socialcaptips | SCI Social Capital Inc.

How NOT to cultivate your social network

Submitted by David B. Crowley on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 12:28pm

We often talk about how to cultivate your network--what about how not to cultivate your network? What things negatively impact your social capital? Some obvious ones would be not returning calls, not following through on something you said you would do. Continuously being on the receiving side of a relationship would be another.

I'm also thinking of a few situations lately that bring this question to mind...making referrals, and then seeing my contact handle the situation in a way that made me feel uncomfortable that I had made that referral. The take-away on this is that when someone makes an introduction for me, I need to keep in mind that the person is extending him or herself by making that connection. I need to be aware that how I proceed with that contact is going to impact my relationship with the introducer. Being insensitive to this dynamic is another way not to cultivate your network.

These are just a few additional ideas that come to mind--I would welcome thoughts from others on how not to cultivate your network! Sometimes negative examples can be valuable for our learning.

7 Tips & Counting for Leveraging Your Social Network

Submitted by David B. Crowley on Tue, 04/13/2010 - 2:21pm

Much of our training for AmeriCorps members and other community leaders this year has focused on the theme of "Leveraging Social Networks for Social Impact". For instance, I recently led a brown bag session on this subject at the Boston Center for Community & Justice.

Getting ready for our session on this subject matter for our Leadership Woburn adult community leader training tomorrow night, and thought I'd share the list of 7 Tips for Leveraging Your Social Network that we've used previously, and see what other additions people would add to this list. Add your comments below:

Have clear goals in mind when trying to leverage your social network.

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Trick or Eat & More Ways to Help on Halloween

Submitted by David B. Crowley on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 1:55pm

Looking to sink your teeth into something more than candy this Halloween? Here are 3 ways you can help Boston area communities on Saturday.

Trick or Eat Canned Food Drive: Dorchester teens are gettting ready once again to coordinate the annual canned food drive initiated several years ago by the SCI Dorchester Youth Council. The drive combats poverty and hunger in Dorchester as teens collect canned goods instead of candy treats as they visit homes in several Dorchester neighborhoods. It helps out Dorchester food pantries during the holiday season when there is very high demand for food. This idea has been spreading in a few ways--youth have replicated the program in other neighborhoods; and we just heard from a Cambridge resident who heard about this online. This woman is now organizing a drive in her neighborhood and will add her collection to that collected by the Youth Council to increase the support for the Dorchester food pantries. If you'd like to participate in Dorchester or organize something in your neighborhood, click here for more details and contact info. Read more

10 Ways (and Counting!) to Build Social Capital

Submitted by David B. Crowley on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 2:32pm

As we work on our Social Capitalist Curriculum, we're thinking a lot about practical ways to teach people how to build social capital. I've begun "tweeting" these ideas and now that we're up to 10, wanted to pull together into a blog post. I'll update every time we've got another batch of 10 or so, and would welcome your contributions to the list. You can add those by commenting here (approval needed) or by tweeting them with the hashtag #socialcaptips. The idea of such a list isn't unique, in fact, the Saguaro Seminar has a great list of "150 Things You Can Do to Build Social Capital". We seek to add to the practical social capital building tips by creating one based on our experience and sharing it here and via Twitter.

1: Fix a meal for new parents in your neighborhood.

2: Share your swimming pool with neighbors.

3: Recommend local businesses that provide good service to your friends and family. Read more