Spreadsheets and Sad Ads.

Somewhere between the spreadsheets of the most effective good you can​ do, and emotive pictures of people with very visible signs of disadvantage is the most amount of good that you are likely to do for the long term.

It is unfortunate that we live in a world where doing the most good you can do is not a compelling argument for most people. The fact that those who live in an environment of relative prosperity have an extraordinary opportunity to help those who live in abject poverty does not move everyone to act. 

Likewise, the marketing departments at ineffective and exploitative organisations that know the psychology of getting people to put their hands in their pockets to donate works best when those people are shown easy to understand, emotive images designed to stimulate their empathetic guilt responses.

Somewhere between these two extremes is a space that accommodates the emotive needs and respects the opportunity that each individual and organisation has to utilise their hard earned skills for the benefit of others. In between spreadsheets and sad ads there is a place where positive feelings can be had as a result of good work that has been done, a reward response for work well-done rather than an alleviating of guilt incurred through the traditional 'sad ads'.

We believe that, like physical fitness, doing the most good you can do is about consistency as opposed to twice a year making a three hour trip to the gym and hoping for the best. We believe that, like physical fitness, people are more likely to consistently engage in physical activities that they enjoy and that they are good at.

The just be nice project is about finding the opportunities that take what people are good at and what they enjoy and using those opportunities to have the most impact for those in need, in the long term.

Somewhere between spreadsheets and sad ads is the long-term opportunity to not only have positive impact but to expose people to the realities of disadvantage and teach them that the most good they can do is by doing what they are good at.