Gwendolyn Strong Foundation
Project Description:
The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (GSF) is a nonprofit organization
focused on raising awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the
leading genetic killer of young children, and accelerating research
focused on a cure. Truthfully, our 501(c)(3) consists of two parents in
a house with two MacBook laptops caring for
our terminally ill two-year-old paralyzed daughter and fighting any way
we can to save her life. At our core, we leverage the power of
technology and online and social media in every campaign we launch. A few examples include raising more than $400,000 for research in less than six months since receiving our IRS tax exemption, garnering nearly 100,000 for
our online petition in favor of SMA legislation, and reaching nearly 2
Million people through a unique Twitter application we built for an SMA awareness campaign.
In December 2009, GSF entered the $5M Chase Community Giving campaign
on Facebook. Keep in mind that we are two people in a house --
literally. Oh, and that we spent $0 -- zero dollars -- on our ENTIRE
Chase campaign. We placed in the top 100 out of more than 500,000
organizations in the first round and were awarded a $25,000 grant from
Chase. We then went on to place in the “Winner’s Circle” -- 6th place
-- of the final round with nearly 52,000 votes and were awarded a
$100,000 grant from Chase.
How’d we do it? A ton of passion and creative, unique uses of technology and online and social media.
We knew that we were at a major disadvantage based on size and reach
compared to other organizations in the Chase campaign, but we also knew
that our passion and grasp of technology and social media
could be a major advantage if harnessed properly. In addition to the
more traditional blog, email, and online marketing strategies, here are
a few examples:
INCREDIBLE, BROAD SUPPORT -- It's incredible how accessible
celebrities, sports figures, musicians, large bloggers, etc. are
through Twitter and Facebook. We were relentless in reaching out
directly to all of the above and asking them to tweet or re-tweet or
promote our cause and ask their fans or followers to cast a simple,
free vote to help cure a disease. Although this was always a big part
of our strategy, it was incredible how effective the power of celebrity
was in converting simple tweets or re-tweets or Facebook status updates
directly into votes. You could literally watch our vote pace speed up
immediately following a celebrity endorsement. Look at this incredible
list of support -- http://bit.ly/7jioKN -- and these are only the examples that we know of.
VOTEFORACURE.COM
and TWITTER “SEARCH” -- To have a chance, we knew that technology and
creative, viral uses of Twitter and Facebook was going to be key for us to maintain a steady stream of votes without having to constantly "work" for
them. To achieve that, we built two applications: (1) VoteForACure.com
-- a viral Twitter application that got users actively involved and
seamlessly turned armies of Twitter users and their followers directly
into votes on Facebook. This application ended up reaching nearly
500,000 Twitter followers. (2) Twitter "search" -- a Twitter
application, based on Twitter search, that allowed us to get directly
involved in conversations happening on Twitter about the Chase campaign
and suggest these users consider also voting for GSF.
Project Goal:
To win $1M through the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook.
To raise awareness of SMA on a broad, national and global platform.
What Tools Did You Use?:
- Blogs
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Other
What Happened?:
Placed in top 100 out of 500,000+ organizations in the first round ---> $25,000 grant.
Placed 6th out of 100 organizations in the final round ---> $100,000 grant.
Our VoteForACure.com Twitter app reached nearly 500,000 followers.
Received nearly 52,000 votes in the final round.
Countless mentions of SMA on Twitter, Facebook, and traditional media.
Lessons Learned:
Two lessons learned-
(1) There is virtually no limit to the tremendous, cost-efficient impact of technology and social media and they have literally leveled the playing field and opened up fresh opportunities for effective, immediate awareness and fundraising campaigns for nonprofits of all sizes.
(2) Few things are more extraordinary than the relentless passion of parents fighting for their children's lives.
URLs:
http://GwendolynStrongFoundation.org
Bill Strong
Gwendolyn Strong Foundation