Dave Overton

Update: 1 Million Shirts Revisited So the other day, in a sarcastic mood, I tweeted this:

I think maybe @BPGlobalPR could use the #1millionshirts campaign. A: use the tshirts to clog the spill. B: resell as free #bpcares tshirts

The good news, one of the guys at 1MillionShirts is watching the hashtag. The bad news, I was called out and asked to share my thoughts on the campaign and I didn't feel twitter was the right platform. So here goes: I am not going to jump back into the initial debate that ensued about the concept or if the donation of goods is effective, I will only say that in my experience generally it is not as effective as cash donations. In my own charity, it is much more effective to raise cash, than to raise donated items. The downside is that donors find the exact opposite true. I think that there is something in our consumer mentality that makes us feel more effective if we can touch it, or give something we have and then hope to see it in use. Thus, our charity has settled on a concept similar to oxfam, by allowing donors to sponsor something tangible. Obviously, there are certain items that we always need and cannot be found here, and therefore it is easier if donated, but that is the exception and not the rule. With that said, the main thoughts that I have on this topic are:

• Quick to Act
I respect new ideas, in fact, I am living proof that two people crazy enough to think that they can make a difference with an idea, can. My wife and I moved to the Philippines in 2003, just 6 weeks after we were married and embarked on this adventure. Did we do things right? Absolutely not. We made (and continue to make) mistakes. However, we are making a difference. I will note that we weren't held up to the level of scrutiny that the 1millionshirts campaign has received since launch. The idea came up really quickly, and that's not always a bad thing, but when moving away from a field of expertise, I recommend moving slowly. Unfortunately, 1millionshirts did the opposite. Twice.
• Quick to Re-Act
The aid community, which I am a part of, is a generally skeptical bunch. Personally, I think the problem stems from the fact that most of us are living in societies that have not changed as quickly as we hoped. I have been in the Philippines for 7 years. When I arrived I thought we would be here 3-5 years and then go home. I, in my youthful naivety, thought we would be "done" by then, with our mission accomplished and empowered locals now calling the shots. Has that happened? Not exactly. Certainly not in the timeframe allotted, but we have accomplished a lot and continue to work with and empower locals to do more. Does it mean we should quit and go home? Absolutely not. It just means that real change is hard and it takes time, a long time. This however leads the aid community (in general) to be a bit snippy. We hear new ideas and immediately think about how it won't work, how that was tried before and failed or some other reason that it just isn't a good idea. Are we right? Unfortunately, we usually are. However, one thing I have learned is that sometimes always being right is wrong. The entire situation appeared to implode, but I think there was a whole lot of confusion, miscommunication, flaring tempers and enough ego to match Napoleon himself that could have prevented this. Hindsight is 20/20 so I think it's safe to say that all parties could have handled it better.
• We're all wrong, now what?
I hope that we can learn a few things from this. Just because you have a good business model, does not mean it's a good aid model. The gates foundation has brought some great business thought, models and processes to the aid world, but they have also admitted that they recently fell prey to, in my opinion, a business world characteristic: a failure to communicate effectively with their grantees. I think that the 1millionshirts campaign has a similar err: that just because the t-shirt thing has worked as a business model, it does not translate to an effective aid model, or even a resource that people desperately need. We need more effective and better ways to communicate these ideas, prior to launch. We need an effective non-profit incubator. Something similar to a business incubator that can connect people with ideas (in this case Jason Sadler) with the aid thought leaders and critics, as well as existing aid organizations.

Opportunity Cost What should 1millionshirts do now? They have agreed to not send the t-shirts to Africa, and are now focusing on sending them on to various disaster relief projects. I think this is good, but I think and hope that they will consider moving away from the t-shirts. While it's a good intentioned idea and they will make a difference, as an economist, I have to question the opportunity cost of the project and question if the time, energy, and honestly, Jason's notoriety, fame & brand could not be better used elsewhere. In my opinion, the value or impact of 1 million t-shirts is just not comparable to the cost (real and opportunity) that will be spent with the campaign. The question is not will it succeed or not, I am confident it will move ahead in a successful manner. (Success like beauty are in the eye of the beholder so it is still debatable.) The question is could the resources be more effectively used in producing a far more effective tool, model or benefit. I think they could be. My opinion is that since 1millionshirts has gone through the aid wringer on multiple occasions, we view this as a platform for change. Generally speaking I think the world the United States is filled with well-intentioned people who think they are doing good things for the rest of the world. Those of us who are in the rest of the world are perplexed by this and just cannot see why people don't just send cash. This 1millionshirts project has been a clarion call of the situation and we need to bridge the gap. Change.org and Causes.com have become great at promoting various projects and causes and have been a worthwhile investment for many organizations. I have not seen a strong platform that would act as a non-profit incubator though, and I think this experience would show that we need one. Non-Profit Incubator Platform Coming up with project ideas is easy, spending time and working out the details and effectivity as well as implementation is not. Fundraising and marketing a non-profit is hard work too. We in the community all dream of being featured on Oprah (hi Oprah!) or having a famous spokesperson adopt the cause. From my personal experience, those are long-shots, but what if we had a non-profit incubator. A platform that could do two things:

• Idea Stream
Allow these ideas to be hashed out, check what current organizations are doing this or might have a similar focus to and then begin a discussion. I think we can learn from start-ups and take a non-profit entrepreneurial approach. Why not have business plans prepared for these projects, have these plans reviewed and presented to a set of real word critics and donors.
• Funding Stream
Once a project is approved, then it should be open for funding and representation. Existing non-profits that were matched and involved in the Idea Stream, could then decide if it would be a project, or a separate entity. Projects would be posted similar to Kickstarter, with budgets, project details and other information. It could then be promoted socially via Causes, Change, Facebook, Twitter, et. al., as well as promoted to notable people who want to help out. People who are genuinely interested in making a difference, people like Jason Sadler.

So Stephen, in response to this:

@daveove I see that you're a techno-economist. If you don't mind me asking, what are your ideas? Concerns? #1MillionShirts

I say drop the t-shirts, go with 1millionideas (yes, the domain is available). 1millionideas to maximize the opportunity that you already have as well as to crystalize your experience, painful as it may have been, to make a very big difference in the way projects like yours start and get moving. Projects that go through an incubation period. Projects that are pitched to, critiqued by, and improved by the aid community, matched with existing non-profits working in the field, then supported through available tools and networks and finally matched with and supported by the spokesperson we have all been dreaming of.