bethkanter
A "Giving Challenge" Story
Tom Watson, author of the upcoming book CauseWired: Plugging in, Getting Involved, Changing the World, has recently published a reflection (not quite a case study) of the Sharing Foundation's success during last month's America's Giving Challenge.
Here's an excerpt:
When I asked Beth for some information related to this book, she very kindly held her hand out, digital palm up. A member of the board of the Sharing Foundation, she was passionately committed to ensuring that its Cambodian cause made the top four finishers in the Case Foundation contest - and an inquiring journalist who is an only an online acquaintance simply didn’t qualify for a free pass. Every time I asked a question, Beth would shoot back some version of: “the deadline’s coming, did you make your gift yet?”
Beth bugged a lot of people, posted to her blog, and urged others to post the widget - a small graphic showing Cambodian children with the current giving levels of the campaign. I finally made a small gift, and posted the widget to my own blog. Other people asked me about and I told them what I knew. And some them went on to make donations. Now we’re all savvy about the small foundation changing the lives of poor Cambodian children. Beth’s leadership brought in needed funds, but it also created real awareness and a network of potential supporters for the future.
And there was a small reward, in addition to Beth’s hearty thanks. In March, two months after the Case challenges ended, Dr. Nancy Hendrie, the president of the Sharing Foundation, sent Beth a video that she posted to her blog and sent around the donors. Only ten seconds long, it nonetheless connected a frenzied online giving contest with real-world recipients. It shows dozens of small children sitting on the porch of the Roteang Orphanage. Prompted by an adult voice off camera, the smiling children shout a few words as loud as their voices would allow them - Thankyou! American! Challenge! Yaaaay!
Continue reading "A Giving Challenge Story: Leadership Matters" >>
For background on America's Giving Challenge, see this December 2007 article from Forbes Magazine, Giving Like an Entrepreneur.
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Help Me Clone Beth Kanter
Beth KanterLast night, I received an email from Beth Kanter requesting that I put out a final word about the charity badge on America’s Giving Challenge that was created in support of The Sharing Foundation.
The deadline for donating is 3pm EST on January 31st. Beth sits on the board of The Sharing Foundation and has done a tremendous job, along with Michele Martin, in recruiting donations. As one of the top four charity badges created for an international cause, The Sharing Foundation is likely to receive a $50,000 grant from The Case Foundation and Parade Magazine.
Assuming The Sharing Foundation wins on Thursday, Beth Kanter will add another victory to her list of successful peer-to-peer fundraising contests. In December 2006, she won a $49,537 matching grant from Yahoo during a competition organized by NetworkforGood.
Why do I mention all this?
2) To draw attention to Beth’s extraordinary ability to leverage social media for online fundraising.
Currently, I am building an automated wizard that will assist in planning and implementing a peer-to-peer social change campaign. The wizard will recommend platforms to use and best practices for spreading the campaign through social networks. The wizard will also feature an after-action survey covering the tools used and the strategies implemented. This information will feed back into the system that recommends platforms and best practices.
If the Social Actions automated wizard helps produce peer-to-peer social change campaigns that compare to the ones that Beth has created in the past year, then I will have accomplished something significant.
My goal is to create a system that will walk even the most technologically challenged through the process of launching a successful social change campaign online. I have so many friends and family who would love to use the internet to rally support for a good cause – but they lack the knowledge base and social networking skills of Beth Kanter.
That’s why I’m asking people to help me clone this amazing woman.
Here’s the request:
If you want to help me assemble the knowledge-base required to build the system I’m describing, please leave a comment below or contact me directly. I have created a Backpack-It group to work on this collaborative project. I’m looking for technology consultants, online marketing gurus, and representatives from nonprofits, foundations, and independent projects. Thank you in advance for your interest and support. And thanks for making a donation to The Sharing Foundation!
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"If I Knew Then About Social Media What I Know Now"
For anyone who missed this thread started by Beth Kanter, several nonprofit social media gurus have been posting their thoughts on the questions:
"What if I could start all my social media and nonprofit work over from scratch? What would I do differently? What lessons have I learned that will stick with me for 2008?"
Katya Andresen of the Non-Profit Marketing Blog:
- It’s not that hard, and I should have gotten over the intimidation factor sooner
- It’s about “social,” not “media.”
- Social media takes "word of mouth" to a new level
- Think before you build something new, because we already have overdevelopment in social media.
- Don't Join New Social Networks Without Thinking
- Size doesn't matter
- Deep engagement in one community is better than being spread too thin across many communities.
- Translation skills are really, really, really important. (translation meaning converting geek talk into a common language)
- Comments are small, but powerful tools
- Have a purpose for each of the social networks you join
- A blog can be a website too
- Information overload is real
If you have the time, I definitely recommend clicking on the links above and reading the full versions of these three posts. Katya, Beth, and Britt know nonprofit social media inside out.
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