Where do we go from here? Our brief connection with the great people at @THON is over (for now) but the enthusiasm is not. It was great to learn of the great work done through the students and alum at Penn State University who’s 2010 campaign concluded this weekend with a 46 hour dance marathon and the unveiling of the total sum raised throughout the year of 7.8 million dollars. So impressive. We were so connected with the group and supportive of their efforts that we decided to keep them as the beneficiary for any sponsors we had through the month of February. While we now begin to support other cancer fighting groups across the globe, this is only the beginning.
In a conversation with a future sponsor, we discussed how @abolishcancer was not about supporting just one organization then having a whole new set of followers for the next, but was more about the collaborative and competitive nature of groups supporting each other over time. You see, if we treat @THON’s accomplishments as a stand-alone fundraiser, independent of the overall main cause of ending cancer, then we have simply put hard working groups back within their own four walls fighting the battle in isolation. @THON was not a one time event that ended in the minds of @abolishcancer. It’s the opening act, a tremendous collection of passion and energy that doesn’t need to rest within the halls of the Bryce Jordan Center but rather be built upon by the next group trying to accomplish the same goal.
Now is the time where the energy and passion of @THON can be captured and capitalized for the next cancer fighting group. When @abolishcancer begins to promote the next cancer fighting group, think how advantageous it will be to have the energy and passion of THON followers behind their cause. And then, a whole new army of cancer fighters will be on board for the next group, supporting each other along the way, in the quest to bring as much awareness and $ to end this disease.
Image the possibilities, months from now, when 3,000 followers turn into 5, 10, even 20,000 individuals, groups and businesses all committed to the same worthy cause. We at @abolishcancer cherish every partnership we form and value all the hard work and dedication people put in to fight this battle. We also see the great opportunity in joining forces, not to outdo each other, but to collectively fight the battle that must go on until cancer has been stopped.
@abolishcancer never collects any money. We are simply the intermediary, striving to create awareness and financial support for groups fighting cancer. Our goal is to collectively pull the talent and resources behind a true global revolution to end this disease once and for all.
This is a war on cancer and we need all hands on deck to win. But we at @abolishcancer believe that it’s not a matter of “if” but “when”. Looking forward to the next offensive.
Tweet, Follow, be a Sponsor, or just help us use Twitter to @abolishcancer
...............Join our Global MOVEMENT to unite ALL charities, organizations, and people....to abolish cancer!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things
I am amazed at the level of support and dedication that "the people" have expressed in their work to make a difference to fight cancer and put an end to this terrible disease. The concerted effort by the students of Penn State, the alumni, and all those associated with @THON has been impressive to observe and to be a part of. THON is truly an inspiration to all charitable groups trying to make a difference in the lives of others.
Our recent sponsorships provide additional examples of how "ordinary people can do extraordinary things". Andrea Miller http://(@spareohhs) and Michele Jakoboski (@sj214) recently agreed, independently, to be the sponsor for our site, @abolishcancer. If you don't know how it works, a sponsor agrees to pay the charitable organization (in this case THON) $1 for every new follower of our site on a particular day. What's impressive of Andrea and Michele 's agreement to sponsor, is the fact that they were following in the footsteps of @PatHowley's sponsorship that drew worldwide attention to THON with celebrities such as Khloe Kardashian and others tweeting about the cause. In fact, at the end of the day, Pat had "committed" $1,734 to THON. (as a side note Pat took this as a challenge and ended up getting over $7,000 in monies to contribute)
So it would be obvious to say that anyone following in Pat's shoes would be quite intimidated. Instead of fearing such a committment, both Andrea and Michele agreed to sponsor with the understanding that they could only commit to a certain amount of followers and money ($200). The result? After both sponsorships were over, @abolishcancer received over 300 new followers, @THON received several hundred more dollars in donations, and the message of making a difference in the lives of children went viral and was seen and retweeted by hundreds if not thousands of people.
Whether it's a small donation, a day of volunteering, or a concerted effort to rally people together, Pat, Andrea and Michele are examples that individuals can make a difference and that ordinary people CAN do extraordinary things.
We will continue to keep this global revolution alive and to turn the dream into a reality to @abolishcancer once and for all.
"Power of the People, through Twittter, to @abolishcancer"
-Darah
Our recent sponsorships provide additional examples of how "ordinary people can do extraordinary things". Andrea Miller http://(@spareohhs) and Michele Jakoboski (@sj214) recently agreed, independently, to be the sponsor for our site, @abolishcancer. If you don't know how it works, a sponsor agrees to pay the charitable organization (in this case THON) $1 for every new follower of our site on a particular day. What's impressive of Andrea and Michele 's agreement to sponsor, is the fact that they were following in the footsteps of @PatHowley's sponsorship that drew worldwide attention to THON with celebrities such as Khloe Kardashian and others tweeting about the cause. In fact, at the end of the day, Pat had "committed" $1,734 to THON. (as a side note Pat took this as a challenge and ended up getting over $7,000 in monies to contribute)
So it would be obvious to say that anyone following in Pat's shoes would be quite intimidated. Instead of fearing such a committment, both Andrea and Michele agreed to sponsor with the understanding that they could only commit to a certain amount of followers and money ($200). The result? After both sponsorships were over, @abolishcancer received over 300 new followers, @THON received several hundred more dollars in donations, and the message of making a difference in the lives of children went viral and was seen and retweeted by hundreds if not thousands of people.
Whether it's a small donation, a day of volunteering, or a concerted effort to rally people together, Pat, Andrea and Michele are examples that individuals can make a difference and that ordinary people CAN do extraordinary things.
We will continue to keep this global revolution alive and to turn the dream into a reality to @abolishcancer once and for all.
"Power of the People, through Twittter, to @abolishcancer"
-Darah
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sponsor on Tuesday
We have a new sponsor for Tuesday, Feb 16, --Andrea Miller. (@spareohhs on Twitter) Andrea just graduated from Penn State in December and fell in love with THON while she was there. Witnessing THON inspired and motivated her to be more active in the community. Andrea is donating to THON because no child should ever have to experience cancer.
For every new follower of @abolishcancer on Tuesday, Feb 16, Andrea agrees to donate $1 to @THON in support of their effort to fight pediatric cancer. Andrea agrees to sponsor up to 200 new followers for the cause. The day starts with 2,655 followers.
@abolishcancer collects no money. We are the communicator. We help connect people who want to help rid the world of cancer with great groups and organizations doing the work. The best thing about our Twitter feed is that not only are we getting more money through sponsorships to fight cancer but we are adding to our base of followers which means more PR and awareness for so many great causes to @abolishcancer. Twitter is also a great platform to help a message go viral and create mass awareness.
One way everyone could help today is to get more non-followers on board with our cause. If you can get an influential person who has many followers to tweet about our cause- even better. Help us spread the word.
Through Twitter, we are starting a global revolution to raise money and awareness to @abolishcancer. Help support our sponsor, Andrea Miller and @THON throughout the day.
Our previous contributors are as follows:
@sj214 (Michele Jakoboski) $200
@PatHowley $1734
@EnglandinVa $56
@debbiegannon $27
@michaelscher $14
@irishchari $65
@darahbonham $25
Total of over $2,100 just for Tweeting!
For every new follower of @abolishcancer on Tuesday, Feb 16, Andrea agrees to donate $1 to @THON in support of their effort to fight pediatric cancer. Andrea agrees to sponsor up to 200 new followers for the cause. The day starts with 2,655 followers.
@abolishcancer collects no money. We are the communicator. We help connect people who want to help rid the world of cancer with great groups and organizations doing the work. The best thing about our Twitter feed is that not only are we getting more money through sponsorships to fight cancer but we are adding to our base of followers which means more PR and awareness for so many great causes to @abolishcancer. Twitter is also a great platform to help a message go viral and create mass awareness.
One way everyone could help today is to get more non-followers on board with our cause. If you can get an influential person who has many followers to tweet about our cause- even better. Help us spread the word.
Through Twitter, we are starting a global revolution to raise money and awareness to @abolishcancer. Help support our sponsor, Andrea Miller and @THON throughout the day.
Our previous contributors are as follows:
@sj214 (Michele Jakoboski) $200
@PatHowley $1734
@EnglandinVa $56
@debbiegannon $27
@michaelscher $14
@irishchari $65
@darahbonham $25
Total of over $2,100 just for Tweeting!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Meet Our New Sponsor
Special thanks to our new sponsor of @abolishcancer for today, Michele Jakoboski, @sj214 on Twitter. Michele agrees to donate $1 to @THON for every new follower of @abolishcancer. (up to 200 followers- 2,733) . We are very appreciative of Michele’s willingness to sponsor and help make a difference in our quest to @abolishcancer.
Here is a little background about Michele:
Penn State and THON are near and dear to Michele’s heart. Not only did she graduate from Penn State but so did her father and two sisters. Her son and nephew are current students (SR/FR). Michele lives in southwest Ohio, is a registered nurse, and is a very active volunteer in her community.
Here’s how Michele explained why she wanted to sponsor and support THON:
“I canned and supported friends at the beginning of THON when it was in the HUB Ballroom. My sister danced in the White Bldg. During my time at Penn State I volunteered and worked for many charities but nothing touched my heart like those kids! Penn State is not just my school it is part of who I am and I am so very proud of all the students who work hard to help find an end to pediatric cancer.”
It’s people like Michele that not only continue to support great groups like THON but are passionate about making a difference in the battle against cancer. It proves that we can all make an impact in the lives of others in our quest to @abolishcancer. Thanks Michele!
“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”
Here is a little background about Michele:
Penn State and THON are near and dear to Michele’s heart. Not only did she graduate from Penn State but so did her father and two sisters. Her son and nephew are current students (SR/FR). Michele lives in southwest Ohio, is a registered nurse, and is a very active volunteer in her community.
Here’s how Michele explained why she wanted to sponsor and support THON:
“I canned and supported friends at the beginning of THON when it was in the HUB Ballroom. My sister danced in the White Bldg. During my time at Penn State I volunteered and worked for many charities but nothing touched my heart like those kids! Penn State is not just my school it is part of who I am and I am so very proud of all the students who work hard to help find an end to pediatric cancer.”
It’s people like Michele that not only continue to support great groups like THON but are passionate about making a difference in the battle against cancer. It proves that we can all make an impact in the lives of others in our quest to @abolishcancer. Thanks Michele!
“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”
Monday, February 8, 2010
Off To A Great Start, What's Next?
Off To A Great Start- What's Next?
If you have followed @abolishcancer for the past week or so you are aware of the "perfect storm" outlined in a previous post that showed how an influential name, a worthy cause, and a college junior combined to make a difference in raising funds to fight pediatric cancer. (click on link above to see details)
So now what's next? If you are new to this site, the premise is fairly simple, someone agrees to sponsor @abolishcancer for one day, and for every new follower that @abolishcancer gets for that day, the sponsor agrees to pay $1 to a cancer fighting charity of their choice. For the month of February, we have chosen @THON as the recipient.
Why would someone want to sponsor our site when they could simply give the money, with the certainty of knowing how much it was, to their charity of choice anyway? One reason-PR. You see if someone agrees to simply pay, as an example, @THON $250, then the only real people who know about it are the donor and @THON. Sure, the act of giving isn't meant to always be broadcast to the world, you should give for the sake of the charity and the cause. But, why not make it a little fun? Why not agree to sponsor our site and still be able to give to the charity the money? You will get a chance to see the encouragement and promotion of your sponsorship to thousands of tweeters across the globe in the process.
The best thing about the use of social media tools is that something can go viral very quickly. As was the case when Khloe Kardashian decided to tweet about us a week ago. But the beauty of things going viral is the fact that @abolishcancer has over 2500 people who will see your interest in sponsoring, and many of them will retweet your sponsorship. You are essentially getting people to have positive conversations, through Twitter, about you or your business. What newspaper ad can take the place of that?
So our site is established and growing. People from all over the globe want to see that we fulfill the dream to @abolishcancer. Who doesn't right? Our struggle is to get sponsors to see the value of not only helping out a great cause but to also get some great PR along the way and agree to sponsor our site. We don't receive a penny from this work, in fact the sponsor is on their honor to send all the money directly to the charity. We are simply creating the platform to try and make this commitment grow.
How do we get the sponsors? Obviously, the bigger presence the person or business has on Twitter, the more the word will spread, along with the amount they will have to pay. I see a sponsorship of this kind as a great way for an influential person or celebrity, who is looking to get back in the limelight, to show everyone the good they are providing. Why, even a simple tweet brings great awareness to the cause even if they don't decide to sponsor.
Many people have gone on their own campaign to hit up a celebrity of influential person to follow or sponsor @abolishcancer. (we really appreciate this type of effort) This is a great tactic but needs a concerted effort from many people for the influential person to listen. More tweets about a celebrity, the more likely they are to listen. Who should start the push to get a certain celebrity to tweet or sponsor us? Probably best to be an authentic push from one of our followers to be its own grassroots effort.
What about businesses? Well, local mom and pop groups may not have the funds to donate and also may not benefit as much from the publicity since our audience is more global. A larger business, however, would see an increase in their "Twitter presence" through this effort.
So here we are, looking for the next sponsor for a day to help raise awareness and $$$ for @THON. I'm quite certain that whoever decides to make that commitment will see another viral infection, the good kind, of their efforts along with a big push and commitment from the great people at @THON as well.
I'm always looking for ideas to make this connection and welcome any of your thoughts. It's you, the people, that make this work. And just think, all it requires for us to make this happen is a simple tweet and a simple click of the button to "follow".
Thanks, as always, for the support.
-Darah Bonham, creator
"Using the Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer"
If you have followed @abolishcancer for the past week or so you are aware of the "perfect storm" outlined in a previous post that showed how an influential name, a worthy cause, and a college junior combined to make a difference in raising funds to fight pediatric cancer. (click on link above to see details)
So now what's next? If you are new to this site, the premise is fairly simple, someone agrees to sponsor @abolishcancer for one day, and for every new follower that @abolishcancer gets for that day, the sponsor agrees to pay $1 to a cancer fighting charity of their choice. For the month of February, we have chosen @THON as the recipient.
Why would someone want to sponsor our site when they could simply give the money, with the certainty of knowing how much it was, to their charity of choice anyway? One reason-PR. You see if someone agrees to simply pay, as an example, @THON $250, then the only real people who know about it are the donor and @THON. Sure, the act of giving isn't meant to always be broadcast to the world, you should give for the sake of the charity and the cause. But, why not make it a little fun? Why not agree to sponsor our site and still be able to give to the charity the money? You will get a chance to see the encouragement and promotion of your sponsorship to thousands of tweeters across the globe in the process.
The best thing about the use of social media tools is that something can go viral very quickly. As was the case when Khloe Kardashian decided to tweet about us a week ago. But the beauty of things going viral is the fact that @abolishcancer has over 2500 people who will see your interest in sponsoring, and many of them will retweet your sponsorship. You are essentially getting people to have positive conversations, through Twitter, about you or your business. What newspaper ad can take the place of that?
So our site is established and growing. People from all over the globe want to see that we fulfill the dream to @abolishcancer. Who doesn't right? Our struggle is to get sponsors to see the value of not only helping out a great cause but to also get some great PR along the way and agree to sponsor our site. We don't receive a penny from this work, in fact the sponsor is on their honor to send all the money directly to the charity. We are simply creating the platform to try and make this commitment grow.
How do we get the sponsors? Obviously, the bigger presence the person or business has on Twitter, the more the word will spread, along with the amount they will have to pay. I see a sponsorship of this kind as a great way for an influential person or celebrity, who is looking to get back in the limelight, to show everyone the good they are providing. Why, even a simple tweet brings great awareness to the cause even if they don't decide to sponsor.
Many people have gone on their own campaign to hit up a celebrity of influential person to follow or sponsor @abolishcancer. (we really appreciate this type of effort) This is a great tactic but needs a concerted effort from many people for the influential person to listen. More tweets about a celebrity, the more likely they are to listen. Who should start the push to get a certain celebrity to tweet or sponsor us? Probably best to be an authentic push from one of our followers to be its own grassroots effort.
What about businesses? Well, local mom and pop groups may not have the funds to donate and also may not benefit as much from the publicity since our audience is more global. A larger business, however, would see an increase in their "Twitter presence" through this effort.
So here we are, looking for the next sponsor for a day to help raise awareness and $$$ for @THON. I'm quite certain that whoever decides to make that commitment will see another viral infection, the good kind, of their efforts along with a big push and commitment from the great people at @THON as well.
I'm always looking for ideas to make this connection and welcome any of your thoughts. It's you, the people, that make this work. And just think, all it requires for us to make this happen is a simple tweet and a simple click of the button to "follow".
Thanks, as always, for the support.
-Darah Bonham, creator
"Using the Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)