What Are You Grateful For?

What Are You Grateful For?

This Thanksgiving I, once again, marvel at how much I have to be grateful for. I have a wonderful family who loves me unconditionally. I have a loyal staff that loves me (nearly) unconditionally. I have a client base that probably loves me a little bit, too. I have many friends who put up with me. And, I have Tweetsgiving to thank for using social media to build classrooms in Tanzania.

If you’ve never heard of Tweetsgiving, get ready for goose bumps as you learn its story. Stacey Monk founded EpicChange, a 501c3 U.S. “that amplifies the voices and impact of grassroots change makers by sharing their stories in ways that raise visibility and funds to support their extraordinary efforts to create hope in our world.”

In Thanksgiving 2008, Tweetsgiving was launched two days before Thanksgiving as a 48-hour celebration of gratitude, and it became the number one trending topic on Twitter and raised over $10,000 to build a classroom in Arusha, Tanzania. Anyone who contributed to Tweetsgiving had their Twitter name displayed on the wall of gratitude.

Tweetsgiving 2009 will repeat this marvelous display of gratitude only on a grander scale. This year there are more sponsors and people rallying around this wonderful cause.  This year’s event will raise funds to build an orphanage, a classroom, a cafeteria and a library at Mama Lucy’s school in Tanzania.

There are three ways you can get involved in Tweetsgiving 2009. 1) Attend a gratitude party in a city near you.  2) Spread the word. Tell your friends online and offline about it @tweetsgiving 3) Host a party. Have friends over to raise funds for Tweetsgiving 2009. Of course, you can always donate some of your hard earned money too.

The best part of Tweetsgiving (besides the smiles on kids’ faces in Arusha) is the role that social media plays. Strike that….The best part is that people (you, me and anyone who cares) can have an impact simply by using social media to spread the word. Just by a few clicks, we can help educate poor kids in a far away place.

If you don’t have goose bumps yet, you haven’t clicked through to Tweetsgiving.

Happy Tweetsgiving!

What Do Social Media and Christmas Have in Common?

Sharing…

Why beat around the bush? The Christmas holiday season is a time to share and give. And, isn’t that one aspect of social media that we all enjoy?

The most prolific social media people are always sharing. They share their thoughts, their expertise, links to great content and their time. When Christmas time rolls around isn’t it natural for those of us who actively use social media to also share with those who don’t have our good fortunes?

In this blog post I want to recognize three recent examples of social media people who are setting an example. The reason I’m singling them out is because there are probably many others out there and I want others who know them to recognize them by adding them to the comments area.

The reason I want to recognize them is partially to give them thanks. But, mostly I want to use them as inspirational examples. We know the social power of the web. We use the social web to connect and to market ourselves. We regularly share links to content. Let’s use these links as inspirations and personal challenges to do great things for needy people.

As the world around us reels from economic hardships among other hardships, each of us can do something to help others. No matter how small, every little bit is a help to someone.

Let’s look at these examples for inspiration:

Your Donations Really Made a Difference: A few days ago Chris Brogan raised $1,200 in donations by putting out a challenge to his Twitter followers to make a difference. Chris is adding $700 of his own money to buy “really big” toys for underprivileged kids. Chris humbly says “You did this…You made it possible for me to pick up several carts full of toys” as he gives credit to his friends on the social web. Way to go Chris for showing leadership and caring!

A month ago Epic Change a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization run by Stacey Monk ran a two day donation campaign in the 48 hours preceding Thanksgiving. Stacey assembled a group of volunteers to organize Tweetsgiving. This event raised more than $10,000 to build a school building in Tanzania. Way to go Stacey for boldly blazing a new trail on Twitter!

In October, JD Rucker wrote a blog post: With Great Social Media Power Comes Great Responsibility. JD is calling on the companies in social media and their executives to give back to the needy.

I don’t want to give you the impression that I believe you aren’t already generous with your giving. I merely want to point out the power of social media. No disrespect to Chris Brogan, Stacey Monk or JD Rucker, but you don’t have to be Bill Gates to make a difference.

Rather than sit by, these people just to name three, are stepping out and taking action. They are inspiring all of us to take action.

Last week I provided pro bono social media strategy advice to Meet the Need a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. After that experience I was inspired to do more of it. I will stay close to Meet the Need because it can reach so many people and because I’m in a position to help.

This time of year calls more attention to the needy. My challenge to all my friends on the social web is to share and give of yourself all year long.

I invite you to offer your comments and tell us who else you know on the social web that is taking action to share with the needy.

@berniebay

Twitter Users Unite for Thanksgiving

Most of us know the history of Thanksgiving. It’s admirable that we stop to give thanks once each year in the form of a national holiday. For many of us it makes us think about how much we have to be thankful for even in the face of hardship and uncertainties for many.

This year there is one charitable cause on Thanksgiving I want to highlight, not because it is more special than others. All charitable causes are admirable. This one demonstrates the power of social media and the hearts of people who use social media.

Epic Change is a charitable organization using Twitter as a platform to raise funds to build a classroom in Tanzania. They created a Twitter stream using #tweetsgiving which allows anyone in the world to follow the comments of people on Twitter about this charitable cause. It also allows us avid Twitter users to spread the word to our network (following) and point them to this Twitter stream conversation about a worthy cause.

Most notable is the Tweetsgiving website which is where the fund raising takes place during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

I sincerely believe the vast majority of people generally want to help those in need. Thanksgiving is a time where that innate quality is even more pronounced.

It’s very worth noting that users of social media are passionate about using the social web as a platform for benevolant reasons as much as any other reason.

Social media users understand the power of word or mouth (WOM) online. It is second nature to us to promote good content, and good content during the Thanksgiving holiday is a worthy cause such as Tweetsgiving.

My hope is that you take two points away from this brief blog post:

1) If you haven’t contributed to Tweetsgiving, please consider it (even after Thanksgiving).

2) Social media is a world wide platform where great causes can be achieved.

I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Cheers,

Bernie Borges
http://twitter.com/berniebay