I was reading about a new initiative that aims to use social media as a facilitator for social change: Youtube's 5th Annual DoGooder Non-Profit Video Awards. This initiatives, which is funded by The Case Foundation, will award $10,000 grants to the video winners in four categories - Best Small Org Video, Best Medium Org Video, Best Large Org Video, and the newcomer, the Best Thrifty Video. In addition, the winners will be featured on Youtube's page ("the nonprofit equivalent of an ad in the Super Bowl").
I watched one of the videos that won last year in the category of Small Org. and was very inspired. The video that they presented to Youtube tells the story of Darius Weems, a teenager afflicted with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who embarked on a 7,000 road trip during the summer of 2005 to promote awareness of the fatal disease (Darius lost his 18 year old brother to this disease) and to raise money for research into a cure. An award winning documentary film was born out of this trip and it is used as the main tool for spreading the word about Darius's story and his disease.
I was so inspired and curious by the video that I went ahead to find their website. Going over it, I realized that the Darius Goes West team was a great example of an organization that makes use of social media tools to advance its goals. This is precisely what this blog is about: studying how non-profit organizations benefit from the Groundswell to fulfill their purposes. The next step seems obvious: I used the knowledge gained in class to analyze, more in depth, the different ways in which the Darius Goes West organization uses social media. So fascinating.
The first thing that came to my mind when I opened the website was that it was full of gadgets. One can watch videos of very diverse things, such as Darius playing guitar and singing, or, of course, a trailer of the movie. One can also look at the recent updates posted by the organization and follow their blog posts (e.g. Darius's birthday celebration).
Or, one can "like" Darius Goes West on facebook (which an impressive 16,671 people did, including me!).Of course, there is also a link for making a donation or for buying merchandise. The power of visual communication, through pictures but most importantly through videos, is a key feature of the Groundswell. And this organization seems to have a good understanding of this: throughout the website one can find short, well-done videos.
With all these gadgets, the organization is making sure that the visitors stays engaged, a key aspect to making social media marketing successful. What is more, the organization encourages visitors to get involved and take action. For example, users are encouraged to host a screening of the movie. Or educators can receive a copy of the DVD for free to spread the message to their students. But, what I found the coolest, was that users have the opportunity to skype with Darius. That can be the ultimate experience for users. What's even coolest about this, is that Darius will skype with those who are able to have have a computer (duh!), make a skype account (duh!), but most importantly each skype group has to raise $100 to get to skype with Darius. Isn't that a great way to motivate users to be engaged? I thought it was brilliant. When clicking on the "skype with Darius" link, this very well-done video pops-up:
I was so inspired and curious by the video that I went ahead to find their website. Going over it, I realized that the Darius Goes West team was a great example of an organization that makes use of social media tools to advance its goals. This is precisely what this blog is about: studying how non-profit organizations benefit from the Groundswell to fulfill their purposes. The next step seems obvious: I used the knowledge gained in class to analyze, more in depth, the different ways in which the Darius Goes West organization uses social media. So fascinating.
The first thing that came to my mind when I opened the website was that it was full of gadgets. One can watch videos of very diverse things, such as Darius playing guitar and singing, or, of course, a trailer of the movie. One can also look at the recent updates posted by the organization and follow their blog posts (e.g. Darius's birthday celebration).
Or, one can "like" Darius Goes West on facebook (which an impressive 16,671 people did, including me!).Of course, there is also a link for making a donation or for buying merchandise. The power of visual communication, through pictures but most importantly through videos, is a key feature of the Groundswell. And this organization seems to have a good understanding of this: throughout the website one can find short, well-done videos.
With all these gadgets, the organization is making sure that the visitors stays engaged, a key aspect to making social media marketing successful. What is more, the organization encourages visitors to get involved and take action. For example, users are encouraged to host a screening of the movie. Or educators can receive a copy of the DVD for free to spread the message to their students. But, what I found the coolest, was that users have the opportunity to skype with Darius. That can be the ultimate experience for users. What's even coolest about this, is that Darius will skype with those who are able to have have a computer (duh!), make a skype account (duh!), but most importantly each skype group has to raise $100 to get to skype with Darius. Isn't that a great way to motivate users to be engaged? I thought it was brilliant. When clicking on the "skype with Darius" link, this very well-done video pops-up:
After visiting the website and learning about the organization and Darius's life and can help to feel hopeful for the infinity of options that the new social media phenomenon opens to the non-profit world. Kudos to the Darius Goes West team for embracing the Groundswell.
