TV’s volunteer week deserves praise

To the Editor

The debate surrounding the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s iParticipate initiative has sparked a lively conversation that explores the results of a novel effort to bring service to life through popular culture. (“Hollywood’s On-Air Effort to Promote Volunteerism Gets Mixed Reviews From Nonprofit Experts,” November 12)

While some dwell on the technical glitches and criticize the initiative, I believe that it further elevated service into the national dialogue in a way no other medium could. To some, the initiative should have been a magic bullet; in reality, its merit rests in its ability to be an integral part of the service-movement puzzle and raise awareness about civic engagement.

Service was thrust into the spotlight by our government leaders, including President Obama, who signed the landmark Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, and Governor Schwarzenegger, who took first-in-the-nation action to put volunteerism at the highest level of California’s government.

Now the entertainment industry, with its enormous reach and influence over our cultural and societal norms, is working to weave service into our popular culture through network television. Through a powerful medium that broadcasts to millions of households, we have an unrivaled opportunity to showcase an entirely new perspective on service.

Research demonstrates that to change behavior for social good, message repetition from a variety of sources is key. Imagine the power of a message of service distributed through many sources, over a wide variety of channels, about actions to take, over a sustained period of time. And imagine if prominent leaders from government, business, entertainment, community and faith-based organizations, and other industries continue to send a unified message that creates social cues for broader and broader audiences. It is then that we will reach the tipping point, and service will become the norm for all Americans.

We must never forget that the real impetus rests with those of us who long ago answered the call to improve our communities. We must continue knocking on doors, finding partnerships, engaging in dialogue, and spreading our message. And when the opportunity presents itself to send a message of service to a broad audience, we must match the vigor and passion that these agents offer to us.

We must not lambaste their efforts as “not good enough” but instead, learn from their trials, keep the lessons learned in our knowledge bank, and ensure that the door is always open to all industries that wish to offer their assistance.

Karen Baker

Secretary of Service and Volunteering

State of California

Sacramento, Calif.

To the Editor:

The Entertainment Industry Foundation iParticipate campaign in October was an unprecedented effort to bring service to life through entertainment and popular culture—and worth closer examination.

The first phase of the campaign taught us some important lessons. It showed us that the technology interface for engaging volunteers must be flawless in order to effectively channel interest and energy into volunteer action. We also learned that specific issues, projects, and organizations created more interest than a generic call to serve.

As the entertainment industry moves forward with its efforts to feature service and promote civic participation, we must meet them with a new level of partnership and collaboration. This is an industry with enormous power to shape our culture, and we have the opportunity to meet its originality and passion with ingenuity and imagination for changing the world.

We can and should create an alliance that creates long-term change and that activates millions of new volunteers around critical needs.

Michelle Nunn

Chief Executive

Points of Light Institute

Atlanta