Non-profits take off with social media

If an issue was a plane, it would be easy to fill its cabin with the ideas, motivation and enthusiasm to find solutions. The plane could take the ideas and move them across the country, even around the globe. However, a plane cannot take flight with an empty tank, so what fuels its engines to move those ideas? In the past it was advertisements and newspaper articles. Today? Social media is the fuel of change.

The purpose of this post is to shed light on the true power of social networks in the fight for change, followed by how Pledge 5 is joining the revolution. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have collectively changed the lives of millions, so let us take a closer look.

BLOGS

The obvious place to begin is the world of blogging. After all, you are reading this one! Blogs provide the opportunity to provide more in-depth information and updates to the public and are the perfect place to centralize links to related pages, such as Facebook or Twitter accounts. More than just informing, blogs can be utilized to increase word-of-mouth between the blogs of individuals. Recently, Pedigree donated one 20-pound bag of dog food to an animal shelter for each time a blog site posted about its adoption program. The result was 375 bags of dog food and a lot more talk about Pedigree. Apparently, a little more talk CAN help walk the walk…or in this case, the dog! 

FACEBOOK

Facebook is an instinctive choice to include in a post about social media. Through the ability to “Like” just about anything on the site, post statuses, share links, and communicate with anyone at anytime, ideas can spread in a viral manner. There is more than just conversation happening on this networking site, though, especially if you happen to be a non-profit organization.

Facebook Causes hosts over 350,000 organizations in over a dozen categories. Facebook users can join causes, donate money and track the most popular causes. To date, over $25 million has been raised for various charities via these easily set-up Cause pages. The last time we looked, the largest Cause was the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which had 1,243,004 members and $1,172,916 donated. By the way, the Pledge 5 Foundation also has a Cause page. The Pledge 5 difference is that we ask for HOURS, not money. Pledge your hours today!

There is a lesser-known aspect of Facebook that has helped raise money for non-profits: Birthday Wish. On a user’s birthday, he or she can sign up and ask Facebook friends to donate to a cause in place of buying a present. When friends are planning on spending money on a gift anyway, this is a feature full of fundraising potential!

TWITTER

Which social network is capable of pinning Ashton Kutcher against CNN in a race to one million followers? Twitter, naturally. In 2009, the world watched as Kutcher finally reached one million, declaring a close victory over CNN. Kutcher was not the real winner, however. Malaria No More received $100,000 from each competitor to purchase life-saving bed nets. At $10 each, the impact was significant. Even more impressive? As of about two weeks ago, the message carried by Malaria No More’s social media campaign had been heard by 174 million people.  The increase in awareness and donations has led Ray Chambers, founder of Malaria No More, to predict that malaria will be no longer be a cause of death by 2015.

When Twitter first began, the public must have thought it was crazy. How can anything be said with only 140 characters per post? However, Twitter has become the ideal tool for non-profits, including Pledge 5 (follow us!), to generate conversation and update followers about special events, promotions and news. Donations can even be directly collected through their Twitter profiles. Short has never been so sweet. 

YOUTUBE

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video accessible by an international audience worth? 

YouTube has many features tailored to the need of non-profits. Organizations can include call to action overlays and have access to increased uploading capacity. YouTube also has YouTube Video Volunteers, a collection of experienced film makers ready and willing to help organizations create quality videos to post on YouTube. Furthermore, videos can optimize the search task of YouTube with thought-out titles and tags. A great example is the “Michael Jackson in Uganda” video created by Invisible Children. Considering how often the King of Pop is searched by users, the video has high chances of appearing in search results.

The visual aspect of videos can be very powerful, and if used correctly, can raise thousands of dollars in a single day. The UN’s World Food Programme successfully raised $36,000 for World Food Day with its Billion for a Billion video campaign, which encouraged the one billion internet users to help the world’s one billion hungry. Without a doubt, a YouTube video can be the winning act for a non-profit.

 

WHAT ABOUT THE PLEDGE 5 FOUNDATION?

It’s clear that social media is becoming an integral component to the success of non-profits. Pledge 5 is starting several new social media initiatives that we hope will help us raise the number of hours pledged! We have the Twitter account, the Facebook Cause, the Facebook Fan Page, and of course, this blog. We are only missing one ingredient: YOU. Please help us meet our goals! We are hosting competitions from now until December 31^st to increase participation. Our final goal is 400 Twitter followers, 400 Facebook Fans, and 1,000 supporters of our Facebook Cause. 

Our first benchmark is to have 100 fans on Facebook, 100 followers on Twitter, and 250 supporters of our Cause by our Run for Your Life 5K on October 31^st. Here is what you can do: 

First, become a fan of the Pledge 5 Foundation on Facebook, and then invite your friends! Next, join our Cause on Facebook and pledge your 5 hours. If you have another 30 seconds to spare, follow us on Twitter. Lastly, keep reading our blog!

During October you can participate not only in our annual blood drive, the Vampire’s Ball and our 5K, but online you can compete against others in our vampire costume contest! During this month, post a picture of your SCARIEST vampire self to our Facebook page to win a FREE ticket to the Vampire's Ball in downtown Gainesville on October 29th! This will truly be a night to sink your fangs into with dancing,costumes, food and drinks. You can also tweet your image to us @Pledge5. The more followers and fans we have, the more fun our events will be so please support Pledge 5 today! It’s easy, free and will help create change in our community.

Check back later this week to read about our exciting upcoming events for Pledge 5’s annual blood drive. With Halloween around the corner, there is only one thing vampires want…to collect your blood!

-The Pledge 5 Team