social innovation – Sedgwick Says . . .

Okay, I’m a sucker for websites like kickstarter and indiegogo. Start-ups and innovators looking to the public in a relatively new phenomenon called “crowdfunding”. Classy.org is in the same league as these sites, but is solely based in funding projects for social good. Since 2011, the platform has helped nonprofits and other social change organizations raise over $130 million dollars. Not only the platform for thousands of successful campaigns, they also run an incredible blog in conjunction with the site.

(The video above is part of Classy.org’s most recent campaign #ClassyIs. Its goal is to inspire and motivate people to take action. You can find out more here.)

The Classy blog continues the goals of the main website. With posts nearly every day, the blog covers a wide range of topics related to nonprofits: some focus on how to run an organization better, others cover successful social good companies and strategies.

The layout is clean and engaging, with social media icons alongside each post and an easy tagging system to find specific topics. There’s a section for the most popular posts, latest posts, a subscription widget (I subscribed, oops!), and a links to free e-book guides for social good start-ups. The top of the page features a large, collage-style header promoting the topic of the most recent post.

I discovered a lot of similarities between my blog and this one. For starters, we both strike a positive tone for various types of nonprofits and encourage the use of social media and new technology to promote a cause. Of course, my blog is brand new and theirs is run by professionals. I’m qualified to talk about this only through my blog and my passion. The classy blog is essentially everything I aspire for this blog to be: an inspiration for nonprofit start-ups and a resource for jump-starting social change.

The bottom line: I love the classy blog. Please hire me classy.org! In all seriousness, I was inspired by the professional and bright layout and clear message of the website. Classy is a true pioneer in the realm of forward-thinking innovation. So go check it out! They are the platform for some really cool campaign right now too. As usual, I leave you with a quote, this one by Steve Jobs, an incredible man and innovator himself. So get out there, find your passion, and change the world:

The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do. -Steve Jobs

Welcome to the shiny brand new website “Sedgwick Says”. This website was founded for the exploring and reviewing of the best nonprofit and social innovation companies I stumble upon. I’m particularly interested in dynamic social media campaigns and organizations that really push the boundary of what would be expected as their “target”. With the world population entirely immersed in the digital age, there’s immense opportunity for outreach.

My blog posts here will probably consist of a variety of sources and angles. Organizations’ websites, facebook/twitters, and recent publicity will be my main avenues of research. I tend to get very excited about companies I find that I really admire, so prepare yourself for enthusiasm and a good amount of exclamation points coming your way.

This blog has been created for my media workshop

A little about me, the blogger: My name is Kylie Sedgwick and I’m a freshman at the University of Southern California, majoring in Policy, Planning, and Development on the Nonprofit and Social Innovation track in the Sol Price School of Public Policy. That’s quite a mouthful but it essentially means I love the idea of social responsibility and nonprofit agencies that I’m pursuing a higher education to devote my life to a cause. I’m originally from a suburban town in Massachusetts. I’ll be updating my “about” page so click on over for more about me.

I actually just got to USC about a month ago. As a spring admit here, I took a gap semester to East Africa for my three months off and had the most incredible experience. The cultural immersion and volunteering there reaffirmed my passion for healing the world. You can check out the blog I tried (and failed) to maintain there. In case you’re wondering, consistent Internet is scarce in the developing world.

I hope you enjoy the blog posts to come and feel free to comment, contact me, or just enjoy in the beautiful anonymity of the web.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the Talmud. You may know an adaptation of it from the famous film Schindler’s List, but I was recently reintroduced to it at the Rwandan Genocide Museum actually.

“Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” — Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:9

At Mufindi Children’s Orphanage in Tanzania. On the left is Loveniss and on the right is Princess.

Me, freaking out a few minutes after receiving my high school diploma.

All packed up on January 4th to fly from BOS —> LAX for my first semester at USC