Happy Birthday, Beth!
11
Jan
2010
by Noble
To do today:
- Wish Beth Kanter a Happy Birthday.
- Give the gift of education to kids in Cambodia
The cool thing is, you can do both at once. For several years Beth has been coaching and advising companies on how to best use social media to achieve social good. And for her last few birthdays, she’s run social media campaigns to help her favorite cause, The Sharing Foundation. Here’s what they do:
The Sharing Foundation’s mission is to help meet the physical, emotional, educational and medical needs of orphaned and seriously disadvantaged children in Cambodia. Our goal is to help prevent some of the problems associated with poverty by developing, in consultation with Cambodian community leaders, programs to improve the health and welfare of these children and their families. The Sharing Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. You can view our annual reports at Guidestar.
The great thing about Beth’s support of this cause? It comes from the heart. Both of her children are adopted from Cambodia, and she uses her considerable talent to do everything she can for disadvantaged children there.
So take a minute and wish Beth “Happy Birthday!” A mere $10 donation will send a child to school.
Thanks, Beth, for being an inspiration to givers, and a guide to the non-profits striving to do good works. Happy Birthday!
“Passports with Purpose” – Build a School (for sure), Win Prizes (maybe).
09
Dec
2009
by Noble
Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions, decisions. 5 nights in Costa Rica? 3 nights in Wakiki? 3 days in Legoland? Maybe that’s the hardest part about giving to the Passports with Purpose campaign – deciding which amazing travel prize you covet most.
Win This (photo credit Aqua Hotels)
It’s not hard to find the campaign: 75 top travel bloggers are joining together to activate their readers and followers and encourage them to donate to a good cause. The team effort started last year and is led by founders Beth Whitman, Debbie Dubrow, Michelle Duffy and Pam Mandel. Traveling the globe as they do, it’s easy to see what a difference a few dollars in the right place can make. Last year, the team raised over $7,000 for Heifer International.
It’s not hard to understand the cause: This year’s campaign supports American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC) an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia. For a personal account of the organization and what it does, read Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed from the New York Times.
Help them. (Photo credit Dave Rubin)
It’s not hard to understand the results: So far, Passports with Purpose has raised over $13,000 – enough to build the school. Now they need to feed students and provide a full time school nurse for a year. That’s another $13,000, but the impact of your donation is obvious.
So what’s the tricky part? Figuring out which cool prize you want. Each blogger has ponied up something neat, and for every $10 you donate, you get an entry to win. The catch with this virtual raffle is there is a separate drawing for each item. But don’t feel to much pressure to decide. If you want that McLaren Baby Stroller, the hot new camcorder, and the Ukelele – go ahead and pony pony up a few $10 entries – it’s all for a good cause.
Browse for Schools & Social Good
27
Nov
2009
by MjM
Now that everyone’s all geared up for some heavy duty online shopping, WhatGives!? has a suggestion as to how you can raise a little cash for your favorite school while you’re sliding through the cybertubes. 
BetterTheWorld.com is running a friendly competition for schools in the US, Canada, and all parts of the world that aims to raise money for schools and for good causes. Sign up, add their Better The World sidebar browser and then just go about your bizness. Points start racking up automatically whenever the browser is open and you’re online. Easy peasy. There are also other things you can do to earn points, like inviting your friends to join or putting a widget on your Facebook page. The school with the most total points on December 31st wins $2,000 for the school and – wait for it – $4,000 for their favorite charity!
It’s always a little dangerous when schools start competing. Those PTA moms are relentless!!! But imagine what your middle school could do with $2,000. And think of the great message it sends the kids when a good cause gets some much-needed cash, too. It’s what’s known at Harvard Business School as a win-win.
Check it out and spread the word.
LA’s BEST
03
Nov
2009
by MjM
I’m in Honolulu this week attending the [re]think: Hawaii conference (partially sponsored by WhatGives!?), and learning all about startonomics, sustainability, and social media. The three “esses”!
During one of the great conversations among locals and mainlanders I heard about “Furlough Friday” which refers to the 17 Fridays that school will be cancelled this academic year. Huge state bu
dget shortfalls have forced the government to send a lot of workers home on Fridays. But it leaves parents with the huge problem of what to do with the kids on that day off. We want to talk more about that later in the week, but it reminded me of the tremendous work being done by LA’s BEST for kids in the Los Angeles school system.
LA’s BEST is an incredibly successful after school program. Their landmark case study demonstrated that at-risk students in LA’s BEST program are 30% less likely to commit juvenile crime than their peers. There are also tax dollar benefits and overall improved behavior in school. It’s a program that is rightfully being copied in other communities.
When we were at BlogWorld in October, we had the opportunity to talk with Zainab Ali, Communications Manager for LA’s BEST (@lasbest). They joined us as winners of the Name Your Cause program, and it was a great day for everyone!
