Creative Technology/Mobile Fundraising

Posted by Will in Creativity on March 11th, 2010

I try to give props to Philadelphia-based homeless advocacy program Project H.O.M.E. when I can, but this campaign from Pathways to Housing is one of the most creative uses of technology raising social awareness I’ve ever seen. Add in the mobile component and it’s simply brilliant.

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Pepsi Refresh

Posted by Will in Social Media Causes on February 5th, 2010

I’m going to ask a simple question: have your opinions of Pepsi changed since this launched? I’m going to say yes, but here’s what I need more of:

  1. Stories from the grantees;
  2. Stories from people who benefited from the grantees’ projects;
  3. Stories about collaborations from people who met through this project; and
  4. Stories from people who work at Pepsi and why this initiative is important to them, including CEO Indra Nooyi.
  5. In general, real stories of how this is making an impact. The number of dollars given don’t do it for me. You can tell me that a school received a $1,000,000 donation, but I’m actually much more interested in how they spent the money and the eventual impact. (I know that having just started the community impact is TBD – just hoping it does come.)

Here’s what I need less of:

  1. Emails, DMs and Facebook messages asking me to vote. (Who came up with the idea to allow people to vote every day for the same contestants? It just adds another level of headache to contestant’s and their supporters.)

(Full Disclosure: My Mom is a rabid Pepsi drinker and we always try to have some on hand when she visits.)

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Cause Marketing Contests: Less Money, More Value

Posted by Will in Community Management Values, Rules of Engagement on January 25th, 2010

vote-for-pedro

It seems odd to critique a program that just gave $5,000,000 to non-profits, but that’s exactly what I’m about to do. The Chase Community Challenge ended on Friday with some happy people and more controversy. You’re connected to the Challenge if you ever dated someone in high school who was a friend of a friend who went on to be the cousin of a guy’s college roommate who started a non-profit. Such connections earned you dozens of emails, facebook messages and tweets begging for your vote. As much as I appreciate Chase donating so much money to so many non-profits (100 were whittled down from 5,000) and as much as I don’t actually mind voting for people who ask me, there was a misfire here. The non-profits that enter these contests must be happy or things tend to go poorly. Remember: they’re more than purveyors of positive sentiment, they’re also the loudest when they feel wronged or unhappy. You have to leave them happy and moneygrabs aren’t the best way to do that.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Chase Community Giving Challenge: A $5million Failure?

Posted by Will in Best Practices, Rules of Engagement on December 18th, 2009

Community Giving ChallengePepsi’s announcement that they will forego Super Bowl ads this year in favor of a planned, philanthropic-based microsite called the “Pepsi Refresh Project” is in many ways a revolutionary acknowledgment of how effective online engagement can be. What’s not revolutionary, however, is Pepsi’s plan of engagement. Early reports indicate that Pepsi will follow the growing trend of companies running vote-based contests that award money to good causes. Coming on the heels of Ralph Lauren’s “Match Rugby Fund” and the Case Foundation’s “America’s Giving Challenge” (where people “voted” with their dollars), the best example at the moment is the “Chase Community Giving” contest on Facebook. The contest boasted “tens of thousands” of non-profits competing for a spot in the Top 100 with a guaranteed $10,000 prize and a shot at $1million. Over 1 million fans have voted to date and Chase plans to distribute the balance of $5million in a second round featuring only the Top 100 starting in mid-January.

The model is simple: offer a huge cash prize to non-profits or social entrepreneurs who will then creatively, enthusiastically and relentless beat the bushes to win. It’s like creating a seemingly infinite amount of brand ambassadors virtually overnight. Chase competitors recently hit me up an incredible 9 times in one day via email and Facebook.

The question that haunts me (and one that the Pepsis of the world need to carefully consider) is whether people care more about Chase now than they did before the $5million was up for grabs. If the goal is to create buzz online then it’s probably been a success, but if the goal is more focused on their bottom line (like hoping people now or in the foreseeable future will choose Chase for their banking needs) then I’m afraid this will come up short. Read the rest of this entry »

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Community Strong

Posted by Will in Client, Social Media Causes on December 11th, 2009

troopanddaughterI love my job, but every day I go to work I’m pained to leave my two boys behind. The two year old asks me if I’m going to work and I say, yes, but that that I love him, will miss him and will see him soon. This morning as I left the house in the same fashion I thought about the 30,000 additional troops who will soon be deployed to Afghanistan and will leave their families not for 9 or 10 hours, but for 18 months or more.

This is not a political post. Just a very humble “thank you” to the troops who sacrifice so much to do their duty as prescribed by the government of the United States. Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who have to say goodbye without the certainty that a commuter train will bring them back to their loved ones in due time.

I challenge myself to not forget their sacrifice and be reminded of it each day. I hope you will do the same.

This post was created as part of the USO’s Community Strong event at Fort Hood –a day for healing, fun and entertainment to uplift the spirits of the Fort Hood community in the wake of the Nov. 5 shooting incident. You can help show your support for Fort Hood and its more than 349,000 military personnel, family members, retirees and civilian employees by visiting the Community Strong website, Tweeting your support with the #CommunityStrong hashtag, leaving comments on the Official USO Blog and donating to the USO’s ongoing efforts to support our troops.

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Tweetsgiving

Posted by Will in Social Media Causes on November 24th, 2009

As a person with awesome coworkers, friends and family I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, but nothing more than my remarkably amazing wife who keeps me together and makes it interesting and of course my two little monkeys that I still don’t fully realize exist. Everything else is window dressing, but I’d be foolish to take anything for granted. It’s not hard to be reminded how fortunate many of us are – even those who think they’re in a tough spot. I do what I can to remember what I have and be thankful for that. What are you especially thankful for this Thanksgiving?

This post was created as part of a global groundswell of gratitude called TweetsGiving. The celebration, created by US nonprofit Epic Change, is an experiment in social innovation that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. I hope you’ll visit the TweetsGiving site to learn more, and to bring your grateful heart to the party by sharing your gratitude, and giving in honor of that for which you’re most thankful.

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Movember

Posted by Will in Social Media Causes on November 18th, 2009

With daily looks of amazement and disgust, I’ve decided to join grow a moustache in support of Movember – a global movement bringing needed attention to cancers that affect men. My commitment is to grow a moustache all November to raise funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG). Some people run 5Ks, others grow moustaches.

Click here to learn more and support the stache.

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South Africa, The Charter Launch and The Widget

Posted by Will in Client, Social Media Causes on November 12th, 2009

I had a pretty surreal moment this morning discussing social media with Rev. Peter Storey – the South African ecumenical leader during the anti-apartheid struggle. I thought for a second about my own time in South Africa and the incredible gap I saw between the haves and have-nots. I saw that, yes, apartheid was over, but that compassion – love and respect for all people – was a long way off.

I remember a conversation I had with a manager at a gold mine near Johannesburg who assured me that although apartheid was over “things really hadn’t changed much.” The managers at his mine were all white and the workers – many of whom left their families and came in from other African countries only to work 18-hour shifts and live in work camps – were black. “Things like this take time” is usually the answer. Well, Karen Armstrong is tired of waiting.

As the 2008 TED Prize winner, Karen believes the time is now to spread compassion; to get moving and change the world. Sitting in a room with her now at the National Press Club as I write this and listening to her impassioned pleas, I can’t help to be energized as well. It’s contagious. You’ll find below the ability to read the fruits of labor from thousands of people who came together to celebrate compassion and help write Karen’s wish: the Charter for Compassion. I would encourage you to visit the Charter homepage, read the Charter and join those around the world to Affirm its message.

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