Water is Life #firstworldproblems

The nonprofit I decided to research this week was the Water Is Life Organization. This organization as you may imagine is determined to get water to the parts of the globe where it is scarce. While some Americans may not see the consumption of water as pivotal to ones health but it is 100% necessary for every human body to drink water and therefore it is a major health factor. I thought it would be splendid to take a look at there social media campaign and fundraising strategies. Social Media is a new platform that not many organizations have figured out and I want to show how it can be used in a very productive way. Water is Life noticed a trending topic on Twitter and Instagram that was rather disturbing to them and thus deciding to turn the same hashtag into a campaign to spread a more positive message, this hashtag was the "#firstworldproblems" anthem (The). Many users would complain about things they didn't have or things that were going wrong in their lives. This in retrospect should not be of any serious concern at all, especially to those living in third world countries without access to the simplest necessities. Water is Life was able to change the conversation through social media. Instead of complaining about #FirstWorldProblems, people began using the hashtag as a vehicle to spread Water is Life’s message and to encourage donations. The outcome was them providing over a million days worth of clean water to those in need. They released a video of children at their homes in third world countries reading the tweets from people complaining of their first world problems. It was tremendously impactful and it was only a minute long. "They say to accept the things you can’t change. But this campaign suggests the opposite. Instead of sitting around being angry at the hashtag #FirstWorldProblems, Water is Life actually did something about it. If there’s something bad that you’d like to change for the better, do it. Start a movement (Why)."

During the google hangouts, Spark Mil presented a brilliant point about fundraising on social media. They mentioned that organizations should not try to fundraise unless they are well known in the community and I believe that it is important to establish some source of credibility before you pressure your audience into donating to your cause. It is important to build trust within your audience on a more personal level because pressuring them to donate doesn't build trust and loyalty. The better the relationship between non profits and their audiences will result in better more steady donations within the organization. 


"WHY WiL." HOME. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2014. <http://waterislife.com/about>.

"The Top 4 Nonprofit Social Media Campaigns of 2013 (And What You Can Learn)." Nonprofit Hub. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nonprofithub.org/social-media/the-top-4-nonprofit-social-media-campaigns-of-2013-and-what-you-can-learn/>.