Profiled - The Bank of Happiness (Õnnepank) - A bank for exchanging good deeds

An interview with Birgit Tolmann, founder and manager at The Bank of Happiness (Õnnepank) the bank that deals in good deeds and sharing wellbeing

The Social Media Portal talks to Birgit Tolmann about the social network community for sharing good deeds, ideas and goodness with social media driving its awareness


Social Media Portal (SMP): What is your role at The Bank of Happiness?

Birgit Tolmann (BT): My name is Birgit Tolmann and I am the founder and right now also the manager of The Bank of Happiness.

SMP: Briefly, tell us about The Bank of Happiness, what is it and what does it do?

BT: The Bank of Happiness is a citizen initiative, the aim of which is to create opportunities for people to experience the feeling of happiness through helping others. The Bank of Happiness comprises internet banking environment and network covering the whole Estonia, through which we unite people in need and those, who want to help.

The Bank of Happiness is dealing with posing the topic of being happy in the society and is the initiator in the field of propagating non material values. The main value of the Bank of Happiness is the belief that we all have something to give and that every offer of help will find the person in need and vice a versa.  

SMP: What made you start The Bank of Happiness and when did it launch?

BT: The idea of the Bank of Happiness was created in the peak of the economic flourishing when it was felt that things simply cannot last like this forever, it seemed that the balance was out of order and it is not possible to think only about money and success ? there is something extra in this life. Preparations for the opening of the Bank of Happiness and elaborating the idea went on for more than 1.5 years. The Bank of Happiness was brought to public at the end of September 2009.

SMP: Who built the site for you, and why were they chosen?

BT: Modera http://www.modera.com was chosen to be the co-operation partner for the Bank of Happiness, because their attitude was a lot like the one of the Bank of Happiness ? they were ready to spend their time, people, skills also in the voluntary form. It seemed that in this kind of project the partner can be only somebody, who cares about the idea and believes in it also in its heart. The project is ambitious and required the will to think along.  

SMP: What was the most challenging part of building the service?

BT: The Bank of Happiness is currently ready in some part, but the development and making it more user friendly is an ongoing process ? we wish that the Bank of Happiness would, in its essence, be on web as simple as is the feeling of happiness and making good deeds.
One of the most complicated issues are related to security, as the system requires trust between people.

SMP: Who are your target audience and why?

BT: Our main target group is defined through the readiness to make good deeds and think along on the matters of happiness. Thus the first people to come along where those, who have always thought that this kind of way of thinking is in their heart and they want to share their time and skills for others as well as for the society more broadly. Often the making of good deeds has stopped because of the lack of information ? the Bank of Happiness should solve this problem. The client of the Bank of Happiness sees automatically in his/her close neighbourhood the needs and offers of help ? therefore it will take him/her minimum time and energy.

SMP: How did you initially attract users to your site / service, and how do you do it now?

BT: For increasing the visits to our website we organise continuously PR events, also the mouth-to-mouth marketing is ongoing in parallel.  

SMP: What are the low moments of what you have been doing so far?

BT: The hardest thing is to keep the eyes of people shining for 1.5 years and make them believe that we are not the only ones caring about this topic. We are using the so-called strategy of entering into the society by mouth-to-mouth technique, because being happy cannot be achieved by campaigns, but it has to be based on deeper inner values.

SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far?

BT: The best moments have been those when we have received letters of support and fantastic emotions from all over the world ? in a style a la ?I have always waited for this, you are great for accomplishing it finally?, ?you are great, this is the right and good thing?, etc. Also one of the greatest moment was the official opening with the festive press conference for partners and friends. 

SMP: Now that you are becoming established, what do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities?

BT: The biggest challenge in future will be keeping needs and offers very quickly changing in the Bank of Happiness and alluring people to make good deeds constantly. We consider our biggest opportunity the fact that we are ordinary people form street, volunteers and through the citizen initiative we have the opportunity to speak along in the society to change the values and direct people back to the deeper values.  

SMP: What are the next moves for the Bank of Happiness?

BT: Continuously ongoing is the changing of the banking system in the Internet to more user friendly system and marketing of ?happiness? directed to the public. Also it is needed to deal nation-widely with the building of the network of the Bank of Happiness, in order to get as many people as possible involved, who know about the project and who participate in it.

SMP: What?s the next big step for social media and networks?

BT: A big challenge for the Bank of Happiness is that people, who have already joined the project, would experience positive feelings and would tell about it through different channels also to their friends.  We also want to spread the message that making good deeds and also receiving good deeds are very normal activities.

SMP: What?s going to be the most interesting aspect regarding social media / technology throughout 2010 and what impact does this have on the Bank of Happiness?

BT: The Bank of Happiness is itself a big organisation of networks, the network of people, who share money and free thinking and would like to contribute to the wellbeing of other people. Therefore any development of social networking and new opportunities are also good opportunities to the Bank of Happiness. Social networks are also a good and fast way to distribute information quickly.

SMP: Now it is reported that we may be moving out of the global recession what do what impact do you think social media may have upon a social networks and communities such as yours?

BT: In the time of global changes, in my mind, the projects of social media and social projects are foremost guiders ? because they are pure, sincere and encounter all interested people, who care about the topic on a deeper level. The Bank of Happiness is a project that should make people stop for a moment and think about being happy and deeper values. We believe that during the new economic growth people will not forget these values and experiences that they have obtained meanwhile.

Therefore we hope that during the new rise, besides being a client to an ordinary bank it will be very natural to be also the client of the Bank of Happiness ? even the cash automats could in future, in addition to the national currency show also the amount of obtained money of the Bank of Happiness for good deeds made ? i.e. stars of gratitude.

SMP: How does this fit into plans at The Bank of Happiness?

BT: Any development of social networks and new services make also the spreading of the idea of the Bank of Happiness easier and create new opportunities to find from the society exactly those people who value the idea.  

SMP: Best way to contact you?

BT: The best way to contact me is to write me an e-mail to the address birgit @ onnepank.ee.



SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?

BT: An apple pie made by a very nice old lady
 
SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?

BT: I argued with an investment banker of a well known bank on the topic of money and making impossible things ? also he wishes now to use more of his skills for the wellbeing of the society in future.  

SMP: How many hours to you work a week?

BT: I do not measure time, but the pleasure the work offers me. This week I have had pretty much of it.

SMP: If you weren?t running The Bank of Happiness what would you be doing?

BT: This is my dream work. If I were not running the Bank of Happiness, I wish I would find some other possibly complex, but important task

SMP: When and where did you go on your last holiday?

BT: Three years ago ? to the Island of Saaremaa.

SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?

BT: I do not have an office.

SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?

BT: I would make all people happy and I am trying to do it also now, without having superpower. Thus I would do nothing differently.

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