Leveraging Social Media For a Good Cause
Online Fundraising, Philanthropy 101, Quick Tips 0 CommentsSocial Impact, Social Good, Social Media, these were all popular topics of conversation at both the Care National Conference and Summit Series in Washington D.C. last week. The exponential growth of ways to socialize and share information with people in your community, at an event, or across the world allow our society to be more connected, informed and powerful. Through forms of FREE media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube you can extend a conversation, start a movement, raise funds, take a stance and even start a fight.
Many people scoff at these tools, or merely do not take the time to fully understand their potential. Unlike traditional forms of media, these tools allow people to decide what is ‘Popular’; trending topics rise above the noise and can reach far greater viewers in short periods of time. In the Women’s Leadership forum at Summit Series it was mentioned that ‘the influence on an individual is exponential’ and that if these tools are used appropriately one person can be extremely impactful. For example leaders, legislators, nonprofits, individuals and organizations are leveraging social media to create social good.
In a panel on ‘Doing Good in Tough Times’ Malaak Compton-Rock talks about how texts were used to raise funds during the Haiti crisis:
With Twitter, you can follow people and topics and virally spread the word about a great cause. The hashtag (“#”) is a way to catalog and connect tweets about a specific topic, hashtags allow you to keep all tweets about that topic in a single stream. A hashtag is essentially a topic with a hash symbol (“#”) at the start to identify it, like #CARENCC or #SummitSeries. They are used to coordinate updates during emergencies, campaigns, events and fundraisers. One of the easiest ways to track a hashtags is by using Twitter Search.
Top 25 Tweets
During both the Care National Conference and the Summit Series we were able to follow the conversation, capture quotes and follow articles and links that were shared throughout the event. Below we have gathered some of the top tweets we came across while in Washington DC at #CARENCC and #SummitSeries.
- @Care “You have passion. That’s the key. You feel it. You believe it.” -Rep Lewis #CARENCC
- @DanielleAbes: “Make sure, as women, that you open doors wide enough for other women to make it through” -Ann venemon from @UNICEF at #SummitSeries
- @mothersactingup: When women are involved in the democratic process, the country is more stable, inclusive and successful. -Maria Bello, Rebuilding #Haiti #CARENCC
- @offering Rep John Lewis: “It is a disgrace that in our world children suffer for lack of food, shelter, or healthcare” #CARENCC
- @smallbusiness: Bill Clinton at #SummitSeries: Former President Bill Clinton exhorted 650 of the country’s youngest entrepreneurs. http://bit.ly/bwtUh3
- @josepinero: “You are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with. So choose those people very carefully!” – Tim Ferris at #summitseries #DC10
- @EdesiaLLC “Few issues provide a more direct, affordable & effective way to save & improve lives” – Clinton on nutrition http://bit.ly/aWNYxO
- @scottharrison: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” Bill Cosby quoted at #SummitSeries
- @earthkeepers : Power of the people: impact & inspiration coming out of #CARENCC http://bit.ly/aFBHRi
- @micronutrient : WATCH Inspiring speech by Hilary Clinton at #CareNCC about the benefits of investing in nutrition: http://bit.ly/b8ZzQq
- @RepJohnLewis “Keep getting in trouble. Good, necessary trouble.” #CARENCC
- @CauseGlobal: Recap of some highlights from the #SummitSeries for under-40 social entrepreneurs winding down today in DC http://bit.ly/ahnjwk
- @scottharrison: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” Bill Cosby quoted at #summitseries
- @MakeABetterWrld: “In many countries, they are often a child today and an adult tomorrow” -Stephanie Baric, CARE Senior Technical Advisor #CARENCC
- @Vivanista: “The Biggest way to make change is have a plan. Start w/ something achievable then go for something impossible” @carolynbmaloney #CARENCC
- @lizred “Women’s empowerment depends on engaging family, her tribe, her community” #CARENCC
- @CTurlington “…and to unify us in this experience of pregnancy and childbirth”
- @apowerfulnoise: “For every challenge we have we also have an opportunity.” -Kennedy #CARENCC
- @frankgruber: #thankfulfor making @gwenbell’s list of “10 Big Ideas from #SummitSeries” – http://bit.ly/bgF0Cd #summitseries
- @huffimpact: #SummitSeries for Social Entrepreneurs: Highlights | Social Enterprise http://bit.ly/a8njx4
- @aliberlin: via @huffingtonpost: #Summit Series DC10: What To Do With 150 Years of Life http://huff.to/dCB9pG
- @marieforleo: “You profit the most when you serve the best.” – Ted Turner at #SummitSeries.
- @danmartell:”Small people talk about people, average people talk about events, great people talk about ideas.” E. Roosevelt #summitseries
- @care: “Now we have a purpose in life other than household duties” -#Goretti #CARENCC
- @unfoundation: Our founder Ted Turner to Blake Mycoskie of @TOMSshoes: “It is the next generation that will change our world.” #summitseries
Top 25 Do Good Tweeters to Follow
Conversationalists and organizations actively tweeting for Social Good
- @Care
- @CARENCC
- @CTurlington
- @Change
- @UNFoundation
- @Camfed
- @TheTinaBeast
- @ARProject
- @MOREmagazine
- @originalwomen
- @WEOPinc
- @NoLimitsOrg
- @SavetheChildren
- @PlanUSA
- @joemarchese
- @behancenetwork
- @huffimpact
- @invoker
- @Dooce
- @dailyworth
- @UncleRush
- @TeachForAmerica
- @Soledad_Obrien
- @TomsShoes
- @Womensphere
@AmazingSusan thanks you! Here are two links you might enjoy from #CARENCC http://bit.ly/9J6dPO and http://bit.ly/90tgwj