Raising money for charity
I’m an avid user of LinkedIn, and today I saw a question that caught my attention and interest — enough so that I wrote up some thoughts and ideas.
The question is:
What are effective methods for raising money for charity in an event or adventure-driven manner?
I’m currently on a solo, round the world motorcycle trip for charity. I am raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association, the Pulmonary Fibrosis foundation, and RAINN. Currently I have a website setup for blogging and displaying pictures from my travels. I’m looking for ways to use that site and my trip to raise money for the 3 aforementioned organizations. I’m looking for ideas like allowing those who donate to use my pictures for commercial use, hiring myself out for travel journalism, charging admission to slideshows after the trip has concluded, etc.
The site is viewable at:
Several other LinkedIn users provided some good ideas and suggestions, but I didn’t see anyone mention Facebook Causes, as well as some other viral marketing resources available out there. Here was my answer:
You have a lot of important and valuable insight in the other responses above, but one idea I didn’t see is for you to set up a Facebook page and a Facebook Cause page. Facebook Causes already allows you to collect funds for charity, and with a facebook page, you can provide a viral tool for people to let other friends know about your charity fund raising efforts.
Its a great place to upload pictures, updated, and link to your blog — as well as to the charity sites and donation pages.
Related to that, make sure to ad a “tell a friend” or “email this page to a friend” tool. You want to empower those supporters that already believe in you and make it easy for them to recruit more donors and supporters for you.
The YouTube video clips idea is a great suggestion — I’ll add another tip. Use Flickr to upload pictures of people you meeet, place you visit, etc. Keep a sort of “picture blog” on Flickr. The power of Flickr is that it has viral elements to it which allow current supporters to spread the word.
All these things, by the way, should include links back to your main blog and donation pages. This will all help increase your organic search engine rankings, which in turn can make your web efforts more visible and easier to find.
Getting your video to go viral
Laurie Petersen posted a short article on research completed by Millward Brown on what videos go viral. They all have four common factors.
Laugh (have to be laugh-out-loud funny)
Edgy (make you a little uncomfortable)
Gripping (you can’t stop watching)
Sexual Content (surprised?)
Michelle Eule recommends IKEA’s Pig Chase if you want to get the idea.
I’m not sure that using sexual content is the best approach when doing cause-marketing or product marketing, but there are ways to remain appropriate while applying these four principles.
Closer look at alternate-reality games
Earlier, I wrote about a mystery movie trailer I saw before the Transformers movie. It turns out it may be a part of a complex game-based buzz-marketing technique called Alternative Reality Games.
The trailer reveals it’s for a 2008 Paramount film from wunderkind producer J.J. Abrams (“Felicity,” “Alias,” “Lost”), and virtually no other details, so we’re left wondering: What’s the name of the movie? Who’s the villain? What freedom-hating beast(s) — HulkGodzillaKong? the Cthulhu? Taliban evildoers? — would decapitate Lady Liberty?
Joshua Zumbrun writes about the mystery movie teaser that has gamers looking for Alternate Reality games.
Alternate-reality games, for those unfamiliar with the genre, are perhaps best illustrated with an actual example: Imagine you find a Web site. The owner says it’s been hacked and she asks the online world for help. People search the site and find corrupted data files, and a countdown to the year 2552. The site is like many small sites that run into tech problems and need help.
Except the site is fake. The woman is fake. Stay with us here: Her entire world is a fictional creation, a web of fake sites and fake blogs, with more and more mysteries slowly unraveling, as online participants decrypt codes in the corrupted data files. As it happens, 2552 is the year that an alien horde invades Earth in the Xbox video game series Halo. Indeed, the entire fictional world was part of an alternate-reality game called I Love Bees — promoting the 2004 launch of Halo 2 and deepening the mythology of the Halo world — created by a firm, 42 Entertainment, devoted exclusively to the creation of “immersive entertainment.”
Viral Marketing at Work
I saw the trailer for some mysterious movie or some sort of project — the trailer didn’t say what it was about. I got a sense it was for a Godzilla movie, but thats just my idea. Then I found this blog post.
The rumors began when a trailer appeared in front of the movie “Transformers†two weeks ago. The trailer is low-fi at best and depicts a house party in New York City that appears to be a going-away party for some guy we’ve never seen before (go here to see the trailer.). The party gets disturbed by an explosion and we then witness crowds of people running and some reference to a lion. The trailer is cool, and being something of a fan-boy myself, I am anxious to know what the project actually is, but the marketer in me is the one that’s really interested, because the fallout and the response is what I find to be of most interest (at least while I’m at work).
Sounds like their efforts are paying off! My interest was certainly VERY peaked. And I am blogging about it…
Abrams followed up with Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News with this posting (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33261) to leak some of what the public had already found. It appears that there are sites posted and hidden throughout the Web that are starting to build buzz without revealing what is going on. The sites are cryptic, such as http://www.1-18-08.com/ and they make no sense. Is this a movie? Is it a new TV show? Is this the “project†mentioned on his site with HBO? Rumors fly about a Voltron film and a new Godzilla film, and all of it is based on nothing more than what someone else might have said about it. Amazing!
Governor Richardson and YouTube Political Ads
Townhall.com’s Matt Lewis commented on Bill Richardson’s new TV ads and calls them brilliant.
Proof it doesn’t take a ton of money to make a good web ad …
I can glean a few key lessons from these ads. First, as it seems Governor Richardson’s campaign is doing, YouTube is a great place to “Focus Group” any video creative! Marketing research firms will always have its value, but for quick and dirty testing, YouTube is quickly becoming the way to go.
The second key lesson for companies (or politicians) wanting to leverage YouTube and other social media is to take yourself lightly!! I have to say, having gone through a layoff myself, plus 2 years of under-employment, these ads are funny and very relevant. I think they speak to every voter who has had to work hard to find a job! They resonate, while clearly getting the core message out; That is that Gov. Richardson has a lot of experience. He doesn’t come across as a show off…the Governor’s wandering eyes checking out the office, and pompous hiring manager skimming the resume work really well together.
Another key thing about YouTube is that videos distributed through the site can have an aggregated “earned” marketing value through positive comments from supporters or stakeholders. Check out this comment:
jrewing02
I had the opportunity to meet Gov. Richardson at the April 19, 2007 Give ‘em Hell Harry event in Denison, Iowa, and (after also having read his book ‘Between Worlds’), I can say with 100% certainty these videos assess a mere tip of the iceberg when it comes to this man’s significant accomplishments. He is in a class all by himself. And, he really is genuinely funny! We’re talking down-to-earth and the ability to relate with everyone. Ironically, he’s modest to a fault. Loved the videos!
This tells me something about the Governor. As of 9PM tonight, his video has 21,961 views. That’s pretty impressive considering it was only uploaded yesterday and cost the campaign nothing to distribute.
It’s funny and it’s effective and I gave it 5 stars in YouTube. I have to agree completely with YouTube user, cfitchaz:
cfitchaz (1 hour ago)
Cheezy but I’ll take cheesy these days over polished…
Here is the two Gov. Richardson ads in one video embed:
Refreshingly new way to engage people with political advertising
This is fascinating! I can see the power of this technique in advertising. Can you imagine a manufacturer doing this with a popular product, and asking their product users to post replies?
TechPresident contributor Steve Garfield writes about it here.
John Edwards sent out an email yesterday promoting an “emergency” ad protesting President Bush’s veto of the Iraq war bill. The ad, featuring an array of Americans saying “it’s time to end the war,” was uploaded to YouTube (of course), with a twist: Edwards asked his supporters to upload videos of themselves saying, “we the people” in response to the ad. TechPresident’s Steve Garfield wrote that ” This makes it very easy to participate and collaborate with the campaign to send a message to Washington. Anyone with a webcam can post a video response. People are already discussing the ad’s merits, in the comments, on YouTube.” Check out all of the responses; it’s a refreshingly new way to engage people with political advertising. I wonder if this has anything to do with Joe Trippi coming on board…
Keys to Victory: Internet & Email
I’ve been asked to talk to students at the Leadership Institute on a workshop titled “Keys to Victory: Internet & Email.” I’m looking forward to giving the LI students practical tips on how to use the internet and email to achieve advocacy success.
Some of the areas I’m going to be covering include:
- Email list, email relationship building, and email permission marketing.
- Blogging, RSS feeds, and buzz building.
- Facebook, social networks, and online community building.
- Flickr, and viral photo advocacy.
- Video, YouTube and other video distribution sites.
My goal is to provide tips on how to use the Internet, and its related tools, to appeal to outside constituents and stakeholders, how to effectively call to them action, and successfully advocate for your cause or issue. Feel free to share thoughts, ideas, or tips. In the meantime, you can get some bonus reading from Matt Lewis that provides basic strategic-level thinking on the user of internet and email in political activism.
Here is a paragraph in Matt’s article that caught my attention:
Every effective tactic employed by political campaigns is, by nature, intrusive — and annoying. Nobody likes being called on the phone, getting junk mail, or having unannounced strangers knock on their doors during dinner. We don’t like political TV ads either, so we turn the channel (when we can). Yet, the pesky, pushy campaigns that most aggressively employ these time-tested tormenting tactics are victorious on Election Day. As conservative icon and president of conservative training organization The Leadership Institute, Morton Blackwell, says, Nothing moves in politics unless its pushed.
I understand Matt’s point, and at its basic premise, I agree. In advocacy, you have to “move-to-action” which by nature is somewhat intrusive. But, what if you can get permission? Or, what if you can recruit an “Army of Davids” to advocate for you, and to do what would otherwise be intrusive pushing within their circles of trust?
Let me see if I can paint you a picture. A stranger that keeps barging into your home un-invited is intrusive, but a trusted friend that has an open invitation to come by any time is welcome. The relationship — the permission — makes all the difference. You might not always be able to effectively secure “permission” but by using social networking tools, you can recruit other’s to “push” for you.
Matt links to these other related web pages that I’m going to be reviewing as I prepare for my presentation.
- Study Finds Door-to-Door Campaigning Increases Latino Voter Turnout
- Dean’s Internet Revolution
A final thought for this post:
In legislative or advocacy project management, the job is to pick up this new tool and use it to connect, engage and move your constituents to action. Just because you are picking up a new tool, does not mean you forget, or leave out, all the political or advocacy strategic thinking you have been trained to use.
The key is integrated strategic thinking AND execution.
Game Mechanics Applied to Marketing And Brands
I read this article by Max Kalehoff a few months ago, but it came to mind again last week as I was writing about usability. This is the new world of media: full user-interaction. Today’s media consumers don’t just want to consume; they want to participate, engage and have fun while doing it.
Kalehoff’s article reviews the work of Ami Jo Kim, creative director at ShuffleBrain and holder of a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience. Kalehoff writes that Kim “noted at Supernova how successful games shape our behavior by engaging us in ‘flow,’ which is achieved through an optimum balance of challenge and skill.”
As humans, we need appropriate levels of challenge as our skills increase. The ability to match these two components is what makes good teachers good and great games work.Kim suggests “game mechanics†as a framework to create services that are more fun, compelling and addictive. Boy, it seems incredibly obvious now: As YouTube’s popularity has skyrocketed, so has its alignment with these five key elements of game mechanics:
Those five elements are:
1. Collecting.
The most successful games involve the collection of items like artifacts or tools…
2. Points.
Points are the second critical component, because people will continue a certain behavior to gain more points…
3. Feedback.
The next key aspect is feedback on how you’re doing, whether auditory, visual, or other…
4. Exchanges.
Next are explicit or implicit exchanges, or interactions, such as trading or gifting…
5. Customization.
Finally, customization increases investment and creates barriers to leaving…
You can read the first article by Max Kalehoff on “Game Mechanics Applied to Marketing And Brands” right here and the rest of the “YouTube: The Addictive, Must-Play Game” article right here.
Can you imagine if more non-profits, churches, and even politicians started allowing more of their users/readers/members to customize their interaction with their websites, and engage at a deeper level? This would be one way to bring “community” and greater engagement through technology, which could then translate into more donations, more votes, or more people exploring their faith in person on Sunday morning.
The Power of Mobile Communication Technology
If You Think Mobile Technology Does Not Influence Elections then consider why in the days leading up to the national elections in Cambodia SMS / text messaging was turned off. Apparently, the National Election Committee of Cambodia has asked that SMS be shut down from March 31 to April 1 at 3pm, because “it can be used as a tool for election campaign by political parties”.
So what are you waiting for. You need to hire MobileCause.
MobileCause develops and executes mobile strategies with a socially conscious vision. We move beyond entertainment and work with non-profit organizations and their corporate partners to meaningfully extend their reach to develop end-users into committed allies, interacting with technology that is turn-key and cutting edge. We identify our clients’ partnering needs, pursue corporate partners with complimentary strengths and link the parties together to optimize the strengths marketing reach of both partners.
You can read more about the SMS ban in Cambodia at 160 Characters. If you are shocked by this sort of thing, how far do you think it is from McCain-Feingold?
MySpace Credited with 300 Blockbuster Success
Via the AP over at Townhall.com:
A MySpace.com advertising blitz that splashed every profile on the site with “300″ ads also sparked interest.
“MySpace had an enormous impact,” Canton said. “But it has transcended the limitations of the Internet or the graphic novel. Once you make a great movie, word can spread very quickly.”
The movie has done very well — the weekend’s top grossing film.
It earned almost $71 million, making it the best March movie opening in history.
