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By Daphra
Tuesday,
Nov 3, 2009 at 5:46pm
During the month of October, hundreds of bloggers, teachers, and twitterers devoted their time (and various methods of persuasion) to help inspire over $637,336 in donations to classroom projects via the DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge Social Media Challenge, reaching over 116,437 public school students in need of essential learning materials. 4,545 of their readers, fans, friends, and followers helped galvanize the challenge by supporting public schools across the country in such a significant way. We’ve shattered all previous year’s Blogger Challenges thanks to the hardwork of every participant, teacher and citizen philanthropist, along with a $250,000 match offer from HP (read more, here).
Winners: By raising $314,208, mobilizing 1,121 readers and reaching 51,905 students, Sarah Bunting and the Tomato Nation community were the overall winners of this competition. They even toppled the all-time record raised by one Giving Page set in last year’s challenge when they raised over $111,000. This is truly a testament to how deeply they care about public schools and how effective Sarah has been at inspiring the entire Tomato Nation community. We urge you to take a look at the blog posts, comments and video from the past month to see how they were able to mobilize so effectively. Her “Bet Red” Giving Page, an extension of her casino-royale “Bunting’s 13″ theme, also had the most donors; 25% to be exact. Kudos to TomatoNation.com. We look forward to seeing the Tomato costume make its way to Atlantic City where it will undoubtedly bet red!
The other big winner of the Social Media Challenge were our Teachers, who threw their hat into the ring under the “We Teach. Those Who Don’t, GIVE!” Leaderboard. Teachers from all over the country banded together, under this awesome slogan, and helped raise $110,131 for their classrooms. Perhaps most telling about their success is that almost half of the donors of the Social Media Challenge were inspired by one of these teachers. There were a total of 2,401 donors to just this leaderboard!
Other winners in each of the Social Media Challenge leaderboards, include:
By Dollars Raised:
By Donors Mobilized:
- Seed Media ScienceBlogs: This community of ScienceBlogs collectively mobilized 267 donors. Leading the pack? Dr. Isis’s Sacred Temple!
- Tech Blogs: Venture Capital/Tech Blogger, Fred Wilson (A VC), inspired 213 individuals to give to his campaign.
- Gawker: Gawker’s properties mobilized 84 donors, proving they could put their money where their mouth is
- Twitter: Twitter, though a first-time community, entered the fray and were led by Livia. She engaged 52 of her followers in the Social Media Challenge.
We also would like to recognize all of the Social Media Challenge participants and a few communities who joined us in the Challenge for the first time this year. They include: Ariba, Stack Overflow, Seattle 2.0, Mashable, Dr. Pal, Geobloggers, Christina’s LIS, Twitter, Biz Stone, Livia Stone, SocialBrite, The Intersection, 80beats, Gawker Media, Brooklyn Schools, The Nature Blog Network, SB Nation, Serious Eats, Nosh with Me, innonate, David Berkowitz, Kim Molodofsky, Yvonne Michelle, the Colorado Blogging Community, the Twitter 140 Conference, Performance Magazine, Greentech, and the entire BlogHer community!
Interested in creating your own Giving Page and starting your own mini ‘challenge?’ Check out this section of our website!
Finally, if you want to keep up with the participants, our sponsor HP, or with us on Twitter, please click on the respective links.
THANKS!
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By Daphra
Friday,
Oct 30, 2009 at 3:08pm
In the last four weeks, bloggers, twitterers and their 4,327 friends/fans/followers have helped raised $585,691 for DonorsChoose.org classrooms in need of essential resources. With only 24 hours left in the Social Media Challenge, several of the participants need your help getting to the finish line. A few are even offering up some incentives to hit their goals:
- An anonymous donor has pledged to donate an additional $20,000 to TomatoNation.com, if they hit $280k (they just need a few more dollars). Support them, here.
- Fred Wilson has personally invited any citizen philanthropist who makes a donation to his Giving Page to meet him in person next week. Support him, here.
- ScienceBlog(ger), Professor Orzel, is offering up a puppet show and an advance copy of his book. Support him, here.
- BlogHer, the largest community of women bloggers, is targeting local cities in their fundraising. The Seattle Chapter is looking for some help in these final hours. The incentive? BlogHer, Mona, will “spray you with glitter.” Support any of their chapters, here.
- Liva, who sits atop our Twitter leaderboard, is offering up cupcakes to folks in the Bay Area who help fund the last few projects on her page. Support her, here. Mmm… her cupcakes look yummy!
Coincidentally, the Social Media Challenge ends on Halloween so even if none of these incentives suit your fancy, let’s give these classrooms a special TREAT! Click HERE to donate to ANY of the Challenge supporters.
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By Jonathan
Thursday,
Oct 29, 2009 at 5:34pm
Have you reached out to teens or friends who know any teenagers yet? Time’s running out to engage them!
With hours remaining (until 6 PM EST Friday), DonorsChoose.org is in 2nd place in Best Buy’s @15 campaign, thanks to your help after our kickoff post. The standings:
KIPP: 6%
Project Ready: 10%
DonorsChoose.org: 22% - that’s $55K for projects. Help us get to $100K+!
Pacer Center: 62%
Each teen you help engage equates to potentially hundreds of dollars for students in need. Please take a minute of your time today to engage one teen. The impact could be a fully funded project!
Contact middle and high school teachers you know, family, colleagues, social groups, friends with teenage kids, etc. All the tools you need are below.
Thanks for your help!
Tools to Spread the Word
Email You Can Copy and Paste
Friends,
Do you know any teenagers who could spare 1 minute to help students in need? If so, those teens could help direct Best Buy’s corporate giving to classroom needs in low-income communities. The campaign ends on Friday, October 30, at 6 PM EST, but taking a minute of your time today to engage one team could mean a fully funded classroom project that gives students the resources they need to learn!
What I need you to ask teens you know to do:
Step 1: Take a second to click here (http://bit.ly/at15r) to register at Best Buy’s at15 site by 5 PM on Oct 30. The prize: 1500 points.
Step 2: Check your email to activate your at15 account, and then go here (http://www.at15.com/user) to log in with your user name.
Step 3: Click here (http://bit.ly/dcpts) and then allocate all of your points to DonorsChoose.org.
Step 4: Encourage all the teens you know to do the same! (You can forward this email or use the Facebook / MySpace posts below to spread the word!)
It’s that easy! Best Buy will donate a portion of $250,000 to DonorsChoose.org based on the number of points it gets. DonorsChoose.org will use every dollar to fund classroom projects for students in need.
Thanks so much for your help!
Facebook / MySpace
2 days left! Know a teenager? Ask them to give a min today to help students! Register at http://bit.ly/at15r and then give points to DonorsChoose.org. Help turn Best Buy’s cash into classroom materials for high-need schools.
Twitter
Know teens? They can win $ for needy schools by registering & giving pts to DonorsChoose.org http://bit.ly/dcpts Pls RT!
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By Daphra
Monday,
Oct 26, 2009 at 5:47pm
This weekend, the Bloggers, Twitterers and Teachers quietly hit a significant milestone in the Social Media Challenge, our month-long competition to raise awareness and funds for public schools. Together, they’ve raised $300,000 in just 26 days. Re-call that last year bloggers single-handedly raised $270,000. Thanks to an amazing match offer from HP we hope to cross the finish line (this Saturday, October 31st) strong.
How are they stacking up?
- The Bet Red Team (TomatoNation.com ) is showing their true colors, a committed and fearless bunch, they’ve raised $132,725 and have mobilized 965 citizen philanthropists!
- Collectively, DonorsChoose.org Teachers (We Teach. Those who don’t, GIVE!) have raised $76,185, engaging 1,956 supporters.
- Next up, Fred Wilson (A VC) holds it down for the Tech Bloggers. His community has raised $17,247!
- Rounding out the pack, a Twitterer, Livia! Using 140-character missives, she’s raised $9,824 through her followers!
With 5 more days left to the competition, it’s not over yet. There are thousands of classrooms and students in need of your help. Please support ANY of the Social Media Challenge participants who are blogging and tweeting their way to the finish! CLICK HERE to check out the Challenge.
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By Alex
Monday,
at 11:25am
Greetings Mustache Growers & Enthusiasts:
In the words of our intrepid M4K leader Mitch “Nurstache” Goldman, “Is your upper lip feeling charitable?” If your answer is “YES,” we want you AND your upper lip to help us rock students’ world this year as part of the 2009/2010 Mustaches for Kids Nationwide Challenge.
Mustaches for Kids?
Mustaches for Kids is a volunteer-run organization started in Los Angeles in 1999 to do good and have fun by growing Mustaches for children’s charities. Similar to a charity walkathon, for which participants collect donations per mile, “Growers” raise pledges for every day they cultivate mustaches over one month. Last year, hundreds of these Growers in 22 cities across the country engaged over 6,000 individuals to give over $320,000 in resources to students in high-need classrooms through DonorsChoose.org. Check out last year’s results.
It’s BACK!
What better way to stoke a mustache fire on the upper lip than a little old fashioned competition? DonorsChoose.org will again host an online competition between Mustaches for Kids chapters to see which city, company and college can grow the sweetest ‘staches and raise the most cash for students in need. The competition kicks off on November 5th with the New York City chapter’s Shaving Day, and the winning chapters will be crowned March 1st.
We had you at Mustache…
1. Check out www.donorschoose.org/m4k and see if there’s a chapter in your city.
2. If you see your city, create a Giving Page and join your city’s Giving Group. Then email m4k (at) donorschoose (dot) org and we will connect you with the chapter organizer so you can join in the weekly ‘stachenanigans.
3. If you do NOT see your city, start a chapter. Email m4k (at) donorschoose (dot) org and we’ll help you get up and running. Also, check out the resources section below for a one-pager and starter kit, with lots more detail.
**If you’re more of a mustache-one-man show and want to Grow it alone, create a Giving Page and join the “Unaffiliated Growers Giving Group**
Remember, when you’re Growing for Kids, Grow like a champion.
The DonorsChoose.org ‘Stache Brigade
Email: m4k (at) donorschoose (dot) org
Twitter: Follow Mitch “Nurstache” Goldman
Facebook: Join M4K Nationwide Challenge Group
Mustache Resources
Mustaches for Kids Nationwide Challenge One-Pager
Mustaches for Kids Grower Starter Kit (how to set up your Grower Page, start spreading the word)
Mustaches for Kids Grower Starter Kit – COLLEGE EDITION
Mustaches for Kids National One-Pager – COLLEGE EDITION
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By Daphra
Thursday,
Oct 22, 2009 at 4:30pm
It goes without saying that the Social Media Challenge tends to elicit a fair amount of antics; from Tomato dances, to tattoos, to straight up smack talk, but one of the more amusing parts of the challenge comes courtesy of the ScienceBlogs network, a Seed Media group venture. ScienceBlogs, the largest online community dedicated to science, is “a digital science salon featuring the leading bloggers from a wide array of scientific disciplines.” For the last three years, this community of bloggers has been a staple of the Social Media Challenge, making their presence known with the wittiest and coolest names.
A sampling, along with some recent blog posts:
Beyond their amazing names, the community has collectively raised $110,000 for DonorsChoose.org in the last two years. This year, they’re on track to make another big contribution, having raised $20, 384 for public school classrooms in just 3 weeks.
A dedicated bunch, trying to encourage science and technology innovation in public schools!
With 9 days to go, check out their collective giving here and help them meet their goals!
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By Daphra
Monday,
Oct 19, 2009 at 6:49pm
Non Profit Tech authority, Amy Sample Ward and Social Media Guru JD Lasica just collaborated on a really neat article and video highlighting our Social Media Challenge as an effective example of using Web 2.0 technologies to raise awareness and funds for a cause.
Check out Amy’s awesome post here, and JD’s video by clicking the image below:
JD has also thrown his hat into the ring with his website SocialBrite, a strategy and consulting company focused on social tools for social change. Check out the SocialBright Giving Page, here.
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By Daphra
Monday,
at 2:14pm
Philanthropy from Manhattan and the Beltway to Hollywood and the Valley!
In the last few weeks of the Social Media Challenge, we’ve noticed a some what silent ‘competitor’ emerge in the ranks. At first glance, Gawker Media, whose properties include: Gawker, Deadspin, Kotaku, Jezebel, io9, Jalopnik, Gizmodo, and Lifehacker, doesn’t seem like the most ‘obvious’ contender as the most philanthropic of our participants. After all, it’s mainly known as an authority on political, tech, financial and celebrity gossip. Yet, in the last two weeks, the site has engaged an impressive number of its readers to help raise over $3,000 to support public schools across the country.
A number of the properties have mobilized their readers around classroom projects that speak to the site’s content. Jezebel, for example, has focused “on a few worthy projects that aim to promote self-confidence among young women through education.” Lifehacker, a site dedicated to DIY and life resources is promoting projects that incorporate technology and organization in the classroom, choosing projects like “Give Our Students the Organized Classroom they Need!” Finally, Deadspin, a site for sports-fanatics, chose to focus on classroom projects that promote physical activity. In an attempt to make light of a classroom’s request for basketballs, writer A.J. Daulerio noted “Basketballs are needed here. Spaldings, they say. They’re tired of shooting rotten melons into waste baskets.”
True to their game, Gawker Media is showing that there can be some “fun” in fundraising. With 13 projects left to fund in 11 days, please consider funding one today.
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By Kari
Tuesday,
Oct 13, 2009 at 4:01pm
There are three great reasons to attend TWTRCON in Washington DC, on October 22nd, 2009. In addition to the amazing conference line-up, focusing entirely on the business use of Twitter, the work of DonorsChoose.org with this innovative social media platform will be highlighted several times.
- Keynote speaker, DonorsChoose.org National Advisory Council member and Founder of Craigslist, Craig Newmark will discuss how micro-blogging powers communities.
- DonorsChoose.org CEO and Founder, Charles Best will conduct a live case study testing the effectiveness of Twitter messaging while raising money for DonorsChoose.org.
- LASTLY, as the official nonprofit partner for TWTRCON, DonorsChoose.org will be featured throughout the conference! Each attendee will receive a DonorsChoose.org GivingCard to support a classroom of their choice during the live case study!
For more information visit TWTRCON. See you in DC. Tweet-tweet!
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By Candice
Monday,
Oct 12, 2009 at 6:37pm
Yahoo!, a long-time partner of DonorsChoose.org, is inviting everyone to share your creative singing voices by customizing and uploading your own Yahoo! Yodel. That’s right, the catchy Yahoo! trademark, which is part song, part celebration shout, is ready for you to modify, mix and simply make your own—in the Yahoo! Yodel Studio.
And, if you are lucky enough to be in the Big Apple on Tuesday, October 13, Yahoo! will be in Times Square to help New Yorkers unleash their inner rock star with a little help from Randy Jackson, LeAnn Rimes, Rob Cavallo, Kimberly Caldwell, Ryan Leslie, Pete Wentz and Jewel.
In return for submitting your own Yodel by 10/31/2009, Yahoo! will immediately provide you with a $10 DonorsChoose.org electronic Giving Card to help fund the classroom project of your choice on DonorsChoose.org. To learn how you can take advantage of this offer (and possible internet stardom), visit yodelstudio.yahoo.com.
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