Many little kids dream about changing the world, then grow up to realize it's a pretty expensive undertaking and get discouraged. The rise of apps like Facebook Causes and success of MoveOn.org are manifestations of the continued optimism of our generation. Without getting too hippy-dippy, people still believe in their own power to effect change. And, as the economy "recesses," more and more visionaries and far sighted organizations want to involve you without bankrupting you. Harnessing the power of the net and big business partnerships, these groups are now providing opportunities for reasonably priced, small effort social action. Saving the world from the couch sounds good to us.
Enter Armchair Revolutionary. This forward-thinking group is basically asking you to donate 99 cents to play a game based on a gnarly real situation. You play and your donation actually goes to fix that problem. The premise is that 99 cents multiplied by a lot of people will make a real impact. And, because it's a developing game community, it will also be sustainable long term. Another quite stunning aspect is that, if they follow through with their grand scheme, the ever-changing games will function as real-time progress reports. Simple and mind-blowingly smart. They officially launched April 6, 2010, and we wish them luck. Check out their blog for more information.
SocialVibe is a genius harnessing of all the time people spend on social media and other random online activities. Essentially, you get to direct corporate dollars toward the cause of your choice by participating in branded activities and slapping a widget up on your personal Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Blogger, whatever. It's pretty powerful to tell mega-corporations where to put their bucks and still never have to leave your couch. Go SocialVibe!
IfWeRanTheWorld is an idea in process. Basically, it's a shareable, dream big to-do list. Save the puppies, create a barter society, whatever strikes your fancy. It's a platform for finding others interested in making the same changes. The idea is bigger than its current incarnation, but as more users join and find like-minded individuals it could explode into a breeding ground for change-makers. We'll keep our eye on this one.
Another less structured, but still effective, method is to continue to google, post updates, and blog about the causes that interest you. RFB is currently googling NIKA, a great SoCal based bottled water company that donates all profits to international clean water projects. And now we just blogged about it. And you're reading about it. So we've done something today to promote a cause (access to clean water, in case you missed it). Simple, effective, and...cheap. Because we may want to make a difference, but we're still broke bums.