The Medillín project

Currently running for the presidency of Colombia, Sergio Fajardo initiated a project in the slums of Medellín to improve the quality of life of the residents.

The main idea of his project was the "best thing in the worst neighborhoods." Referring to how the quality of the environment would enhance the lifestyle of the people living in slums. It will make a positive impact and elevate their social status. In my opinion, it is one of many initial steps in curing poverty.

to read the entire article visit:
http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=11507

After reading the article, sounds like ADIC or any neighborhood in Caracas could benefit from it. These slums are similar to those in Medellín but having houses stacked on top of each and being social nucleus of violence and death.

My next question would be: Where the politics of the country ever got in the way of the project? Did you receive any political support?

I am concerned that when the time comes to do research in Venezuela the government of political parties will get in the way of it and try to stop it or intervene.


Another article:
Quote:
"The first step toward quality education is the dignity of the space. When the poorest kid in Medellín arrives in the best classroom in the city, there is a powerful message of social inclusion. That kid has a newfound self-esteem, and he learns math more easily. If you give the most humble neighborhoods beautiful libraries, you make those communities proud of the libraries. That is powerful"

source:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/69623

Idea Summit

Extract:
Rolf Smith "Colonel Innovation" has spent a career thinking about how people think. Now, he is helping people at some of the world's most powerful organizations to generate big ideas -- and to rethink their whole approach to creativity

Interesting concepts:
Metacognition

Quotes:
The 7 level of change:
"Level One is effectiveness -- doing the right things. Level Two is efficiency -- doing things right. Level Three is improving -- doing the right things better. Level Four is cutting -- doing away with things. Level Five is copying -- doing things other people are doing. Level Six is different -- doing things no one else is doing. And Level Seven is impossible -- doing things that can't be done. Smith's goal for every Thinking Expedition is to move a team along this continuum."

"Being creative is when you think about your thinking," Smith says. "Being innovative is when you act on your ideas."




http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/31/smith.html?page=0%2C1

Continuum's ideologies

Continuum is another design consultancy that uses design thinking to solve problems.

Design Thinking Workshops
Evolving your business. Solving unprecedented problems. Connecting with customers. Our Design Thinking Workshop is all about finding new solutions to old problems.
Fast paced and highly-interactive, the workshop highlights the principles of design thinking and how to use them. You’ll gain new perspective on how to define problems and generate breakthrough ideas. And you’ll walk away with tools and approaches that can be applied to your own business challenges.

• Experience the power of working collaboratively
• Develop an understanding of how to use consumer insights
• Use abductive reasoning to explore the logic of what might be
• Understand how to define problems in full context
• Discover quick and cost-effective ways to make new ideas tangible

dcontinuum.com

Thesis presentation I

Dominguez Thesis

View more presentations from sdoming.

The beginning of the model

A Similar Model of Development

KickStart is an organization that works to get people out of poverty quickly, cost-effectively and sustainably.

Here is their 5 step model that could be an great source of inspiration for my model:

1. Identify Opportunities - what business will be profitable for this people, in this place?
2. Design products - what new tools will make this possible?
3. Establish a Supply Chain - how can we produce this?
4. Develop the Market - how do we convince someone with little money to make a big investment?
5. Measure and Move Along - is it going as we planned?

KickStart believes:

-If tackling poverty then tackle rural poverty as 70% of the poorest people live in rural communities

- The poor does not need money, she needs ways to make money

- You canot develop a technology to address a problem without fully undestanding the local culture

http://www.kickstart.org/

Hypothesis VII

This thesis presents the hypothesis that strategic design, a problem-solving methodology that uses abductive reasoning, can be applied to the challenge of providing financial support to a community center in a developing country. Traditional sources of financial support for such institutions, including individual benefactors, government agencies and international organizations have shown to be unreliable. Applying strategic design methodology to such a problem may provide innovative sources of funding for a community center drawn from the center’s own network, a network of networks linking numerous such centers, and hybrid local / global community center grown businesses and cooperatives.

Research what?

- Anybody who does fundraising. What are their strategies

- Anybody doing it differently?

- Fundraising initiatives: Kickstart.org

Tesis outline

1- Strategic Design

- Define

- Human-centered Design
- Design process
- Divergent Thinking
- Enabling constituents
- Social application
- Social Design
- Teach to Fish
- Integrative Thinking/ Inclusive design

2- Nonprofit
- Domestic & International

- Business model/ model of development
- Fundraising
- Communities’ needs & abilities

- Donor Market
- Foundations
- Corporations
- Governments

- Individuals
- NPOs in Latin America
- Background
- Cultural differences
- Support, their donors
- Technology & education barriers
- Economies of scale & poverty

3- ADIC
- How it works
- History
- Funding
- The community of “El Placer de Maria”
- Donor Market
- El Peñon
- Individuals
- Fundraising events:
- ADIC’s annual raffle
- School Uniform drive
- Paper recycling

Fundraising strategies

Growth, Involvement, Visibility, Efficiency, and Stability (GIVES)

- Fund Raising Management, Mal Warwick

Does ADIC have tax-deductible donations?

Can you do that in Venezuela?

Facts

In 2001, Americans gave $138 billion to charity, according to Internal Revenue Service records.
- Hyannis, Mass., Presentation Outlines Top Fundraising Strategies, Ethan Zindler

In 1992, US organizations raised about $122 billion.
- book from the library

Another thought for the list of many

Changing the interface by which people make decisions and the nature of the decision changes

- TED.com

A different model, arts non-profit

Nonprofit arts organizations are generally able to earn only half of the money it takes to sustain their operation. The other half of their revenue must be raised through contributions and grants. Even small fluctuations in contributed revenue can mean deficits for many organizations.

• Earned income is the largest source of revenue for the typical nonprofit arts organization. Yet most people are unaware of the funding challenges that must be met to keep America’s arts organizations in operation.
• Support for the nonprofit arts is a mosaic of funding sources—a delicate balance of earned revenue, government support, and private sector contributions. The pie chart above provides a snapshot of what the average revenue picture looks like for a nonprofit arts organization in the U.S.
1. Earned income represents roughly half of the pie (ticket sales, sponsorships, and fundraising events, for example)
2. Private sector philanthropy is the next largest portion (corporate, foundation, and individual giving)
3. Finally, the smallest of the three is government support. (Note that federal arts support includes NEA, Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, and other direct arts funding—a total of about $1.4 billion annually.)

Source: Americans for the Arts, 2004.

http://www.artsusa.org/pdf/get_involved/advocacy/research/2007/revsources.pdf

Research

Revenue diversification among non-profits
Abstract Although the non-profit literature has grown substantially, the issue of how revenue diversification affects non-profits has not been fully explored. This paper presents several disciplinary perspectives regarding the financing of non-profits, what determines their ability to diversify, and the consequent effects on their behaviour. It first develops an index for measuring revenue diversification and applies it to a national sample of charitable non-profits. The results indicate that, while the perception that most non-profits rely on a single revenue source is exaggerated, the institutions in our sample have somewhat concentrated revenue. Our findings also suggest that the activity of a non-profit and the proportion of its expenditures that it devotes to fund-raising affect its ability to diversify its revenues concentration. While a number of anomalies exist, the weight of our evidence suggests that diversified revenue sources are more likely to be associated with a strong financial position than are concentrated revenue sources. Researchers interested in studying the life-cycle of non-profits, the factors that give rise to stability and growth, and the constraints on non-profit behaviour would do well to consider the diversification index presented in this paper.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/f3561tj91616j4ug/

Hypothesis VI, working it

This thesis presents the hypothesis that strategic design, a creative approach that identifies the needs of those affected to create innovative solutions, can be used to help developing communities in emerging economies improve their well-being. Currently, developing communities in Latin America subsists through fundraising and donations, not a sustainable practice. Such a hypothesis will allow developing communities to build its own sustainable economic model based on transparency, two-way communication and showing respect to the community through design.

Hypothesis V, less gobbly goop

This thesis presents the hypothesis that strategic design, a professional approach that identifies the needs of those affected to create innovative solutions, can be used to help developing communities in emerging economies improve their well-being. Currently, a developing community center in Caracas, Venezuela, named ADIC subsists through fundraising and donations, not a sustainable practice. Such a hypothesis will allow ADIC to build its own sustainable economic model based on transparency, two-way communication and showing respect to the community through design.