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HP contributes $250,000 to the Social Media Challenge!

By Candice Tuesday, Oct 20, 2009 at 1:28pm

We are thrilled that HP is sponsoring the DonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge and helping dedicated bloggers and twitterers improve classroom experiences.

To kick off the Challenge, HP supported every single Giving Page with a $50 donation to a classroom project. This contribution really jump-started the contest and inspired other donors to join in the fun.

Next week, we will distribute the remaining $200,000 of HP’s contribution to all Social Media Challenge Giving Pages. But this time, the participant’s share will be calculated based on the percentage he or she raises by Sunday, October 25, 2009.

Tens of thousands of dollars for classroom resources are up for grabs, so if you are participating in the Challenge this year, keep those blog posts, tweets and status updates coming! Or support your favorite blogger or twitterer here!

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Social Media Challenge: How to Have Fun, Be a Fierce Competitor & Help Tons of Students!

By Katie Monday, Sep 21, 2009 at 4:17pm

The philanthropic throwdown of 2009 starts in just 10 days… You can visit the Social Media Challenge to see how the competition is heating up!

As you start to think about engaging your readers and followers to help low-income students this fall, make sure that you set out to have an awesome time doing it. Here are some tips from previous challenges:

1. Embrace social media by blogging, tweeting and Facebooking about your Giving Page. We’ve got some cool tools you can use this year from your DonorsChoose.org donor account. Once you’re logged in, and you’ve clicked on your Giving Page, you can follow the links to post your Giving Page on Facebook.

2. Offer to do something wacky if your readers reach a certain level of donations. Check out last year’s blog post for inspiration, like how Finslippy offered to reenact Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” Which happened, by the way!

3. Say something feisty about the other bloggers in your Giving Group or about the singular awesomeness of your readers. A sense of competition, and of team pride, really helps to inspire donations.

4. Use the widget for your Giving Page. This widget will not only serve as a constant call-to-action for your readers, but as a public salute to the individual readers who have made donations through your giving page.

Stay tuned for more updates as the Social Media Challenge nears….

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Social Media Challenge: Uploading an Image to your Giving Page

By Katie Wednesday, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:10pm

Want to add an image to your Giving Page? First, make sure you log into your DonorsChoose.org donor account, and click into your Giving Page.

Instructions on Uploading a Photo

1) In Step 2, click on “Add your own photo”.

2) In the pop-up box, click on “Select Image”.

3) Find your image on your hard drive, and open it.

4) You will see that your picture is selected. Click “Upload”.

5) You will now see your image in the pop-up box. Click “close” in the upper right. Note that it might take 15 – 30 minutes for your photo to appear on your Giving Page.

Troubleshooting

Did you receive an error that your photo is too small?

- If so, you can visit www.resizemyphoto.com, for a three quick and easy steps to resize your photo. Select the “400 pixels” option.

When your photo uploads successfully, it will look like this on your Giving Page:

Do you still have questions? If so, ask them in the “Comments” field of this blog, or on our Contact Form.

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Social Media Challenge: How to create a Giving Page!

By Katie Wednesday, at 6:05pm

So, you’ve checked out the Social Media Challenge, and you’re ready to throw your hat in the ring. Here are quick instructions on setting up a Giving Page:

1) Go to Create a Giving Page

2) Pick “Social Media Challenge”

3) Enter in the title, and customize your message for your readers and friends

4) Join a “Giving Group”, to join in the friendly competition!

5) Add a JPG or GIF image for your page. Your image should be at least 260 x 170 pixels high.

6) Choose which types of classroom projects you’d like on your Giving Page – whether you’re jazzed about Music & The Arts, Kindergartners, or projects in Arizona!