Dear Compassion Gamers,
The Games have begun and now it is time to put our compassion and love to use in order to build a stronger, more connected, more compassionate world. To record your random acts of kindness, your Secret Agents of Compassion acts, or your service projects, you will need to submit reports about them on the Compassion Map. During the Games we will be highlighting and writing about all sorts of contributions, large and small, but for those who are counting, it is important to know that it is through the map that we will tally and keep score for the Games. [Please note – the Compassion Map is NOT the place to announce future events. It is the place to document the results of completed activities.]
Below is a video tutorial about Compassion Mapping, and following that is a detailed explanation of how to use the Compassion Map.
To submit your reports and therefore receive credit in the Games for your activities, there’s not a lot you need to learn. Here are the basics:
On the report form, you will find a number of different fields that must be completed. The required ones are marked with little red asterisks, and those fields need to be completed for the report to be posted on the Compassion Map.
There are only five required fields: Report Title, Description, Total # of Volunteers, Total Volunteer Hours, and Location Name.
– Under “Report Title,” tell us what you want the report to be called; it will show up under this name when people search the nap.
– The “Description” field is the main box and it’s where the content goes – in other words, here you tell us what happened that you are reporting, whether it be a Secret Agent of Compassion action, a Random Act of Kindness, or a Service Project.
– Total # of Volunteers and Total Volunteer Hours must be entered. These will apply to the tally that is kept during the Compassion Games.
– The “Location Name” field can either be typed in manually, or even better, type the location in under the box beneath the map (where it says “City, State, and/or Country”) and Google Maps will pinpoint your location and fill out the box below on its own.
Although it is not required, if you are playing Compassion Games on behalf of one of the communities who have signed up, the “Categories” section is essential, as this will assign your activity to the proper team. Under “Categories” identify if you are submitting a Story of Compassion, a Service Project, or a Random Act. Under “Communities” click the drop down box to choose the team you are representing.
That’s all you need to get your report on the page. However, we and other Gamers want to hear as much as possible about the event that you are reporting, so please also include as many other fields as possible. We want to know about the amazing organizations that you might be working with or for, so if you can tell us that, type their name under “Affiliation Name” and select what type of group they are (if they fit one of the categories) under “Affiliate Type” (examples: nonprofit, governmental agency, business, etc.).
Then, on the right-hand side of the page, comes media, which we encourage you to put as much of as possible. Media can be submitted in the three more boxes or areas under “Location Name.” Their labels are “News Source Link” (any page that’s linked to the action you’re reporting, whether it’s your blog, the organization that set up the action, a news report about it, or similar information), “External Video Link” and “Upload Photos.” You can add as many websites, video links, and photos as you want by clicking the small, white plus sign to the right of the boxes.
Finally, under “Optional Information” tell us who you are! We want to connect with you and know you, so this information is very helpful.
Thanks for all your love and compassion, and good luck gaming!
David
PS, if you want to read about my experience mapping, click here.