Designing and Selling Policies, Part 2

Last time I mentioned a few elements of creative social policy, creating one and selling it. You want to be able to identify the real problem, brainstorming, and borrowing ideas. This post includes notes on designing social policies and selling them.

Design Thinking - Before getting too deep into creating a new policy or advocating a policy consider the resources that would be available to implement the policy. Of course the most important resource is going to be money, but people are also important - will enough people be available for enough hours to actually implement the policy? When in doubt it might be wise to assume that there won’t be. What elements of the social environment need to be accounted for in thinking about this new policy we need? Consider values, beliefs, education level, technology, physical infrastructure, and general economic conditions. You will have to determine exactly what factors need to be considered in each particular situation.

Selling ideas - Whatever the policy idea is, someone else will have to implement the policy, by voting for it, creating new regulations, or something else. You’ll invariably have to depend on selling the idea through advertising, public education efforts, demonstrations, and other means. Search various combinations of audience, location (to place ads or stage demonstrations or whatever) and medium. YouTube videos of bawdy “activist” songs might be just the thing for your particular cause and target audience.

Businesses sell things all the time, often just an image or feeling. Maybe stealing ideas from the business world (sidewalk sales, advertorials, et cetera) would work. An adversarial is a promotional essay that reads like an editorial.

Designing and Selling Policies, Part 1

Activists sometimes want new policies enacted. Sometimes they create a new policy idea and try to sell

the idea to lawmakers or voters. The creation and selling of new policies are two undertakings that call for systematic problem solving by activist groups. 

Policy ideas are usually meant to solve a social or environmental problem. A little problem analysis can seperate symptoms from problems. Good problem analysis starts with good questions. Michael

Michalko’s brainstorming book Thinkertoys offers questions for studying your problem. Buy a copy and check out the section on Phoenix Questions and the chapter on exploring a challenge.

(WARNING: Sometimes the “real” problem can’t be addressed by ANY policy. Human nature is one example of such a problem. The complexity of many organizations is another example. Other “problems” are invented by a political ideology: “Capitalism is the problem!”  Some problems can’t be addressed because nobody knowss how to solve them. Drug addiction seems to fit into this category.)

Getting an idea of what problem to address with your policy is only one step in the process. You might have an idea about the policy that’s needed. It may also be true that you don’t really have an idea to present and need to do some brainstorming. 

Once you’ve come up with a policy idea, whether by borrowing or brainstorming, you’ll need to convince people that the policy needs to be adopted. The selling of your idea to politicans or voters is

another opportunity for creativity. Resource shortages may force you to get creative about the advertising medium, the message itself, event he audience to target with your message.

Designing Effective Programs

So, lets change subjects from talking about rasing money to the subject of program design.

“There needs to be a program for that issue in this town.”
“We need to launch a project to deal with ______.”

Social problems and social opportunities often get handled by new programs or projects. Some are run by the government, some by nonprofits.

Program design calls for problem analysis, so you can be more confident that the program is going to help fix the problem, or take advantage of the opportunity. When it comes to program design there are really two options - design a new one or borrow and adapt one that alredy exists. Regardless of the approach you choose, there are a few things to do. Always state your challenge explicitely. Be aware of the available resources. Know the social environment.

Those last two steps can be facilitated with aproblem analysis technique called “Appreciation.” The details are explained at www.mindtools.com, which also describes other problem analysis tools. You should  also take some time to study the problem itself. Try using the 5 Why technique, also explained at Mindtools.com. Try to framw your challenge in different ways, such as curing or selling, or marketing.

Try to maximize the number of times people DON’T need help instead of maximizing the number of people who need help and get it.

New Ideas About Fundraising

Nonprofit groups sometimes need to raise money, recruit volunteers, or get in-kind contributions. All three effrots really represent different ways of getting the resources the organization needs to achieve its goals. With that in mind, I offer a few thoughts on creative fundraising. The advice could apply to soliciting in-kind contributions or to recruiting volunteers. You’ll have to decide for yourself if it is true.

Some of you will have thought about getting grants for projects. Don’t get too creative here! There is a formal process to be followed, and no real alternatives exist. Making your grant application into a YouTube video may qualify as creative, but it makes more sense to figure out how to write a grant proposal. I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, that most grant-making organizations are very conservative. 

But, back to creative fundraising…

Take a few minutes to do nothing but think of as many techniques as possible for raising the money you need. This is brainstorming as practiced by most of us. Don’t censor your ideas. Don’t be afraid to get crazy. You might come up with somwthing that’s both new and realistic. Expect the ideas to emerge in a raw form that calls for some refinement.

Use business tools and techniques as starting points for your brainstorming efforts. Use sidewalk sales, coupons, vending machines, white sales, and otehr marketing tools to inspire you. Start by picking the next marketing device that you see. What features and characteristics come to mind? Write them down? Look at each feature or characteristic and see if any new ideas appear.

Try to restate your challenge. The obvous challenge here is to raise X amount of money. You could think in terms of raising time, talent, or knowledge. You could go back to an old fundraising standby and solicit contributions that you can sell at a yard sale.

Try to modify or expand the usual fundraising techniques in osme way. What else could you do with a yard sale featuring donated goods? How else could you run a bake sale? Again, your initial ideas are likely to need some work before they are usable.
 

Working with Concepts

In my last post I wrote about the potential for stealing concepts, rather than specific ideas. This time I want to describe an easy way to identify a concept, related concepts, and specific ways of using a particular concept - the concept map, sometimes called a concept fan. The starting point in creating a concept map is to name the general thing you are trying to do. This could be convincing people to stop

smoking or getting voters to vote for a particular ballot initiative. How do you generally do this? By advertising, perhaps? Advertising is a concept, a general way of spreading a message designed to spur some sort of action.

What other ways of “spreading a message…” are there? Those are other concepts you can use in the next step. Next, try to find specific ways to carry out each concept. We know how to advertise for example - use the newspaper, hand out pamphlets outside of subway stations, produce a television

commercial, et cetera. You get the picture. We know how to promote an idea. “Promote” is another concept, as are marketing and education. How might we use education to get people to kick the smoking habit? What can we promote as an alternative to cigarettes (or smokeles tobacco)?

Maybe there are other ways to advertise that won’t occur to people right away? It used to be impossible to advertise by painting a message on someone’s body, but now that very trick has been used.

Advertising isn’t necessarily the only concept we can use here. We don’t even have to restrict ourselves to the concept of “selling” a ballot initiative or a smoke-free lifestyle. 

How to Steal Ideas

Sometimes, maybe most of the time, the best social betterment ideas are nes you steal from somewhere. Why not borrow and adapt a good idea that’s already out there? There is no reason not to try. I describe the process of stealing ideas in The Creative Activism Guide.The process isn’t that hard, and to make it even easier I offer these three suggestions:

1. Know what counts as a good idea before you look for something to steal. Write down your criteria so you are less likely to be dazzled by the cool/sexy/sublime idea that really won’t work for you. How many activists’ efforts have gone awry because of ideologically correct ideas that have no other value?

2. Don’t should on yourself, or the rest of us. Stay away from ideas that seem good ONLY because they promise to make people to do something or think something that you believe they should do or should think.

3. Look for concepts you can use. A great idea may not be something as concrete as a boycott or a carbon tax. The general way of doing something, like putting financial pressure on companies or creating taxes that internalize the costs of a behavior, might be what you need. Identify the concept by thinking about the general method or strategy or approach embodied in the idea.

What Counts as a Good Idea?

What counts as a good idea? That’s a question worth answering, especially where the design of a new program, policy, or public eduction campaign is concerned. You need to consider at least three issues, issues that may seem obvious but still need to be treated systematically:

1. Time - How much time is available? There might be a self-imposed deadline. You want to start your campaign during the Christmas shopping season and the day after Thanksgiving is two weeks away (Yikes!). The deadline could be externally imposed - the grant proposals have to be in by December 15, 2007. Yikes again!

2. Money - How much money can you invest in your plan? If you don’t have money you better have some other resource.

3. Other Resources - Volunteers (for labor or who possess specialized skills and knowledge), reputation, and things that could be bartered are all resources that could help.Don’t treat time as a resource! All plans need firm deadlines or the necessary work to move things forward.

Next time: More notes on defining a “good idea” for your group or organization.

Strategically Approaching Social Change

Many social issues have attracted time, money and energy. The big issues today seem to Darfur, the war in Iraq, the tensions between the United States and Iran, and global climate change. Regardless of the issues in question there is an obvious need to make efficient and effective use of time, money, and other resources. Social activism, social change, and nonprofit management can benefit from following a plan to take effective action. This article spells out eight simple activism principles, principles that could be applied to general nonprofit management issues. 

Exploring Your Challenge
 
Asking good questions is always a sensible place to start when addressing any social change challenge or social betterment opportunity. Questions clarify objectives and evaluation criteria.
Questions help to pinpoint the cause(s) of a problem and the characteristics of a good solution to the problem. Questions help people in social betterment work to better understand the social
environment.
 
Stealing Ideas

People steal ideas constantly. Activists, nonprofit managers, and social entrepreneurs could make a plan to find and steal ideas. Decide on the best locations  for stealing ideas. Hit the bookstores,
malls, and libraries. Take another peek at books and magazines you haven’t read in some time. Watch different TV shows and read different magazines. Start out with knowledge of the areas in
which you need to steal ideas. Consider management, advertising, financial management, fundraising, recruiting, retention, technology, volunteer management, strategic planning, social marketing, and anything else you can think of that’s relevant to your organization.
 
Problem Analysis

Make a list of problems that your group or organization is facing. This list should include the main problem(s) for which your group or organization was created. The list should include any sub-problems of the main problems. Talk to your coworkers and fellow activists about what needs to be on the list and on the wording that’s been used. You will need this information for problem analysis and for group problem-solving sessions that may come later.
 
Brainstorming

Define a problem area where you want new ideas. Define an area where you want to exploit an opportunity and need a new idea. Pick a technique or two and apply it. The nature of challenges facing your organization will dictate, to some degree, the best choice of brainstorming tools. Refining an idea isdifferent from defining a new creative focus and looking for an idea.

Design Thinking

Consider the areas, techniques and values that relate to your organization’s goals. What programs, policies, projects, or internal processes need to be designed or redesigned? Social innovations in general need to be designed deliberately rather than in a haphazard manner – This should exist so let’s create it. Design values need to be considered first, and formally. Consider fit with the local culture. Consider the
fit with widespread social values like social values such as equity and democratic involvement.
 
Decision Analysis

What sorts of decisions will need to be made as the organization’s plans progress, as the program continues, as the policy is implemented? What sorts of decisions regarding fundraising, budgeting, staffing, and volunteer recruitment need to be made? Decision analysis usually hinges on gathering data or opinions. What data and (informed!) opinions will need to be collected so sound decisions are made? Where will that information come from? In many cases, you will find that simple concentration on the pros and cons of each choice will suggest the right decision. Answering a question with a simple yes or no is sometimes easy and requires only the data and experience you already have at hand. In other cases some formal decision analysis tool will be needed. Likewise, prioritizing several options can be a seat-of-the-pants exercise or something that’s proceeding with more formally, by rankings or comparisons among paired alternatives.
Start by determining where complex decisions are going to be called for. Study one or two decision-analysis tools so you can use them with speed and confidence when you need to use the “for real.” This is also a good opportunity to look at comprehensive problem-solving software like ThoughtOffice®.

Evaluating Ideas

The time to decide what counts as a good idea comes before you need to implement the idea. Now is the time to decide what counts as a good idea. The criteria will be based on time, money, talent, staff, volunteers, and the social environment. Goals and objectives are important considerations because they determine the sorts of deas that can move the organization forward. The culture, politics, laws, demographics, and economic conditions that exist when the ideas are implemented need to be accounted for in creating evaluation criteria. An intuitive and informal process is not necessarily bad – you presumably know your subject quite well. An informal process is still inferior because it informal evaluations allow too much room for subjective considerations and for important considerations to be missed.
Consider the time and money to be invested in implementing this idea. A snap judgment that the idea is a good one could waste huge amounts of time and money. A seemingly good idea can seriously damage an organization’s reputation. Reputation is a sort of resource that needs to be considered in the idea generating stage, the idea evaluation stage, and the idea implementation stage of problem solving

Selling Ideas

Depending on the organization’s purpose this may or may not seem important. It is important. At the very least you need to convince coworkers that the idea is a good one. You may also need buy-in from volunteers, the board of trustees, or supervisors. Activists have to sell ideas to voters, politicians, school administrators, people who don’t recycle, people who support the other side of an issue and et cetera. In almost all cases your plans will succeed to the extent that you can sell others on what needs to be done and why.
An important early step in social betterment efforts is to consider theaudience(s) for your message. This seems straightforward and the point in this section is not to belabor the obvious. The point is to encourage a formal and systematic approach to the selling of ideas. Write things down. Brainstorm possible marketing tactics and strategies. Make sure you have thought comprehensively about what groups need to be sold on an idea and what benefits they will want or what arguments they will accept. There may be a need to learn some social marketing techniques that are beyond the scope of this book. Some people can learn on their own by studying a textbook, while others will need to take a class. Funds permitting, it would be wise to hire consultants. The higher the stakes to the organization the more it makes sense to get professional help.
 

Exploring a Social Change Challenge

Solving social problems or simply improving society in some way requires strategy. I guess everyone knows that already. Having a strategy, even a simple one you haven’t written down, is better than going on with no idea of what you want to accomplish or how. This post is about deciding how to best accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish by way of social betterment (i.e., any effort designed to improve society in some way through alleviating a social problem or exploiting some opportunity for improvement).

Ask some questions about the issue:

What would success look like?
What resources do you have? What information, knowledge, money, or skill do you have now?
Where do you start - on what part of the problem or in what geographic location?
How do you choose a proper starting point?
Why do you want to tackle this issue?
When is the best time to act?
Where do you go for resources you need but don’t have?
How can you work around any resource shortage that can’t be corrected in a timely manner?
What factors contribute to the problem?
What factors could influence the amount of improvement you can expect?
Where are you likely to meet resistance to your plans?
What is your time frame and why?
Who are potential allies and how, specifcally, can you recruit them?
What factors in the community - cultural, ecological, economic, legal, political, technological - could help or hinder tyour efforts?

That list should suggest other questions that apply to your specific situation. Whether that’s true or not, you’ll want to record your answers somewhere. Your written answers are an important element of your plan to gain leverage in effecting the change you want to see.

Next time: Research and Leverage

Some More Thoughts on Science and Planned Social Change

Now is a good time to say more about the three “scientific planning” tips I posted last time. First, here is the tip I left out last time: Know the factors that seem to contribute to the problem. Exploiting an opportunity works the same way, in the sense that you need to know what factors contribute to the situation you would like to create in the future.

Consider the example of climate change. How can we use science to exploit an opportunity related to climate change. Let’s ride the wave of public concern over climate change and promote the diffusion. Do you want to see all of the public buildings in your city using solar power in some way? What factors (call them variables if you wish) will influence the potential for success? You may already know what factors are relavant and how, or some research and some consulttion with experts could be in order.

Facts and figures - Know the numbers that are most relevant to your subject, and know the source too! If you don’t know the relevant facts you MUST know where to get them. How much will solar power equipment cost for various buildings? How much energy can you generate with each square meter of solar photovoltaic cells? How much money can be saved by getting a certain percentage of electricity from solar power?

Theories and concepts - First, remember that a theory is not a guess. Theories are statements about the measurable relationships between related phenomena (not a precise and complete definition but good

enough to work with). What theories or concepts from social science research might help us to do a better job of selling people on solar power?

Data on trends - You need to know what the trends are, or at least where to get that information. What are the trends in use of solar power? Maybe hard numbers will help make “going solar” into a more

normal or respectable thing to do. Trend data may also make solar designs more economically attractive to developers. Data on current conditions - You also need to know what’s going on now. Seems obvious, but the devil is in the details. What numbers are most relevant for your cause/goal/objective? What is the context?

What social reality is reflected in these numbers? So what if 10% of DC homes have solar panels on the roof and 40% of home owners say they are very interested in using solar power for their homes?
Why all this rationalism? Well, there is nothing wrong with passion or with emotional commitment per se, it is just that emotion can displace a concern with getting the best results for our available resources. Arguably, that situation cannot be allowed to persist because of the world’s many problems. And don’t forget opprtunities too; people spend too much time dwelling on problems.

COMING SOON: I think I will actually, finally, start systematically applying the many ideas in these posts to a social issue. The issue is TBD but might be “social pollution.”