My experience with CrowdFunding – the way it was meant to be.

08. May 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Liz B. · Tags: , , , ,

Preface: I love philanthropy and supporting causes and this is not my first time GIVING! However, this is my first time falling for the “crowdfunding” trick.

And in general I’ve always been wary of Kickstarter and Indie Go Go because of the fees associated with their services and a little skepticism behind who and what causes can put a project up on the site.

Working for Building Tomorrow we see crowdfunding happen every day. Every on-campus event our chapters host has some sort of crowd funding. Millennials love giving this way. They know that their $1 donation will be paired with hundreds of other $1 donations that will in turn make an impact.

This on-campus crowd funding works on one level. The chapter raises funds and each donor feels significant when they give.

Kickstarter and the likes however, work on another level. They show you exactly who else is giving and therefore how your $1 or $10 donation has already been paired up with a $100 and a $250 donation to make that $1000 goal actually attainable.

My best friend from high school is writing the lyrics for a musical that’s showing off Broadway in New York. Her team used Kickstarter to raise $1000 to help cover the costs of putting the show together, rehearsing and all that entails. Check out her project here!

A little more background, I’m not a glamorous giver or even an impulse giver. All of my donations are monthly direct deposits – I know living on the edge. But I gave to my friend’s project. One of my few impulse donations of the year.

 

Here is why:

1. Accountability.

Despite not always loving Kickstarter and other crowd funding tools they DO do a good job of creating accountability and demonstrating the need. After the project was funded we received an email from my friend outlining the budget for the project and where money would be spent.

2. Guaranteed impact.

My fear usually in donating to a friend’s cause or project is that the impact won’t matter. It won’t be significant enough or the project overall won’t receive enough funding to “make it.” With Kickstarter, I saw very clearly that they would reach their goal. They already had larger supporters – $250 or $500. I knew that my donation would be part of the total impact. Something that I’m usually not fooled by but in seeing how many other “Backers” were already on board. It actually did make me feel more confident that my donation would be impactful.

3. It was my friend.

Might be obvious but this is a HUGE reason that millennials give and that crowdfunding can work. I had every confidence in her and I could actually see her personality in the project – in the description, the picture, her name was on it, everything. It was excited to join with her in this project because she owned it. I gave not only because I cared about the project but I cared about her and could see her in the project.

Bottom Line: Crowdfunding is the future. There is no question about it. Millennial donors are leading the way in this. They give knowing that their gift will be made significant by the many others giving. They give knowing that the funds will be used for a specific project. And they give because of personal reasons – they listen to their peers and will give $1, $10, $25 to a cause that their friend has taken up as their own.

#DAYAFTER: Pros & Cons of Entrepreneurship

03. May 2012 · 3 comments · Categories: Day After · Tags: , , , , ,

I think it is safe to say that if we postpone a chat to the next day, then the number of those who can attend drops WAAAAY OFF!

I do appreciate having @DominicDeMaria and @CraigMeddin join in on the chat! The had some good insight.  And here is the transcript (small transcript) as proof.

Discovering Your Passion to Create Your Own Dream Job

02. May 2012 · 3 comments · Categories: Aleah R. · Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

This year, I completed my tax return as a 1099er for the first time. Aside from the literal crash course experience of organizing receipts, tracking expenses and shifty software, it made me think long and hard about what it means to be self-employed, what it takes to get there, and how I can help shape the definition of entrepreneurship as a millennial.

Admittedly, I’m still not completely certain that I did not fall into being self-employed by total accident, nor could I say that I carefully planned every intentional step that got me here. Yet, what I do know is this – I’m passionate. I’m passionate about ensuring social justice and providing equitable opportunities for people to be their own advocate, voice and human. So, for my first blog post on Millennial Chat and in the spirit of this month’s theme of entrepreneurship, I’ll share with you what I’ve learned about creating my own dream job to do just that.

To see your future, look at your past. Discover your story to help define what it is that you are passionate about.  What experiences from your past drive you now? I can remember a moment when I was about 11 and I questioned my dad for always pushing me to be the leader in everything I did, from the director of a class play in 2nd grade to the yearbook editor in junior high. Feeling the pressure of responsibility for my team of fellow 7th graders, I asked, “Why do I always have to be the leader?” I realize now that it’s because I’m good at it. Along with my own experiences, I also know that I’m standing on the shoulders of family members and ancestors who have always been, whether they see themselves as that or not, fearless advocates for social justice. By exploring my past and memorable experiences, I’ve been able to clearly define what drives my “do.”

Let the journey happen. It’s important to define big goals for your future, but you aren’t going to be able to plan every step of the way.  Millennial entrepreneurs are innovators, creators, and shake up the status-quo – not for self-benefit, but for the true societal impact that it can have on our world. When you are doing big things, you will fail. Hard. That’s what happens when you are working to enact change. But you will also see great success. Working to reinvent how we educate kids reminds me that I must question everything, collaborate and always see failures as opportunities.

You can’t turn it off. That is, I’m never a “part time” leader, innovator, creator – I’m always bringing the full “me” to everything I do. By now we have all tried to figure out how to find work/life balance. I don’t think there’s such a thing. I believe in work/life harmony. Yes, there will be times when work is my blood, sweat and tears for days, weeks, even months. But I’ve learned that there are people in my life that help drive my passions. They, too, can be my blood, sweat and tears at times. I make it a priority that they are.

Hustle. Do the hard work to get to the results you want. In today’s world of “democratized” everything (fashion, education, funding), there’s no excuse not to know. Knowledge is there and it’s available. Read, watch, talk, chat, hangout, click or whatever you need to do to bring yourself to the table as someone who can contribute something meaningful and insightful. Millennial are burdened with not having the years of “experience,” but you better believe I know how to get in the know.

 

Above all, find what drives your innermost core – that guttural feeling you get for something you are so deeply passionate about. And make sure you find that every day.

 

The Myth of the 14 Hour Work Day

26. April 2012 · 7 comments · Categories: Sarah B. · Tags: , , , , , ,

written by Sarah B.

There seems to be an unwritten rule for some offices where people glorify the insane amount of time that they spend working. Have you heard friends almost bragging about the fact that they stay late every night? It’s those little subtweets about making friends with the night security or those who are constantly talking about how little sleep they’re functioning on- it’s almost like they’re wearing the 14 hour work day as a merit badge. Whenever I hear someone talking like this, I immediately think to myself that they have poor time management skills- not that they’re a hard worker. Are you a card carrying member of the “work too much” club? How do you fix it?

flickr photo by bourgeoisbee

Where does your time really go?
Some people have problems with spending money. They get to the end of the month and wonder what they spent it on. (A quick look at their bank account reveals more midday Starbucks runs than they thought.) Try tracking your time, the same way you track your spending. How much time did you really spend on that project? Was it four hours, or did you check your email 12 times, chat with a coworker for a half hour, and return two phone calls? Did you check Twitter, read a blog, and text your best friend, too? As Millennials, we might think that multitasking is the way to go. Research varies, but it can upwards of five minutes to refocus on a task at hand if you get interrupted. Try to do one thing at a time. The more you get interrupted, the less likely you are to finish a task. If something new comes across your desk, ask yourself if you need to respond to it right away or if you can “park it” on your to do list.

What’s your office culture?
Let’s pretend that you really are a good time manager. Most days, you’ve finished your projects by a reasonable hour… but your boss is still working. Do you stay anyway? It might be hard at first, but don’t stay unless you truly have something pressing. Make sure the quality of your work meets or exceeds the expectations, and then leave for the day. When people launch into “Oh my GOSH, I have been working SO MUCH lately. Let me tell you about how I stayed at the office until the lights went out…” what they’re really saying is “Please, someone tell me I’m working hard and doing a good job.” You can achieve the same praise simply by doing good work- it doesn’t have to take all night. Complaining or bragging about how much you work can actually have a negative effect. If you were a hiring manager, would you want an employee who was stressed out all the time or one who could manage their time well? Try spinning your stories in a different direction: “I finished that project in time to head home for a run.” There will always be an endless amount of tasks for you to complete in your job. That’s why it’s called work. Set realistic daily or weekly goals for yourself and don’t worry so much about the things that you “didn’t have time for.” If you prioritize effectively (with the help of your supervisor), the most important tasks will be done. Let go of the expectation that you’ll be able to do everything every day.

What are you giving up to work?
It’s okay to work long hours during the week leading up to a big deadline or an event. If you’re working too frequently without much of a break, though, there can be a serious strain on your health. Ask yourself how many times you’ve skipped a workout because you’ve been “stuck” at the office. Have you been able to catch up with a friend or call your mom within the last week? If the answer is no because you can’t seem to leave the office before 10 p.m., it’s time to reevaluate. Even the COO of Facebook leaves by 5:30 p.m. You can’t build the relationships you need in your career if you don’t have anything to talk about aside from work. You need time to read a best seller, volunteer, take a weekend trip, or work on your home. Those things make you an interesting, well-rounded person. Consider what you’re trading for what you think is a shot at moving up the ladder.

How do you keep from working TOO much?

Millennials On a Budget: Travel Hacking Edition

25. April 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Stacy M.

by Stacy M.

My husband and I love to travel.  We also love wine and art, the most expensive hobbies of course!  But he’s in a PhD program and I am launching and building a social enterprise startup.  We’re not exactly rolling in dough.  So, we need to get creative.  Luckily, travel hacking makes it pretty easy to travel affordably!

What is Travel Hacking? 

Travel Hacking is when you build up airline miles so you can travel for free.  The best and fastest way to add a bunch of miles without actually flying is with credit cards.

How Do We Do It? 

First and foremost, we make sure we have frequent flier accounts with every airline that we fly.  The two airlines we fly the most are Virgin America and American Airlines.  But for an upcoming flight we are flying Delta.  The first thing we did when booking this flight was to sign up for frequent flier miles.

Most of the best travel hacking deals are through credit cards.  If you get a certain card and spend a certain amount of money you get a certain amount of bonus miles.  Since it is money we are going to spend anyways, it’s like getting free flights.

A big part of the process is researching credit card options.  My husband went so far as to subscribe to an email newsletter that sends you the best new deals.  We find the cards that have the most bang for your buck and apply. We also set up a timeline so we can keep track of what cards we have had, when we get them, when we need to cancel them in order to avoid the fee, and when we can start the next card.

In order to hit the amount we have to spend, we make sure we are both on the same page as far as what cards we need to use when.

What Have We Been Able To Do So Far? 

Here are the cards that we have had so far.  If they don’t have an annual fee, they are permanent cards.  If they do have an annual fee, we cancel them after a year before the fee is charged.

The Husband’s

American Express Blue Sky (permanent)
Virgin America Visa (permanent)
Citi American Advantage
Citi Premiere Thank You Card

Mine

American Express Blue Sky (permanent)
Virgin America Visa (permanent)
Citi American Advantage

Free Travel So Far

Connecting flights to North Carolina this summer because of Thank You points
Two Virgin America flights to Portland using just my husband’s miles
Deductions from American Express Blue Sky have covered pieces of multiple flights and a cruise

We still have two round trip flights each on American Airlines and two flights on my Virgin America account.

What’s Next? 

A card that every travel hacker loves is the Chase Sapphire Card.  That’s next on our list.

So far, we have focused mainly on airline miles.  But you can build points for other aspects of travel as well.  We are going to start building hotel points.

And, of course, a big next step is to use these miles to travel!  We aren’t entirely sure where we want to settle long term.  We need to travel domestically to see what city might be a good fit.  We also would love to travel internationally.  First on the list is Panama.  And someday we will save for a big trip to New Zealand and Australia.

Travel Hacking won’t send us on a free trip around the world anytime soon.  But it does provide us with at least a couple free trips a year.  And for travel loving millennials on a budget, it makes all the difference!

#DAY AFTER: Benefits of Blogging for Professional Development

25. April 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Day After · Tags: , , , , ,

Yesterday’s #millennialchat produced 91 tweets generated 140,947 impressions, reaching an audience of 20,783 followers.
(stats provided by hashtracking.com)

Congrats to our top tweeters!
1. @millennialchat – 17
2. @jenniferlspies – 16
3. @writerchanelle – 12
4. @vocuscareers – 12
5. @allyyusuf_ – 9

#DAYAFTER: How to deal with changing jobs!

18. April 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Day After · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday’s #millennialchat produced 85 tweets generated 54,555 impressions, reaching an audience of 9,772 followers.
(statistics provided by hashtracking.com)

Top 5 tweeters:
1. @jenniferlspies – 19
2. @millennialchat – 17
3. @vocuscareers – 10
4. @willie_matis – 9
5. @sarahkathleen – 8

 

#DAYAFTER: How to effectively market your event!

11. April 2012 · 3 comments · Categories: Day After · Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Hashtracking.com was down.  Couldn’t get any numbers on the top tweeters, but enjoy the transcript & post from Storify.com!

Take a Selfish Day (or Weekend) Stat!

30. March 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Jennifer S. · Tags: , , , , , , , , 
by Jennifer S.

I’ll make a confession, I’m writing this blog post at 6:30 pm the day before it will be posted.  You might say, “Jennifer, it’s Friday.  You had the whole entire week to write this post!”  And, you might be right.  But I decided to selfish and disconnect myself this past weekend.  That’s right dear reader, I took Larkin’s post last week to heart and became responsible for my own happiness.

You can find pages and pages of posts out there on why we should take some times for ourselves and how good it is for us, body, mind and soul.  SELF magazine even has a monthly feature that shows how a reader took a “SELF-y day”.  But how many of us actually do this?  I’m guessing a lot of you, like i used, think about taking a day for ourselves but never get around to it.  Is it because you don’t know what to do?

I don’t blame you, even if I’m going to enjoy myself and disconnect from the online world I still want a plan.  Here’s what I did on my selfish weekend, to get you thinking about what you could do in a weekend, an evening or even an hour to make yourself happy!

  • Find a great sale:  If I need to buy something, even if it’s just groceries, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I get a great deal on it.  This weekend, I got two candles for the price of one (the only time I’ll be these candles is when they are BOGO) plus a full-sized hand soap and reusable bag for free.  What is better than getting four items for the price of one?
  • Take a walk:  If you haven’t been listening to the forecast, Minnesota is gorgeous!  Seriously, we are breaking record temperatures set in the early 1900s.  I took advantage of this early summer and walked around my town.  I even found out that there is a park nearby with great walking trails that I went to about three times.  After this winter, it felt great to walk around, in the sunshine, without a coat.
Yes, this is what March in Minnesota looks like.
  • Read some “non-intellectual”:  I had two choices of reading this materials this weekend, Brave New World or a year’s worth of Cosmo.  Yes, I took the trashy magazine route.  After reading blog posts that are suppose to make me think all week long, it felt great to not be forced to think.  Time went by quickly (and yes, I sat outside and read).

I hope that my selfish weekend has given you some ideas of something to do, even for an hour, that is only for you and makes you happy.  Log off your computer, step away from the smartphone and just think about yourself!

What are you going to be selfish about this weekend?

There is nothing permanent except CHANGE

29. March 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Megan E. · Tags: , , , , , , , , 
by Megan E.

Iʼve always been someone thatʼs pretty confident in my life and career choices.  Iʼve always been very sure about what Iʼd be doing in the next few years. But hereʼs the thing, Iʼm never right. Despite my self assurance, things are never quite what I expect.  And thatʼs a good thing.

Hereʼs the deal.

change

flickr photo by Sean MacEntee

We live in a world thatʼs constantly changing. Whatʼs true for today isnʼt true for tomorrow. Thereʼs no guarantees and no such thing as a “sure thing”. Iʼve gone from wanting to be a rock star (circa Kindergarten) to the president (3rd grade) to an environmental scientist (7th grade) to a journalist (10th grade) to a social worker (12 grade).

And what do I want to be now? Whatever will continue to bring me joy. Thatʼs it. Something relatively simple, yet not always so easy. The key is discovering what the thing is that brings you joy. For me, itʼs a lot of things. Itʼs learning. Itʼs fun. Itʼs passion. Itʼs friendship. Itʼs community. Itʼs knowledge. Itʼs human connection. Itʼs making a difference. Thatʼs what I want out of a life, out of a career. So I pursue interests that do just that.

I have the pleasure of working for two incredible non-profits that bring me a whole lot of joy. I organize the efforts of Revolution Hunger in San Francisco, teaching students in the community about root causes of hunger and encouraging them to get involved with the campaign. I run a blogging program at Mobilize.org, teaching young Millennials how to advocate for the issues effecting our generation via social media. Not to mention writing for the wonderful community here at the Millennial Chat.
As I go through my next stages of life, I want to be able to continue a path that continues to bring me joy. And it might not turn out exactly how I imagine it. In fact, Iʼm sure that things will indeed be very different in the next few years. But so long as I can roll with the punches and continue to learn, explore, grow, build community, and make a difference, Iʼll be happy.

Imagine who you were 5 years ago.
Are you that same person today?
Do you have the same friends?
The same exact goals?
The same job?

Iʼd guess that for most people, things have changed a whole lot in 5 years. While itʼs important to plan for the future, itʼs equally important to be open to change. Change is what makes us grow and helps us learn. If things stayed the same, you wouldnʼt be who you are today.

And I think somewhere in these ramblings, thereʼs a very important lesson to be had for Millennials. Be flexible. Life is not linear. Youʼre going to get thrown curveballs. You have to adjust.

For me, I can already feel things changing again. Iʼm debating changing my major, Iʼll be living in a new place next year, and Iʼm starting to think more seriously about what life will look like after graduation. And instead of being scared for these changes, and apprehensive to make those adjustments, Iʼm excited. I want to shake things up a little. I canʼt wait for the next set of challenges. I plan to meet them with determination and grace.

And I recommend you do the same. Things will look very different in the future, they always do. Our generation will have to adjust. Our lives will change. And itʼs going to be just fine.

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