It’s an exciting time to be a blogger- never before have we, as individuals been able to create such ripple effects of social change so seamlessly and instantly that with the click of a button our message can be amplified out to thousands of followers on social media.
Even for those of us that struggle in obscurity or wish our traffic was better- there is a world of potential at our fingertips and a real opportunity to bring our visions to life. Nothing seems to illuminate this better for me than the fact that my birthday charity: water fundraiser just passed the $2,000 mark in less than a month. All of this fundraising was done online and mostly by complete strangers.
Three weeks ago, I put out a call that I had given up my 26th birthday for charity: water– so no parties, no overpriced martinis, no presents and all the money that would have gone to a pricey night out would instead be given to help people I would never meet gain access to clean water. I got some guff from my friends, but others were astonished- was I serious? Yup, I was.
Giving up a birthday was really easy but to be honest, when I sat in a Portland hotel (well, airbnb rented room) with my awesome friend Lora, I thought I was going to vomit when I upped the fundraising amount from a safe-and-doable $1,000 to a scary, gut wrenching $2,600…but $2,600 felt RIGHT.
I didn’t realize it then, but for my birthday I really wanted to grow as a social media consultant. I wanted to test the theories of online social change for myself. I wanted to see if online social influence had any impact in the offline world. Well good news, it has.
I really, really want this fundraiser in the bag. I want it DONE. This $2,600 donation will help 130 people gain access to clean drinking water that will last for years and years. This is a real solution to a real problem- a drinking well is permanent and is by no means a band-aid.
Every penny of your donation goes to building a well- no admin. Charity: water is a organization I believe in, and their business model is innovating the way we give and what giving truly does. That is why this “experiment” of mine was more than that- it will garner results that matter.
Right now, we’re at $2,001 and we’re so close to the goal I can taste it.
So- if you’re reading this….I’m going to get creative to hit the last $599 of this goal:
If you donate $10 I will give you a 125×125 ad spot on BeautifulGiveaways or The Frugalpreneur for August.
Go to my charity: water page to donate and let me know on your donation that you want the ad spot (or email me.) I can get it up TODAY.
(or)
If you need to hire a social media consultant, or need to revamp your blog or small biz- I will donate part of your fee to the cause. Go to Cake Mix Media to nab your spot.
All I have is ad space on my sites and social media services to help rock your blog or business. You can totally make this a win-win OR you could just donate so I’ll finally shut up about it. Either way, thank you. 😉
Awesome campaign! Thanks for supporting us and keep working hard at it!
My favorite three campaign tips:
– Personally email people — 1 to 1 emails are best
– Ask 3 times — often the third ask is the one that drives action
– Thank people publicly to recognize your awesome friends and readers who gave!
Cheers,
Paull Young
Director of Digital
charity: water
Love it Shannyn, and so proud of you for ! You knew $2,600 sounded crazy – but you did it anyway, and look at what you’ve done! I’m glad I was able to be there for the beginning. It’s so inspiring to see how much good we can all do 🙂