Social media is a way charities can increase donations.
Brad Sugars did it. Business Coach Barb Kyes is doing it. And one man raised $91,000 using it.
If they can do it, so can you.
On his 38th birthday last year, Brad Sugars installed a Facebook Causes application, and as a birthday gift to him, asked each of his $3,000 friends to make a donation of at least $38, which he would match. By matching each donation, Sugars managed to raise $7,690 for Cancer Schmancer. All from Facebook.
Business Coach Barb Kyes is doing something similar…she donated $500 to Haiti victims through a Facebook Group that is raising money specifically for Haiti.
And the Social Media Examiner reported Danny Brown launched the 12for12k Challenge, an initiative to bring social media communities together to help people offline in 2009. For years, Brown has worked in corporate communications and social media for companies like British Telecom. Currently, he’s the social media strategist for Maritz Canada.
“I know quite a few people offline who do charity work and the struggle is administrative costs,” he says. “I knew social media could offer a wider audience for far less investment.”
The 12for12k Challenge set an ambitious goal: raise $12,000 monthly for 12 months for 12 different charities—with no budget. The only costs were the website and hosting, which Brown paid for out of pocket.
When word spread of Brown’s plans, his contacts and their contacts lined up to help. There may not be funds, but ideas, persistence and passion are the currency of social media anyway. In that regard, more than a dozen core 12for12k volunteers made it a “rich” initiative.
Just a few more examples of how social media is benefiting both businesses and nonprofits!
