28
Nov

Tweetsgiving: Raising Money out of Thin Air

Posted by Laura Fitton

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Image representing Jeff Pulver as depicted in ...

Image by via CrunchBase

Charities and Not-for-Profits should take note of Tweetsgiving.

by Jeff Pulver. This guest post combines two posts that originally ran on his blog/as Facebook notes.

A Project like Tweetsgiving is an example of how a charity can use social media platforms, in this case, twitter, for fund raising. Imagine being able to raise US$ 10,000 in a 48 hour period from hundreds of people (336 at last count) who contributed $5 and $10 dollars whose only connection with a charity was when they discovered the fund raising efforts because of one of their friends on twitter?

Imagine what can be done with more established charities. I believe micro giving promoted on social media networks can have a positive impact on fund raising in the weeks, months and years ahead. Not-for-Profits should take note of this and the work of : Beth Kanter, Rebecca Bollwitt, Stacey Monk and others who are pioneering this field as they can benefit directly as they discover and learn how to properly leverage social media and the passion people have for their respective charities.

Jeff blogged all about Tweetsgiving the previous day:

Another example of Leveraging Social Media for the Social Good: Tweetsgiving

I just became aware of tweetsgiving.org.

From the tweetsgiving.org website:

“Tweetsgiving is a Twitter celebration of gratitude and giving created by Epic Change, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The project aims to demonstrate the power of the social web by raising $10,000 in 48 hours to build a classroom in Tanzania.

TweetsGiving will be held from Tuesday, 11.25.08 (12pm EST) to Thursday, 11.27.08 (12pm EST).

At last check, they were almost halfway to their goal.

From tweetsgiving.org:

“How do I participate?

1. TWEET THANKS: Share something you’re thankful for with all your twitter followers. Your tweets can be touching or silly, poignant or fun. Just tweet from the heart and be sure to include the #TweetsGiving tag and a link to: http://tinyurl.com/4thanks.

2. GIVE: Make a donation in honor of whatever - or whomever - you’re grateful for.

* Every $10 buys a brick to build a classroom in Tanzania. (1,000 bricks = new classroom!) Email your TweetsGiving tweet to tweetsgiving@gmail.com, and it will be painted on your brick!

* For $100 or more, you’ll be named one of our “Top Turkeys” and we’ll list your gift on our site.

* Or, with the holiday season approaching, you may buy unique gifts at: http://shop.EpicChange.org. With each purchase, you’ll add one or more bricks to a new classroom at the school.

3. SPREAD THE GRATITUDE: Follow @TweetsGiving to fill your twitter stream with gratitude, then blog, retweet, or even change your avatar to the TweetsGiving Turkey.”

Their story:

Tweetsgiving is a project of Epic Change that seeks to demonstrate the power of twitter and the social web by spreading gratitude and raising $10,000 in 48 hours to build a classroom at the school in Tanzania. The project was inspired by the TrickorTweet campaign organized around Halloween by @TheGrok and @ChrisBrogan.

Epic Change is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that uses the power of stories to create social change. Their current project is to rebuild and expand Shepherds Junior, a primary school in Arusha, Tanzania. Mama Lucy Kamptoni, a savvy and passionate local woman, started the school near her home in 2003 with the money she raised from selling chickens. She believes that education is the key to transforming a country gripped by poverty. By participating in TweetsGiving, you’re investing in the education and future of students like Gideon, Pius, Glory, and many more who have the potential to change the world. All the funds raised will go to build a new classroom at the school.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, please take a look at this inspiring video message of gratitude from the children:

Jeff Pulver is the Chairman and Founder of pulver.com. His blog is well read within the IP Communications Industry and in high-tech communities around the world. He is the publisher of The Pulver Report and and creator of the industry standard Voice on the Net (VON) events. Additionally, Mr. Pulver is the founder of FWD, the VON Coalition, PrimeTimeRewind.TV, Vivox and is the co-founder of VoIP provider, Vonage.

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Comments

Richard Reeve November 28, 2008

I’d be interested in hearing if anyone else found the Post-It note ad at the end of the video a surprise. Working in the non-profit field, it’s an interesting balance that is being explored here. It would be interesting if 3M (?) would disclose(transparency) how its support of this project aided the overall progress. Perhaps they have elsewhere. Otherwise, are we not left to think that the company could benefit more in potential sales than the charity?

The merging of for-profit marketing goals with non-profit broadcasting is an exciting one. My concern the challenge the consumer/constituent needs to sort through, so that the dual messaging does not backfire.

PurpleCar November 28, 2008

I think the video is great! It used the product effectively but didn’t overshadow the story. The story drove that video, not the product. That’s how business needs to support non-profits. The narrative is the key component, and their product is just a part of that narrative. Being a part of esteemed stories such as this is a privilege and an honor. Good for 3M for doing it right.

Next time, I’d like to see more transparency, like Mr. Reeve requested in the comment above. It would have been easy to add a subtitle at the end of the video saying that 3M donated toward the cause. Right now I’m wondering whether 3M took advantage of the charity by not paying them at all. I know that’s unlikely, but why take the risk? “We donated” is enough. We can’t assume that the presence of the video means that 3M supported the charity in exchange for showing the lovely spot they created.

I’m not sure how other products would do it, but I thought this video was a great example of the right way to mix business and benevolence. Well done.

Stacey Monk November 28, 2008

Hi! I’m the founder of Epic Change. First of all, thanks so much to Jeff and Laura for featuring our TweetsGiving campaign on the site!

Just wanted to let you know that this video wasn’t actually sponsored by Post-It, and we’ve received no support from 3M. It just so happened that we entered a YouTube contest sponsored by 3M, and decided to create it on the theme of gratitude, earlier this year. The video was created for $0 entirely by volunteers. Since we already had it on the shelf, and it aligned so closely with the TweetsGiving theme, we decided to post it on the site. Because TweetsGiving was created in 6 days, we didn’t have time to re-edit the video without the Post-It branding, so decided to use it as-is.

As a nonprofit leader, I absolutely believe this is an example of one way a brand could successfully align with a great story. I agree with Richard that a brand like 3M stands to benefit significantly from such positioning. I hope at some point we’ll be able to approach them again, now that the contest has ended and they’ve chosen alternate winners for the $10K prize. You can see the contest and the winners at http://www.youtube.com/postitnotes.

At Epic Change, we believe compelling, hopeful stories are valuable assets that communities can use to generate income. Mutually beneficial marketing partnerships are just one way that might be possible.

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