Charity Auction- Fight Cancer and Buy Me Cheap
Jennifer Leggio is training for a marathon and working to help fight leukemia and lymphoma at the same time. She’s looking to raise $10,000, and she’s got a creative approach to doing it.
My cousin, Todd, died from Leukemia when I was a kid. I have weird/funny memories of him, including the fact my Mom made us Star Trek uniforms. I was Kirk, my brother Thom was Spock, and Todd was a red shirt. Turned out that life was pretty much that way for all three of us, as a side note.
More recently, on the plane to attend ITEC Detroit, I sat next to a young woman who graduated from nursing school to go work with kids with leukemia. I asked her why she picked that field. She said, because I survived. I’ll admit that I got a bit teary. I had no idea that kids could survive. Remember, I grew up when the survival rate was about 20%.
That’s why I’m supporting Jennifer’s charity auction.
Know who else is in?
Joseph Jaffe is one of the most sought after consultants, speakers and thought leaders on new marketing. He is president and “chief interuptor” at crayon, a strategic advisory group that helps companies “join the conversation” through the power of community, dialogue and partnership. He has spoken to audiences in North America, London, the Netherlands, Turkey and South Africa and to companies including Yahoo!, JWT, Modem Media, Conde Nast and iVillage. In 2007, Jaffe authored the book Join the Conversation: How to Engage Marketing-Weary Consumers with the Power of Community, Dialogue and Partnership.
Auction: Dinner and brainstorming session in the New York / Connecticut area valued at $10K. Bidding begins at $1K. Full details available on the Joseph Jaffe eBay auction site.
Geoff Livingston has worked as a marketing strategist in the Washington, DC region for 15 years. Dubbed a “local blogging guru” by the Washington Post, Geoff’s Buzz Bin blog is nationally recognized, and is the top ranked independent PR blog in the Washington, DC region. He successfully launched FortiusOne’s GeoCommons using an aggressive social media strategy, and marketed Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna’s bio using a diversified My Space and blogosphere campaign. Geoff’s book on new media Now is Gone was released last autumn by Bartleby Press.
Auction: Two-hour phone consulting / brainstorming session valued at $1K. Bidding begins at $100. Full details available on the Geoff Livingston eBay auction site.
Aaron Strout is vice president of social media at Mzinga, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based provider of online communities and social networks for businesses. In his role, Aaron focuses on blogging, podcasting, webinars, blogger relations, and evangelizing the benefits of social networks for business. In addition to his knowledge of the interactive and new media landscape, Aaron has more than 15 years of online marketing and advertising experience, with a strong background in integrated and online marketing.
Auction: Two-hour phone consulting / brainstorming session valued at $1K. Bidding begins at $100. Full details available on the Aaron Strout eBay auction site.
Greg Verdino is a recognized expert on business and marketing innovation, emerging technologies and Web 2.0. Equal parts marketer and futurist, Greg has made a career of identifying key trends and helping companies turn disruptive changes into a real, sustainable business and marketing advantages. He works as Chief Strategy Officer at crayon, a strategic advisory group that helps companies ‘join the conversation’ through the power of community, dialogue and partnership. He has been profiled in and quoted by a wide variety of business and news media including Advertising Age, Adweek, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Marketing News, New York Times, Newsday and the Wall Street Journal, as well as on television news outlets including CNBC and Fox News Channel.
Auction: A 60-minute keynote speech or 1/2 day workshop anywhere within the U.S. or Canada valued from $5K-$7.5K. Bidding begins at $700. Full details available on the Greg Verdino eBay auction site.
If you want the scoop, go here to see the creative approach“>charity auction for each of us.
Raising a Quick 500 for Cancer
In just under two hours, we raised over $500 US for a cancer walk sponsorship for Susan. It was fun getting the word out via Twitter, and I’m SO very grateful to all the people who contributed to the cause. You might remember we sent a woman to college using Twitter for half of the fundraising. This was a similar mechanism. Basically, I tweeted, and asked people to retweet the request until we raised what I set out to raise.
WHY I Did It
Much as I support giving to cancer as a worthy thing, my main reason for getting people to give was more about showing others how they can use Twitter and other social platforms to support charitable causes. Is it sustainable? Not really. Is it the BEST way to raise tons of money for a cause? No.
Did it make a lot of people feel good about themselves for a cost of only $10 - 20 *and* support a worthy cause? Yes!
Don’t ask me to raise money for your cause. Use these tools and your networks and raise it yourself. That’s the major point. YOU can do this. There’s nothing that makes my request any better than anyone else’s. I just sent the request and asked others to spread it across their own networks. Ultimately, people give because it makes them feel better.
Go ahead, make some change in the world, and show them that things like Twitter are for much more than talking about being stuck in traffic.
Social Media Changes Lives Directly
Understanding where to give donations is always tricky. There’s overhead to consider. There are worries about where the best good can be done. And we often don’t realize the impact we make in other people’s lives.
Last October, we helped send a Cambodian woman to college. Superstar nonprofit cause driver Beth Kanter raised half the money in a day, so I asked Twitter to raise the other half in two hours.
Beth has a similar goal in mind here. Read that article and come back, if you want. Essentially, Beth is asking YOU (and I mean you) for $10 (USD) to help another great cause. If you’re sold already, donate here. If not, consider this:
$10 is two latte drinks at Starbucks.
$10 is an appetizer at a restaurant.
$10 is six or seven sodas out of an office vending machine.
$10 is part of someone’s future in your hands today.
Ready to feel good? Donate here.
Why I Support Social Causes
Besides the obvious “it’s the right thing to do” type of answer, my other reasons are as follows: It’s something way more interesting thank talking about Twitter and Facebook (meaning it’s using the tools instead of talking about them). It’s a way to prove that we have power beyond what we tend to believe about ourselves. It’s a way to demonstrate to other parts of the world that those of us with the privilege of technology can do something meaningful elsewhere.
No fuss. No hullabaloo. Let’s just give $10 and go from there. Cool?
