However, I need to start somewhere, so here are five thoughts for you to ponder and discuss with me:

1. We need to shift how we view brands to match how customers view them. Brands were about image and control. Now they are about experience and impact. Ongoing dialogues, not time-specific campaigns. This is true about companies and charities.

2. While organizations have previously divided the two into different silos, this poses a great risk. Because of this shift, we’re seeing a blend of CSR and CM because of the shift in how we communicate, interact, and consume. It is vital that the CSR and CM efforts come from the inside-out, derived from an earnest commitment, not an opportunist mindset.

3. Companies are rushing into the CM space, because customers are rewarding them. However, these successes shouldn’t be blindly interpreted that every company will benefit. Superficial, brand-centered initiatives might create short-term revenue, but inflict long-term damage to the brand. With their scale and reach, companies need to be mindful of how they engage in CSR and CM. This is not to say incremental. In this real-time world, experimentation and baby steps are better than stasis.

4. Cause marketing is still marketing. The purpose of marketing is to sell more products and services. Period. Cause marketing accomplishes this goal by associating the company with a social issue or cause or charity. CM does not solve the cause. But it can help by raising its profile and offer individuals a way to help thru their purchases.

5. People can feel empowered, but the disconnection and detachment between purchase and impact is a huge void. We can view this as a failure or an opportunity. Charities face the same situation. If they cannot demonstrate impact from the donations and volunteer hours they receive, they will lag behind. In the long run, if people take action and cannot see the impact they individually and collectively made, they will shift their perception of the company and charity involved.

What do you think?

In two days, we are launching a yearlong initiative to spark innovation and a broader engagement in the movement to end hunger in America.

We have enough food to feed all 49 million Americans in need. Unfortunately, there are barriers that prevent us from becoming a hunger-free nation.

So what’s it going to take? First and foremost, we need more people to care enough to take action. Then, we need them to keep caring and taking action until we reach our goal. It’s really that simple.

Simple doesn’t mean easy. Nor does it mean just a click and poof it’s gone. But, it does mean it’s doable.

That’s why we’ve brought together Share Our Strength, Feeding America, Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, Mashable, PepsiCo, ConAgra Food Foundation, and Tyson Foods. Together, we will spend the rest of the year to grow our movement thru four phases of action:

I. Launch (March -April):
Digital Can Drive – On March 4, we will kick off a 15-day Digital Can Drive that rewards people to commit to take action: Give, Share, and Volunteer. Every person who commits to take action will be able donate a digital can of food to the state of his or her choice. On March 18, the Top 10 States with the most digital cans of food will each win a semi-truckload of real food.

Cause Lab – From March 15–April 15, we are inviting disrupters and innovators to lend their talents to solve three main challenges facing our movement:

1. How do we design the hunger-free community?
2. How do we humanize hunger using data?
3. How do we accelerate local action?

The Cause Lab will launch on Monday, March 15, during an in-person event as part of the South By Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, TX. Follow along and participate online that day and up until April 15 thru the link on www.wecanendthis.com/sxsw. Using the money we raise thru the Digital Can Drive, we will choose the best ideas to implement in partnership with our charity partners.

Hunger Shift solutions series – We are inviting forward thinking business, government, and civic innovators to share their thoughts and ideas on how we can end hunger in America. We will ask them to offer specific solutions to specific issues and challenges. This three-part e-book series will be released over the course of 2010 free of charge.

II. Delivery (April-August):
Working with Feeding America, Share Our Strength, and our corporate partners, we will deliver ten semi-truckloads of food donated by Tyson Foods over a five-month period. Each time, we will showcase hunger agencies efforts in the staee, illustrate the challenges and dynamics in these communities, and deliver enough food to provide 150,000 meals. In total, we will deliver 1.5 million meals during one of the times of greatest need – the summer months.

III. Day of Service (September/October)
In the early Fall, we will organize a national day of service to demonstrate the wide variety of ways individuals and groups can help end hunger. We will coordinate official programs in the ten winning states and provide resources for people who would like to do the same in other states. Not only will it be fun, it will also be rewarding.

IV. Holiday Gifting (November–December)
The months of November and December bring with them a surge of volunteers and food donations. However, this often overwhelms the system and does not lead to ongoing engagement particularly for the neediest summer months. We plan to introduce a new program to turn holiday good intentions into lasting, impactful actions.

Beyond 2010
Our goal this year is to shift the conversation about hunger in America and grow the movement. We think we will achieve these goals. When the year comes to a close, we will evaluate our progress and decide what comes next. Until then, we’re staying focused on sparking innovation and broader engagement.

You can share your ideas, thoughts, or objections by leaving them in the comments field. All press inquiries can be directed to Scott Henderson thru WeCanEndThis AT causeshift DOT com.

A More Detailed Exploration:
Seeing the forest from the trees is one thing leaders and innovators need to do. Watch this 28 minute video (divided into three parts) of a presentation made at the DICE 2010 conference by Carnegie Mellon University Professor, Jesse Schell.

He helps bring the geometric curve of change together in a presentation that explains how current game systems (think Farmville, Foursquare, and Nintendo Wii) and emerging technologies (Project Natal) have the potential for creating social change:

To paraphrase his closing statement:
The technology is there to influence people’s behavior in ways never before possible. Why can’t we use it to help improve people’s lives and better humanity? Who in this space will lead us to get there?

This post was originally published on CauseShift.com:

#1 Thing You Need to Learn from this Post:
We can end hunger in America.

A More Detailed Exploration:
Launching March 4, WeCanEndThis.com is a yearlong initiative to spark innovation and broader engagement in the cause of ending hunger in America. Our goal is to end hunger in America — and nothing short will be considered a success.

We are working with three charity partners — Share Our Strength, Feeding America, and Capital Area Food Bank of Texas — and a number of corporate partners, including Mashable, Tyson Foods, ConAgra Foods Foundation, and PepsiCo.

March is an important month for us and we need your help.

Virtual Can Drive (March 4-18)
Over the course of 15 days, we’re challenging people in all fifty states and the District of Columbia to donate a virtual can of food. Starting March 4, you can donate your virtual can of food to the state of your choice by visiting WeCanEndThis.com and promising to take action.

At 5pm ET on March 18, the ten states with the most virtual cans will be awarded their own semi-truckload of real food courtesy of Tyson Foods.  Altogether, we will deliver 1.5 million meals.

Certainly in 15 days, we can find at least 15,000 people to help.

15,000 people. 15 days. 1.5 million meals.

Much More to Come
The Virtual Can Drive is just the beginning. In the coming months, we will also follow the trucks to the ten winning states and highlight hunger champions in each community.

On March 15, we will launch The Cause Lab, a unique in-person and online experience, that will bring together some of the brightest minds in the media, technology, business, and cause sectors to create innovative solutions for the main challenges facing the hunger movement.

Of course, we have more announcements and surprises planned, but we’ll save those for a later date. Until then, let’s keep focused on the Virtual Can Drive.

What Can You Do Now?
You can be the difference for your state.  Help rally your community and get head start on the March 4 launch. Learn more on the WeCanEndThis Facebook fan page. Also, be sure to followWeCanEndThis on Twitter so you can start informed of our progress.

Do You Have Questions?
We will be hosting two 30 minute conference calls on Thursday, February 25. Details will be shared early next week. Feel free to email your RSVP or send your questions in the meantime.

A More Detailed Exploration:
A few months ago, this video of a shirtless dancing guy was passed along online. Yesterday, Derek Sivers used it at the TED conference to illustrate a lesson on leadership. Fortunately for us all, he posted a narrated version and transcript to his blog.

When I saw the original video, I had similar thoughts as Derek in regards to group dynamics.  But, he took his shirt off and started dancing first.  So, let me be a bold first follower and share it with you:

Are you the lone nut? The first follower? The second follower? Or the crowd?

A More Detailed Exploration:

Copyright AP

The #whodat hashtag has become a rally cry on Twitter, just as the expression that inspired it has in real life and elsewhere online. Last night, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts to cap a fairy tale ending to their inspiring season.

With all the emotional tugs on the post-Katrina journey the city has endured, no one had the presence of mind to focus the empathy and compassion that it created.  Sure, the NFL is donating the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl Champions gear to WorldVision for use in Haiti.  But, why not donate a portion of the New Orleans Saints commemorative gear to a handful of worthy NOLA charities?

Or, why didn’t anyone direct viewers to an online destination showcasing the great progress made by NOLA charities with the help of previous donations?  Even those of us cheering on the Colts would have been hard pressed not to do something more for these true champions.

Three NOLA Charities Worth Supporting
Since the NFL or any one else didn’t, let me highlight three charities worth supporting as endorsed by Sloane Berrent, aka The Causemopolitan:

St. Bernard Project – As the very deserving CNN hero of the year in 2008, this great organization is rebuilding houses in the St. Bernard Parish. They have amazing outreach programs and are creating tangible good.

Roots of Music – Music education, tutoring, and empowerment for students in low-income schools in New Orleans can make a powerful difference. Music education can lead to high school placement at the top music high school here, which can lead to college scholarships. Founder Derek Tabb was a finalist for 2009 CNN hero of the year.

9th Ward Field of Dreams – Brian Bordainick, the 24-year-old founder, stumbled upon creating this project when his Teach for America assignment in the 9th Ward was at a school still in FEMA trailers years after Katrina with no public fields. This has become quite an inspiring story and their goal is to break ground on March 1 for a football and track facility to be finished by the fifth anniversary of Katrina on August 29, 2010.

That’s what CauseShift.com is about. That’s what #ShiftHaiti is beginning to tackle. And, you can be a part of it.

A More Detailed Exploration:
You would be hard pressed not to know about the devastation that happened in Haiti, the growing humanitarian crisis, and the overwhelming outpouring of generosity that continues to occur.

As of this morning, people have donated more than $20 million to the American Red Cross thru text message giving alone.  Even larger amounts have been given online to a wide variety of charities, while corporations of all sizes have stepped forward in a big way.

While many will laud these fundraising totals and offer it up as proof that digital and social media is leading us to a utopian vision of the future, it will take new perspectives and much more work than expected.

Focus on Impact, Not Shiny Objects
The Internet has made us lazy. There are new, exciting tools. Collaboration happens quickly. Individuals can have impact. But, we are focusing on the shiny thing, not the impact.

Technology won’t solve these issues.

What will? How you use them. How you support people’s interest in acting. How you teach, engage, and mobilize is key.

This is not an awareness issue. Pink ribbons, wristbands, and hashtags are fleeting.

We need a shift. A shift in thinking. A shift in behavior. A shift in approach. A shift in how dollars are spent.

This is why Brian Reich, Anne Mail Bertelsen, and I have launched CauseShift.com.

Do You Want to Help Lead this Shift?
The CauseShift team is seeking big ideas and different perspectives.  Do you have a big idea for how we can respond to disasters like Haiti?  Have you read someone else’s idea and want to share it with others?

You can send your ideas and links to ShiftHaiti@causeshift.com via email or to @CauseShift on Twitter.  Or, you can leave a comment here!

A More Detailed Exploration:
There is a much greater awareness within the brand and marketing world for the need to engage communities in experiences, not just conduct campaigns. This is increasingly important when it comes to cause initiatives.

Cause-oriented consumers want a different type of relationship. They want ongoing dialogue, narratives, quests, challenges, and unique experiences.

We need to move our minds away from self-contained campaigns and toward experiences that engage the heart and minds, some running parallel and some running sequentially. These experiences need to help meet the human need of community building.

Coke and Unilever understand this. Do you?

How do you need to reframe your operations? Do self-contained campaigns have value anymore? What experiences do you need to offer?

A More Detailed Exploration:
Giving away your birthday and asking friends to donate to your favorite cause has become an important part of the social media/cause landscape. Beth Kanter has been doing it for nine years.

I have a very simple proposition for you:

• Do you care about helping kids learn?
• Have you ever learned from Beth Kanter?
• Do you have a few dollars to spare?

I answered yes to all three questions, so that’s why I’ve donated to her birthday campaign.

How You Can Help
If you want to join me in helping give Beth a great birthday gift, you can go here to donate: http://bit.ly/beth53

Whether you donate or not, you can also help us send her birthday wishes on Twitter by tweeting something like:
Happy birthday #beth53! Let’s send 53 Cambodian kids to school: http://bit.ly/beth53

A More Detailed Exploration:
This past week, the Made to Stick guys published An Arms Race of Good on their Fast Company blog extolling the virtues of cause marketing and the Huffington Post ran an interview entitled, Cause-Related Marketing: Just Plain Ol’ Marketing?

Yeah, validation! Let’s ditch all marketing except for cause marketing.  Right? Wrong.

Little Known Secret
I have talked with brand managers and other corporate representatives of highly successful cause marketing campaigns. Here’s a little know secret they’ve shared:

Marketing based solely on cause can lead to market share loss for your product or service.

This happens because your competitors can focus more on value and price advantages, attracting prospective buyers motivated more by those factors. Surprisingly, some of the most lauded cause marketing campaigns have created more good will than profit because they overemphasized the cause aspect.

Lesson to Learn
For those companies choosing the cause route, the key is to balance your messaging mix. That way, you inspire your cause-oriented consumer while reminding others what else makes your product or service great.

What do you think?