This is a guest post. The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Mainstreethost.
Social networks are likely the biggest phenomenon of our age. Their use has become an inevitability in social interactions, both business and personal alike. Pieces of information can spread like wildfire through social online channels where anyone can have their own voice heard, and this has opened many doors for less wealthy organizations and businesses with limited marketing budget.
Many successful campaigns were initiated this way and their success can be attributed to the sheer enthusiasm and creativity of the people behind them, rather than unreasonable sums of money spent on ad space. This way of promoting and marketing is especially convenient for charity organizations, as it can be more effective to raise awareness among people online than offline.
Here are some examples of successful charity campaigns that have resonated far and wide through the universe of social media.
#FirstWorldProblems
A charity organization called “Water is Life” came up with the idea of turning ironic memes into eye-opening pictures. Haitian people were presented standing in front of their homes or backyards reading out some of the so-called “first world problems” ridiculed on websites like 9gag. The campaign has caused some upheaval as a certain number of people considered it inappropriate, but it was very well accepted among the general (first world) public and the campaign itself was successful in fulfilling its purpose.
The Twestival
This campaign is a great example of the power and influence a single social network can have. The first Twestival organized solely through tweets was held on February 12th, 2009 in more than 200 cities all over the world. The goal of this fundraiser was to gather money for well building in some of the driest parts of Africa. An astonishing 250,000 US dollars were collected and immediately sent to finance the project. The wells were built only a couple of weeks after the fundraiser and fresh water was made available for more than 17,000 people.
The Movember
Have you ever thought that growing a moustache can be a charitable deed? It can be, according to the Mo bros (the members of the Movember organization). Starting with a clean shave, men grow their moustache for 30 days all in the name of raising awareness about men’s health issues like prostate or testicular cancer.
All the men that participate are like spokespeople for the organization and the idea is to use their moustaches as conversation-starters wherever they go. Through conversation they try to inspire people to raise or donate money and spread the word further so that these often neglected issues become less of a taboo. The idea first came to life in Melbourne, Australia, but became a worldwide phenomenon through the courtesy of social media.
Mater Prize Homes
Mater Foundation is a charity organization that branched out from Mater Health Services and their research institute. The organization raises money for improving healthcare to all its patients, and it usually does this through charity lotteries. A house is the usual grand prize, but sometimes other organizations or companies participate by donating various items or services as prizes.
A good example was a joined effort from Mater foundation and Brisbane Lions to raise money for cancer research. The collaboration resulted in over 2,000 entries for the competition and the whole campaign was promoted in the community mostly through social media. This particular campaign was not global as the aforementioned ones. Nevertheless, it shows that many local issues can be addressed successfully through social media.
Send a Whale
Launched by Greenpeace, this action is said to be one of the most successful internet-governed social movements so far. The campaign was started in order to prevent excessive whale-hunting along the coast of Japan. This particular campaign is not a fundraiser, but rather a petition to be sent to the Japanese Prime Minister.
By sending a virtual origami whale, anyone who participates sends a clear message that endangering any species is morally inadmissible. The campaign is not time-limited and every day more and more people help this cause by petitioning online. So far more than 130,000 people have sent their virtual origami whale as a sign of concern and protest. This is probably the best example of another campaign that successfully raised people’s awareness mostly by utilizing the possibilities of sharing info through various social media.
