American Cancer Society Videos

The American Cancer Society has started posting videos online. Here are links to two of their videos:

History of the American Cancer Society

Jamaican Cancer Society 2007

Fighting World Hunger with FreeRice.com

The Sacramento Bee has an article about FreeRice.com, a website ending world hunger and promoting world literacy.

FreeRice.com visitors test their vocabulary by selecting synonyms for words from a multiple choice list. When the right answer is selected, 20 grains of rice are donated to the hungry.

These donations are paid by the site's advertisers and the rice is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program.

My Best of the Nonprofit Social Web in 2007

This month's Net2 Think Tank question was "Who is the Best of the Nonprofit Social Web for 2007?"

Here are my thoughts-


Best Social Web Tools: Fundraising Widgets

In 2007, fundraising widgets have become popular on websites and blogs for nonprofits. Supporters of organizations can also add a widget to their website or blog. There are a few fundraising widgets that are used, but SixDegrees and ChipIn seem to be used the most.


Best Facebook Application for Nonprofits: Causes

The Causes Application is the best application for nonprofits because it allows nonprofits to fundraise and see how many people support their cause.


Best Nonprofit for Raising Awareness Through Facebook:
Susan G Komen for the Cure

Susan G. Komen for the Cure created a Pink Ribbon application for Facebook which allows members to add a pink ribbon to their profile and recruit other members. This was started for Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. They set a goal to reach 2,000,000 members and they accomplished this goal.

The pink ribbon application is still being added to profiles each day.

Some statistics:

9/20/07 360 users with Pink Ribbons
10/20/07 1,080,814 users with Pink Ribbons
10/31/07 1,861,911 users with Pink Ribbons
11/04/07 2,015,652 users with Pink Ribbons (reached their goal)
11/30/07 2,796,000 users with Pink Ribbons
12/27/07 2,972,709 users with Pink Ribbons

Nonprofits Use Blogs and Social Media More Than Businesses

According to the WebProNews.com article, Nonprofits Outpacing Businesses on Social Media -

"Charities are often more savvy than businesses when it comes to using social media – especially blogging. The Center for Marketing Research looked at the top 200 largest US charities as defined by Forbes Magazine. They found that seventy-five percent of the charities are using some form of social media."

Why are nonprofits using the social web?

• for branding
• to increase awareness of their missions
• to connect with their constituencies

Nonprofits are blogging at a higher rate than businesses.

The full report can be found at Blogging for the Hearts of Donors.

*Social media includes blogging, podcasting, using message boards, social networking, video blogging and wikis

Using the Social Web to Promote Fundraisers During the Giving Season

Network for Good recently released a study titled "The Wired Fundraiser: How technology is making fundraising ‘good to go’”.

Here are the four key findings of this study:

1. When Wired Fundraisers Talk, People Listen: Wired Fundraisers are regular people with a cause and a keyboard, and they are proving highly effective at fundraising for their favorite charity in an ever-widening personal sphere of influence online. That’s because today, the messenger matters even more than the message. People trust messengers they know, like friends and family. These messengers naturally communicate in the most effective ways – through personal means, in a conversational tone, and with great stories. A promotion from a charity can’t compete with that level of intimacy, authority or authenticity.

2. Not Every Wired Fundraiser Is a Champion: The successful Wired Fundraiser has a relatively rare combination of true passion and a means to lend a sense of urgency to their cause. Not every Six Degrees fundraiser or Facebook Cause is a winner, but a proud few – the superactivists - are very effective, raising $9,000 on average and reaching 150 people.

3. Technology Gives the Wired Fundraiser Special Power: Widgets and social networks make personal fundraisers more effective for four reasons. Widgets – bits of code that enable you to generate and place content anywhere online, including on Facebook pages or blogs – make it possible for personal fundraisers to take their message anywhere they communicate online, including social networks where messages spread very efficiently. They make it possible for the fundraiser to evangelize in their own way, in their own words. Because they make fundraising so easy, widgets attract a new group of fundraisers. Importantly, widgets also make it easy and convenient for friends and family to give instantly, when they feel an impulse to give. That means more donations to more causes.

4. Smart Charities Embrace the Wired Fundraiser: Technology enables anyone to be a fundraiser, anywhere online. The control over the message is in the hands of the Wired Fundraiser. Wise charities see this as something to embrace rather than something to fear. They tap into the opportunity to spread their message further, by new means, via new messengers.


This month's net2thinktank topic is how nonprofits can use the social web to raise money during the giving season. I think some of these findings apply to this question.

I think the most important finding is #4 which is Smart Charities Embrace the Wired Fundraiser. Through technology nonprofits can spread the word about their fundraisers in many different ways.

How can nonprofits spread the word using the social web?

• Write a blog entry on the organization's blog and/or MySpace blog.
• Post a message on your group on Facebook.
• Write a bulletin on MySpace.
• Write a note or share a link on Facebook.
• Include a video on the webpage for the fundraiser.
• Come up with keywords/tags to describe your fundraiser. Tag it on del.icio.us and other social bookmarking sites.
• Encourage members/supporters to spread the word about the fundraiser by posting a blog entry, sharing the link on Facebook, writing a bulletin on MySpace, or sending an e-mail to their contacts. (this also applies to #1 - When Wired Fundraisers Talk, People Listen)