I just sent $493 – via PayPal – to Zion’s Children of Haiti.
To be clear, I personally did not donate $493. Instead, I was joined by 27 other amazingly awesome individuals – all who contributed between $3 and $50.
As mentioned in a previous post, Help Send a Child To School For a Year, this $493 will be used to help children in Haiti. Initially, it was going directly to fund a Haitian child’s education for a year ($220 per child); however, after a few email exchanges with Courtney Droz (Co-Chair of Fundraising), we decided that there was more of a need in the food program. In this program, Zion’s Children of Haiti “give each sponsored child one nutritious meal a day.” Pretty good use of the funds, right?
Speaking of Courtney, be sure to take 5 minutes to watch her Ignite Salt Lake City talk from August. She co-presented with Parker Smith, President of Zion’s Children of Haiti. It was a very touching, powerful talk.
Having trouble seeing the video? Try watching it on YouTube.
Social Media, Relationships, and Online Tools
I wanted to take a minute to stress the power of social media, relationships, and online tools such as ChipIn to make fundraising for a good cause that much easier. As many folks have said before me, it’s not about the tools. However, the tools – ChipIn in this case – can certainly facilitate the fundraising process. Just like in email marketing and social media, you have to make it easy.
Another thing to note is how social media can really be used to extend your network and reach people that you may not have had access to previously. For example, the 27 contributors came from all areas of my life. Specifically:
- My babysitter when I was growing up – currently lives 2,000+ miles away.
- 6 people I know through my work in the email marketing industry over the years (4 of whom I’ve never met face to face).
- 1 Waldow Social client.
- 2 family members.
- 9 folks I met (virtually) through the last 28-Day “Good Deeds” Challenge.
- 3 people I know from Salt Lake City.
- 1 of my wife’s co-workers.
- 4 people I don’t know at all.
Pretty cool, right?
So, my challenge to you is the following:
- Find a good cause that you want to raise money for.
- Create a campaign – with a defined goal and timeframe.
- Leverage your online and offline network (& relationships).
- Use a social media tool (like ChipIn) to make it easy to contribute.
- Raise some money!
- Share the results.
Are you up for the challenge?
DJ Waldow
@djwaldow
