Beth's Blog: Nonprofits and Social Media

Thank you for the best birthday ever! We raised $6,255 for the Sharing Foundation to send 625 Cambodian youngsters to school!

Cambodian youngster in the Sharing Foundation's Education program practices her alphabet.

In Roteang Village, where the Sharing Foundation has programs that help over 1,500 children each and every day, there was a birthday bash at the orphanage for the 70 plus children.  The Sharing Foundation hosts an annual, for-everybody-at-once Birthday party, with cake, fruit, and soda.   This year the girls each received a handmade doll by two women from a nursing home in Massachusetts and the boys got matchbox cards donated by a local Cub Scout Troop, along with handmade birthday cards.

Today is my birthday and this year, as I have done for the past 8 years, I asked friends and family to donate to the Sharing Foundation in my honor. (If you want to know more about why my family and I care about the children of Cambodia and this charity, take a minute to watch this video my son, Harry made.) Last year,  I got 51 people to donate $10 for my 51st birthday using my blog, Twitter, and other social media outposts.   This year,  I experimented with Facebook Causes birthday application.

We raised $6,255 from 162 donors!  That's enough to cover the cost of school uniforms for 615 Cambodian youngsters.  Many children in Cambodia do not go to school because their families lack the $10 for a uniform, required for school attendance.  Last year, the Sharing Foundation's sewing school, a vocational training program, made over 1250 uniform sets and donated them to needy children in Roteang Village, to the Street Children's Assistance NGO, and to a poor government orphanage.  The sewing girls, who are employed by the Sharing Foundation's vocational training program, earn from the first day of their training, so this is a win-win situation.

Link in Tweet

As part of the experiment with the Facebook birthday causes,  I added a donor matching challenge to the Sharing Foundation's Facebook Cause that I would donate 10 x my age if the Sharing Foundation Cause reached $5,200.  Causes has recently added a donor match feature and since I am also the volunteer administrator for the Sharing Foundation's Facebook Cause, decided to experiment.    We met the match on January 10th and my credit card was automatically charged $520.

Here's the Campaign by the numbers:

161 donors contributed $6255  in total

115 people contributed $3429 through my Birthday Cause
  38 people contributed $2509 through the Sharing Foundation Cause
    9 people contributed $317 outside of Facebook

Before the Campaign: The Sharing Foundation's Cause
206 members
$955 in total donations

After the Campaign: The Sharing Foundation's Cause
349 members
$6893 in total donations

Happy Birthday Facebook Wall Messages
167 (42% non-donors)

Donors
45% new donors
25% has donated to at least one other of Beth's campaigns
30% have donated to at least two or more of Beth's campaigns

If you want a full accounting of how the money is being spent, you can look up the Sharing Foundation's form 990 on GuideStar.  Also, subscribe to the Sharing Foundation's email newsletter.   We send it out quarterly with detailed reports.  Also, as a board member, feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

This is my 7th personal fundraising campaign using social media tools to help the children of Cambodia.  In total, have raised over $220,000 since November, 2006.  Not alone, of course, with lots of help from my friends and network.  This is a passion-driven effort on my part with two goals: to support Cambodian children through the work of the Sharing Foundation and to share my lessons learned with other nonprofits so they can use these tools for the greater social good.

I'm working a deeper reflection about this Birthday Cause - what worked, what didn't in terms of strategy. Right now, I've been taking the time to send a personal thank you note to each and every one of the donors no matter the size of the gift.  I've been leaving notes on Facebook walls, Twitter, or whatever is the best channel.   This isn't about getting the huge donor numbers, velocity, or dollars amounts , it's about building a culture of giving in a presonal network or "collective" - and that is about relationship building.

Here's a big thank you to everyone for the best birthday ever!

Donors (Partial List)
Agenthandy Loves
Adina Levin
Alicia C. Staley
Allison Kipta
Alnisa Allgood
Amie Gillingham
Amy Lenzo
Amy Sample Ward
Andrew DellaPietra
Ann Marie Miller
Avi Kaplan
Ayelet Baron
Barbara Clarke
Bernadette Mannix Feeney
Beth Alexander
Beth Jackson Bates
Beth Kanter
Bill Snyder
Bora Vuth
Britt Bravo
Bruce Brown
Caren Levine
Carol Lewis
Carol McCreary
Cheryl Hanback
Christina Arnold
Christina Jordan
Christine Egger
Christine Martell
Corey Pudhordsky
Corey Pudhorodsky
Craig Cunningham
Danielle Brigida
Darlene Charneco
David Krumlauf
David Wilcox
Debra Roby
Donna Callejon
Ed Nicholson
Ed Schipul
Eduardo Bejar
Eduardo Jezierski
Elana Centor
Elke Sisco
Emily Culbertson
Emma Lathan
Ethan Zuckerman
Garth Moore
Gayle Thorsen
Geoff Livingston
Holly Ross
Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer
Hope O'Keeffe
Ivan Boothe
Javier Avellán Veloz
Jay Hall
JD Lasica
Jean Case
Jeff Weidner
Jennifer Pahlka
Jeremy Chapman
Jerry Michalski
Jesse Wiley
Joe Baker
Johanna Bates
Judd Feurstein
Judi Sohn
Judith Weiner
Julia Bailey
Julie Lloyd-Dove-Kennedy
Kari Dunn Saraatovsky
Kate Bladow
Kate Teeling Talbot
Katrina Heppler
Katya Andresen
Kevin Ball
Kim Synder
Kristjian Fjord Peturson
Laura Palmero
Laura Whitehead
Lisa Harris
Lisa Nordick Colton
Louise Coventry
Lynn Tveskov
Maria Thurell
Marie Deatherage
Mark Grimes
Mattise Bustos Hawkes
Megan Ryan Stohner
Michael Hoffman
Michael Stein
Michael Wesolowski
Michaela Hackner
Michelle Murrain
Miriam Dayan
Nick Booth
Patti Anklam
Paul Lamb
Peter Deitz
Phil Klein
Qui Diaz
Ray Nichols
Rebecca Krause-Hardie
Robert Weiner
Roger Carr
Romina Oliverio
Rose Vines
Samphy Y
Sandra Sutton Andrews
Scott Stadium
Seth Mazow
Shonali Burke
Sokunthea Sa Chhabra
Stephanie McAuliffe
Stephen Sherlock
Sue Waters
Sus Nyrop
Susan Chun
Suzy Twohig Quinn
Todd Van Hoosear
Tom Watson
Tori Welch Tuncan
Tresha Thorsen
Tresha Thorsen
Walter Schwabe
Wendy Harman
Woody Collins

Birthday Campaign Update: $2,929 Raised From 50 People - Need $2,321 for Matching Money - Can We Do It?

First of all, stand back and admire that image.  I won't tell you how long it took me to create it, but I wanted to thank the 50 folks who have so generously contributed to my 52nd Birthday Campaign.  You all rock.  I appreciate you!

One of the people on that image is a coder who helped code the birthday causes.  

My birthday is officially on Sunday and if we can raise $5,200 - we can leverage some matching money - $520.  Okay, that's not a huge amount, but I'm the donor!

I just got an email from Dr. Hendrie who is in Cambodia right now.  We have an opportunity to receive a couple of  OLPCs for our literacy program at our farming project (we school the kids of farmers who we train to farm the land, sell vegetables, proceeds go into micro loan fund.)

The money raised from my birthday campaign would help us hire one of the college students that the Sharing Foundation has sent to school to teach the kids.

If you'd like to wish me happy birthday and help leverage matching dollars for the Sharing Foundation, make a contribution to my birthday cause.  If you don't want to donate through Facebook, here are some other ways to wish me happy birthday

Celebrate my 52nd Birthday: Help send a Cambodian youngster to school for $10 Donation!

If you've been reading my blog in the last week, you know that in eight days I will be celebrating my 52nd Birthday.   As I do every year for my birthday, I ask for donations to the Sharing Foundation in lieu of gifts or cards.  This nonprofit helps to care for children in Cambodia.  It was founded by retired pediatrician, Dr. Nancy Hendrie.  (If you want to know more about why my family and I care about the children of Cambodia and this charity, take a minute to watch this video my son, Harry, made last year.)

Many children in Cambodia do not go to school because their families lack the $10 for a uniform, required for school attendance.  Last year, the Sharing Foundation's sewing school, a vocational training program, made over 1250 uniform sets and donated them to needy children in Roteang Village, to the Street Children's Assistance NGO, and to a poor government orphanage.  The sewing girls, who are employed by the Sharing Foundation's vocational training program, earn from the first day of their training, so this is a win-win situation. 

This year for my birthday, I'm inviting the readers of this blog, my professional colleagues, my friends, and family to donate $10 or more so we can send these youngsters to school in 2009!   I've already raised enough through my Facebook Birthday Cause to send 100 kids to school this year!  I'd like to be send 520 to school or raise a total of $5,200.

Several blog readers have suggested that I set up other ways to donate to the Sharing Foundation in addition to Facebook Causes. (Thank you Celeste for the suggestion AND donation!) I've set up a  Network for Good charity badge where you can use your credit card, check, or PayPal to contribute.

Can you think of a better use of $10 or more? Send a poor Cambodian youngster to school, provide employment for young women in Cambodia, and help celebrate my birthday! 

20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day

This year is the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, which takes place every year on December 1 to raise awareness about AIDS pandemic.  Every year there is a theme,  this year's World AIDS Day is “Lead – Empower – Deliver,” focusing on the political leadership required to fight the disease. The impact of HIV and AIDS is felt by millions of people globally every day, particularly in countries like Cambodia. 

The Sharing Foundation's HIV initiative is the Owens House for HIV infected women who are about to deliver their infants in Phnom Penh.  HIV pregnant women who have previously registered come here near to term, receive teaching in group classes, and when in labor go to the Hospital, where they receive nevirapine in labor. The infants are given a dose soon after delivery, thus, with other therapy, cutting the transmission of HIV from mother to child from the expected 25 % to near 5 %. Of the 22 babies born to infected moms in this program in the last 6 months, two have been positive for HIV.

The mothers and babies, return to Owens House after delivery for sometimes several weeks. The importance of preparing infant formula with safe, clean water is carefully taught, as breast feeding is not advisable with HIV moms, and the Sharing Foundation does want the infants contracting fatal gastrointestinal infection from contaminated water. Follow up for mothers and infants is then carried out through a program administered by another nonprofit. We have had about 200 mother and infants at Owens House since the program started 4 years ago.

This awareness day can help bring much-needed global attention to the disease, particularly via the Internet.  In 1995,  I remember a group of arts organizations and artists on Arts Wire marked World Aids Day/A Day Without Art by turning the gray backgrounds on our web sites to black.  Over the years, web awareness raising campaign have gotten more sophisticated.

View Larger Map

A map of openly HIV-positive bloggers and caretakers, and other citizen media related to HIV/Aids. Published by Global Voices bloggers on World Aids Day 2008.

While lots of tweeting and retweeting about World Aids Day can be found on Twitter, the blogosphere is where the community conversation about AIDS is taking place right now.  Global Voices gives us a round-up of posts from openly positive bloggers from around the world.   These authentic first-hand accounts at bitter sweet - showing the forward steps in fighting this awful disease, and sadly how much still needs to be done.

There is also Bloggers Unite a blog action campaign organized by NIDA and AIDS.gov to invite bloggers to join them in their mission to prevent and stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Here's how you can participate today.  Great to see nonprofit tech bloggers like Laura Whitehead's Beth Pickard's, and Social Butterfly's contributions.

See also

GiveADay Campaign

Thank You Duncan Riley for Your Support of the Sharing Foundation

About six weeks ago, Google Chrome made its debut with a comic book that preceded the release of the Google  browser that blogger.   It was a coveted piece of web 2.0 schwag acquired by blogger Duncan Riley from Australia.   He came up with wonderful to raise money for the Sharing Foundation - an online auction.

But what do with a brand new, unread, limited edition Google Chrome comic book? eBay FTW is the logical choice, but I don’t think it would be fair to profit from something Google has sent me. So I won’t be profiting from it. All proceeds from the sale after costs (ebay + paypal fees) will be going to charity, split 50/50 between the Sharing Foundation and Beyond Blue.

Duncan was able to raise $210 for the Sharing Foundation.  I presented the check to Dr. Hendrie at last weekend's board meeting.  While the amount may seem small, it will provide 35 school uniforms for Cambodian school children.  (And I was able to play another Akoha card, donate an hour of your time)

One of our projects is a sewing school which provides training for girls in a great skill that, we hope, will keep them out of prostitution. The girls are paid from the day they start training, and the first thing they learn to make is school uniforms, since they are easy to make.  Uniforms cost $6 per set of white shirt + blue pants or skirt  to make.  The $210 will provide 35 school uniforms, which the Sharing Foundation will give away to poor kids who want to go to school, but are kept out by the government if they don't have a uniform. 

Isn't wonderful to know that a piece web 2.0 schwag recycled in a creative way by Duncan Riley can make a huge difference in the lives of 35 kids ...

Thank you Duncan!

Check out the Sharing Foundation's Profile on Changing the Present and Global Giving

 

I love that photo.  I took it during my last trip to Cambodia, almost three years ago.  Those kids are the children of the poorest villagers in Roteang Village.  Their parents are working on our farm project.  We built a new school building for them - and the school is a literacy program.  A sort of Headstart program.  It prepares the kids to enter the village school.  In fact, the kids are doing so well the principal at the village school wanted to know what we were doing. 

A volunteer on our board put up this profile over at Changing the Present.

We also have a presence at Global Giving which has recently launched a new look for its site.

Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson To Plant the Seeds for Video Blogging in Roteang Village, Cambodia for Sharing Foundation

Click To Play

I'm so excited!  In a couple of days, video bloggers Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson will be in Cambodia doing some work with Project Hope International to help them document the work they're doing to rehabilitate people involved in human trafficking. They are taking some video cameras, including 3 Kiddie Vcams donated by Doug from the video bloggers list. (Thank you Doug!)

I must share the back story.  Several months ago, Jay Dedman mentioned on the video bloggers list that he had all these leftover t-shirts from 2006 VloggerCon and that he was moving and offered them to anyone on the list.   The Sharing Foundation is always looking for new summer cloths to send over there, so I asked Jay for the t-shirts to give to the college students sponsored by the Sharing Foundation.

The t-shirts were delivered to the students in May - here's a blog post about it.  After that post, I got an email from Doug offering to donate the kiddie cameras.

Since Februrary, Jay and I have traded emails about what it would take for the Sharing Foundation to do a video blog.    My holy grail would be something ongoing along the lines of the project in India.  I spent some time talking to Dr. Hendrie, the Sharing Foundation's founder and president, to educate her about video blogging I created this video post.   We were both excited by the possibility, but acknowledged the challenges -- for example, no electricity.  And, of course, there are many pressing projects and needs.

In April, at the NTC Conference I organized a video blogging panel with Jonny Goldstein and Andy Carvin. I met Christina Arnold who told me about her NGO and their work in Cambodia.  She invited to come, but this summer's work deadlines for screencasts just didn't permit it.   I thought a better option would be to have Jay and Ryanne.  And here you go ...

So, the three kiddies cams are going over to the Sharing Foundation's computer school in Roteang Village and we will see what happens.  It's baby steps.  We have another camera, a Cannon Powershot going over and Ryanne and Jay will hopefully train TSF staff and some of the college kids in the art of moment capture.    Then, the TSF staff email me the regular clips and I put them on blip.   It is just a seed to get it started - there's a lot more work to be done - like learning how to do the video editing and posting on the Internet.  But there are Internet access and equipment issues.

On another note, I received an invitation from my Cambodian bloggers colleagues to attend the first Cambodian Bloggers summit.  It's at the end of August.  There is no money for travel and it would cost me more than I earn in a month to send myself.  So, I'm trying to figure out a way to cover the travel costs and go - and then attend the conference, and see if there are any potential video bloggers there to carry this further.   Right now it is pipe dream, so stay tuned.  If you have advice or suggestions, let me know.

 

Update from Leng Sopharath: Sharing Foundation College Scholarship Recipient

Leng Sopharath is the girl in the middle.  She is smiling and next two other young women who are being sponsored for college by the Sharing Foundation.    I just received her April, 2007 letter where she shared what her daily schedule is like.  I look forward to these quarterly updates and the photos.  I also look forward to writing the quarterly letters that I send back to Cambodia with Dr. Hendrie.   It provides a close connection and I am happy to share it with all the generous donors to the campaign like Scott via my blog.

Most Recent Letter from Leng Sopharath

Leng Sopharath, February, 2007

If you are reader of this blog, you are probably aware of the campaign I ran to raise money for Leng Sopharath's college tuition using the ChipIn fundraising widget.  Leng Sopharath is one of 19 college students being sponsored for college through a program of the Sharing Foundation, an ngo that works directly with local officials, orphanages, and NGOs in Cambodia to identify and carry out projects which improve the lives of children. 

The photo above came in today's letter from Leng Sopharath.  You can read see the other photos and read the letter in flickr here.   

Sharing Foundation Very Brief Update: 600 Uniforms Delivered!

Photo in my flickr stream here.

Every time Dr. Hendrie travels back from Cambodia, we had a special briefing meeting for the Sharing Foundation volunteers and board members.   We had that meeting over the weekend and Dr. Hendrie, had almost literally, just stepped off the plane.

The Sharing Foundation accomplishes so much!  There's so much to write about .. so I'll be blogging about it over the next few weeks.    I did want to report on how we're beginning to put the generous dollars you all contributed (matched by Yahoo) to work.   Dr. Hendrie passed around this photo of the 600 kids who now will be able to attend school because they have school uniforms.   

As many of you know, the Sharing Foundation won the Yahoo/Network for Good Charity Badge contest at the end of 2006.   The blog campaign raised $49,000 which was matched by Yahoo.    I wrote quite a bit about TSF's sewing program and how the sewing girls in this program (like Sina) make the uniforms for poor and disadvantaged children.  I just wanted to close to the loop and show the first batch of uniforms delivered for 2007! 

It's been a horrible start to the week and that photo of the kids smiling, ready for school, ready to make a better life for themselves makes me a whole lot less grumpy!

How I Raised $100,000 for A Good Cause Using Widgets

A lot of people have asked me about those widget fundraising campaigns I did last December.   So, if you're interested, you can learn more.

ChipIn asked me to write up a formal case study on my first personal fundraising campaign using their tool.

Using the ChipIn Fundraising Badge for a Personal Fundraising Campaign
How I raised over $800 for a Cambodian Ophran's College Education in A Couple Weeks
The lessons learned from my action learning experiment

This case study walks you through the step-by-step process of using the ChipIn widget to implement a successful a personal fundraising campaign on behalf of any nonprofit organization or cause. The tips and techniques shared in the next few pages will help your organization guide supporters and transform them into effective fundraisers for your organization's cause or program. The case study looks at how to set a realistic goal, crafting an effective message, identifying likely prospects, incorporating social networking sites into your implementation efforts, and how to best use the Chipin widget.

It's a narrative "wikitation" and you can find it here 

While in the UK two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Nick Booth of Podnosh Podcasting face-to-face.  We've "met" each other virtually via blogging, but with the opportunity to come to Birmingham -- having some face time to talk about the social web - along with Steve Bridger and David Wilcox was extremely valuable.   (Soon, I will post my video of my interview with Nick and some video shooting techniques)

He did an interview with me about widget fundraising -- its brief - go take a listen.

Send Your Good Wishes To Leng Soparath in Cambodia: Deadline Jan. 11th

 

Many of you already know about my first personal fundraising campaign to raise money to cover the cost of the college tutition and living expenses for Leng Sopharath, an orphan in Cambodia.  She is one of 18 students being sponsored for college through The Sharing Foundation's program. (More background here) 

My family has been her sponsor for over a year.  Our support goes beyond just writing a check (and asking other people to write checks), but to provide emotional and moral support in the form of quarterly letters.  My family and I write a letter together, include photographs and the kids make drawings for her.

Dr. Hendrie, hand delivers the letters to each student when she goes over to Cambodia to oversee the programs every quarter.   She spends meets with every student, takes their photos, and collects their sponsor letters to bring back to the donors.   Here is an example of last quarter's letter and photos from her to us.

So, I have a week to prepare the letter and I thought that since so many of you have helped Leng Sopharath, that you should let her know that there are lots of people wishing her success and cheering her on! 

So, here's what to do BEFORE Jan. 11th:

1.  Leave a comment in this post.

2.  If you would like to include a picture of yourself and you have a flickr account - please include the url.  I'll print it out and put it in the packet.

It's Official: Sharing Foundation Raises $100,000 and wins Network for Good Charity Badge/Yahoo Competition!!!

Students in the Sharing Foundation's English Program at Roteang Village.

Three weeks ago, using what I learned from my first personal fundraising campaign, I launched a second campaign to raise money for the Sharing Foundation education programs using the Network For Good Charity Badge and entering the Yahoo! For Good competition which would double the amount raised by the winner.

We won!

In just over three weeks, we raised $49,537 from 745 donors and adding the Yahoo Matching dollars brings the total to $99,074!  That's a big deal for a small grassroots organization like the Sharing Foundation. Personal fundraising works! (And, of course, the competition and leveraging power of matching grants helped.)

Read more at BlogHer

A Big Thank You To Everyone For Supporting The Sharing Foundation

I woke up this morning and I'm sitting here utterly speechless and with tears of joy!!  Everyone's generosity is very heart warming and wonderful!!  Thank you so much for contributing to the campaign. 

I know the badge says I've Raised $49537 from 745 Donations!  It really should say "We" There was lots of help from the Sharing Foundation family - board members, volunteers, and supporters -- especially TSF's founder, Dr. Hendrie, whose relentess attention to campaign made it successful.   In addition, we received lots of support and help from the Cambodian adoptive parent community and their families, churches, synagogues, fellow employees, golf buddies, quilting clubs, book clubs, parents of their children's school mates, high school and college friends, and beyond.   The Cambodian American community also rallied for us too!

In addition, I want to thank all the readers of this blog and my colleagues who I hit up for donation to this campaign!  You all rock!

This money will send over thousand Cambodian youngsters to school in 2007, plus cover a lot of the costs of the Sharing Foundation's educational programs which include a pre-school, khmer literacy program, English language program in the local village schools, vocational training (sewing school) and high school/college sponsorship programs.   We now await the results of the Network for Good/Yahoo Challenge.

I will be returning to my regular blogging topics!

You Are Never Too Old To Change The World!

Dr. Nancy Hendrie and Tep Vuthea
Photo from flickr

Meet Dr. Nancy Hendrie, a retired pediatrician in her seventies, who didn’t want to spend her retirement years on the golf course.  Almost ten years ago, she founded a nonprofit organization, The Sharing Foundation, dedicated to meeting the physical, emotional, educational, and medical needs of orphaned and seriously- disadvantaged children in Cambodia.

Launched with a few thousand dollars and a couple friends around her kitchen table, the Sharing Foundation's programs include education, health care, clean water, vocational training, and support of an orphanage. “When I approached an accountant to file our nonprofit incorporation papers, he thought we were just a bunch of old ladies in tennis shoes and wouldn’t do very much.”

As it turned out, he was wrong. Take for example, these young girls and women who have been touched by the work of the Sharing Foundation.

• Leng Sopharath, age 19, is an orphan. She is entering her second year as an accounting major at a university in Phnom Penh. Her college tuition and living expenses, like those of 18 other promising Cambodian young people, are being sponsored by the Foundation.

• Sina, age 15, is an orphan and head of her family, two younger sisters aged 11 and 8. She earns a monthly wage working for a sewing school and shop, a vocational program run by the Foundation that trains young women so they can earn a sustainable living wage with a home-based sewing business or a better paying job in Cambodia’s garment industry. Sina helps makes school uniforms that the Foundation provides to over 1,000 street children in Cambodia so they can attend school.

Sina and her younger sisters

• Sina’s younger sisters are 2 of over 500 students who are learning English in a program in the local village supported and run by TSF.

• Sovanna, a young mother with HIV was given aids medication during labor as was her baby. Sovanna is one of 200 women and children in a Sharing Foundation program which works to interrupt the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

Dr. Hendrie graduated from medical school almost 50 years ago, when it is wasn’t very common for women to have careers, let alone become doctors. That experience, as she puts it, “Taught me to be feisty as hell. And, not to give up even when the odds seem long.” Hendrie points out, “While things have changed here in the US, in Cambodia, women and girls face tremendous odds trying to get an education. So, my experience is probably useful here.”

Why Cambodia? Dr. Hendrie says, “There is so much need in places like Cambodia that you feel your time and dollars are well spent. It is like very dirty silverware. You can see the results of some elbow grease very quickly.” The Sharing Foundation employs Cambodians to run its programs in country. Dr. Hendrie travels to Cambodia 4 times a year and spends approximately a month per trip in Cambodia overseeing the foundation's programs.

Hendrie says, “My proudest moment was when the first group of college students started school. They were not just the first in their families, but the first from their entire village to go to college.” Hendrie notes that education is one way that they can look towards a real future other than fishing or running a food stand making four dollars a day if they are lucky.

She offers lots of encouragement to older people who like her want to a make difference. “People of my generation have many talents and we don’t want to just grow old and observe life. That is not fun. We want to get involved. I’m a physician. I’m no longer doing cutting edge medicine here in the US, but my knowledge and skills in Cambodia are very valuable. Don't give up or fold up – older people have many skills that can be put to use in developing countries – be it Cambodia, Africa or Haiti.”

Running a small nonprofit organization can be challenging, she says, particularly making use of the technology tools and fundraising. “I still struggle with letting go of my slide projector to do fundraising talks. I’ve gotten more comfortable with my laptop and the web. In fact, a few weeks ago we launched an online fundraising campaign and I’m helping some of my elderly neighbors make their first online donation! And guess what, it’s to the Sharing Foundation.”

If you would like to contribute to the Sharing Foundation and help leverage matching dollars from Yahoo via the Network For Good Charity Badge program, see the Sharing Foundation web site for details. The campaign will support the Sharing Foundation’s education programs.  But, hurry the campaign ends on December 31, 2006! 

Thank you!

Meet Sina: She Helps Make Those $10 Uniforms: Only A Few Days Left To Make Our Goal!

Sina, age 15, is an orphan and head of her family -- two younger sisters aged 11 and 8 (Sina is in photo with the white shirt and blue shorts on the left). She earns a monthly wage working for a sewing school and shop, a vocational program run by the Sharing Foundation that trains young women so they can earn a sustainable living wage with a home-based sewing business or get a better paying job in Cambodia’s garment industry.

Sina helps makes school uniforms that the Foundation provides to over 1,000 street children in Cambodia so they can attend school.  Sina’s younger sisters are 2 of over 500 students who are learning English in a program in the local village supported and run by TSF.

This year we could more than double the number of uniforms we provide to children in Cambodia, including some for HIV children's group homes.  The Sharing Foundation has the opportunity to receive matching dollars from Yahoo via the Network For Good Charity Badge program. This could make a big difference for thousands of children in Cambodia.  We need just a few minutes of your time and a few dollars before December 31, 2006

Here's how it works: Yahoo! is offering a $50,000 matching grant for the nonprofit which gets the largest number of donations before the end of the year using its new "charity badges."  (see below)  What is important is the number of donors, not the amount of dollars.    

A large number of people contributing just the minimum of $10 each would make all the difference in the world.  (We also would be happy to receive larger contributions to help more children lift themselves out of poverty through education and the Sharing Foundation's other programs.)

Can you think of a better use of $10 or more? Send poor Cambodian to school, provide employment for young women like Sina in Cambodia, and help the Sharing Foundation raise additional dollars to help address poverty in Cambodia.  Simply click on the orange donate button on the charity badge located in the side bar or below.  If our campaign has the most individual donors, Yahoo will match what we raise.  So, why not help us today!

For $10 USD, Send A Cambodian Youngster to School!

Many children in Cambodia do not go to school because their families lack the $10 for a uniform, required for school attendance, and other school supplies. Last year, The Sharing Foundation sewing school made over 1000 uniform sets, each one with two white shirts and blue trousers or skirt.

The Sharing Foundation gave them to needy children in Roteang Village, to the Street Children's Assistance NGO, and to a poor government orphanage.  Our sewing girls, who employed by the Sharing Foundation's vocational training program, earn from the first day of their training, so this is a win-win situation.  This year we plan to make at least 1,250 uniform sets, including some for HIV children's group homes. We'd love your help.

Is there a better $10 gift? Simply click on the orange donate button on the charity badge located in the side bar or right below. If your campaign has the most individual donors, Yahoo will match what we raise.  So, why not help us today!

Fundraising Widget Campaign: Success! Thank You! You Can Still Contribute!

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We are very grateful to everyone for their contributions,  links, and advice.   I'm elated that we made goal.  I'm pulling together all my notes and will post reflections about all the campaign shortly!  In the meantime, enjoy the thank you video!

AND, Leng Sopharath is only one of  16 college students the Sharing Foundation is supporting.  In addition, the Sharing Foundation is sponsoring 40 high school students and provides an English program in the Roteang Village School for over 500 kids.   And that's not all, the Sharing Foundation provides school uniforms (a requirement to enter school) to street kids in Cambodia so they can attend school.  's These uniforms are made by girls in our vocational program where we teach these young women sewing skills and pay them to work for our sewing shop or train them for higher paying jobs in the garment industry.

So, if don't worry that we're over goal - there are many children who will benefit from the additional support.

Donors:

Richardo Carreon
Lisa Canter   
Britt Bravo    
Teresa Crawford   
Kenneth Gierke   
Michele Martin   
Thomas Rogers   
Michael Hoffman   
Katya Andresen   
CDJ Wilcox    
Somongkol Teng   
Stewart Robinson
Tim Rose   
Ken Goldstein   
Michael Hannum
The children at Ptea Ponleu Vichea, a youth center in Battambang
Caroline Meeks, Solution Grove
Stephen Sherlock
Paul Lamb
Jonathan Davis   
Nancy White
Alexandra Samuel and Robb Cottingham
Erin Denny (Aka Agent Handy)
   

Links/Posts

Pam Ashlund, Nonprofit Eye Blog (some advice about tax documentation)
Emily Weinberg from the Nonprofit Blog Exchange
Michelle Martin from the Bamboo Project
ChipIn News Blog
CrowdFunding (that is that awesome vlogger Sull)
First-of-its-Kind (Peter Dietz - excellent advice on how to go about these campaigns)
Michael Hoffman at See3
Second Life Blog
Britt Bravo on Blogher
Britt Bravo on her personal blog
smArts & Culture
FiSpace
Micropersuasion
E-politics
Ricardo Carreon
Solution Grove

Mongkol, a Cambodian college student who is studying in the US on a Fullbright Scholarship and knows the importance of a college education had this to say.

Keun Fast, another Cambodian blogger.
Tharum, who I had the pleasure of meeting via my work with Global s, has linked to the Campaign.

I also want to thank Ken Goldstein for sharing with his network on YouTube.

Carnet Williams at the ChipIn blog has kept a record of links and dollars here.

Katya Andresen at the Nonprofit Marketing Blog gave me a guest spot to write about the campaign and solicit advice from colleagues here.

Fundraising Widget Campaign Update: $100 more to goal!

 

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We just need to raise $100 to make our goal!  That could be ten people donating ten dollars each!  Such a small amount would make a world of difference in the life of Leng Sopharath.   So, if you're looking to support a worthwhile project this year, please consider making a contribution. 

I’m the parent two wonderful children, Harry and Sara, who were adopted as orphans from Cambodia.  My children have food everyday, clothing, go to school, have toys (probably too many), and many other necessities of life that we in the US often take for granted.  When we were in Cambodia, many Cambodian people came up to us and said “Your child is very lucky!” We would reply, now we’re lucky parents.  But in some respects, they were right.  The infant mortality rate in Cambodia is very high, so my children are lucky to be alive.

When we adopted our beautiful children, we also adopted their birth country.  We have embraced Khmer culture and we also feel a responsibility to give something back to the country, particularly to seriously disadvantaged children in Cambodia.  Soon after coming home with our first child nearly seven years ago, I volunteered for the Sharing Foundation, an ngo that works directly with local officials, orphanages, and NGOs in Cambodia to identify and carry out projects which improve the lives of children.  I now serve on the board.

There’s lots of could tell you about TSF and I encourage you to visit the web site so you can get an sense of the scope of the good work this organization does.  One of its focus areas is education. Over 1,300 children in Cambodia receive educational support every day as a result of The Sharing Foundation initiatives.  The Foundation has increasingly focused its efforts on ways to create and improve educational opportunities for Cambodian children of all ages, including public school projects, pre-school, Khmer literacy, English language instruction, high school and college sponsorships, and vocational training.  These projects present what might be the only means for the most disadvantaged children to life themselves, as well as their families, out of poverty conditions, become self-reliant and lead more productive, hopeful lives.

The Foundation is now its second year of college sponsorships.  Last year, our family stepped forward to sponsor Leng Soparath, an orphan from Kampong Speu orphanage.  For a gift of $750 annually, TSF is able to cover her college fees and living expenses. (It is a stretch for us ... we’re not rich but this could make such a difference in the life of one young person) In addition to money, we provide emotional support and encouragement through regular letters and photographs that we exchange.  Our letters are hand-carried to Cambodia by Sharing Foundation’s 76-year old founder, Dr. Nancy Hendrie.  Watch the video for more information.

I’ve also documented our correspondence with Leng Sopharath in flickr (here, here, here, and here).

While TSF has paid staff, Cambodians, in Cambodia to manage all its programs, the work done in the US (primarily fundraising) is all volunteer-driven.  Almost of the money raised comes from grassroots efforts and primarily done offline as well as some web fundraising. (See these wonderful examples.) So, when I saw the fundraising widget, it looked like a natural extension of the type of grassroots fundraising that we’ve been doing offline.  And I might add that our family has made a commitment to sponsor Leng Soparath through graduation and we ask our friends, family, and colleagues to help us.  Even my kids contribute money from their piggy banks and direct birthday money to the effort.

How you can help

1.  Make a contribution:  A little bit of money in Cambodia goes a long way.  Click on the ChipIn badge above to charge your contribution.

2.  Blog about the campaign and include campaign badge:  Help tell the story aout why a college education for someone in Cambodia is so important.  To copy the badge code,simply click on the HTML icon on the badge and cut and paste the code into your blog post.  Here's a screencast that shows you how.

3.  Click on the Video and Ad:   The campaign video is also in Revver which is advertiser based and pays per click through.  You can also add the video to your blog by copying the code.  All proceeds will be donated to support this project.

4.  Digg it!:  Click through and digg the story.

5.  Advice: Give me some advice about how to get the word out by leaving a comment to this post.

Thank you!  Here it is Khmer too!

P.S.  Please be sure to read the letter from Leng Sopharath to the Sharing Foundation explaining why her college education means so much to her.

We are very grateful to everyone for their contributions,  links, and advice.

Donors:

Richardo Carreon
Lisa Canter   
Britt Bravo    
Teresa Crawford   
Kenneth Gierke   
Michele Martin   
Thomas Rogers   
Michael Hoffman   
Katya Andresen   
CDJ Wilcox    
Somongkol Teng   
Stewart Robinson
Tim Rose   
Ken Goldstein   
Michael Hannum
The children at Ptea Ponleu Vichea, a youth center in Battambang
Caroline Meeks, Solution Grove
Stephen Sherlock
Paul Lamb
Jonathan Davis   
Nancy White
Alexandra Samuel and Robb Cottingham
Erin Denny (Aka Agent Handy)
   

Links/Posts

Pam Ashlund, Nonprofit Eye Blog (some advice about tax documentation)
Emily Weinberg from the Nonprofit Blog Exchange
Michelle Martin from the Bamboo Project
ChipIn News Blog
CrowdFunding (that is that awesome vlogger Sull)
First-of-its-Kind (Peter Dietz - excellent advice on how to go about these campaigns)
Michael Hoffman at See3
Second Life Blog
Britt Bravo on Blogher
Britt Bravo on her personal blog
smArts & Culture
FiSpace
Micropersuasion
E-politics
Ricardo Carreon
Solution Grove

Mongkol, a Cambodian college student who is studying in the US on a Fullbright Scholarship and knows the importance of a college education had this to say.

Tharum, who I had the pleasure of meeting via my work with Global s, has linked to the Campaign.

I also want to thank Ken Goldstein for sharing with his network on YouTube.

Carnet Williams at the ChipIn blog has kept a record of links and dollars here.

Katya Andresen at the Nonprofit Marketing Blog gave me a guest spot to write about the campaign and solicit advice from colleagues here.

Non-Profit Eye on Donor Documentation

"I'm not a lawyer, I only play one YouTube"  - Ken Goldstein

Well, I'm not a tax accountant and I don't even attempt to play one on my blog.  When Britt Bravo asked about tax recepts for donors to Chip In campaigns, I wasn't sure of the answer.  I don't need to because I asked Pam Ashlund, who isn't a CPA either, but a financial manager for a nonprofit and writes  the Non-Profit Eye Blog.  She responded with this advice in a post. (Thanks for using the widget too!)

For donors wanting to know how to claim a deduction for their contribution, you want: Publication 526; For charities wanting to know the requirements for charitable contributions substation and disclosure, look to: Publication 1771 (Rev. 7-2005) Charitable Contributions Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements

From Publication 1771:

There are two general rules that organizations need to be aware of to meet substantiation and disclosure requirements for federal income tax return reporting purposes:

• a donor is responsible for obtaining a written acknowledgment from a charity for any single contribution of $250 or more before the donor can claim a charitable contribution on his/her federal income tax return
• a charitable organization is required to provide a written disclosure to a donor who receives goods or services in exchange for a single payment in excess of $75

More on written acknowledgments and written disclosures is addressed in this publication.

Thanks Pam! 

 

Personal Fundraising with Widgets: A Few Reflections and Campaign Update

 

My post over at Katya's blog generated some excellent advice and has also raised many more questions.   I'm taking a deep breath to capture the learnings and roll them into the next steps for my personal fundraising campaign on behalf of the Sharing  Foundation's College Sponsorship Program and Leng Sopharath.

Results

My campaign goal is $750 by December 31, 2006.  I'm sitting here in awe that you all have helped me raised $261 from 11 donors (Thurs. Nov. 16 AM) over the last two days.  I can't tell how much it warms the cockles of my heart to see that little campaign thermontor go up!

Have a question:  I want to publically acknowledge the names of the donors here on this blog and what I don't know is whether donors opted to be anonymous or not?  Is that built into the system? What's the protocol?

Thank Yous

So far, other bloggers have added the badge to their site or linked to the campaign and I want say a big thanks and in Khmer too!  (and, if you linked and I don't have you on radar yet - leave me a comment)

Emily Weinberg from the Nonprofit Blog Exchange
Michelle Martin from the Bamboo Project
ChipIn News Blog
CrowdFunding (that is that awesome vlogger Sull)
First-of-its-Kind (Peter Dietz - excellent advice on how to go about these campaigns)

My Cambodian blogger colleagues have linked or posted about the campaign. 

Mongkol, a Cambodian college student who is studying in the US on a Fullbright Scholarship and knows the importance of a college education had this to say.

Tharum, who I had the pleasure of meeting via my work with Global s, has linked to the Campaign.

I also want to thank Ken Goldstein for sharing with his network on YouTube.

Process

1.   Preparation

Created the campaign materials (blog post, text messaging, widget, widget campaign page, video, and photos) and message (such as it is) based on the a comment that Katya made about personal fundraising campaigns: (here)

The key is to let people upload their own text, photos, or video about why they care about a cause and then link to the  cause. It can't be about the cause so much as the messenger.

I used the ChipIn campaign page feature. I created some template language to cut and paste into emails, skype/im pings, and thank you messaging, etc.

I scanned, uploaded, and organized photos of Leng as well as our communications into photo sets on flickr.  In the descriptions, I added the URL to the campaign page.

I create two versions of the campaign video, one for YouTube and on Revver. I did two because ChipIn only integrates with YouTube on the campaign (the player can be easily emedded) and Revver because they pay users for content based on ad click thrus.

What I didn't think about

-Like duh. Should have set up a campaign tag to track blog posts, etc.  What a dork I am!   The campaign tag is: sopharath

2.  Launch Announcements

I decided not to broadcast this out to everyone I know.  I wanted to start with  my blog readers and nonprofit tech colleagues and Cambodian blogger colleagues.

I posted an announcement of the campaign on my blog
and on Netsquared

Posted a guest blog post at Katya's blog soliciting campaign advice in exchange to share my learnings.

I pinged some nonprofit technology and cambodian blogger colleagues via skype or email, asking for campaign advice.   

In the past,  I've solicited mostly friends and family for fundraising causes.  Soliciting professional colleagues is a little out of my comfort zone as I'm worried about crossing a line.  That's part of the reason why I've shaped it as a learning opportunity.  I've been flabbergasted by the generous donations from colleagues of their money, their advice, and  links.

Unanswered Questions and next steps

These were initial questions jumping into this.  I'm summarizing some observations, comments, and advice.


What advice would you give to your supporters so they are successful in a group fundraising campaign? What do I need to  think about?

The message is really important and it has to focus on why you are passionate about the cause and the results of raising the money.   

If you're raising money for nonprofit, remember that you are an ambassador the cause and what you say and do reflects the organization.  So, be sure to thank your donors promptly, etc.  So, how do you give your supporters the freedom to run with  it while ensuring that it won't backfire?

I'm on the board of the ngo that I'm doing this campaign. At our last board meeting, we discussed online fundraising strategies and I made a proposal about using the fundraising widget and a campaign.  Given that we're all volunteer  organization and almost all our fundraising is grassroots - the approach was not a mismatch with our culture.

What is the checklist?

I'm not a marketing or fundraising professional.  I am technology trainer, evaluator, curriculum developer, and blogger.    So, I really need reap experience to create a checklist, templates, and a worksheet.  I think its really ironic that I'm often hired to create such tools, but because I have not done a fundraising widget campaign I felt I needed to plunge in.  By the end of the experience, will 
have some beginnings of a checklist, templates, and worksheets.   

What internal issues does this bring up for you?

I suspect in some, if not many, organizations - there may be some control issues.  How much are do you have hand over control of the look, feel, and messaging of your campaign materials to the personal fundraiser?  Will it still be authentic  if you give template messaging?   What happens if you don't like the way the personal fundraiser has represented your NGO?  What do you do?

My only concern about this down the road is that of potential misrepresentation.  What is some jerk decides to go out and fundraise for my cause, collect money, and pocket it?

Britt Bravo also brought an excellent question campaign tracking of widgets (to thank donors) and whether or not their gifts are tax-deductible.

Personally, I would like the ability for the donations to be linked to TSF's DonateNow account or checking account.  Is that possible?   Also, can an email with EIN number suffice as a tax receipt?  And, given that most of the donations are really  relatively small gifts, do donors expect, want, need tax documentation.  And, some of my donors are from outside US, so it  may not be necessary in my case.  What is the best practice here?

What should I try doing next?

I got some great ideas for the next round of the campaign that is if  the internal issue questions don't stop me from going any further with this experiment.  What do you think?

I'm now reading and rereading marketing 101 advice like this and thinking about it.

My initial brainstorm:

-forward the video in YouTube to cambodian groups and appropriate contacts
-forward the flickr photos to cambodian group and appropriate contacts
-post the campaign on Cambodia4Kids blog and send email to adoptive parent network
-post about the campaign on the parent sites that I write for

Additional ideas posted in the comments:

Strategies:

* blog about the progress of your ChipIn campaign so that you keep it in the RSS and search stream.  And give those blog posts good technorati tags so people can find them.
* Send your contacts in LinkedIn a note about what you’re doing and ask ‘em to spread the word
* heck, ping your skype contacts and ask them to share
* drop emails to appropriate bloggers and ask ‘em to share your message.  It’s amazing how many times a good message works  on me. And on the bloggers I read.
* thank the folks that do the blogging and keep them up-to-date on your progress
* engage people in a conversation about the cause

* Try to make connections with local college students in your area.  They know the advantages of a college education, can relate to Leng Sopharath as a fellow student, and are tapped in to loads of social networks (Facebook, MySpace, et al).  If they get excited by your cause, they can spread the word rapidly.  College students are excellent small-time fundraisers,  and will often throw benefit parties.
* make sure that you publicize the fact that the chip in code is portable, encourage others to post it on their sites.

* Create a thank you video to acknowledge donors as part of your campaign update and read her letter

* throw a fundraiser/houseparty. keep it simple - have some video you can show, ask folks to bring a bottle of their  favorite wine or some cheese and their checkbooks (old fashioned, but could work especially around holiday time).
* use your social network to help you with the campaign.  Your goal is $750.  If just two or three of your friends each posted the ChipIn widget with accompanying video, pictures and text to their site, you would now have four people all  working to fundraise.
* Continue to talk about the fundraiser in multiple posts, updating and describing the cause or event. 
Another thing you can try is to get people to Digg the story as they read it.  (Hey, someone added to digg)

* create some badges, wallpaper, t-shirt decals, etc. that could be available for free download from your site, making it easy for people to spread the word. Don’t know how do-able that is for you, but it’s a thought.

GlobalGiving Olympics: Support the Sharing Foundation

Attention anyone who has asked me to donate money or time to their project ....

Until October 31st, all projects on GlobalGiving will be competing for  $75,000 in prizes.  You’ve got about a week to make an enormous difference.      

Since I'm on the board of the Sharing Foundation that works on development projects to support children in Cambodia and is part of the GlobalGiving community, I'm going to plug our education projects.   You can read about them here as well as contribute. 

On a personal note, our family contributes to the Sharing Foundation to support the college education of Leng Sopharath (along with the local rotary club, although college tuition in Cambodia is about $1,000 per year).  You can read about her experience here.

The choice is up to you because the project that  generates the most donations will receive the $50,000 grand prize. I would so much like it to be the Sharing Foundation.  By giving  to a particular project on GlobalGiving and encouraging your  friends and family to do the same, you will determine what project gets the  $50,000 prize money.

If not the Sharing Foundation, I'd sure love to make sure that support gets to Cambodia in general because the country that receive the most donations, the projects in that country will split $25,000.  However, there are many worthy projects in other countries to support.

So, help out some excellent work going on in the developing world by:

- MOBILIZING supporters to help your favorite project or country win by  making donations and telling their friends and colleagues to do the same.

- COMMUNICATING to let  everyone know exactly how they can put your favorite project in first place. Use  newsletters, websites, blogs, and email to spread the word about the Olympics  and how people can participate.

- MONITORING the results  by signing  up for weekly updates over the next week.

- To learn more about the  GlobalGiving Olympics click here  or read about in the co-founder's  blog.

Sharing Foundation Nominated For Omidyar Network Collaborative Funding Proposal

Read my Flickr Story About Leng Sopharath, an orphan being sponsored for college by the Sharing Foundation

I've been a board member of the Sharing Foundation for the last three years and volunteer several years before that.  The Sharing Foundation is honored to be selected as one of the possible recipients of the Omidyar Network team-based collaborative funding projects.  You can read about how it all is working here.

The Sharing Foundation was nominated by the Snapdragon Team.  Right now I'm waiting and biting my finger nails.  You see in order to receive the funding, 30 people in the community have to vote yes by Saturday, July 1 at 19:35 PDT.   The Sharing Foundation is one of five very worthy grassroots organizations doing social change work.  You can read about the others here.

Here's what I'd like you to do if you are an Omidyar Network member ...

1.   Read my flickr story
2.   Visit the Sharing Foundation's Web site for more information (sorry it's Web 1.0 ..)
3.   Read the proposal
4.   If you think our work is worthy, vote yes!