FAQs

HOW IS THE CHARTER A NETWORK?

Traditional organization structures are hierarchical: a leader, sometimes in consultation with a board of directors, determines a goal for an enterprise and directs other people to carry out the steps necessary to reach that goal. At the Charter, we support self-organization: we believe that sustainable change emerges organically from communities. As such, we facilitate connections between resources, individuals, and organizations with the intent of supporting (not controlling) outcomes of increasing compassion. In fact, because we have over 2,000 partners, and those partners support networks as well, it’s really more accurate to describe the Charter as a “network of networks.” How do networks foster societal change? Networks are the first, critical step in systemic reorganization of the type we believe is necessary to make compassion an organizing, luminous force. Meg Wheatley and Deborah Frieze describe these steps eloquently in the short article "Using Emergence to Take Social Innovation to Scale," which we’ve republished with permission.

CHARTER COMMUNICATION LINKS

 

Skype – either use your computer to dial in using Skype or ask for the Skype name for the Charter for Compassion. Here are instructions for using Skype. 

You can connect to your MaestroConference event for free using Skype.  Note that there is a limit of 25 people who can use it at any one time across all of our customers.  Here's how to do it:

1. Search Skype for mcdirect1 (you can also add maestro4294 as an alternative if you'd like).
2. When the search locates the contact, click on it and press the “Add to Contacts” button that appears on the center of the screen.
3. Hit “Send” to send the default contact request message. (No need to customize the message; only a computer will read it!)
4. The new Maestro Conference contact will have a shaded question mark next to it, indicating that this Skype user has not yet shared contact details with you. (Don’t worry; we’ll fix this in a minute!)
5. When you’re ready to call in, right-click on the contact in your list of contacts and choose “Call” from the pop-up menu. This will connect you to your MaestroConference event.
6. Alternatively, you could click on the contact and you will see two green buttons near the center of the Skype window: “Video Call” and “Call Phone”. Click the drop-down arrow in the right side of the “Call Phone” button.
7. Click “Send Voice Message” on the drop-down menu that appears. (This won’t send you to voicemail; it will connect you to MaestroConference. Once you’ve completed a call to MaestroConference, the contact’s status icon will change from a gray question mark to a green check mark, indicating that you are now “friends.” You can just hit the “Call” button for future calls. Do NOT make a video call; this will needlessly tie up bandwidth sending your video over the internet. No one will be able to see you, anyway.)

CONTACT THE CHARTER

 

The best way is to use the Contact Form on this web site. Or you may email questions, comments and suggestions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You are welcome to send all inquiries for Karen Armstrong to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and the Charter team will be happy to forward them to her. This is also true of contacting members of the Charter Board of Directors or members of the Global Compassion Council (GCC). Please note in all cases, mail will be forwarded to the appropriate person and replies will come directly from them.  In the case of Karen Armstrong, her calendar is very demanding and it is often very difficult for her to respond to messages asking for personal opinions.  Requests for speaking engagements, endorsements and attendance at special events will be immediated forwarded to her personal assistant.

HELP WITH THE CHARTER

Think about Taking a Stand?

If you need some impetus to get started we would recommend going to the website: How to Take a Stand. Don't overlook clicking on the links provided because there are some great suggestions for helping you deepen your commitment to make a difference in the world.  For example, here is a piece on "How to do the Impossible":

When I think about the impossible, I don’t really worry much about the undoable. I know I can’t jump off a cliff and start flying. I know I can’t close my eyes and teleport to China. What I worry about is the extremely unlikely – the problems that are solvable but so few people are willing to work on. Bringing peace to the Middle East might be a good example. Or, how about getting astronauts back to Earth without a space craft?

These are things that obviously aren’t impossible, but because either:

       So many people have tried and failed, or no one is brave enough to give it a shot, and they inherit the label impossible.

Signing the Charter, or affirming the principle of compassion, is an important first step. An even more important step is to join the Charter as a Member, and making a commitment to sustain the global movement and participate in a compassion initiative in your community or institution.  However, we do encourage you to contribute financially when you become a member, but it is possible to select a "Free Membership" when you join.

To sum it up:

• Everybody who signs the Charter gets our public newsletter

• Everybody who joins as a Member also gets a Members Newsletter

• You can join as a Member even if you don't make a donation at the same time.

Organizations become Partners with the Charter, and individuals become Members.

SUPPORT THE CHARTER