Today, CrisisCommons is hosting “CrisisCamps” around the country and in London, England and Bogota, Colombia, to provide support for Haiti. Here in New Orleans, we had to get involved. After all, who knows better about devastating natural disasters than this city?
An open, collaborative event held in “barcamp” style with CrisisCommons to provide local and international responders, Haitian community leaders and non-governmental organizations an opportunity to engage with operations on the ground in Haiti. Tools and resources created by CrisisCamp volunteers can enhance responders’ decision-making capability, transparency and collaboration.
This weekend and next, CrisisCamps will be happening in 12 Cities across the U.S., Canada, England and Columbia. CrisisCommons.org also has resources to facilitate setting up camps in other areas.
If you want to participate or just learn more about the camps check out:
Where do I start with Shelley Cohen? Let’s see. I could talk about how I was completely enamored with her from the first time we met, in Washington DC through her longtime friend Melissa Fitzgerald and how the three of us talked into the night about Africa, Uganda, helping children there and the nonprofit the two founded, Voices of Uganda. I could mention that when I said I was going for the first time to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 2008 that Shelley was quick on the forward button, sharing invites and insider information to help guide me through the madness and overwhelming sensation that the DNC holds. But I think if I had to choose, I would talk about Shelley’s deep commitment to her family and instilling a sense of service to her daughter and a sincere desire to make the world a better place. A longtime resident of Washington DC, Shelley is active on nonprofit boards including the National Wildlife Federation and works for a green sustainable energy company, Ameresco. A huge thank you to Shelley for this interview. It’s one of my favorites.
And of course, the birthday wish interviews have been running daily for two weeks. Huge thank you to all who participated. I have a few more to post next week and the BIG news is I also have a delivery date for my own Cause It’s My Birthday campaign for malaria nets in Ghana. So stay tuned, much more in the birthday sphere to come. Plus actionable tips to do a birthday fundraiser of your own!
The Shelley Cohen Birthday Wish Interview:
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. When was your birthday? Was it a milestone? What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
FOR MY 40TH BIRTHDAY (MARCH 2, 2008), I HAD A HUGE PARTY AT A LOCAL HOTEL CALLED 15 RIA. IN LIEU OF GIFTS, I ASKED PEOPLE TO DONATE TO VOICES OF UGANDA. I PUBLICIZED IT VERY WELL AS PART OF THE EVITE, AND INCLUDED LINKS. I WAS NOT ON FB AT THIS TIME. I DID NOT HAVE A FUNDRAISING GOAL, BUT I PROMISED TO MATCH WHAT WAS RAISED. THE PARTY RAISED ABOUT $1000, AND I MATCHED IT!
FOR MY DAUGHTER SIENNA’S FIRST BIRTHDAY ON MAY 29, 2009, WE ASKED THAT PEOPLE BRING FOOD ITEMS FOR THE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN IN LIEU OF FOOD ITEMS. WE COLLECTED 5 HUGE BOXES FULL OF FOOD!
2) Did you use online tools? Did you have a birthday party in person? What was your way to connect with people and tell them about this?
FOR THE 40TH BIRTHDAY, I JUST USED CONSTANT CONTACT (I SENT MY INVITE SEPARATELY)! NOT ON FACEBOOK THEN. FOR SIENNA’S BIRTHDAY, I USED EVITE.
3) What have you done for past birthdays?
HADN’T DONE SPECIFIC FUNDRAISERS FOR BIRTHDAYS BEFORE. (more…)
Dev is an amazing guy that I got to know in Los Angeles through a mastermind group that I was part of. The group continues to be some of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial people I have ever known and a terrific support group. Dev works in the restaurant/hospitality industry and so is in the amazing position of having a space that he can donate for fundraisers and to help nonprofits. The birthday campaign he talks about below doesn’t do his philanthropy justice and I’d like to thank Dev for all he does to help causes – not just on his birthday but throughout the year.
And now, the Dev Dugal interview on his birthday fundraiser:
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. When was your brithday? Was it a milestone? What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
I’ve been working with non-profits for quite some time. I realized over time which fundraising events work and which ones don’t produce. I realized that instead of bringing down the life of the party by jumping on the mic and professing the goodness of the non-profit, the structure needed to be tweaked. What has worked for me in the past is to charge people in advance or at the door and collect in advance. Spread the message about the organization thru the mediums used to invite and provide subtle reminders via auto-run presentation/DVD loop to the guests. Also a status update after the event was also fruitful.
Most people want to do good. The spectrum ranges from getting involved to simply cutting out a check. I decided I would structure my fundraising efforts around the latter and if they got more involved, it was gravy.
I’ve done about 4 events on my birthday throughout the years and they have all been fruitful. It’s a good reason to get people out when they have many choices and in the end, the non-profits win with increased exposure as well as fundraising. The organization I partnered with the most is Manav Sadhna. I had personal goals of $5,000 that I didn’t share and we reached it twice. It’s always a win-win situation.
2) Did you use online tools? Did you have a birthday party in person? What was your way to connect with people and tell them about this?
I primarily used social media to spread the word and collected general invite guest list via evite with a direct link to paypal.
3) What have you done for past birthdays?
All the events have been at bars in Southern California. My relationships allow me to generate donors for product like alcohol or deals with the bar operators for drink specials for my guests. It always works out and everyone has a great time. My motto is keep it simple with the least amount of overhead for the maximum amount of output in terms of fundraising and exposure. (more…)
Today’s birthday interview is bringing it home to New Orleans where I’m interviewing Shercole King, an all-around woman about town with a bunch of cool projects under her belt including GoodNOLA,Minority Weirdos and New Orleans Tech. I had the chance to catch up with Shercole and her birthday campaign to benefit the New Orleans Women’s Shelter. What I like most about Shercole’s campaign is that this was her first time and while the bar wasn’t set too high, she was really thoughtful about how to engage her friends and community. This interview really shows, to me, that our birthdays can be anything we want them to be if we just put it out there in the Universe.
Here we go, big thanks to Shercole for participating in the birthday interviews.
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. When was your birthday? Was it a milestone? What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
My birthday was December 4th. Not really a milestone, I made 27. My inspiration was the fact that I have everything I want and need for the most part and I just wanted to help others. I felt this was a great way to do it. The nonprofit I partnered with was New Orleans Women’s Shelter. No, I didn’t tell them in advance just went on a spur and started it up. My fundraising goals was just $270. I reached my goals, I actually exceeded I was excited. In the end I made it to $320.
2) Did you use online tools? Did you have a birthday party in person? What was your way to connect with people and tell them about this?
Yes, I used online tools. I used Facebook Causes, my Facebook profile, and my twitter accounts. No, didn’t have a birthday party. I mainly connected with my friends via social networking encouraging them to help out with this cause.
3) What have you done for past birthdays?
Past birthdays, I haven’t done much. This was my first birthday doing a fundraising cause. (more…)
Continuing the birthday interviews this week and we’re kicking it off with Adam Gilman. Adam is a change agent, he is passionate about leaving a positive mark on the world and through his One Cause At A Time campaign is looking to reach millions to promote causes. It’s because of Twitter that Adam first came across my radar and when I was looking for people to interview about birthdays and making it about giving and not getting, I knew Adam had to be on the list. Hope you enjoy the interview below.
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. When was your birthday? Was it a milestone? What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
I set up the September 11th Fund to support the National September 11th Memorial & Museum / World Trade Center Memorial. The 9-11 Families for a Secure America Foundation and the Courage and Valor Organization, raising thousands of dollars a month for our One Cause At A Time Program. My birthday is September 11th, a day that will forever be a day of mourning for our country. No longer special for me or a day to celebrate. Not a milestone (43) but will always be remembered in a negative way. Our fundraising activity is not a traditional one-time event but an on going monthly process utilizing the power of online commerce. We have partnered with the Together We Can Change the World Foundation which supports our causes plus at least 12 others directly and thousands of others indirectly on a monthly basis..
2) Did you use online tools? Did you have a birthday party in person? What was your way to connect with people and tell them about this?
We use online social networking sites such as Ning.com, Twitter, and Facebook to develop awareness to our One Cause At A Time program. (more…)
The earthquake that shook Haiti last week demolished and devastated the entire nation. Looking at pictures online, reading testimonials of survivors and following the developments in the rescue and emergency response teams, I felt, like many of you, overwhelming sadness. Mere weeks after completing my Kiva Fellowship last summer, the Philippines were hit with Typhoon Ondoy, another natural disaster resulting in true devastation. I was looking back on pictures from the Philippines and wanted to share the slideshow above from when I went to visit Bernardita Dayo, a Kiva borrower that I had actually funded before I became a Fellow. Looking at those pictures, their homes located so close to the water, I’m reminded that for every picture we see of Haiti NOW, just last week there were other pictures showing THEN. The pictures above, that village, doesn’t exist in the same way after the Typhoon, now it is just a memory as the Filipino people work to rebuild their villages and homes so too now does Haiti have a long and turbulent road ahead of them. The “then” in their pictures were vibrant lives and villages with personality, history and culture whose path has now forever been changed.
When you give to help Haiti, and you should, $5-$10 is little to most of us but means the world to them, I’d like to ask you to remember that you’re giving not just to help the Haitian people out of their dire current situation, but investing in their future and the rebuilding of the parts of their society and community that helped define them.
Here are a few quick and easy ways from WhatGives!:
* Text HAITI to 90999. $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to the American Red Cross.
* Text YELE to 501501. $5 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to Yele Haiti. (see note at end of post about Yele Haiti)
* Text CERF to 90999. $5 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund.
* Text HAITI to 45678. $5 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to The Salvation Army.
* Text QUAKE to 20222. $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
* Text SAVE to 20222 (US Only). $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to Save the Children.
In addition to the above, I’ve also made a donation to Architecture for Humanity and I’d like to ask you to join me. Cameron Sinclair wrote a powerful article in yesterday’s HuffPost about the rebuilding of Haiti:
When we are rebuilding, do not let the media set the time line and expectations for reconstruction. I remember vividly well known news personalities standing on the rubble of homes in the lower ninth proclaiming that ‘this time next year we will see families back home.’ Some well meaning NGOs, who usually have little building experience, are even worse — ‘we’ll have 25,000 Haitians back home if you donate today.’ In reality, here is what it really looks like;
* Pre-Planning Assessments and Damage Analysis (underway, will run for a year)
* Establish Community Resource Center and Reconstruction Studio (Week 6 to Month 3)
* Sorting Out Land Tenure and Building Ownership (Month 6 to Year 5)
* Transitional Shelters, Health Clinics and Community Structures (Month 6 to Year 2)
* Schools, Hospitals and Civic Structures (Month 9 to Year 3)
* Permanent Housing (Year 1 to Year 5)
Thank you to WhatGives! for creating the widget below that makes it easy for you to make a donation in just a few clicks.
The social web has incredible power to impact change on the world and when disaster strikes, we must dig into our pockets, past where we already give and help those in need. Because we’d want the world to act the same if something horrific were to happen in our backyard. A lesson I’ve learned all too well from the amazing people here in New Orleans.
Please text or make a donation to help the rebuilding of Haiti today.
Today, I’m interviewing Les Gebhardt who had a 45th birthday fundraiser to benefit Kiva. Les is someone who I first came across when I got a google alert for my name from his blog. I clicked on the link and wouldn’t you know, it was about a birthday campaign. It was such a nice post and reflection on how Cause It’s My Birthday had inspired him and moved me to get in touch with him, connect and say hi. Because that’s what this crazy internet is for. Connecting and saying hello. I’m glad I did.
Les graciously answered my questions below. Check it out and then stay tuned for MORE birthday fundraiser interviews next week. That’s right, more good info and personal stories coming your way!
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. When was your birthday? Was it a milestone? What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
My birthday was December 1.
I turned 45.
My inspiration was 3-fold: your “causeitsmybday” campaign, the Movember campaign to raise money for childrens cancer research and the Lance Armstrong foundation which a friend and part of the Nashville “geek” community joined as a team to grow mustaches for the month of November with “support” via donations, and my HS aged daughter and her own activist work to get the presidential candidates to pledge to get our troops out of Iraq as well as her new commitment to environmental awareness thru a campaign to get families to pledge to live a greener lifestyle.
I chose Kiva.org and created a Kiva Team: Team Forty Five.
My goal, initially, is $450.00 by the end of the month. I plan on carrying this forward to raise, hopefully, much more than $450.00 for the whole year. I just figured $450.00 was doable by the end of the month since I’ve never done this before. I have yet to reach the goal.
2) Did you use online tools? Did you have a birthday party in person? What was your way to connect with people and tell them about this?
I used the following: my blog, where I set up a special page with links to Kiva, my Kiva team and a paypal donation button for folks that didn’t want to donate the minimum $25.00 to Kiva directly.
I also used the Causes app within Facebook to get the ball rolling.
I have used, and continue to use Twitter to relink to my blog posts and my page to try and spread the word. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan any parties although I would do this if I was better organized. (more…)
Today, I’m interviewing Meg Brogan. Meg’s passion for the nonprofit she ran her birthday campaign is definitely the strongest of any of the other interviews because she’s currently volunteering for 9th Ward Field of Dreams full-time! She’s also looking for work in the New Orleans area and I really want her to stay and hope she finds the right fit soon. She is passionate and engaging and it was fun to see her launch this campaign and see the results. I also have a soft spot for 9WFOD (as we’ll call it here) because it is New Orleans based and a really remarkable organization in the final stages of fundraising for a new field and track in the 9th Ward. You can learn more and (maybe even) make a donation HERE.
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. When was your birthday? Was it a milestone? What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
I partnered with 9th Ward Field of Dreams, a nonprofit organization here in New Orleans that I volunteer for full-time. The idea for my birthday fundraising campaign really came from the Cause It’s My Birthday Campaign. It was inspiring to see the outpouring of support shown from 7 cities toward 2 people to support 1 cause. 9WFOD set up our Facebook Fundraising page about 2 weeks before my birthday and I really wanted to kick things off right and inspire others to do the same for our cause.
My fundraising goal was $2,500 for my 25th birthday. I exceeded my goal, raising $2,980!
2) Did you use online tools? Did you have a birthday party in person? What was your way to connect with people and tell them about this?
My fundraising campaign was held completely online using 3 major tools. First off, I utilized the Causes Application on Facebook to launch my birthday campaign. This application allowed me to create my own page very simply so that my friends and family could easily donate and track my progress. I could also send messages to my Facebook friends and fans of the 9WFOD cause. I also used MailChimp to quickly and easily send emails to everyone in my personal network. My initial email announced the goal of my campaign, some basics about 9WFOD, and clearly stated how to donate. I sent subsequent emails briefly updating my contacts of my progress and urging others to donate. Lastly, I used Twitter to tap into another network and spread the word about my goal. Here, I posted links to my facebook page, progress updates, and thanked donors. (more…)
Denise Wakeman is a truly remarkable woman. We first met online through a mutual passion for Kiva this past spring when I was fundraising to go to the Philippines as a Kiva Fellow. She was an immediate advocate of my fellowship and I supported her birthday campaign when she launched it. We kept in touch online and through social networks through the year and we both found ourselves at Blog World Expo in October and literally tracked each other down so we could meet in person. I’m so glad we did (proof is in the picture). So here we go, an interview with Denise:
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. When was your birthday? Was it a milestone? What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
I’m a big fan and supporter of Kiva.org. As my 50th birthday approached I was thinking about ways I could leverage my online community and do some good. I have a video and details HERE.
My goal was to raise $5,000 in micro loans during June 2009 – my birthday month. Though I did not meet my goal in June ($3,500 on June 30), the amazing people who joined my lending team have continued to reinvest and make new loans and in October 2009, we surpassed the goal. Today, members of the team continue to loan and the Team has reached $5,650 in loans to date
2) Did you use online tools? Did you have a birthday party in person? What was your way to connect with people and tell them about this?
My primary communication was through the internet: email to my list, blog posts, Twitter, Facebook – about 20,000+. I tweeted like crazy. Every time someone made a loan, I announced it on twitter and included a link by to my lending team page. If I knew their twitter ID, I sent them a tweet thanking them. I did blog updates and I used the messaging system on Kiva.org to thank lenders as well as post progress reports.
Many of my colleagues blogged and tweeted about the event as well. I got a lot of retweets. (more…)
I have received emails over the past two months from people telling people how they were inspired by my campaign to start one of their own and I thought (like the good little blogger I am) that it really hit the nail to do a series of blog posts around these amazing people who donated THEIR birthday to cause. Coming from different parts of the country with different fundraising methods (and fundraising experience) this was a fun experiment into reaching out to people and doing email interviews. Absolutely something I’m looking to do more of in 2010.
Yesterday’s birthday blog post about Beth Kanter’sbirthday wish to send 53 Cambodian children to school kicked it off and today we continue with the next in the series of “Using Your Birthday For Good” kicking off today with Matt Rosen.
I first met Matt in person at my Cause It’s My Birthday campaign but it turns out we both share something HUGE in common. New Orleans! He went to Tulane and so we continued to connect over the fall (he graciously gave me a coworking space while I was in NYC in November). When his birthday came around he threw a great birthday campaign and I can think of no one better to kick off this series. Ok, here we go.
1) Tell me about your birthday and fundraising campaign. What was your inspiration? What nonprofit did you partner with? Did you tell them in advance? What was your fundraising goal (if you had one) and did you reach it?
For this year’s shebang, I held a charity b-day, where I asked friends to donate to my cause of choice in lieu of buying me a drink. I’m 29. I can buy my own drinks (though, the sweet consequence: “I mean, you’re already at the bar, so you may as well buy me a…”). A friend of mine held what she coined a “Charitini” birthday last year, and I loved the idea. And your cross-country “Cause It’s My Birthday” jaunt was absolutely inspiring and just drop-kicked all expectations as to what one person can do by leveraging the social multiplier effect of two friends telling two friends who tell two friends who…
I chose to donate to Operation Gratitude, an organization that sends care packages to the troops overseas. I figure our men and women in uniform could use the love a lot more than I could use another Jägerbomb. They were planning their 500,000th care package! Just an $11 contribution pays for shipping, and they receive all of the contents, i.e. food, DVD’s, toiletries, letters, etc. from donors. I’ve donated to them on a regular basis in the past and recently assisted them with an outreach campaign for one of their events. I mentioned the party to the group’s founder, Carolyn Blashek, in advance and she was floored. I didn’t set a fundraising goal this time around. I’m usually the one railing on the copious amounts of birthday’s it seems we’re all swept into celebrating with Facebook and such making it to easy for people to guilt you into feting them on that momentous occasion when they hit that milestone 26th year of their life.
Co-opting Sartre, “Hell is other people’s birthday parties,” I like to say. Not wanting to look like a hypocrite or make anyone feel obligated to come out, I simply asked that they come and stop by and give what they could, or alternatively, I provided them a link to give online on their on time. If I made one soldier’s day I’d be happy, but I’m very pleased to say that everyone was extremely generous, they loved the idea and they loved the cause. I’m still receiving word from people confirming donations made online. Love that long tail. (more…)
