We do a lot of fundraising, and while it's always for a good cause, it can get monotonous (and not only for the people who are constantly being hit up for money!).
This year, we explored branding, advertising, and the effectiveness of persuasion strategies, and
incorporated all that into some of our fundraising efforts.
Here's a meeting plan that blends fundraising, social action, and some social psychology. You can raise money for a cause, and have an interesting discussion about it afterwards.
Before you send small teams of youth out to collect money (use cans or whatever you like) go over the persuasion strategies below and make sure everyone understands them. Once they do, give each small team a collection can, a time limit, and a piece of paper.
Instruct them that for every individual or group of individuals they approach, they should record on their paper the strategy employed and whether or not a donation was made.
When their time limit is up, gather all teams back to review how the activity went, and make sure to save time at the end to count the money and send off the donation!
Persuasion Strategies
"Foot-in-the-Door": the common two-step sequential persuasion technique. Begin by asking for a small request that is unlikely to be denied. Once the person complies, follow with a larger request. "Hi! Can you please contribute 10 cents to the Red Cross's disaster relief efforts in Japan? [The person will likely say yes.]. Actually, would you be able to give $1.00?"
"Door in the Face": another two-step process. Ask for an unrealistically large
donation, then, after the person refuses, follow with a much smaller request. "Hi! Can you please contribute $20 to the Red Cross's disaster relief efforts in Japan? [The person will likely say no.]
Well then, would you be able to give $1.00?"
"Reciprocity": people often feel indebted to strangers who give them even small
tokens (this is why charities often send "gifts" when they solicit your contributions). "Hi there! Here's a piece of candy for you to enjoy. And would you like to contribute to the Red Cross's disaster relief efforts in Japan?"
"Direct Order": a direct request for assistance. "Hi there! Please contribute to the Red Cross's disaster relief efforts in Japan."
"Wild Card": create your own strategy but make sure it is respectful of others.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Some people think we aren't any fun!
We do know how to have fun! Really we do! When we're not out trying save the world or learning how to save the world or praying that someone else saves the world, there are 2 games right now which we like!
1) Wink!
2) This one!
Circle up and ask for a volunteer from the group. Tell them that they must stand in the middle of the circle and imitate any action they wish (for our example, we'll use sweeping the floor). As the volunteer pretends to sweep the floor, she will say aloud that she is, in fact, performing another action (such as "I am driving a car!").
She then sits back down and the next person enters the middle of the circle. She will imitate the action the person before her said (driving a car), while instead saying aloud that she is performing some other action (so, while she pretends to drive a car, she might say "I am pulling my hair out!!!").
The next person to enter the circle will then pretend to pull out her hair, while stating that she is doing something else. And so on.
Easily a good hour of entertainment here before it gets raunchy. And while a good game might not save the world, it might save a boring meeting and make you laugh, which sometimes is just as good.
1) Wink!
2) This one!
Circle up and ask for a volunteer from the group. Tell them that they must stand in the middle of the circle and imitate any action they wish (for our example, we'll use sweeping the floor). As the volunteer pretends to sweep the floor, she will say aloud that she is, in fact, performing another action (such as "I am driving a car!").
She then sits back down and the next person enters the middle of the circle. She will imitate the action the person before her said (driving a car), while instead saying aloud that she is performing some other action (so, while she pretends to drive a car, she might say "I am pulling my hair out!!!").
The next person to enter the circle will then pretend to pull out her hair, while stating that she is doing something else. And so on.
Easily a good hour of entertainment here before it gets raunchy. And while a good game might not save the world, it might save a boring meeting and make you laugh, which sometimes is just as good.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Best Meeting You Didn't Plan
Years ago (never now, of course) I didn't always have time to think about and plan elaborate and well-thought-out meetings. In my bag of tricks for those weeks was this current favorite, requested again and again by our group years later: If You Really Knew Me.
The concept is so simple even MTV made it into a half hour show, but it's complex enough that you can spend 2 hours on it if you want to debrief, which would be a good idea.
Gather your group of any size and count off so you have about 5 youth in a group. Have them sit in a tight circle in their 5-person group and explain the rules to them:
"Once we start, you'll take turns going one by one around your circle and say, 'If you really knew me, you'd know...." and then complete the sentence for yourself. You'll continue going around the circle until I say stop. You will not say anything other than 'If you really knew me, you'd know...'; you will not comment on what others say; you will not skip over people in the circle. We'll do this for 20 minutes. Any questions? Okay, go!"
What is powerful about this exercise for the youth in our group is that it allows them, who already are tight knit, to get even tighter and get into deeper sharing. But it works great for a group of youth that don't know each other, too. The level of sharing will just be different.
If you want to spend more time on it, try asking youth to re-group themselves up in ways that might change the nature of what they share (age, race, social group, boys/girls, etc,), and then talk about what changed depending on who they were grouped with.
The concept is so simple even MTV made it into a half hour show, but it's complex enough that you can spend 2 hours on it if you want to debrief, which would be a good idea.
Gather your group of any size and count off so you have about 5 youth in a group. Have them sit in a tight circle in their 5-person group and explain the rules to them:
"Once we start, you'll take turns going one by one around your circle and say, 'If you really knew me, you'd know...." and then complete the sentence for yourself. You'll continue going around the circle until I say stop. You will not say anything other than 'If you really knew me, you'd know...'; you will not comment on what others say; you will not skip over people in the circle. We'll do this for 20 minutes. Any questions? Okay, go!"
What is powerful about this exercise for the youth in our group is that it allows them, who already are tight knit, to get even tighter and get into deeper sharing. But it works great for a group of youth that don't know each other, too. The level of sharing will just be different.
If you want to spend more time on it, try asking youth to re-group themselves up in ways that might change the nature of what they share (age, race, social group, boys/girls, etc,), and then talk about what changed depending on who they were grouped with.
Monday, March 14, 2011
2 Games to explore Rank and Privilege
As I've noted before, our group likes games, but doesn't love games that have no point. (Ehhh, with one exception -- *wink*).
We talk in depth about rank and privilege throughout the year as we work to build awareness and cohesion in our group, but also and especially as we're getting ready to do any type of social justice or service work.
Here are two excellent games that have allowed our youth to explore these issues in a fun way. Each takes some preparation, but the payoff is worth it.
The Bag Exercise "gives participants a quick experience of rank and privilege, especially economic class" but we've frequently used this to explore rank within our own group as well:
http://www.trainingforchange.org/bagexercise
Intergroup Monopoly "illustrates the structural dynamics and consequences of intergroup inequalities." This is also an excellent exercise for adults, or youth and adults:
http://www.socialpsychology.org/action/2011winner.htm
For an (ineloquent yet) decent and brief explanation of rank, power and privilege, you can check out the article here:
http://www.breakthrough.ie/articleissues/rankpowerprivilegevol2no12.htm
We talk in depth about rank and privilege throughout the year as we work to build awareness and cohesion in our group, but also and especially as we're getting ready to do any type of social justice or service work.
Here are two excellent games that have allowed our youth to explore these issues in a fun way. Each takes some preparation, but the payoff is worth it.
The Bag Exercise "gives participants a quick experience of rank and privilege, especially economic class" but we've frequently used this to explore rank within our own group as well:
http://www.trainingforchange.org/bagexercise
Intergroup Monopoly "illustrates the structural dynamics and consequences of intergroup inequalities." This is also an excellent exercise for adults, or youth and adults:
http://www.socialpsychology.org/action/2011winner.htm
For an (ineloquent yet) decent and brief explanation of rank, power and privilege, you can check out the article here:
http://www.breakthrough.ie/articleissues/rankpowerprivilegevol2no12.htm
An exercise in ostracism: The O Train
We're all aware of the consequences of bullying these days, right?
But being left out or ignored is something our youth report as being much more prevalent in their daily lives than bullying.
We wanted to find out what the effects of ostracism were, and found an excellent role play called "The O Train" that you can easily set up and do with minimal materials and any size group. The entire role play took about 15 minutes, but the discussion afterwards would have lasted longer than the hour and a half we had before the parents showed up!
Find the synopsis of the role play here: http://www.socialpsychology.org/action/2006honor1.htm
Find the full article about the exercise here: http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/Announce/TrainRide.pdf
But being left out or ignored is something our youth report as being much more prevalent in their daily lives than bullying.
We wanted to find out what the effects of ostracism were, and found an excellent role play called "The O Train" that you can easily set up and do with minimal materials and any size group. The entire role play took about 15 minutes, but the discussion afterwards would have lasted longer than the hour and a half we had before the parents showed up!
Find the synopsis of the role play here: http://www.socialpsychology.org/action/2006honor1.htm
Find the full article about the exercise here: http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/Announce/TrainRide.pdf
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