Free The Children

www.skollfoundation.org/free-the-childrens-we-day-incorporates-social-media-fundraising-campaign/

www.freethechildren.com/2013/03/social-media-moms-take-on-we-create-change/

Free The Children is a charity that has been around since 1995 and although that is not that long, they have found ways to adapt to new-millennial changes in social media and turn with the tides. This organization concentrates on developing children in countries for economic and social success that they may not have been able to achieve otherwise. Today their cause has spread to over a dozen countries. They look to empower the youth to make a change for other youth using campaigns and community service.
One of this organization’s most successful fundraising strategies is their “We Day” Celebration. It is a free celebration to spread awareness about the charity and is hosted over a 3-day period. On Facebook, their campaign includes encouraging their audience to “donate” likes and for each like their page receives, one of their sponsors will donate 1$ to the overall charity. As Sarah Milston noted in our google hangout one of the best forms of social media fundraising is a campaign. People want to support a cause that has a story line behind it and not just any random campaign.
According to Free The Children Social Media Manager, “To learn how your supporters are engaging with the content, set benchmarks for yourself”. This goes along with what Gloria Huang discussed in the FEMA Google Hangout about figuring out which strategies work best for an organization amongst others.
Also suggested by Huang was to build up the social media engagement to a level of “commitment” where your supporters and donators are advocating and telling others about you. This is definitely one of the things that Free the Children has implemented successfully, drawing the attention and “commitment” of influential people such as Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers, and more.
One way that Free The Children make sure they continue engagement is by hosting sub-campaigns such as the Free The Children Water Iniative and the “We Create Change” Penny Drive one young lady was inspired to create after attending the organizations “We Day”. At the “We Day” children are further inspired to venture out on their own campaigns to create change and cause action in their communities with Free The Children organization in mind. This further spreads awareness about the organization without having to create a totally new campaign for them. Facebook has been one of Free The Children’s main platforms up to date and has been working greatly in their favor.