If you’re feeling less than joyful about your civic participation these days, Britt Bravo, the mastermind behind Have Fun * Do Good and the Big Vision podcast, has a formula that might help. It’s simple: you make a list of the things you find amusing and joyful, then a second list of the things you believe make the world better. Then you figure out all the ways you could put those lists together to take action.

Photo: Moms in planning mode (from Amy Potthast)

Britt has invited a series of guests to write posts called “How I Have Fun and Do Good,” and our own Amy Potthast was honored to contribute one last week. Amy’s entry is about creating a “a moms-and-tots playgroup that brings together teen moms and adult moms” in her Portland, OR community:

As an intentional by-product of the project, the moms (and dads) involved with planning have grown closer as a community and we only envision having more fun together as we get to know each other, and our kids, better during regular playgroup gatherings in the coming year.

Yesterday’s post was by Amy Sample Ward, nonprofit techie and community builder at TechSoup Global. She says she sees so many ways to have fun and do good that she is sometimes faced with “option paralysis.” To narrow down the options, she writes, “I look for the ones that aren’t just fun and enjoyable but are also interesting, will use my brain, keep me engaged and even help me learn something new.” Pretty good criteria for anyone combing through Idealist volunteer opportunities, methinks…

If you could use some inspiration, check out the series!

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Thrifted dresses and handmade sashes (Photo: Julia Smith)

I’m getting married this weekend! I’m overjoyed because (a) I get to say “I do” to my favorite person in the world, and (b) my year of planning is coming to an end. When I start thinking about how many hours I spent browsing websites and talking to people in an effort to make our wedding not only reflective of our personalities, but also reflective of our values…well, it starts to make me uneasy.

So in an effort to help other engaged Idealists sift through the clutter, I’d like to pass some of that knowledge along. Here are some ideas for a socially conscious celebration:

Before the wedding

• Paper-free invites: Services such as Paperless Post can help you design lovely invitations, or simply have people RSVP via a wedding website. Keep in mind, however, that this might be more challenging for guests who don’t use or have access to a computer.
• Eco-friendly decor: There are myriad ways to make your wedding eco-chic, from plateware to stationery to even your venue choice. Check out Hitched blog and the I Do Foundation for some green inspiration.
• Local vendors: Find caterers or restaurants who use locally grown, seasonal ingredients.
• Handmade accessories: Support the movement by buying from smaller artists on Etsy. With their new wedding section, they’ve already done half the work for you.
• Do-it-yourself projects. Explore your creativity and save some money and resources while you’re at it by getting crafty. DIY Bride is a great site to peruse for innovative ideas.

During the wedding

• Charitable favors: Instead of knick-knacks that will most likely collect dust, donate to a nonprofit on behalf of your guests. Or help repopulate the Earth’s flora by giving nicely designed plantable seed paper as favors.
• Minimal gift table clutter: While having a fancy Lenox picture frame might seem enticing, what about having your friends and family gift you experiences instead? Try a site like Wisegifter to help you afford the honeymoon you’ve always dreamed of.

After the wedding

• Generous leftovers: A lot of food banks will accept surplus food; check Idealist for services in your area. Make sure you call ahead beforehand, as there can be strict guidelines for accepting food.
• Reusable wedding dress: While it may sound tempting to wrap your dress in plastic and save it for future generations, there’s someone who could probably use that dress right now. Brides Against Breast Cancer, for example, refashions donated dresses, and uses the proceeds to support the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. (I know that for some folks, this is a tough one. If you’re not quite ready to give it away, try redesigning your dress yourself into something you can wear again.)
• “Honeyteer”: Go somewhere beautiful and relaxing – and use some of that down time to volunteer. In addition to searching Idealist for opportunities, browse sites like GoAbroad to find an ideal placement. Also take a look at Idealist’s International Volunteerism Resource Center for tips and advice on how to get started.

If you’ve tied the knot lately or are about to, what other ideas come to mind?

This list was compiled with the help of our friend Leigh Ann Smith, the editor of From Hello to Hitched.

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[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Baltimore, by Michael King (Creative Commons)

At the Emmys last week, George Clooney received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, an honor that recognizes an actor’s do-gooder work and highlights television as a catalyst for change. As Clooney talked in his acceptance speech about “keeping the spotlight burning” on issues after the cameras disappear, I couldn’t help but think about the HBO series The Wire. Why? Because it’s one of the few shows whose stars not only act for entertainment, but are collectively acting on their social conscience through a nonprofit called ReWired for Change.

From 2002-2007, The Wire portrayed Baltimore’s most neglected and most powerful communities, delving deep into complex institutions—the drug trade, law enforcement, unions, politics, the media—and showing how they’re ultimately all related. I reference it all the time, at work, at the hair salon, at a recent bachelorette party…If it’s possible to have a crush on a T.V. show, I’ve got it bad.

After watching five seasons, it’s hard to miss one of the show’s central themes: the wasted potential of misguided youth. And it’s hard not to feel like you want to do something about it. Sonja John, who played the tough cop Shakima Greggs, decided she wanted to keep the spotlight on this issue after the show ended, starting in Baltimore. With support from the cast and creator David Simon, ReWired for Change was born.

What’s cool about ReWired for Change is that it uses episodes from the show as a teaching tool to empower “high risk youth” to seek better opportunities. The curriculum also incorporates other forms of art and media to encourage youth to think constructively about themselves and their surroundings, as well as a street-based intervention component. The ultimate goal is to implement the model on a national and global level; in the meantime, ReWired for Change has been busy with local initiatives, such as a youth community center and a coalition of citizens working to improve the quality of life in Charm City.

At the risk of sounding like a gushing schoolgirl, I really believe The Wire is a prime example of reality inspiring art, and art (hopefully) inspiring reality. It gives me hope that American pop culture isn’t so self-absorbed as the media portrays it to be, and that the reach of television can be harnessed for good. [Editor's note: ReWired for Change has a profile on Idealist; keep an eye on it if you want to get involved.]

Besides The Wire, what other arts and entertainment platforms out there have inspired change?

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

From Flickr user kodomut, a library volunteer

Yesterday I received a newsletter from Google and learned about a fun project called Your Google Stories:

Earlier this month we shared a handful of stories from people who have used Google in interesting ways that helped them solve a problem large or small. Their stories range from the mundane—finding the manufacturer of a frying pan, or the composer of a song—to the sublime: finding a long-lost love, welcoming a brand-new family member into the world.

This series reminded me of a couple of posts we wrote earlier this summer, titled Real World Idealists. In one, we shared a love story about a volunteer from Portland, Oregon who went to Brazil to volunteer for a couple of weeks, and ended up getting married to the founder of her host NGO!

With a big tip of the hat to Google, we thought we’d ask: do you have a story about how using our site helped you make a move, dream big, or solve a problem?

If so, please share it below in the comments. We might follow up with you and share it on our blog!
[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Photo by Flickr user Horia Varlan (Creative Commons)

As I write this post, it’s 2:19p.m. in Portland, Oregon. Over the last 24 hours I’ve played Bananagrams, eaten bulgogi, walked through a rose garden, read a few pages from a novel, wrote a paragraph in my short story, and was introduced to zumba. But what about the rest of the world? What did my friends in Buenos Aires do? Or the Guyanese host family I used to live with when I first started the Peace Corps? On 10/10/10, thanks to One Day on Earth, I’ll be able to find out.

One Day on Earth is asking you, me, and the rest of the world to film something you’re inspired by on that day, with the hope of creating a time capsule that documents our collective struggles and triumphs. You don’t have to be a seasoned filmmaker to participate—cell phones and digital cameras work just as well—and everything is fair game. The collected footage will then be archived in a database for anyone to access at anytime, with select footage to be used in a feature documentary.

If you’re passionate about social change, One Day on Earth might just be the platform for you. One goal of One Day on Earth is to highlight stories that can have a potential impact. For individuals, it’s a great way to raise awareness about issues you care about and provide nonprofits with media they can use in the future. For organizations, it’s a great way to gain support, promote your mission, benefit from media creation, and of course, showcase all the amazing work already being done. Rally for Iraq, for example, will be filming challenges faced by Iraqi students. The Red Cross, on the other hand, will be reaching out to their community in a call to action called My Day, My Impact. Cause-based organizations can sign up to participate here.

Sure, coordinated international movements aren’t a new thing. (Think everything from Pangea Day to simultaneous dancing of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to 350.org’s Global Work Party.) But while One Day on Earth is still very grassroots right now, its scope is wide and its heart big. “We are creating a unique collaborative global venue and community dedicated to gaining a better understanding of humanity,” says director Kyle Reddick. It’s citizen journalism on a truly worldwide scale—and it’s it’s no surprise that almost 3,000 participants from over 150 countries are already on board. There are also more than 200 schools around the globe whose students will have a lens in hand.

As for me, I’ll be in New York on October 10, having friends film my wedding. What about you? Which story will you tell?

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Hannah's strawberry shortcakes. Click for the recipe.

We have a tradition in our New York City office of having “teatime” at 4:00 p.m. every Thursday. It’s a bit of a misnomer, since we don’t often have tea, but we do always have some kind of delicious treat (we rotate responsibility for bringing in something to share). No one can exactly remember how or why we started this tradition, but this is the fifth year running, and the time slot has remained “sacred.” We never miss teatime.

Since this tradition has been a great morale booster for us, even during tough times for the organization, we were curious to see if other nonprofits have food-related morale-boosting rituals. After a bit of research we found out that, indeed, many nonprofits use food as an excuse for bonding, team-building, knowledge-sharing, and more.

The Vera Institute in New York City, for example, has several traditions. They have a regular employee bake-off, an annual pie day, an annual potluck where staff members bring in dishes that relate to their family and ethnic backgrounds, and occasional “salad bowl” lunches where everyone brings in a salad ingredient for a buffet.

Hester Lyons, Human Resources Director at the Vera Institute, says these food-related events are a source of pride for the staff members who organize them. Additionally, she says they promote wellness among the employees, and provide valuable opportunities for staff members to get to know one another.

Additional ideas we’ve heard about from other nonprofits include cooking demonstrations, guest speakers from local greenmarkets or farms, brown bag lunches with a topical film screening, and, of course, regular after work happy hours.

If you’ve noticed your colleagues are feeling stressed or could use a boost, consider starting your own food-centered tradition. Bon appetit!

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Fabio had a big idea for his small town in Bahia, Brazil. Sacia was looking to complement her travel plans with some short term volunteer work. One Idealist.org volunteer listing and a lot of hard work later, Sacia and Fabio are married (with two new bundles of joy) and that big idea is now a reality: The Tarcilia Evangelista de Andrade Educational-Cultural Association (AEC-TEA).

Photo courtesy Sacia and Fabio

Our hero and heroine

Fabio grew up in Capim Grosso, light-years away from the hustle and bustle of Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo. Nearly 10 years ago, wanting to increase local access to educational and cultural programming that he saw in bigger cities, Fabio set to work on what would become the AEC-TEA. He quickly realized though that without the major institutions of a big city, the group lacked the experts who could move forward with the type of programming that capimgrossenses had been cut off from.

Sacia, a native of Oregon, was planning a quick vacation to Brazil in 2003 and wanted to supplement her cultural experience by volunteering for a few months with a local nonprofit organization. After searching Idealist, she responded to an ad for volunteer English teachers. She arrived to find an organization still operating out of Fabio’s family’s garage. Over the first couple of months, she helped start the center’s first English language programs and decided that her vacation was over. She was going to stay.

And the rest is history

Working alongside Fabio for the past seven years, Sacia and nearly 100 other volunteers who have responded to AEC-TEAs calls for volunteers on Idealist have developed language and teacher training courses, volunteered with local schools, trained local youth leaders, helped construct a new building, and obtained grants from the Brazilian government to offer free theater and photography courses, as well as the community’s only movie theater.

Besides that, the initial Idealist listing was the launching point for Sacia and Fabio’s marriage. Who knew one volunteer ad could affect so greatly the history of two individuals and an entire community?

You, too, can live happily ever after!

• If you work with an organization that could use the help of international volunteers, consider posting an opportunity on Idealist.org.
• New to the scene and looking to volunteer abroad (and potentially meet your future spouse (no promises)? Check out our resource center on international volunteerism.

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[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Photo vis This is The World We Live In

Inspired by someone who’s making the world a better place? Volunteering with an organization that’s doing amazing work? Itching to get the word out about the issues you care about most? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes,” check out the blog This is The World We Live In for a chance to give your favorite people, causes and groups the spotlight they deserve.

This is The World We Live In follows Causecast‘s Levi Felix and Brooke Dean as they globetrot across as many continents as they can for one year. While the two are having fun immersing themselves in the cultures they encounter, they are on a deeper mission: blog, tweet and vlog about the heroes and leaders they meet along the way with the ultimate aim of connecting communities in need with support. Why? Levi and Brooke say it best: “We will not attempt to find all the answers but will begin to learn how to ask better questions: What is effective activism? What is collaboration, sustainability and understanding? How will our diverse generation of social change build a true global culture committed to one another?”

Already they’ve been listening to and telling stories for four months, with topics ranging from an interview with Burma’s leader of the Democratic Party for a New Society to a community living experiment in Israel. And while their writing is lively, informative and candid—one of my favorite posts is about getting spat on by the chosen people—they recently had a realization that they can’t possibly capture so much in so little time. That’s where you come in. If you have a tip for someone they should meet or want to become part of the collective that’s highlighting changemakers around the globe, give them a shout. They’d love to hear from you.

Levi and Brooke’s journey reminds me of a podcast we did a while ago on Tuxedo Travels, which featured two tuxedo-clad nomads swapping antics for money to help local charities as they traveled from Hong Kong to London. Which makes me think that there’s probably more worthwhile wandering going on. Anyone about to embark on their own altruistic adventure or know of one already underway? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

From Flickr user Ian Munroe (Creative Commons)

Want to learn how Kiva grew from a group of four friends to a multi-national organization? Or how Global Citizen Year recruited its first corps of participants, when the idea of a “bridge year” between high school and university is still relatively foreign in the United States? Or how Bikes for the World got better donations and increased their transparency when they began charging donors for the cost of shipping their used bikes?

You can explore all this and more—in friendly, bite-sized chunks that don’t sacrifice illuminating details—on the new site Dowser.org, which aims to uncover and spread stories of change.

From their site: “At Dowser, we present the world through a ‘solution frame,’ rather than a ‘problem frame.’ We’re interested in the practical and human elements of social innovation: Who’s solving what and how. We want to know how people come up with ideas, how they put them into practice, how they pay the bills, and what fuels their fire.”

We first learned that Dowser was on the horizon quite some time ago, when they interviewed our founder and executive director, Ami Dar. Now that the site has launched, we’re looking forward to seeing how it evolves.

Aside from Dowser and magazines like GOOD, Ode, and YES!, do you know of other media outlets or organizations that focus all of their attention on positive stories?

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

A recent article on The Guardian website highlights a study showing that there may be a link between political activism and happiness. Researchers Malte Klar of the University of Gottingen and Tim Kasser of Knox College compared a sample of college students and activists with a control group and found that “several indicators of activism were positively associated with measures of hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being.” In other words, activism may not always be fun, but it might make you happier.

In part of the study, college students were divided into two groups. The first wrote letters to the college cafeteria management asking for better food. The second group were told to take a more activist approach and requested that local or fairly traded products be offered. The activist group reported stronger feelings of vitality after the activity.

Many Idealist users have probably already intuited the connection between civic engagement and feelings of happiness. This study provides some data to back up our claims, and to encourage others to get involved.

To find opportunities for activism on Idealist, try searching for a volunteer opportunity using a keyword of your choice. Or select from the list of “Areas of Focus,” many of which can be politically oriented (some examples include: Disability Issues, Energy Conservation and Green Living, Government Oversight and Reform, Human Rights and Civil Liberties, Politics, and Prison Reform).