#Activism - Get Involved!

When you are one of the members of a nonprofit, you are throwing everything that you have into your current project and working every day for your cause. Activism is nothing new to you, but those who new to the nonprofit scene may not fully understand just how much weight and importance this one word can have. Activism is at the core of every nonprofit and it is the driving force that results in so many causes reaping the benefits of having advocates who work hard for them.

Activism is defined as “consisting of efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, or environmental change, or stasis.” The fantastic thing about activism is that it can be present in so many forms. Any one person who is so inspired can perform activism on their own in many different ways, as they see fit, in order to show advocacy for the cause that they feel passionately about. You do not have to be the founder of the next major nonprofit to show that you care, that can come later. You can show your dedication and willingness to help a cause that you feel strongly about through reaching out to community leaders, drawing awareness and giving a voice to those that you wish to help.

Your inspiration for activism can come from anywhere, if you leave yourself open to experiencing the world around you with empathy, you will see that there is so much good that you can do for your local and global community. You can make a difference, through your activism, you can set in motion change that has the potential to make lives better and positively impact society as a whole.

If you want to get involved in social change through activism, there are just a few simple steps you need to follow. First, find what motivates you, what are you passionate about? If you are in need of a little inspiration, you can take a walk through your neighborhood, see what you notice around you. Go home and do a search for local charities and nonprofits, while you are at it, do a little research into activism and the different ways you could make a difference. If you want to dig a little deeper and expand your research to the global scale search #Activism and you will find a wealth of inspiration from all over the world, in many shapes and forms.

Once you have a cause, and you know how you think you want to start your work, look into whether or not there is an existing effort for your particular cause, is there an existing organization, local or other that you may be able to donate your time to? If there is, great! Get involved! If there is no existing effort, you will need to start your own, get the word out. Gain the support of your peers and contact the leaders of your community to get them to take notice.

It may seem like a huge task, but just remember, you have to start somewhere. You will make a difference through your activism, you have the potential to set something in motion that will make the world a better place.