3foldComm

We love innovation, we love technology and we love the nonprofit community here at 3fold, so in the spirit of Thanksgiving we decided to have our staffers each recognize a nonprofit they are thankful for. This list is more than just great nonprofits with an incredible goal (that list could easily be in the hundreds!), but ones we think are doing innovative things and leveraging technology in incredible ways to share their messages and advance their causes. We of course cannot list every one, but would love to hear about your favorite innovative nonprofits in the comments below!

Charity: Water (www.charitywater.org) — Bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations … AND 100% of public donations directly fund water projects (including the credit card fees from your donation). Why are they innovative? They use the digital space in a clever and unique way to very clearly outline, promote and report the progress on their goals (in numbers we can all understand, plus you can check Google maps to see where every completed water project is located).

-Gordon Fowler, President & CEO

826 Valencia (www.826valencia.org) — They help kids become better writers while helping over-burdened public schools and teachers provide the one-on-one attention that budgets no longer allow. But why are they innovative? They also run a pirate supply store which pays the lease, and how cool is that? At first, 826 Valencia started as just the address for a San Francisco publication to house its offices. However, looking at the education need in their own community, they decided they should add a free tutoring program for local kids. Running a publication in the morning, then when school ended, offering up staff as tutors. Because the building was zoned for retail, though, they needed to sell something to stay in their location. They created the Pirate Store, which turned out to be the perfect connection for 826 to the very community they wanted to help, as curious neighbors and visitors stopped in to see the unique store, and more often than not became new clients, donors and volunteers. Far from being part-time now, they have a volunteer roster of more than 1,700 local creative professionals and serve more than 6,000 students in San Francisco alone…and they have even opened seven more chapters across the country.

-Angela Criser, Director of Digital Strategy

Francis House Center (www.francishousecenter.org) — They serve as a triage center for newly homeless individuals and families, providing great emergency assistance, referrals, and case management. Why are they innovative? Francis House Center is the only organization in Sacramento that helps homeless people obtain State-issued identification, which is critical to enrolling in programs, obtaining health benefits, getting a job.

- Kim Tucker, VP Nonprofit Division

Project 7 (www.project7.com) — Simply put, You buy, they give. They are a cause-related company that makes everyday consumer goods like bio-bottled water, gum, mints and coffee. However, they aren’t asking you to buy more stuff, just change the products that you already buy in order to help others. Why are they innovative? Project 7 uses hardcore cause marketing (like retail space at the cash wrap in Walmart) following a hard-nosed, straightforward brand …”Buy this and do that.” Brilliant.

- Steve Alfano, Creative Director

These Numbers Have Faces (www.thesenumbers.org) — TNHF educates and empowers South African youth to ignite community transformation. Why are they innovative? They’re a pretty well-rounded and great organization. They are active on Twitter – and I especially love the quotes and statistics they push out. They also utilize pretty much every major social network and even have an iPhone app — it’s impressive to say the least for a nonprofit to truly understand technologies connection to new audiences.

- Alicia Allen, Social Media Coordinator

Cottage Housing, Inc. (www.cottagehousing.org) — A solution-focused, participant-driven and strength-based organization where homeless people help themselves — and each other — through their transition from the streets to self-sustainability. Why are they innovative? Cottage Housing, Inc. is not the patient type.  They were not interested in sitting around waiting for the economy to improve so they could find their formerly-homeless graduates jobs.  Instead, they started creating jobs by starting businesses.  Take Finishing Touch. This is a mobile detailing business that employs a formerly homeless workforce who graduated from Cottage Housing’s program.  Job skills, employment readiness, a living wage, a self-esteem boost…and a shiny, clean car. And that is just one of many.

- Scott Moak, Director of Nonprofit Services

TED (www.ted.com) — TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Since then, its scope has become ever broader. Why is it innovative? They believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. The TED website offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with those ideas and each other.

- Clay Nutting, Account Manager Social Media Services

Doctors without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org) — Doctors Without Borders began in 1971 as Medecins Sans Frontieres by a group of French doctors and Journalists in the wake of the war and accompanying famine in Biafra and Nigeria. Why are they innovative? In light of them being an organization that has been around for more than 30 years, they continue to grow and change, now utilizing social media such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Tumblr to spread the information regarding their great body of work.  Their webpage is designed to show everything from current events affecting the world to ways to donate, from how to work with them to annual reports spanning the last decade.  They currently have 435,738 followers on Facebook and 155,208 followers on Twitter!

- Curtis Ebo, Operations Coordinator, Nonprofit Services

Center for Land Based Learning (www.landbasedlearning.org) — They teach California’s urban youth about the importance of agriculture and watershed conservation. CLBL exposes these kids to farms and ranches — a world they typical do not interface with. Why are they innovative? They work with youth to help them develop leadership skills and learn how sustainable agriculture practices contribute to a healthier ecosystem and create connections to agricultural, environmental, and food system careers. They also use channels like Facebook and YouTube to share these hands-on experiences, hoping to connect those not able to participate first hand with their mission. Besides, who wouldn’t love this video of kids rapping in a field about what they learn.

- Andi Justice, Account Manager

Special Olympics (www.sonc.org) — Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Programs give athletes continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skill, and friendship with their families, other athletes and the community. Why they are innovative? Beyond their incredible use of social networks to spread the message, they have partnered with pop culture media, including the TV show Glee and the Not Acceptable R-word PSA. In their social networks, the positive messages, incredible images and dynamic stories always bring a smile to my face.

- Brian Blank, PR and Social Media Manager

Kind Campaign (www.kindcampaign.com) — An internationally recognized movement, documentary and school program based upon the belief in KINDness that brings awareness and healing to the negative and lasting effects of girl-against-girl “crime.” Why are they innovative? They use a very “real” documentary to reach out to victims (and perpetrators) of adolescent girl-against-girl violence and then provide an immediate outlet for girls to gain support and empower themselves with their tagline “We’ve all been a victim. Unfortunately, we’re also the cause. Help us change.” They also have support from stars such as Lady Gaga.

- Elise Crispen, Account Assistant

Girls on the Run (www.gotrsac.org) –  The nonprofit is geared to girls from the 3rd to 8th grade and they teach them the value of eating right, having a healthy body image and ultimately showing them the joy of running.  Why are they innovative? With so many obese boys and girls in our country, it is great to see a program like Girls on the Run.  At the end of each session, each of the girls ends up running in a local 5K race.  Also, depending on the financial need of the school district the program is instituted in, the organization outfits the girls with new running shoes from New Balance.

- Ross Villegas, Account Manager

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Veteran’s Day is tomorrow and I am proud to say 3fold Communications will be closed for the day. Sure we’ll miss doing all the fun, creative and result-generating work for our incredible clients but as a veteran of the U.S. Navy, I personally am thankful we are taking the day off. Today I sent around a quick email to remind our team some important things about Veteran’s Day. Besides being a day off from work, it is a day to remember all the service members who gave up a bit of their lives to serve in our armed forces.

I don’t advocate war and don’t think everything we do with our military is right BUT that doesn’t discount the sacrifices our military service people have made for our country. Many of us have served at different points in time where America had different attitudes about our armed forces.

National pride was at an all-time high after World War II and those returning from service were met with ticker-tape parades. Fast forward 25 years and those men and women returning from Vietnam were met with protests and harassment, never quite getting the appreciation they deserved for the arduous conditions and graphic scenes they endured.

I encourage all of you tomorrow or over the weekend to find a vet – a friend, a relative, a stranger – and say thank you! It doesn’t matter whether or not we served overseas or in time of war, we all played a role in supporting our country and sacrificing so the simple “thank you” means a lot!

If your office happens to be open tomorrow, make sure to do something special for your veteran employees — buy them lunch, shake their hand, or just give them the day off. Taking the time to recognize their service will mean a lot. Many of us have fond memories about our time in service and the friends we made, touches like this give us the opportunity to reflect and be proud of our service.

Everybody has had a different experience and have some great stories to share. Don’t be afraid to ask a veteran about their time in but be aware of sensitive areas. Be thankful and share in the history we all were a part of shaping.

In case you are wondering how exactly we got to have Veteran’s Day as a holiday, here is an informative video from the History Channel.

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Want a chance to win a ticket for this Friday’s Sacramento Metro Chamber Perspectives speaker event at the Sacramento Convention Center? To win a ticket all you have to do to enter is submit a question to ask Robert Gates. With three great speakers — Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone, five-time Olympian Dara Torres and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates — this year’s Perspectives is looking to be an informative and one-of-a-kind event.

Dr. Gates will be conducting a question and answer session as part of his presentation and we’re certain our 3fold blog readers can come up with a pretty inspiring question. Here is the deal — in order to win this free ticket, submit the question you’d like to ask Dr. Gates in the comment section before 10 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, September 21. We’ll then select our favorite question and pass it on to the Metro Chamber to ask Mr. Gates and in return, we’ll give you a ticket to the event.

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Nonprofit visionary Robert Egger was in town to help kick off the inaugural 3fold Spark! Series last Friday aimed at uniting innovators within the local non-profit community. Egger founded the DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C. as the country’s first “community kitchen” where food donated by hospitality businesses and farms is used to fuel a nationally recognized culinary arts job training program, where unemployed men and women learn marketable skills while donations are converted into balanced meals.

With over 23 million meals served and over 800 men and woman trained and gaining full-time employment, Egger’s philosophy helped turn the dream of a socially responsible business into a reality. Egger also penned the award-winning book Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient and Rewarding for All.

At Friday’s roundtable, Egger shared his passion with leaders from Sacramento’s nonprofit community, asking them to start thinking about social responsibility and treating organizations more as a social enterprise than a “not for profit.” With a shift from a manufacturing orientated society into a service oriented society, our view on quality of life, wealth and social responsibility are changing and so does the way we traditionally have gone about treating the traditional nonprofit.

As the Baby Boomer generation ages and the Millennial generation reaches the workforce, there is a crossroads where the two generations are meeting that will have a major impact on the way nonprofit agencies exist in the future. As Eggers pointed out, this brings around change — change that some are willing to embrace wholeheartedly, while others may resist. “Our generation chose to drop out and rage against the machine. This generation can drop in and take over,” he adds.

This evolving way of thinking across all generations is a good sign for the nonprofit community as philanthropy and a return to the need for “community” and belonging. But nonprofits also need to reevaluate and grow as well to be successful in the future. To thrive, nonprofits have to adopt the mechanics needed to run a business for its longevity.

“Robert Egger challenges us to ‘march out and meet the future,’ and that’s exactly what the Spark! series is intended to do,” said Kim Tucker, Vice President of Nonprofit Services at 3fold. “Let’s do as Robert did at DC Central Kitchen and move around the existing ingredients –- our leading nonprofit organizations and our forward-thinking funders –- and innovate in our responses to community needs.”

With the tagline “Where Coffee Meets Inspiration,” the 3fold Spark! series is a quarterly roundtable speaker event bringing together a variety of voices from the nonprofit community to Sacramento.

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Sure the summer temperatures may be cooler than normal but that doesn’t mean things aren’t heating up here at 3fold Communications. In case you didn’t notice, yes this is a new voice here and I am excited to join this wonderful team of engaging, creative and dynamic people at 3fold.

So you might be asking yourself who is this Brian Blank guy? Well as of last week I joined the team as public relations and social media manager to help our existing and future clients navigate the ever-changing realm of communications in this digital society.

My background is with technology and sports PR, having worked in and around the Silicon Valley tech scene from the late 1990s to today – seeing a dynamic shift in the way we communicate. The recent growth of social networking and social media has changed the way consumers and brands interact and it can be daunting for companies to shift their communication strategies when it seems like there is a new tool or network popping up every day.

The key thing to remember is many of these networks and gadgets are just tools to use to communicate, and to be most effective you must have a solid communications strategy as a backbone. Strategy will help set the game plan and road map to make your overall public relations efforts and social media tactics easier to grasp and understand.

We are in an exciting time. Great things are on the horizon for the agency and I am excited to be on the team. Our CEO and founder Gordon Fowler has put together an incredible lineup of rock stars here, and we all look forward to meeting your needs and going beyond expectations.

You can read more about me here over as I’ll be a regular contributor on key topics here on the 3fold Blog or you can also follow me on Twitter @brian3fold. So whether you have a question or are looking for a top-notch integrated marketing agency to help you cut through the noise and make a positive impact, give us a call and stay tuned for more great things ahead!

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