As the world has watched the ‘Arab Morning’ spread across North Africa and countries of the Middle East this year, we have been amazed by tales of everyday heroism, and heartbroken by stories of unimaginable violence and loss. Last week, I opened my keynote presentation to the UK Institute of Fundraising‘s National Convention with one such story—that of Hamza al-Khateeb, the 13 year-old boy who was savagely beaten and murdered at the hands of Syria’s security forces.

Stories such as his strike a devastating blow to our faith in the goodness of humanity; sadly, it is too easy and far from accurate to dismiss Hamza’s story as the result of a deranged security officer. In fact, Amnesty has reported numerous other children and teenagers have been tortured and murdered since Hamza’s story broke around the world. So the problem is even more disturbing and complex than one would at first believe.

It is this complexity that fundraisers, activists and social change leaders face across a diverse range of issues and problems. From the Arab Morning to climate change to urban degradation, complex problems require distinct approaches from simple ones.

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Excruciating joy. That’s as close as I can get to articulating the atmosphere at the 2011 Social Change Institute.

Hosted at Hollyhock, June 8 – 12, SCI brought together a group of 55 remarkably diverse individuals, each of whom is working on one or more of the most significant challenges we face: From the need to rethink our organizations and how they’re structured, to unification of distinct generations in service of challenges bigger than each of them, to the recognition that adaptation to climate change will be as challenging as reversing it, the questions posed at SCI required both widely expansive thinking and deep, personal engagement. And it is precisely there that the greatest lessons of SCI 2011 began.

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After accumulating one of the greatest fortunes ever assembled, pioneering industrialist Andrew Carnegie dedicated his time and energy to spending it. Carnegie’s legacy is world famous, and delivered a global impact. I’ve written about him before. But this morning, I enjoyed reading a Huffington Post piece about ‘The New Carnegies‘—a collection of articles profiling some of today’s great philanthropists.

This morning’s piece focused on Jeff Skoll, the multi-billionaire who was the third person to join eBay. After helping to build that firm, and in the process, reinventing how commerce happens, Skoll has dedicated his time and his fortune to a focused, complementary group of companies and initiatives that collectively are working to address some of humanity’s and Earth’s most pressing problems.

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Octopus Strategies is pleased to be co-hosting MEC in Vancouver. Please join us for a presentation and discussion with 1% for the Planet, a global alliance of socially responsible businesses dedicated to supporting environmental causes.

Tuesday June 7, 3:30 – 5:00 PM

Followed by a social reception with 1% for the Planet Members, 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Cross Media Lab at W2 Media Cafe

111 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC

Join us at the newly opened W2 Media Café for an interactive session with Mountain Equipment Co-op and 1% for the Planet. 1% for the Planet members are located in 44 countries, and each of their 1,400 business members donate at least one percent of revenues to environmental causes.

Led by BC-based businesses like Mountain Equipment Co-op, Sterling Lorence, Saul Good Gift Co., Horne Coupar, and Hemp and Company, 1% members have given over $3.2 million to Canadian NGOs like CPAWS, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the David Suzuki Foundation and dozens more since 2002.

Hear from 1% staff and MEC sustainability team about the 1% model and business value in being part of a network of companies investing over $20 million annually in grassroots environmental work and sustainability issues. After the meeting, please stick around for an informal cocktail reception with 1% members, NGOs, and fellow Vancouver business leaders

Please let us know if you’re planning to attend by emailing Danny: danny@onepercentfortheplanet.org. Questions? Contact Danny at 802-496-5408.

We hope to see you on June 7. Please spread the word!

P.S. Interested in learning more about 1% before the event? Please check out their short film, [one percent] of the story

“We have developed the most miraculous tools for dealing with the health of humankind. But the best tools in the world don’t make a bit of difference if they don’t get out to where they’re needed.”

— Nils Daulaire – Former CEO and President, Global Health Council.

In Africa, millions of people are dying from easily-preventable diseases because health workers do not have the reliable transport to reach them. By ensuring health workers have access to vehicles that never break down, Riders for Health is making sure millions of people across Africa receive regular, reliable health care, often for the first time in their lives.

Net Impact’s Vancouver Professional Chapter is pleased to welcome co-founders Andrea and Barry Coleman. Join us to hear about Riders for Health’s pioneering business, about their self-sustaining business model, and about key challenges they’ve faced while building this award-winning social enterprise.

The presentation and Q&A is sponsored by Octopus Strategies, and will be held at the Tides Renewal Centre in Vancouver.

For registration and location details, follow this link.

We hope to see you there.

In an insightful article published by The Guardian today, Octopus client and Everyclick CEO Polly Gowers makes the case for bringing private sector technology and innovation to bear on the pressing challenges of charitable fundraising:

Public sector cuts, restricting funding and stagnant donations means that it’s now even more important for charities to find new revenue streams. In particular, technology innovation has, and will continue to support our charities and enable them to find ways to increase funds.

In a political / social context where government funding for charities is shrinking, and during an economic period when individuals have less money to share with their favourite causes, innovative approaches to fundraising are essential to charities’ operations. Gowers argues–and we agree–that social enterprise is a valuable part of the solution.

Her firm, Everyclick, “turns search-based advertising into a revenue stream for any charity.” Everyclick’s Give as You Live tool, which Octopus helped to brand and launch, operates in the background as users shop as normal. Without changing their habits at all, Everyclick facilitates the donation of a small portion of their purchase price to the charity of their choice. The application alone has the capacity to raise £1.25 billion in unrestricted funding for UK charities this year.

Read more of Gowers’s Guardian article here. Or learn more by contacting us.