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December 4, 2007

Change the World: One Dollar, One Euro, One Yen at at Time

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:00 am

Hey, Erik, How Can We Change the World?

Change the World!
This guest post was contributed by friend, J. Erik Potter. Erik’s post grew out of a conversation at Open Comments Night. He brings thoughts of our daily lives. –ME “Liz” Strauss

One Dollar at a Time

by J. Erik Potter

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.- Sir Winston Churchill

We’ve all heard it before. It’s nothing new really. If everyone would just donate $1 to a cause, we could raise millions for any cause overnight. There have always been two big problems: there wasn’t an easy way to spread the word to these millions of people and there were no means of funneling these millions of $1 donations to a deserving cause effectively. Enter the Internet.

Much like the whole “change the world” phrase appears daunting; the whole “get a million people to donate $1″ appears just as daunting. Or is it?

Through blogs and social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, word can be spread like wild fire. I just signed up for LinkedIn and have a meager 16 connections, yet through the power of the site, my message can be spread to over 77,000 other connections, a 4,800:1
ratio. If this ratio remains constant, I only need to connect directly with 208 people in order to spread my message to the magic million. 208 vs. 1,000,000 . . . that doesn’t sound as frightening. Does it?

The second part of the equation is the collection and funneling of the $1 donations. Sites like SixDegrees.org and Network for Good go a long way towards making the transaction easy. Once you’ve established an account, you can donate to one of over 30,000 charities. Their system even keeps track of your donations throughout the year for tax purposes.

The tools are here. So what’s stopping you from changing the world?
– J. Erik Potter

_______
Thanks, Erik, for showing us how.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

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8 Comments to “Change the World: One Dollar, One Euro, One Yen at at Time”

  1. December 4th, 2007 at 8:35 am
    Joanna Young said

    Hi Erik, isn’t it interesting how a chance remark at an open comments night can lead to a guest post… which can lead to a lot of people reading your words… which can lead to a lot of people thinking - how can I use these networks and connections to make a difference…?

    One thing I’m wondering - is how we need leaders to channel and funnel our efforts as well as networks and sites. We need people who can organise campaigns and inspire our imaginations and say ‘this is possible’. We probably don’t need a million of them - but we need enough to get the millions moving.

    Maybe we already know those leaders. How do we connect them together - and give them the confidence, the inspiration, the motivation to move things to the next level?

    Joanna

  2. December 4th, 2007 at 9:20 am
    J. Erik Potter said

    Hi Joanna,

    I’m continually amazed at the connections I’ve made - both in idea connections and in people connections - during my short time blogging.

    Leaders are definitely needed to get the proverbial ball rolling, direct it, and maintain its momentum.

    That’s where bloggers can step up. You can be a driving force behind your own personal charity. Take up a cause and tell your friends, both on/offline about it. It doesn’t have to be a daily or weekly post. Start with baby steps. How about once a month? Set aside one day a month to evangelize. Is that doable for most of us?

  3. December 4th, 2007 at 10:00 am
    Timothy Johnson said

    Erik - as Joanna said… isn’t it funny how…?

    Words can’t begin to express how proud I am of you and your efforts… you really are changing the world through your leadership. And it will be a better place because of you.

    Thanks for sharing your passions and concerns and making the rest of us aware.

  4. December 4th, 2007 at 11:18 am
    SunnySchlenger said

    Such simple yet powerful ideas…
    I’ve heard it said that you have to be seen/heard at least 7 times in order to make the impression you want to make.
    So, just keep going and you’ll reach the tipping point.
    I’m so glad to have discovered you!

  5. December 4th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
    J. Erik Potter said

    Thanks for the contribution, Sunny. Sage advice. Be sure to check out impression #2 at my site, http://www.jerikpotter.com. Five more impressions to come in the near future. . .I promise.

    Tim, thanks once again for the gentle nudge into blogging. Your direction and feedback has been instrumental in this journey.

  6. December 4th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
    Eric said

    Erik,
    You are amazing! What can I say? It’s neat to see how you’ve taken a classroom final project and grown it into real action. My hats off to you. Like Tim said, you really are changing the world.

    I’m interested to see how far this can go. It would be neat to see what kind of impact a post like this can have. Good luck on your endeavor.

    P.S. - It’s been fun going on this journey with you. I’ve appreciated your support and insight. Now, if I can just get back into the swing of things myself! Great Post from a Great Gyuy!

  7. December 4th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
    J. Erik Potter said

    Thanks for the kind words, Eric.

    Once I hit my magic number in LinkedIn, you can bank on me hitting you up for that $1. I’m up to 37 as of today.

    Just keep writing like you talk. You’re a natural.

  8. February 11th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
    Take a Moment – Change the World « J. Erik Potter said

    […] fall, Tim Johnson asked me how I was going to change the world.  I responded with this post over at Liz Strauss’s site.  I’ve been thinking some more about the whole deal and I’m not […]

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