A few years ago, when Idol started this event, I was impressed with how involved the campaign and event were with MySpace. Given the downward slope of MySpace's importance and the exponential growth of Facebook and Twitter, I am surprised to see very little presence for the Gives Back campaign on either of the latter platforms. There is a brief video buried on the Idol Facebook page that is equally buried in the official Idol Twitter feed. I would suspect we'll see this make some Twitter waves Wednesday evening.
Upon visiting the Gives Back page, I thought social-media may be put to use when I saw the Spread The Word link, but unfortunately this is only for emailing friends. I would think a show like Idol, which certainly makes more money in a year than some countries, they would be further ahead of the times than this.
Are there any lessons here for the average non-profit org? Lesson 1 - create the most popular show in the country and make sure your org is highlighted for giving. On a more serious note, I'll take a look at the case for support each org makes during the show and see what the takeaways are.
Idol Gives Back '10 Designations:
The Children's Health Fund
Founded in 1987 by singer/songwriter Paul Simon and pediatrician/advocate Irwin Redlener, MD, Children's Health Fund (CHF) is the nation's leading pediatric provider of mobile-based health care for homeless and low-income children and their families. CHF's mission is to bring health care directly to those in need through the development and support of innovative medical programs, response to public health crises, and the promotion of guaranteed access to health care for all children. Teams of dedicated medical professionals in CHF's 24 pediatric programs in 15 states and the District of Columbia have brought essential primary care services through more than 2 million patient visits.
Feeding America (...for which Josh Grobon tweeted #AmericaWants support!)
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms.
Malaria No More (Arguably one of the best social-media orgs on the '"interwebs")
Malaria No More is determined to end malaria deaths in Africa. Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies of this preventable and treatable disease, but a simple mosquito net can save lives. Malaria No More leverages breakthrough communications, global advocacy and smart investments to reach its goal of providing universal access to malaria interventions by the end of 2010 and ending deaths by 2015. Through the support of IDOL GIVES BACK, Malaria No More has helped millions of families in Africa protect themselves from malaria in Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, generous sponsorship of IDOL GIVES BACK from ExxonMobil helped Malaria No More strengthen country capacity and improve the delivery and use of malaria interventions in Africa. Together, we can make malaria no more.
Save the Children
Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating real and lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. Save the Children's U.S. Programs focus on underserved rural areas, where one in five children lives in poverty. Partnering with schools and community organizations, Save the Children provides high-quality early childhood education services for children from birth to age five as well as literacy, physical activity and nutrition programs for children in kindergarten through eighth grade, benefiting over 52,000 children nationwide. Save the Children's work in the United States also includes emergency preparedness, response and recovery. When a disaster strikes, Save the Children deploys trained teams to help displaced children and families and provide more secure environments. In addition, Save the Children works with local, state and national governments to ensure that the unique needs of children are integral in emergency response plans.
United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation is an advocate for the UN and a platform for connecting people, ideas, and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems. The UN Foundation's work is focused on decreasing child mortality, improving disaster relief, protecting diverse cultures and environments, creating a clean energy future, empowering women and girls and improving U.S.-UN relations.
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