“We take an outside-the-box approach to activism, to educating and mobilizing young people,” says Andrew Slack, founder of the Harry Potter Alliance, as he enthusiastically details his organization’s achievements over the phone. “Based off a modern myth, we’re building a worldview in our members. We’re encouraging each other to tap into the magic of our creativity.”
We’re inspired by Andrew’s passion, dedication and ingenuity. Here is an individual who, like many of us, wants to change the world and is harnessing the power of youth and creativity to do just that. His out-of-the-box thinking moved him to start the Harry Potter Alliance, a 100,000-strong network of “Harry Potter fans from everywhere to spread love and fight the Dark Arts in the real world.”
Thus far, the HP Alliance has raised over $15,000 for Darfur and Burma, donated over 14,000 books across the world, and brought attention to numerous issues though their activism using the media and internet.
What can Andrew Slack teach us about our organizations?
• I suspect there are ‘Andrew Slacks’ within your organization, but most of us do not allow them to pursue new and innovative ideas. Instead, they are stifled and pushed down/away; they are “kept on task” and as a result, nothing really innovative gets done. Perhaps you should have lunch with the “Andrew Slacks” and give him/her some unprecedented freedom and resources – nothing crazy, just some space to be who they can be. The results might amaze you.
• Through our work with our clients, we have discovered that fantastic ideas are often hiding in the minds and files drawers of people within the organization. We just ask the simple question, “What great idea have you thought we should be pursuing and, for whatever reason, we are not?” Everyone has an answer, and they are really good ideas. Somehow they have been buried by the day-to-day. All you have to do is ask for the ideas, make a list, prioritize them and choose the best one to begin transforming your fundraising. Our MWO Incubator can help with the really big ideas, but you can also turn your “Andrew Slack” loose on one of them. They can take a concept and turn it into a new fundraising program for your organization!
• Maybe we are limiting the development of new and exciting fundraising programs because we are so concerned about years of experience and proven success. Andrew Slack was 25 when he started the Harry Potter Alliance – he had no professional experience or proven success. Nothing new can ever get going if it has to be proven first. Scientists call it experimentation, in business it’s called new product development, and in fundraising – well, we don’t even have a term for it! I recommend you take a risk and support a new fundraising program for your organization every year. Start small, experiment with something new, and perhaps you will discover an idea as exciting, engaging and powerful as the Harry Potter Alliance.
