Search Results

These days, the nonprofit industry can be equally as competitive when it comes to innovation. With the aim to make a difference in the community, here are 5 non profit organisations who are making an impact with their innovative practices. 1. charity: water charity: water is dedicated to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. In 2011, they launched a programme called Dollars to Projects where they match each donation made to an appropriate project. Their innovative mindset kicked in when they redesigned how they report their social impact to their donors. A project report will be sent to them, keeping their donors updated on where their money is going in that project. The report includes pictures, results, and even GPS coordinates on where the impact is being made. This approach to communicating ROI builds trust and relationships among the organisation and its donors. Their innovation did not stop there. According to Fast Company, they developed an innovative funding model called the Pool in 2019. This model allows wealthy donors to donate a portion of their private holdings to support charity: water’s operations and give their employees bonuses. Such an innovative spin on receiving donations shifted mindsets whereby nonprofits should always keep their overhead costs minimum. However, companies are not paying their talents right, how can they guarantee that they can provide quality products and services to their consumers. This model ensures that nonprofit workers can be fairly paid as well, opening up more practical job opportunities for those who want to work for good. 2. Days for Girls Days for Girls work towards increasing access to menstrual care and education through creating partnerships, promoting social entrepreneurship, involving volunteers, and innovating sustainable solutions. Many girls around the world have difficulty accessing menstrual products as most stores nearby do not sell them or they could not afford to buy one. Days for Girls understand the everyday struggles these girls face when they do not have these products on hand, hence they created DfG kits. This innovative solution started from a DfG POD (Portable Object of Dignity), which led to the birth of many other kits produced to ensure that girls are still able to lead quality lives even during their periods. What is so special and unique about these kits is that they do not look like traditional pads! They are designed to be bright and colourful so that it camouflages staining. Furthermore, the liners unfold to look like a washcloth, allowing women to wash and dry them out in the sun with any discomfort. This ingenious product definitely deserved a spot at the top 10 Classy Award in 2017. 3. Because International (The Shoe That Grows Program) Because International believes in using products as a medium to alleviate poverty. The founder happened to chance upon a little girl when walking down a dusty road. When he looked down, he realised that her shoes were too small on her. As children grow older, they tend to outgrow donated shoes really quickly, causing them to revert back to going barefoot. This makes them very vulnerable to soil-transmitted diseases and parasites, which makes them ill and can potentially lead to death. With the thought that what if there was a shoe that can expand, the idea of The Shoe That Grows was born. With that innovative idea in mind, he and his team worked hard to produce a shoe made out of durable and long lasting materials. The shoes were able to expand up to 5 sizes and they could last up to 5 years. By creating a sustainable and effective product that answers the needs of the children, Because International won a spot at the top 10 Classy Award in 2017 as well. 4. Direct Relief Direct Relief offers medical aid and other support to natural disasters, both in the U.S. and around 80 countries in the world. Medical aid and other support includes namely equipping medical teams with resources to care for the vulnerable people. They have designed a range of products which helps to address the needs of the people before and after a disaster strikes and one of the more significant products is a treatment kit that treats cholera patients. With reference to the current coronavirus pandemic, Direct Relief is working beyond its capabilities to provide medical supplies to as many health workers as they can across the medical facilities in the US. It is also expanding its efforts to reach out to more communities through large scale provision of personal protective equipment and medical supplies. These medical supplies come from the stockpile which direct relief maintains in view of possible disaster, medical supplies includes N95 masks which are designed with adjustable sizing to better protect the user. It also pioneered using large scale population movement data anonymized by Facebook to help track the movements of the population after a disaster, to allocate resources more efficiently and effectively. By effectively wielding this technology advancement, disaster relief organisations will be able to account for the movement of the population which may not always move to expected locations and anticipated speed. Leveraging on technology and an innovative mindset, Direct Relief is able to act fast and reach out to more people before and after a disaster strike. 5. Kiva Based in San Francisco, Kiva aims for a financially inclusive world by expanding financial access to people to alleviate poverty. They do so by allowing people to lend money to underserved communities. Funders can choose a borrower based on different categories like education, single parents, food, arts, and more. With a simple yet sustainable idea of becoming the middlemen for lenders and borrowers, the underprivileged communities are able to afford emergency health care services, pay for school fees, and start thriving on their own. And the best part is that 100% of every dollar lent goes to funding a person that needs it. No hidden cost, no interest rates, just purely to help someone in need. By creating a partnership with mutual trust and dignity has allowed Kiva to see a 96.7% loan repayment rate. It goes to say, innovation does not necessarily mean to create a new product or model, sometimes it is just adding an additional step into the ecosystem for it to thrive and work. Anyone can be creative and innovative! Change starts from you so don’t be afraid to experiment with new and fresh ideas to help the community. If you want to learn how to create innovative solutions that address a problem or need, check out our Design Thinking workshops!

Don’t know what to do during this circuit breaker period? We got you covered with 10 things to do! 1. Marie Kondo your room Now that you are stuck at home, the clutter in your room is probably an eyesore, especially when you are looking for a suitable area to study or work. Use the time you have at home to Marie Kondo your room. Start from getting rid of all the trash you have lying around and slowly make your way around to clean out unnecessary items. If the item you are holding on hand no longer spark joy, get rid of it! You will feel much happier and relaxed once you see a clean and decluttered room. 2. Create an exercise routine If you continue to lie on bed and snack during this stay at home period, by the end of it, you might not be able to fit into your favourite outfit anymore. As we are all advised to stay at home, you will not get the incidental exercises you normally do when you travel to school or work, so it is important to remain active while at home! Just create a simple exercise routine to follow everyday and stick with it. Start your day with a 15 minute workout and it can keep you focused for the rest of the day. 3. Start a journal Now is a great time to start a habit of penning down your feelings and thoughts. It is an inexpensive habit to pick up as all you need is a pen and a notebook, or just type it down on your phone. Journal writing helps you connect better with your values, goals, and emotions. It also helps you to keep track of your personal growth and development. 4. Read Reading is a very good hobby to pick up. A good book can keep you occupied for hours and you can learn a lot from a single book. Take this chance to brush up your vocabulary as well and *wow* all your friends the next time you meet them. Here are some book recommendation: To Kill a Mockingbird (Fiction) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Fiction) When Breath Becomes Air (Biography) The Moment of Lift (Biography) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Non Fiction) 5. Draw Pass time by drawing! Creating a masterpiece requires time and you have it during this circuit breaker period. You can also use this time to try out a new style of drawing like digital drawing. Experiment with different styles of drawing and build your portfolio. Want to showcase your talent? Join our MTC Design For Good Youth Competition! Create an artwork that speaks for a better and safer online space. Winners stand to win a chance to hone their artistic skills with creative professionals. Click here to learn more! 6. Upskill yourself You have time while staying at home to learn a new skill, why not seize that opportunity? Always have an interest in editing videos? Take advantage of Adobe 7 days free trial and download Premiere Pro. There are many videos on YouTube that teach you different tips and tricks when it comes to editing. By the end of this circuit breaker, you can *humble* brag to everyone you know how to edit videos like a pro. 7. Learn a new language Have you been watching Korean dramas all day long? Why not take this chance to learn Korean or any language you find interesting! Sign up for an online class or download Duolingo. Just spare 30 minutes every day and after 1 month, you can definitely master the basics of the new language. 8. Try a new recipe like dalgona coffee You have probably seen many 3 ingredient recipes trending online (especially on TikTok) during this pandemic as everyone is finding ways to relieve their boredom. You should try it too! A recipe like the dalgona coffee does not take very long to make and you can experiment with different ingredients. 9. Catch up on the shows/movies There are so many shows available online to keep you occupied amidst this trying period. Here are some suggestions: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (6 seasons) Friends (10 seasons) Crash Landing On You (16 episodes) Itaewon Class (16 episodes) Spirited Away 10. Zoom karaoke Miss having karaoke sessions with your friends? Try Zoom Karaoke! Gather all your singing buddies, create a Zoom call, pick a song, and sing away! You can still have fun with your friends while staying at home. There are many more activities and things you can do while staying at home. Let’s do our part to flatten the curve and prevent spread of the virus. You can still stay connected and have fun. Stay safe and responsible.

As announced by our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, starting from Wednesday, April 8, all schools and institutes of higher learning will shift to full home-based learning due to the rising numbers of Covid-19. However, with the health and safety of our PWD students as our first priority, we have already commenced our first online learning class on 4th April. With our PWD classes consisting of students with multiple disabilities (cerebral palsy, deaf, autistic, visually handicap), we tried out different online platforms like Google Classroom, Google Meet and Zoom to better facilitate home based learning classes for our students. These platforms have served as a great help in ensuring that the class ran smoothly, without any disruption. Even in this trying period, our PWD students have been a great sport by actively participating in the online class. With the help of technology, they can continue to work hard towards achieving their dreams while empowering themselves and each other. We are thankful to be in an era of advanced technology where everything is accessible online. Work can be done at home and lessons can be conducted online. So in this difficult time, let’s all play our part to be responsible citizens and stay at home.

As the cases of Covid-19 continue to grow, our government has advised us to practice social distancing and refrain from going out unnecessarily. While more and more of us are staying at home to slow down the spread of the virus, the things we can do at home are slowly getting lesser. The lack of face to face social contact may cause us to slowly become disconnected and negative. Hence, as we self-isolate, use this chance to take charge of your life and become a changemaker. Here are 4 things you can do at home, as a changemaker, to make a difference and spread positivity in this dire situation. Educate yourself Learning is lifelong! If you are unaware of what is going around the world, how can you advocate and influence others to follow your footstep? When you have the time, do some research about social issues happening around the world. Who is affected? What initiatives are implemented to tackle the issue? What can you do for the affected? Take your time to explore interests, understand problems, engage in conversation, listen to others, and gain a new perspective. 2. Build connections Start a facebook group and gather likeminded changemakers. Look for collaborators equally as passionate about a social issue or community. Learn from each other, inspire each other, and create ideas together. As they say “two heads are better than one”, go online and build your connections. You never know, one day the connections you have would be very useful. 3. Be an advocate In this technological era, who doesn’t use social media? We are constantly online, taking in insane amounts of information that flood our social media accounts and timelines. Instead of sharing memes all day, why not use your platform to spread awareness. Social media is a very diverse and powerful tool, use that to share about social initiatives or be a voice for the unheard communities. Here are a few influencers that use their social media platform to speak for communities: Lilly Singh @iisuperwomanii Singh uses her YouTube channel to spread self-love and positivity. She has created a video series #GirlLove that tackles hate between women and even partnered with Michelle Obama to promote girls’ education. 2. Tyler Oakley @tyleroakley Oakley dedicates his birthdays to raise money for The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis support and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth, by asking his followers and fans to donate. With the support of his online family, he has raised over $500,000. 3. Sylvia Chan @sylsylno As a person that used to battle with depression, Sylvia now uses her platform to spread awareness about mental health illnesses. She even dedicates time to visit schools to advocate about mental wellness. 4. Start your own social enterprise Nowadays, passionate changemakers are starting their own social enterprise online. It is a powerful and free platform for you to try out your idea and serve your target community. Need feedback on how to improve your social enterprise idea? Ask away on the internet! There are so many mentors and professionals out there who are willing to give you valuable advice and guide you on your journey to becoming a social entrepreneur. Want to start your own social enterprise but don't know how to? We have a beginner’s guide to help you! We believe that everybody has the ability and skills to become a changemaker - to create a positive change and make a difference in the world. Challenge the status quo, broaden your perspective on social issues, don’t be afraid of failures. Take the leap of faith and try something different today as afterall, change starts from home.

Meet Mimi Ng, one of our exceptional beneficiaries! She is a proud graduate from Digital Marketing for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Course. The course has been instrumental in helping her to establish and grow her online business with confidence. From mastering the diverse social media platforms to honing her content creation skills, Mimi's journey through the course has been inspiring. Join us in celebrating Mimi's journey and the limitless potential of our PWD community!

E-commerce is a commonly used term that everyone seems to know about, but do we truly understand what the word means? What is E-commerce exactly? In simple terms, E-commerce is the activity of electronically selling or buying of products on online services or over the internet. Qoo10, Shopee, Shopify, Lazada, and Tao Bao are E-commerce platforms most people are familiar with. The usual E-commerce scene goes with suppliers and businesses earning money while individuals spend. Wouldn't it be fascinating to know how individuals like us can use E-commerce to earn money too? Here are 5 tips individuals should know before they dive into the world of E-commerce. 1) Your product is the solution to a problem You are not selling a product, you are selling a solution to a problem. One common mistake people make is to dive right into deciding which product to sell without identifying a problem to solve. Thus, what you could do before you start is to find a problem that exists or, better yet, a problem you have experienced. Do research. Be diligent. Find some problems. Turn those problems into questions, and find the products that can answer them. For example, the problem identified is the massive amount of plastic straws being wasted every day. So, the question can be formulated into: What can we do to reduce plastic straw usage in Singapore? From here, the type of product chosen should be one that can - replace plastic straw - reduce plastic waste 2) Your product needs to be viable for E-commerce Not all products are viable for E-commerce. Some key deciding factors to determine whether your product is viable for E-commerce are: 1) Shipping Can the product be shipped worldwide? 2) Weight The product should not be too heavy to ship worldwide or your shipping costs might be too high 3) Breakability The product should not be too fragile or you might be issuing a lot of refunds. Using the plastic waste problem, which product do you think is the best solution? Glass straws vs metal straws vs paper straws. Of course, no straw is still the best solution. However, you should take into consideration the above factors before determining what type of product you want to sell. 3) You need to be able to communicate how you are different Being able to stand out from your competitors is important because it will convince people to buy your product. You don't need a crazy good idea, or a revolutionary product that can change the world. Successful E-commerce businesses are often seen making a simple twist to an existing product. These tweaks are enough to effectively solve an existing problem. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself while planning your E-commerce business: - What are you currently doing that your competitors have not done yet? - What are some of your competitors' weaknesses? - Does your business address your competitors' weaknesses? If so, that can be your Unique Selling Point. If not, that can be a potential gap for your business to develop. 4) Your customer is not everyone The harsh reality is nobody can afford to market to everybody. Not everyone would want to buy straws, and even if you spend a fortune marketing to them, some would not even budge. Hence, it is important to identify your target market. Be specific. One way to do this is to reverse analyse your product. The two ways you could do this is through the product centric approach or the audience centric approach. For audience centric approach, what you should consider is their demographics such as their age, income level, ethnicity, and et cetra; as well as their psychographics such as their personality, values, and interests. For product centric approach, you want to take the product and consider its core offerings such as its design, function and price. Who do these features appeal to most? To identify your target customers, it is best to use some factors from each approach. 5) You can build an audience without having a product Building your product first and waiting for the market can often take a long time for the business to flourish. The right way to go is to build the latter first. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are simple ways you can build your audience for minimal costs. Similar group of people are more easily gathered and there are higher chances for you to sell off your goods once your product launches. With all that being said, one should always do ample research before jumping into this field of work. Or else, unnecessary time and money can be wasted. We hope you have learnt a few tricks before starting your E-commerce journey. If you are interested to know more about E-commerce, Make The Change offers an E-Entrepreneurship workshop for secondary school students in which we equip students with skills in Design Thinking, Business Planning and the Enhancement of Web-User Experiences. We also run a Persons With Disabilities class that equips our participants with essential IT skills and know-how to manage the E-commerce portal via existing open source platforms or self-design platform with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Make The Change is at CHIJ Katong Convent to conduct a website design workshop with them! As many of the students came for this workshop without a design background, they were quite curious but also skeptical on designing a website from scratch. As Saul Bass, an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, once said “Design is thinking made visual”, we assured the students that with the right tools and imagination, website design can be fun and interesting. To get them warmed up, we played a game of Kahoot as an icebreaker activity. Soon, we could see the girls participating excitedly, coming up with quirky nicknames for themselves and fighting to be first on the scoreboard. The then awkward environment slowly became filled with laughter and chatter. We began our workshop by introducing them to the term UI/UX. Based on their reaction, it was safe to say that the students had not heard of the term before, and we secretly heave a sigh of relief. We knew that if we were to explain to them what UI/UX is in technical and complicated terms, we played a video that explains it for us. Creating a website is not just about beautiful layouts and design, it should and must be user friendly. If your website does not have a navigation bar or your font is too small, it is going to discourage users from using it. While UI/UX is important, it was equally important to learn the thinking process before building a website. This is where Design Thinking comes into play. There are 5 vital steps in Design Thinking that helps a designer determine his creation journey. It is easy to jump straight into a project without planning and anticipating problems but the chances of succeeding is relatively low. Design Thinking helps you see the bigger picture. According to Interaction Design, it helps you “understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding”. We were thankful that throughout the entire sharing, the girls remained keen and attentive. For the last part of the sharing, it was time to introduce tools that can be used to create and design a website from scratch. There are 2 ways we can build a website, either by coding or using an application. Obviously, the girls are not professional coders nor they have the time to code an entire website within 3 hours, hence we introduced to them something called Content Management System. CMS is a software application that can be used to manage and modify digital content, which includes creating a website. The CMS we introduced to the students was Wix. A simple yet lucrative software that can create beautiful websites. Without going into too much detail on how to use Wix, we encouraged the students to try it out by themselves, tasking them with a mini assignment of creating an online flower shop. At first, they were quite unsure on how to use the software as there were so many tools available for them. However, as they went along to create their own online flower shop, they slowly got the hang of Wix. They were participating actively and asked many questions to better their website design. At the end of the workshop, we saw many beautiful online flower shops, each had their own distinct features. We were proud to see what the girls had come up with within the 3 hours of the workshop. Even though it was difficult for some of them, all of the students still put in their greatest effort to design their website. The workshop ended with a short survey and a recap on what we have taught the past hours. We hope that the girls enjoyed designing their own website, as much as we enjoyed teaching them (: We look forward to them using the information we shared to create more wonderful websites or even digital portfolios in the near future!

Guest post by Claire Social Media Expert of Crunchy Social, a social media agency based in Sydney Instagram is an incredible social media platform. With millions of monthly users and a truly engaged audience, you can use Instagram to completely elevate your business. As many of us know, Instagram is an extremely visual platform, and many businesses tend to struggle to find how they can consistently provide aesthetic posts that attract an engaged audience. The beauty of retail is that every business owner is looking to promote a product they believe in. There is plenty of scope when it comes to visual updates, even if your offering isn't the most photograph-able. We’ve compiled a list that will help you find ways to utilise Instagram. Yes, it can become more than just pretty photos with filters. 1.    Get creative With so many Instagram profiles out there, you do have to get a little bit creative. What can your profile offer that others don’t? You need to add value to your content and give your followers a reason to follow you. It's a great move to adopt a certain “theme”, which immediately appeals to your audience. This can be in terms of your colour palette, fonts and post styles but also content pillars. Having themes for your content can make it easier to post multiple updates per week and compartmentalise your social media requirements. It also helps you work out what your followers like, depending on your analytics. A few examples of content pillars could be: A motivational quote on a Monday A picture and explanation of your newest product or service on Wednesday A tip on how to use your product or what complements it nicely on a Friday And finally, a casual and real update over the weekend to show that there are humans behind your retail business e.g. a pic of your favourite coffee or an inspirational design you like. If you have trouble remembering to post on Instagram, try scheduling your posts in bulk on a platform like Later or Buffer. These automatically post at your planned time so all you have to do is keep an eye on your comments and DM's! 2. Utilise Instagram stories Don’t forget to use the Instagram story option. As these only remain live for 24 hours, they are a much more casual way to connect with your audience and improve your user experience. They also add a sense of urgency for your audience to watch them which is great if you have any special offers for your most loyal followers. If your business profile has over 10,000 followers, stories also give an option to add a “swipe up” link. This allows you to send people straight to your website, which is a great lead builder. Why not use stories to post behind the scenes images and videos to show the more authentic side of your business? Show the new stock you've ordered, introduce your staff members with fun and thought-provoking questions or involve your audience by asking them to vote on their favourite variation of your products. Instagram Stories are almost like an exclusive look into the inner workings of your business, well, the fun parts at least! You can add your past stories to highlights which feature on your profile. It's a good idea to build these up according to different themes, to establish an active and interesting profile. This works well for any brand, especially fashion and beauty brands. Travel profiles also benefit greatly from this feature too. 3. Use hashtags This might seem like an old tip, but it is still really relevant. The way we use hashtags has changed over the years, but you should continue to use them on all of your posts for better reach. Keep your hashtags relevant to your business, and the post. Also, avoid general or vague hashtags. These might bring in a few extra likes but they won't bring valuable followers, potential customers or views to your profile. When posting about events or trends, make sure you keep an eye out for any designated hashtags to capture the niche audience of interested people. 4. Collaborate with others Don’t forget to feature other people or businesses on your profile, and tag them. Chances are, others will start to do the same for you. This allows for another whole audience of people to see your content and messaging, providing you with the opportunity to gain more attention and followers. By engaging with other's you're simply getting your name out there and showing users that you're active and interested in their updates. The more you engage with others, the more others will engage with you, benefitting your business. You could also try influencer marketing, particularly micro-influencer marketing. This sort of collaboration could involve simply supplying your product in return for a post to the influencer's followers. Be sure to take careful consideration of their statistics and your own analytics during the promotion. 5. Always check your analytics One thing that a professional social media manager will tell you is that the key to social media is to constantly check your analytics. This way you can decide what is working and what isn’t working quite as well as you expected. You need to understand how people are reacting to your content. Don’t forget to pay careful attention to the best posting days and times, as well as the types of content that are getting the most likes. If you don’t use this information to update your strategy, change with the times, and scrap certain ideas, your Instagram may not do as well as it could. Using Instagram has a plethora of benefits and it's important that you create an online reputation of being active and approachable. Customers will be much more likely to purchase from your store if they're able to form a deeper connection with your brand.

Amidst all the tragedies happening around the world, we would like to bring in some positivity and share some good news that our team has been working hard for. Our community project DAFA (Digital Arts For All) is back again for its 2020 edition! For those who are not sure what DAFA is all about, here’s an introduction: DAFA is an inclusive ecosystem of people who use digital arts to instill a stronger consciousness for media and digital literacy through empowering workshops, volunteering opportunities and showcasing of works to the public. Joining hands with the Media Literacy council, we raise awareness about 3 media literacy topics: Be Safe, Be Smart and Be Kind to communities from all walks of life. While the 3 media literacy topics serve as a reminder for us to be responsible digital citizens, it can also remind us to be responsible citizens, especially during the recent COVID-19 disease. Be Safe While being safe online means protecting your personal information, in light of the COVID-19 disease, being safe means practising good personal hygiene, including washing your hands frequently with soap and cleaning commonly used items like your smartphones. Be Smart Millions of content and information are spread around every second. However, not every content created is reliable and real. By being a responsible citizen, it is our job to verify information given to us before spreading it around. Fake news and online falsehood only cause panic and distress among all of us. Be Kind From refusing to serve an ambulance driver to chasing nurses out of the public transport, there has been news and cases of people being unkind to our front line heroes. During such situations, we ought to exercise kindness, especially to those who are putting their lives on the line to help those battling with the COVID-19 disease. The new year may have started on a rocky path but if we can practice the fundamentals values of DAFA (Be Safe, Be Smart and Be Kind) and be a socially responsible citizen online and offline , we can definitely pull through this epidemic. Also! With DAFA around the corner, we are calling all youths who love art to join us in our DFG Youth Competition 2020! In this competition, students will learn more about social issues as well as how to apply their creative thinking and problem-solving skills through design and visual communication. Our DFG Youth Competition is launching on 1 March and we await the beautiful artworks from you guys! Here are some of the works done by the participants last year: