Global Development Archives

What’s Killing Children? Diarrhea – Policy, Sanitation, and Handwashing

Global Development, Public Policy

Global Handwashing Day, October 15, 2008. A brilliant idea being implemented by the right organization, the United Nations. With diseases flourishing and spreading at a rampant pace throughout the developing world this initiative comes at a most critical moment.

In the U.S. and other ‘developed’ nations diarrhea is something we treat with over the counter (OTC) medications and very rarely seek medical attention – the problem just goes away and one returns to ‘regularity.’ Well, this is not the case in the third-world, where diarrhea is a real threat – it’s a fatal disease; in fact, it is the second most common cause of death for children under the age of five. Globally, about 2 million child deaths (children under five) occur every year. (UNICEF)
Continue reading …

Cause-Specific Websites: The Flood Gates are Open

Nonprofits, Tech & Web

A couple weeks back I introduced the new nonprofit social startup Causecast.org. I have since learned of two great websites that put Causecast back in the ‘contender’ category – because they have been around a lot longer and both enjoy a substantial amount of members.

In fact, SocialVibe.com and Ammado.com share many of the same ’causes’ . Both websites provide visitors with a wide selection of nonprofits to follow. SocialVibe wins my vote as the most efficient, usable, and well-designed website. The website allows you to ‘join’ as many causes as you wish – once you join a cause you can contribute to the nonprofit’s SocialVibe community by submitting donations, uploading multimedia (photos, videos), writing in a cause-specific forum, and finally, you can share the nonprofit’s SocialVibe page on other social networks (MySpace, Facebook, etc.). The ‘One Laptop Per Child’ cause has a well-utilized page on SocialVibe.
Continue reading …

Pakistan, Motivation to Succeed, and US Intervention

Global Development

There is no doubt that the US has been earning itself a poor international reputation…and this most recent decade of bad PR has definitely helped to negate just about everything ‘good’ the US has sponsored throughout the world. For example, USAID is one of the main reasons behind the success of two of Pakistan’s most elite business schools, including the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). It is also the source of funding for efforts to improve maternal health and water quality – just two of the terrible ailments that keep the bulk of Pakistanis at the very bottom of the pyramid.

There are many potential reasons for the current dilapidated state of the nation, in fact, the left, right, conservative and liberal populations often have overlapping theories. Each political party selects facts that appreciate their respective agendas, whether it’s the sixty years of overwhelmingly out of touch rule, a consistently increasing percentage of poverty (currently at least 25%), or the shameful 50% adult literacy rate – all ideas seem to point to a consistently increasing divide between the upper class (ruling class) and lower class (majority).
Continue reading …

Youtube launches 'In My Name' video project for poverty elimination

Nonprofits, Tech & Web

Today, Youtube launches a new philanthopic effort aimed at addressing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) to end global poverty. Starting today, through November 1st, site visitors throughout the world will be able to submit videos of themselves addressing a local and/or global poverty-related issue.

If executed effectively the ‘In My Name’ project will prove to be one of the most effective povert-related campaigns ever executed, both online and offline. Youtube’s massive reach (estimated 73.5 million per month) is the main reason for the campaign’s inevitable success. Today’s teens and young adults are spending more of their free time online than watching tv and reading magazines – if any youth-focused marketing campaign is to prove effective it must have a substantial online component. The youthful and tech-saavy demographic that accounts for the majority of Youtube’s daily audience is a huge plus on its own.
Continue reading …

Marketing at Three D.C. Metro Non Profit Organizations

Marketing, Nonprofits

** If you’re looking for marketing advice for your Nonprofit – please contact me at Nova Advertising **

CrisisLink (Arlington, VA)
Coptic Orphans (Falls Church, VA)
Muslim Association of Virginia (Prince William County, VA)

Introduction

Nonprofit organizations play an important role in the operation of day-to-day activities in the United States; furthermore, they can be very sophisticated international entities that are operated by “well-trained MBAs and ex-businesspeople” (Strategic Marketing, 5). The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is home to a lot of nonprofit organizations including three from Virginia that will be analyzed in this report: CrisisLink, Coptic Orphans, and the Muslim Association of Virginia. Each of the aforementioned organizations is unique in their respective missions and also overlap in certain aspects of their services. Throughout this report we will analyze how they fall into the following five aspects of nonprofit marketing: Customer Orientation, Strategic Planning and Organization, Developing and Organizing Resources, Designing the Marketing Mix, and Controlling Marketing Strategies.