, Editor & Publisher of Enterprising Women. “This annual celebration is unlike any other event as it honors each award recipient and brings together the finest women entrepreneurs from around the world to network, share best practices and celebrate their amazing achievements.”

“The Glue team is honored to receive this award from Enterprising Women which we respect for its contributions to entrepreneurship and social issues” said Sides.  “On the Glue platform, companies of all sizes engage individuals in giving.  So this recognition supports our mission to help business leaders do more good for the world and also for their businesses.”

ABOUT THE GLUE NETWORK

A San Francisco area startup, The Glue Network is a tech platform where companies engage individuals in doing good for the world in ways that are good for business.  On the Glue platform, companies of all sizes win the hearts of their customers and employees by engaging them in a giving experience that inspires them to advocate for the company on social media.  Bringing deep expertise in the nonprofit space and digital media, Glue applies its flexible platform to create custom giving programs that strengthen brands, attract new customers, generate rich data and benefit social causes.

Contact: Lynley Sides lynley@thegluenetwork @LynleySides

ABOUT ENTERPRISING WOMEN MAGAZINE:

Enterprising Women, with headquarters in Cary, N.C., is the nation’s only women-owned magazine published exclusively for women business owners that chronicles the growing political, economic and social influence and power of entrepreneurial women. The magazine provides a friendly meeting place, a public forum and a national stage for the critical issues confronting women’s businesses and daily lives from the unique perspectives and experiences of entrepreneurial women. Published in both print and digital editions, the online edition of the magazine reaches nearly one million readers in 185 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.enterprisingwomen.com or call (919) 362-1551.

Randy Haykin, a long time friend and colleague, has a full life – he sings in an chorus, has led a successful venture capital firm, teaches at Berkeley, has a beautiful family, was the founding head of sales and marketing at Yahoo!, sits on the board of several companies, and I could go on…  Inspired by a deep sense of Gratitude, he and his partners Chris Pitt and Guru Singh founded The Gratitude Network with the mission of funding and supporting social ventures with the greatest promise to create positive social change.  And I’ve recently had the pleasure of working with them toward that goal.

The Gratitude Network’s face to the world has primarily been their annual Intersection Event which promises to bring some of the most influential thought leaders from different disciplines together for a day focused on innovation and social change.

One of the most memorable moments from last year’s Intersection, held at Pixar, was a compelling pitch from Guru Singh that the needs in the world are massive, unacceptable, and urgent but that the will exists among us to change that and the resources at our disposal (including creativity and brainpower) are infinite.  The key, he said, is to bring bright, caring people with dramatically different backgrounds together to uncover innovations with the power to truly move the needle.

The Intersection delivered on this promise yet again this year at Google.  Where else could you spend the day with Reid Hoffman, Barry Zito, Sheryl WuDunn (Half The Sky co-author), Bill Draper, Evan Williams, a world-famous 12-year-old painter, Steve Jurvetson, Helene Gayle (CEO of Care), talented musicians and many other business leaders, social change agents, educators, investors, entrepreneurs, students, and philanthropists.

My contribution was to create an award that would honor the up-and-coming social ventures with the highest potential to create positive social change through innovation – The Gratitude Awards.  This year’s award focused on non-profit or for-profit social ventures in education.

Why education?  Of the nine non-profit categories Glue supports, Education is one I’m highly passionate about because, in a world where nearly 100 million kids don’t go to school each day, where 1 billion people can’t read or write, where some US high schools only graduate 20% of their students, and where most graduates are unprepared for college or the workforce, I’m immensely grateful for the high quality education that was virtually handed to me. Everyone, regardless of where they fell in the birth lottery, deserves an education and the freedom to pursue opportunity.

Advancements in global education mean more American kids prepared to succeed in a competitive world, and more children from far-flung corners of the globe become productive members of society rather than a financial burden.  They mean a stronger global economy, lower birth rates, healthier families, future innovations, and more peace.

And I strongly believe in the power of entrepreneurship to create solutions that are impactful, innovative, scalable, and self-sustaining.

The Gratitude Awards attracted 142 nominees – entrepreneurs from 17 countries whose ventures are focused on improving education through richer content, more effective delivery, greater access through mobile and internet technology, safer transportation, creative funding strategies and more.

Our expert panel of judges narrowed the field down to 10 finalists who pitched on stage at The Intersection. Congratulations to:

The ultimate winners, The World We Want, Zaya, and audience pick Kytabu, won cash prizes as well as support and mentorship from The Gratitude Network.  And all 10 pitches inspired and made for an audience favorite session.

Sheryl Wudunn and her husband Nick Kristoff are making a major difference through their tireless efforts and the influence of their Half the Sky book and documentary.  It’s easy to imagine any of the 10 finalists going on to have a broad and deep impact on the world as well.  I (and I’m sure the entire audience at The Intersection) wish them all the best in that pursuit.

The “How To Write A Business Plan” site is about a lot more than business plans – it’s chock full of insights, experiences, and advice from entrepreneurs around the globe, including some of the most successful ones in recent years.  I recently contributed an interview and am reproducing it here for Glue readers in case there’s something valuable to any entrepreneurs or potential future entrepreneurs among our followers.  Let me know what you think lynley@thegluenetwork.com.

The Interview

Recently we caught up with Lynley Sides, Co-Founder and CEO of The Glue Network. This is a one of those really great interviews, where the founder digs deep into their experiences as an entrepreneur to provide some really good advice.

What is The Glue Network all about

The Glue Network drives business results for companies from their social responsibility efforts. On the Glue platform, companies engage their customers and other constituents in giving and inspire them to advocate for the company on social media – building loyalty, strengthening the brand, and expanding the company’s customer base.

Glue programs come in 2 forms:

1)     Glue Gift Cards: alternatives to traditional gifts and give-away items for companies of all sizes.  Instead of giving items that often wind up in landfills, the company gives customized charitable gift cards.  Their giftees direct the company’s dollars to nonprofit projects and then share posts about the good the company is doing.  Good for the world, meaningful to the recipient, goodwill and new customers for the company, same cost.  Every company should be doing this!

2)     White Labeled Platform: the Glue platform is customized for the company to facilitate and turbo-charge its giving, cause marketing, or social responsibility programs — so they do the most good for the world and for business.

How did you come up with the idea for The Glue Network?

When Scott Hancock was organizing events that engaged individuals in music, arts, sports and culture,  benefited good causes and were sponsored by brands, he had the idea to scale that model using the web and social media.

As an entrepreneur and tech marketer, when I heard Scott’s idea, I already believed that, solving the massive, unacceptable social issues in the world – human slavery, infant mortality, education, access to clean water, hunger… requires far greater contribution from companies of all sizes.  But for businesses to spend more to do good, it has to make economic sense.  We saw companies increasing their giving, through cause marketing and social responsibility spending.  But these efforts have traditionally been less impactful and quantifiable, and difficult for small businesses, so the dollars have remained low overall.

So the idea became – if we could enable businesses to measurably improve their bottom lines through giving programs that were engaging and social, they would spend more that way and less on banner ads, branded gifts and traditional programs. So we built a platform that enables just that and have proven, in the first year since we launched, that doing good can be both good for the world and good for business.

What were some of the challenges that you faced starting a company?

Entering a market that’s rapidly growing means both opportunity and rapid change.  When you’ve thrown yourself completely into building and fundraising for a business, it’s challenging to keep a constant eye on the market and the forces impacting it and rapidly incorporate that information into your plans and actions. We had to develop the skills to plan >> act >> learn >> adjust the team’s actions and our pitch.

It’s one thing for your market to say they like what you’re building, another for them to buy it.  Market research around a concept can yield valuable input and you have to do this.  But then it’s critical to get to a prototype, receive feedback from actual potential customers, and put what they say they’ll pay for to the test. We went too far down the path of developing the platform before doing this which cost us some time and rework.

By definition, you have way too few resources and everyone’s wearing multiple hats. The key is to know what you’re good at, surround yourself with people who are really smart, able to play multiple roles, adaptable, and willing to do what it takes. It’s normally worth paying for great talent, but that’s often not feasible for a cash-strapped startup. If you have a compelling, high potential idea and are making it happen, you can benefit from great talent without paying market rates.

Pay people with equity, find low cost developers for simpler work, ask advisors and board members to roll up their sleeves, find students who will work for class credit, enlist volunteers (realistic if you have a strong social mission) or inexpensive interns. Look realistically at your needs and be scrappy in finding all potential sources to fill them.

Recently you raised a round of angel funding. What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs looking to raise their first round of funding?

Unless you’re a serial entrepreneur with a notable success behind you, it’s much easier to raise seed money from individuals in your network than from people you’ve just met. Our investors are all individuals a Glue team member knows personally. It makes sense to focus your efforts on your immediate network first.

VCs are often willing to meet when you’re too early for them to invest. These meetings can provide valuable 2-way learning but can also burn a lot of time so be clear and realistic about the outcomes you expect, ask a lot of questions, and plan these selectively.

A compelling elevator pitch is essential as you never know when you may meet a potential investor. I described Glue to Dad at my son’s baseball game, not knowing he was a successful entrepreneur and investor, and he later invested in us.

A solid, well-practiced 10-slide (+/-) pitch is the must-have.  A few specific appendix slides may be important for addressing likely questions.  But 40 pages of detail isn’t needed or even meaningful at the seed stage. Instead, polish your short pitch by making sure your story line is clear and compelling, your evidence and rationale airtight, assumptions believable, and your verbal presentation confident and polished.  Seek out presentation outlines, feedback, and opportunities to pitch at events – either through an accelerator program, searching online, or asking your network.

You were a part of the Springboard Enterprises accelerator program, what difference do you feel being a part of an accelerator made for your company? 

If you have the opportunity to participate in a good accelerator program, do it!  Springboard provides selected women entrepreneurs with training, coaching, advice, and assistance attracting funding.  The opportunities for exposure and support from seasoned members with various perspectives were incredibly valuable to me and to Glue.

Initially, I had reservations about whether the time would be worthwhile, but based on the strong recommendation of a Springboard alumni, applied.  Going in, I focused on a couple of areas where I expected to benefit most, but through the process, discovered several others.

As one example, I thought my pitch was in good shape but, at Springboard bootcamp, I learned otherwise!  And that intensive work and practice improved it by leaps and bounds.  After bootcamp, the program included several rounds of intensive discussion and feedback on the business and investor presentation from a dedicated group of mentors, culminating in a pitch event in New York.  The dedicated time and energy from experienced outsiders helped improve our pitch and contributed to our thinking about the market, our model and our sales approach.

Equally valuable were the connections and learnings that have come from the other entrepreneurs that were a part of my “class,” some of whom had previously founded, grown and sold companies and shifted entire industries. Though Glue did not receive funding directly from the Springboard program, the process contributed to our success attracting investors and building the business to date.

What kind of a role has mentoring played in your success to date?

I’ve been fortunate to work for some truly exceptional people, a few of whom I’ve considered mentors.  And looking back, there’s been a strong correlation between times when I’ve had a strong mentor and when I learned and developed the most.

As a first-time CEO, it’s hard to express the value of having Glue’s investor and executive chairman who’s a serial CEO, has grown and sold companies, and taken one public, as a mentor.  In areas like managing the board and negotiating terms with investors, where I lacked experience, and also through day-to-day input to thinking, plans and decisions.

The best mentor relationship is 2-way – not just “you ask / they answer” but also where the mentor is involved and aware enough to say “did you think about it this way?” or “what about this approach?” in areas where you might not think to ask. The level of trust and confidence that the person has your best interest at heart are essential to the value this relationship can have for you and for your company.

If you don’t naturally end up with a great mentor but are a first-time CEO, find one!  If your current board and network don’t include someone who’s able and motivated to actively support you, identify a successful startup CEO who’s attributes you admire, recruit them for your board or advisory board to align their interests with yours, and actively develop a mentoring relationship.

What advice would you like to give to an entrepreneur thinking about starting a business and writing their first business plan?          

A popular answer to this is “just do it” but everyone’s not cut out to be an entrepreneur. Most successful businesses end up there after a harrowing roller coaster ride along the way.  And most businesses that fail do so because the founder gives up. So it’s worth thoughtfully considering whether this course is right for you.

A definition of entrepreneurship that I like is “the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled” (Stevenson,1983).  I would add to this that success requires powerful intent meaning an unshakeable commitment to your vision of the future – not to a specific set of product features or revenue number – but to managing risks, adapting, and making the business successful, persisting despite naysayers, setbacks and unexpected hurdles.

If you believe in the idea and that you’re the right person to lead it, take the plunge, but don’t spend excessive time on the business plan.  Do spend some time thinking about each section of a typical plan. Think about what the keys to success will be each area, actions required, and who/how you will accomplish them. Simply taking the time to do this will set you on the right path and align your team’s priorities. But, time spent refining estimates and plans has diminishing returns at this stage when so much remains unknown.

It should also be a working plan – designed to be consulted, questioned, and revised regularly and when things change or new information is discovered. Don’t file it away and forget about it or you’ll lose half its value.

What advice do you have for an entrepreneur who’s already in the process of growing a business?          

Every business should have a social mission and the sooner you define one, the better. Customers, investors, and employees, are increasingly demanding this and shifting their dollars and support toward companies that do. Find a way to give back, engage your customers and team in it, and you’ll inspire them to help you grow – by doing exceptional work for you, buying repeatedly, and spreading the word.

A massive thank you to Lynley for taking the time out of her busy schedule to put down some awesome answers to our questions. We look forward to catching back up with The Glue Network next year to see how things have progressed. In the mean time, check out site! You can also follow them on Twitter!

This article was originally published in Sustainable Brands.

How can your company give gifts of thanks while staying true to your social values?

In my last real job, at Red Herring Communications, my group hired a slew of vendors.  So, we were showered with gifts during the holidays – wine, branded shirts, golf balls, “towers” of goodies, and the list goes on.  We gave most of it out around the office and some of it went to the landfill.  The only gift I remember from those years was from a small agency that gave us the opportunity to allocate some dollars to one of a few charities.  The experience was kind of clunky but 10 years later I’m still talking about it – and them.

The reality is that every year U.S. companies spend around $17 billion (yes with a b) on gifts, incentives, forget-me-nots, and thank you programs.  No doubt some are really cool (feel free to send me that extra iPad my way), but we all know far too much of it goes to waste – literally.  The recipient doesn’t really care, will likely forget about it as soon as it leaves the desk, and probably won’t tell his friends about the fruit basket.

And surprisingly, brands otherwise praised for social responsibility are some of the most prolific givers of “stuff” – leaving their constituents confused about what they stand for and diminishing rather than strengthening their reputations.  More than ever recipients of gifts and give-away items are informed enough to wonder, what labor practices are upheld by the companies making these pens?  How far did those nifty gadgets travel and in what packaging?  What metals were used?  And where will they sit in 5 years… or 5 months?

It doesn’t take a mathematician to assess that the cost to the world of these gifts is immense.  And many recipients feel negatively toward the givers as a result – the direct opposite of what the company hopes to achieve.

So how do you give, appreciate, and reward in ways that are consistent with your beliefs? …and build rather than destroy brand value?

Some gifts are good for the world and good for business

There are several “alternative gifts” that you can consider.  Some are good for the planet.  Some improve the lives of others.  Some can be customized.  Some create positive PR (really!).  They cost the same as traditional gifts.  It feels good to give them.  And to get them.

These gifts not only signal what your company values; they signal what you think of your recipient as well.  They say “we know you’d rather help someone in need than get a box of chocolates,” and even someone who loves chocolate likes being perceived in that way.

Some alternatives:

Give a sustainable gift.  It’s still “stuff” but at least it’s recycled, recyclable, or otherwise more planet-friendly.

• Mashable offers a list of sustainable techy gifts

• A broader list of options can be found on Good

Give a specific charitable gift in your recipient’s name.  Many nonprofits offer the ability to do this.  Ideas include:

• A solar oven for a family or other environmental gift from The Nature Conservancy

• A goat or other animal for a village from Heifer International

• Books or soccer balls for kids from Universal Giving

Empower your recipient give to the cause they choose.  Give charitable gift cards or certificates that allow the recipient to give your dollars to the cause that’s meaningful to them. Some examples:

• Gift card that allows the holder to support a classroom project from those posted by teachers across the U.S., through Donors Choose

• General charitable gift card that enables the recipient to donate to one of a broad selection of nonprofits, from Razoo

• Branded cards that let your recipient choose a nonprofit project to support and share the good your company is doing on social media, from The Glue Network

All can be purchased for the same amount you would spend on a traditional gift.  There are other alternatives and creative ways to mold these to your brand’s personality and values.  Feel free to contact me for ideas!

At the end of the day, you are going to spend money on gifts, thank-you’s and incentive programs.  That money can perpetuate the proliferation of “stuff” in the world or it can inspire the recipients, change lives, and create lasting goodwill for your company.

Imagine the impact on the world if every brand that cared about sustainability also GAVE responsibly.  That won’t happen this year but the brands that lead the charge will be remembered for it.

@LynleySides or lynley@thegluenetwork.com.

This article was originally featured by the American Marketing Association (AMA) and CSRWire.

How “Giving Tuesday” and “Black Friday” Can Work Together to Transform your Holiday Season

Everyone knows the adage – Better to Give than Receive.  Actually, if you are a consumer brand facing the upcoming important Holiday sales season it is Better to Give THEN Receive.

On Black Friday, brands drive high sales volume through discounts.  But are the bargain-hunters likely to be loyal customers of those brands the other 364 days of the year?  What if you connected with your consumers again four days later this year and focused on building a positive experience with them centered on giving rather than selling?  How would it change your interactions during the holidays, your long term relationship with the consumer, and their desire to spread their positive impressions of your brand?

Enter Giving Tuesday.  

Giving Tuesday, coming November 27^th, was conceived to bring the heart back into the biggest shopping season of the year – to tap into the universal desire to help those in need, and to connect individuals, companies, and non-profits through giving.  The thing is, consumers do care about social issues, especially during the holidays and, per the Cone Cause Evolution Study, are nearly twice as likely to buy from a company that supports a cause they care about.  So companies are giving back and increasing cause marketing spending.  The problem is that customers often don’t know or understand what the companies are doing and certainly aren’t thinking about it on Black Friday, so their holiday buying isn’t significantly affected by it.

Giving Tuesday offers an opportunity to do good, drive sales, and create a solid foundation for your long term relationships with your customers.  It cuts through the noise of the season and anchors your brand to something that will be remembered and talked about for years to come.

 A powerful example

In 1984, before the days of cause marketing as we know it, a group of musical artists came together and created a song called “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief.  Though the group’s name Band Aid was new, the artists were well known and the song became the biggest selling single in UK Singles Chart history and #1 on U.S. charts. The song still plays on the radio every holiday season and was even re-released on a Starbucks Holiday (RED) CD several years back.  The following year, another group of artists called USA for Africa recorded “We Are the World” which raised $63 million for humanitarian aid to Africa.

This was over a quarter century ago when my friends and I were teenagers absorbed in our own worlds.  I don’t remember what I got for Christmas those years.  But I do remember Bono, Phil Collins, James Taylor, Michael Jackson… Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Cindi Lauper, and Willie Nelson.  I clearly recall the tunes, the lyrics, what I learned from them and the feeling they produced.  They shifted the way I thought about the holiday season through their message.  I bought the records and talked about them with my friends.  And the media praised them far and wide.  Since then, I’ve paid particular attention to those artists’ causes and music – not just a passing fan but a committed one.

Why were my peers and I so affected by these songs and for so long?  An easy answer could be that the singers were stars who did something good.  But a lot of stars have supported causes in very forgettable ways.  Band Aid and USA for Africa did more than just write a check.  They invested significant time, resources and talents.  They engaged us all in it – in understanding the suffering in Ethiopia and Africa, in doing something to help, and in feeling good about it.  And they did something different, that no artists had thought of before, by coming together to create these songs.

Lessons for marketers

The problem brands face in cause marketing is that it too often greatly benefits causes but does very little good for business.  Often the brand’s cause or program feels good, is what they’ve done before, and has been generally well received but still doesn’t directly drive revenue in a way that can be measured.  If your cause marketing isn’t capturing your consumers’ hearts and brains in a way that they’ll remember in 20 years then it isn’t doing all it can for your brand.

Powerless cause marketing is often due to one or more of the following:

• Irrational attachment to a single cause:  the CEO is on the board of the cause, it’s   in their comfort zone, they see the company/cause relationship as monogamous, or believe their customers are attached to that cause/company combination.  In reality, customers are far less attached to these than companies think.
• Organizational inefficiency:  promotions, direct marketing, brand, PR, social media, cause marketing, and community/giving are separate groups, yet the most powerful cause marketing crosses all of these.
• Conventional thinking:  the company doesn’t seek out the ideas or leading edge knowledge regarding tools and technologies that can drive greater results.  And their agency either doesn’t have the expertise the client believes they do or doesn’t pitch new ideas in this area because of the two reasons stated above.

For any of these reasons, wonderful cause giving programs can do little to move the needle for the business.

Giving Tuesday offers marketers the opportunity stand out in a way that reaches both the wallets and hearts of their customers by trying something different and applying the lessons of these 80s artists.

• Shock and awe:  customers expect to be sold on Friday – they don’t expect to be loved on Tuesday.  Giving first changes the landscape for the remainder of the week and season.  Your consumers will expect to get the ads but they won’t expect to get engaged with you in changing the world.
• Make them feel:  deeply engage and inspire them, to transform the basis of your relationship for the long term and create loyal, committed customers.  By giving them rich information about nonprofit project work and empowering them to choose what’s meaningful to them, you will reach their hearts and they’ll remember it.
• Be social:  inspire and enable them to easily share the experience with their friends to drive millions of authentic social media recommendations meaning positive PR, clicks and revenue.
• Think differently:  let go of irrational attachments and encourage cross-group thinking and collaboration.  Seek out new ideas and leading edge tools and consider them in light of their power to produce dramatic results (versus their fit with existing programs).

I’m deeply hopeful that a few companies will do something big, defining Giving Tuesday in a way that makes it good for the world and good for business – so the concept catches on and becomes entrenched in the season the way Black Friday has.  In 20 years, when the world looks back on the first Giving Tuesday, any immediate associations could include certain companies’ programs with the same affection with which my generation remembers “Feed the World.”  I’ll vote with my wallet for those companies.

For ideas, contact me @LynleySides or lynley@thegluenetwork.com.  I’ll answer you!

Threads Africa Wine, Chocolate and hors d’oeuvres evening

Where: Waterfront Hilton Hotel – Huntington Beach

When: Saturday, October 27th

Time: 4pm – 7pm

Tickets: $25 per person

Purchase your tickets online by clicking on the link below

http://threadsafrica.givezooks.com/events/threads-africa-wine-chocolate-evening

Please join us for this fun evening.  And if you are interested in traveling to South Africa, get in the game and enter a drawing for a dream trip and safari to South Africa by clicking on the link below.  ONLY 500 TICKETS are available!  Drawing at 6.45pm at the wine and chocolate evening next Saturday

http://threadssafari.wordpress.com/

One of the best parts of working at Glue is the chance to find out about non-profits that may fly under the radar of many main stream sources of NGO information but who are doing interesting work all over the world.  Recently we welcomed one of those NGOs, Threads Africa.   Threads isn’t tackling new or unheard of problems, poverty and AIDS in Africa, but we think they are thinking about the problems in some fascinating ways that might interest you.  Here’s one: Teaching young Africans how to tell their own stories through film so as to empower and train them for work.

Threads describes it like this:  “The goal of the film project was to empower and equip the youth of Kayamandi to tell their own stories through the use of short film and documentary filmmaking with a long term goal of helping them to gain employment in the growing South African film industry. Ranging in age from high school and beyond, when we started only one student had ever held a video camera. By the finish of the project students were writing, directing and editing their own short films. They were congruently shooting a documentary of their learning process and using the cameras to share what it looks like to live within a township. Cameras and laptop computers remain at Kuyasa for students to continue to use the equipment to better themselves and their quality of life.”

Whether you think about the ability to tell your story as empowerment, agency, therapy, business, or just art – it is something we can take for granted but most people in the world can’t.

To find out more about Threads and the unique kinds of work they are doing check them out at  www.threadsafrica.org.

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out just what a non-profit specifically does or how their work impacts the bottom line of world need.  It’s not that the NGO doesn’t do a great job or important work; it’s just that translating that for the rest of us can be just a bit too confusing.

When it comes to World Bicycle Relief (WBR) that’s not a problem because chances are you have owned a bike, ridden a bike, and experienced why every kid gets a massive grin on their face the first time those training wheels come off and they feel the power of two unrestrained wheels propelling them through the world.  For a kid a bike is more than a frame, tires, chain and pedals.  It is the possibility of what might happen beyond their two feet.  WBR calls that the Power of Bicycles and it’s not hard to understand the idea.

“World Bicycle Relief is dedicated to providing access to independence and livelihood through The Power of Bicycles. Simple, sustainable transportation in the form of a bicycle multiplies an individual’s efficiency. Compared to walking, bicycles improve access to education, healthcare and economic opportunity by increasing carrying capacity and accessible travel distance while decreasing the time it takes to commute to and from schools, clinics and markets.”

With over 100,000 bicycles in the field and more than 750 field mechanics trained, WBR’s work to create mobility all across Africa is impacting education, healthcare, poverty, and the environment.

Right now WBR is driving that point home with a really cool way for you to ride your bike so that African’s can ride their bikes – the Better than Walking Challenge. http://action.worldbicyclerelief.org/page/s/better-than-walking

Last week we talked to Matt Pierce, WBR’s Communications Director, about the program and how Glue can get involved.  Pierce told us, “We are really excited to launch our Better Than Walking Challenge throughout May because we believe that the five unique challenges will help connect participants to what we do and how that makes an impact around the world.  It’s a simple way to remind us all of what our bikes really do for our lives.”

So we at Glue have decided to participate and because the “network” can’t technically ride a bike we want our friends to join the challenge along with some of our founders.

As an added bonus, the first 50 of you who sign up for the challenge will get a code to redeem on the Glue network to help fund one of WBR’s projects.

So in the end it is as simple as a bike – but it’s way more than a bike too.  It’s mobility changing the world two tires at a time.

Christian Buckley

co-founder