Social Ch@nge

If you’re on Facebook, look up my friend Kristin Roe. Last Saturday she swam across the Northumberland Strait – twice – as part of a group effort to raise money for two foundations working in Africa. Her fundraising goal is $100,000 and she’ll make it too – she’s got nearly 400 friends, and she’s only one of the group members working on this cause. Campaigns like Kristin’s are irresistible because Facebook makes them so personal. Did you go to high school with Kristin? Are you friends with her friends? Clearly, this is a cause you can get behind.

This is also the reasoning behind Facebook Causes, an application you can add to your Facebook page that allows donations to US and Canadian charities. It also allows you to give updates on your cause, and to invite your friends while giving a cause valuable space on your Facebook page). Of course, there are 6,370 (and counting) ’causes’ that allow you to fight global warming, feed children and prevent breast cancer – or at least, that’s what they say they do. Kristin seems like a better bet to me – but then, I’m friends with her.

Avaaz.org has a different twist on online social engagement – they function mostly through the power of online petitions and email forwards. And they are very successful at it. In just one year, they’ve gained 2 million members, and have launched several successful actions. Avaaz’s tactics are pretty simple: they write a credible email explaining their position on a current headlining issue, ask you to sign in support of their petition, and then to forward it to your friends. And no matter what you do, they automatically send you a thank-you note. They are cagey about catering to their supporters – not only did they poll participants on what causes they were interested in supporting earlier this year, but they track if participants don’t sign – for example this week they sent me a polite email reminding me I hadn’t yet signed to their latest cause. Avaaz works because they make people feel literate, informed and empowered to do something about the issues they see on the news. It requires nothing in the way of commitment or skill – if you can click a button, Avaaz offers you a chance to change the world.

Of course, your organization can do this too – sending a petition to your e-newsletter list and through your staff is a motivating way to get the word out about an issue you’re supporting. IPetitions.com allows you to launch a petition for free off of their site, but if you have a tech volunteer with time on their hands, you can launch your petition off of your own website. A petition is a cheap way to expand your membership because your friends forward it to their friends – and you get their email addresses. No matter how you do it, make sure you keep participant’s contact info in a secure database – and send them updates on the success of your campaign! Of course, don’t forget to include a way for them to donate at the end of your petition.

Ok, you can engage in social change by chatting to your friends or by forwarding an email. So far, so lazy. But wait! Youtube promises you that you can change the world by watching TV! Well, maybe not change the world. But Youtube does offer you The YouTube Non-Profit Program which offers U.S 501 (c)(3) organizations their own channel, space on the “promoted videos” section of the site and a Google “donate” button. If you’re not a US non-profit, you can still use YouTube to promote your non-profit by posting a video to get the word out about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it – signing up for a membership is free. Check out Kristin’s video here!