Totally Incorrect » charity

Big 12for12k bash – Live in Lowell

David — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:07:54 +0000

For the December “Homeless” theme, the New England 12for12k team would love to invite you to Live in Lowell! – a special 12for12k event.

Live in Lowell! takes place on Thursday, December 10th and will be an evening of music, networking and fun in support of MA Coalition for the Homeless.

There will be live music all night with some of the coolest local musicians as well as raffles and auctions.

All in all, a great opportunity to meet with other social media enthusiasts, support a great cause at a time of year they need the help and have a good time as well.

Our venue, The Mambo Grill, is right in Downtown Lowell, Mass – where the American Industrial Revolution was born. Lowell is easy to get to from all the main highways and there is parking on the street or in the garage just around the corner.

Live in Lowell!

At the Mambo Grill
129 Merrimack Street
Lowell, MA 01852

December 10th, 2009
Starting at 7.00PM
$10.00 donation (more if you like) at the door.

If you can’t make it to Lowell, we plan to stream the event live on the 12for12k site.

Want to help out? Great – you can contribute right here:

Free video streaming by Ustream

12for12k Global Event #GG24

David — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:30:22 +0000

I’ve already written about the program that the 12for12k team has been putting together to support our September charity, Doctors Without Borders,

The month has started really well with the Music as Medicine events proving to be a huge success and going a long way to meeting our goals. It is going to be up to the social media community to take over and finish the month on a high note.

12for12k is planning a gala Go Global 24 hour event that will be accessed from the Go Global 24 portal on the 12for12k site. The host for the whole 24 hours will be Henie Reisinger – one of twitter’s most dynamic and engaging personalities.

Go Global 24 (#GG24) Starts: 3 am Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, September 29 and Ends: 2:59:59 am Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, September 30.

It is really important that all the friends of 12for12k support the event by blogging and tweeting about what is going on.

We are going to offering sponsorships for 1 hour segments of the event. These can be purchased in advance by business wanting to take part and they will also be auctioned on eBay. The #GG24 sponsorships will offer some huge advantages to the sponsoring businesses.

Sponsors can use #12for12K’s collective global reach to introduce themselves, their latest innovation, their hottest new promotion, their brand… all in a way that adds value.

For example, in their hour, sponsors might conduct a question and answer session, run a contest, host a moderated panel discussion, and/or point fans and prospects to relevant information on their blog, or website, or microsite.

In addition sponsors will receive:

Real-time introductions, comments and thank yous
Will be featured on our event portal during their hour
Permanent thank yous on 12for12K.org
Lots of tweets and retweets and blog posts: before, during, and after the event

This is a huge opportunity for a business established in social media, or just getting started to create a really big impression, get out their message and have fun doing it.

However you choose to support 12for12k, you’ll get to meet a lot of influential social media people and (my favorite part) have a great time while helping others!!

There will be more information released over the next few days, so I’ll be updating this post from time to time.

Important Update: Along with the sponsorships we are also seeking items to be auctioned on eBay at the same time as the event.

If you have something you’d like to have included, you can send details to Jon Aston (jonaston@gmail.com) and he will include on the 12for12k auction site. As an alternative, you can set up the auction on your own account and set it up to donate directly to Doctors Without Borders. (I’m going to be setting one of these myself so once I know how to do it, I’ll post here again).

Should you set up your own auction, please let @12for12k know so we can include links to it. Also let us know the total you raise to update the grand totals.

If you’d like to make a direct contribution to Doctors Without Borders, you can do so via this 12for12k page.

Thanks for the support – as Jon Aston would say “You Rock!”

12for12k – Doctors Without Borders

David — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:08:19 +0000

September promises to be a fantastic month for The 12for12k Challenge. It is going to bring together three powerful ideas:

12for12k: The idea that regular people can use social media to get together and make the World better

Global Patriot: Mark Lovett’s vision that patriotism needed be confined by national or regional boundaries – which I subscribe to 100%

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières using the same philosophy to bring health care to people in need, regardless of race, religion or any of the other reasons for separating people.

With the huge number of people suffering in the World today, there is no question that Médecins Sans Frontières offers the only hope for many and it is a pleasure to be able to support this brave group of dedicated people in doing their good work.

There is a whole program of really cool events being planned for September. One of the first is Music as Medicine, being held in San Diego on September 3rd.

If you are going to be in San Diego that evening, I hope you can go. It will be a great night and you’ll be supporting a great cause. Even if you can’t be there life, I hope you will be able to make a small contribution to the cause.

There will be more exciting 12for12k and Global Patriot events throughout the month. Search on #12for12k on Twitter or check out the 12for 12k and Global Patriot sites for more info.

It’s time to get involved – time to make a difference!!

What do you think? do you have any ideas to make this program better and more effective? If you do, we’d love to chat with you.

Oh, don’t you agree the Music as Medicine poster is just way cool? I love it =)

Why Support Eye Care for Kids?

David — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:07:32 +0000

A few days ago I wrote about Eye Care for Kids being the July charity for 12for12k.

As the first charity of the second half of the year, this is quite a contrast to the June charity, UNICEF. Whereas UNICEF operates on a global scale, Eye Care for Kids works on a much smaller scale, covering the US state of Utah.

This is one of the great things about being a 12for12k supporter, the opportunity to make a difference to a diverse range of people, all of whom could certainly use our help.

Based in Salt Lake City, Eye Care for Kids concentrates on the poorer areas of the state, including the Native American reservations. So far they have helped nearly 20,000 visually impaired, low income children – not bad hey?

One of the good things with these smaller charities is that every single donation can be seen to make a real difference. For example, a donation of $25.00 is enough to provide an eye exam and eye glasses to a deserving child. Giving a child the gift of good vision can have a fantastic effect on their life.

For most of my life, I’ve done very little to help charities. I’ve been too busy, too broke, too lazy or thought that the small amount I could give would make no difference. That’s the idea of 12for12k, if we join together and each donate a small amount, the result will indeed make a difference.

If you are like me and enjoy all the things that social media gives us for free, you might feel it is time to contribute just a little back. Bring vision to America’s kids!

Want to lean more about 12for12k? Head over to the site.

I’m in – are you?

12for12k – Eye Care for Kids

David — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:34:13 +0000

We are pleased that the July charity for 12for12k is Eye Care for Kids.

This continues lasts months theme of using Social Media to raise funds for children who need help.

Eye Care For Kids is based in Utah and helps kids throughout the state, focusing (no pun intended) on rural areas and the Native American reservations.

Your contribution to 12for12k this month can make a huge difference. A $25 donation is enough to provide for an eye exam and glasses for a child that really needs them.

Read more about 12for12k and this month’s charity on the 12for12k site.

Ready to contribute and make a difference? You can do it right here:

12for12k Special 12 hour video-a thon

David — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:00:48 +0000

This is short notice, but very important.

As you’ll have noticed, I’m a supporter of The 12for12k Challenge, a great team of social media enthusiasts looking to bring people together to help worthwhile causes.

The end of June marks the half way point of this year’s challenge and we want to mark this in spectacular style.

As a result there is going to be a 24 hour video-a-thon, tweetathon starting at 10.00 AM EST on Monday.

There is going to be a fantastic lineup of entertainment and some great prizes and giveaways – including a special one from me.

To find out more head over the the 12for12k site without delay. You can also follow 12for12k or me at Twitter.

12for12k is a great community of really cool people. Why not join in with us in helping ordinary people do great things. Let’s get the June UNICEF campaign finished on a high and build some momentum for next month.

Want to get involved with hleping other? Join us in 12for12k!!

Blog of the Week – Kids are Heroes

David — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:51:48 +0000

OK, so Kids are Heroes might not strictly speaking be a blog, but I want to recognize it anyway.

Kids are Heroes was set up my Gabe O’Neil and his daughter Mary Margaret and it strives to help young people do great things – become heroes!

As I understand it, the idea for Kids are Heroes came from Mary Margaret and she was able to get her dad on board – I think she was 9 at the time so this is pretty cool. It was also rather fortunate that Gabe just happens to be a web designer so he was able to put the whole thing together.

Check out the Kids are Heroes site to see some of the cool things Mary Margaret and Gabe have been able to set in motion – really impressive.

Kids are Heroes was recently chosen to be featured on PitchTV, on Virgin Atlantic flights. Watch the video, introduced by Richard Branson.

And, as if this family isn’t amazing enough already, Gabe’s brother Greg is heavily involved with another children’s charity Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW). Gabe himself also finds time to be an enthusiastic supporter of 12for12k which I really appreciate. I’m really hoping that we can somehow get Kids are Heroes to be a 12for12k charity one month.

Oh, since this is supposed to be about blogging, you can check out Gabe’s blog as well as follow him on Twitter where he is @kidsareheroes.

Quite a family and a worthy Totally Incorrect Blog of the Week!

UNICEF & 12for12k

David — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:43:59 +0000

Since The 12for12k Challenge folks (of whom I’m a huge supporter) chose UNICEF’s Believe in Zero campaign as the June charity, there has been a lot of activity, not all of it positive.

First one of the 12for12k blog partners decided he didn’t like UNICEF after originally posting in support.

There have also been attacks on the choice of this charity on Twitter and other social media sites and even the venerable old sage of 12for12k Danny Brown has come in for some stick.

So I find myself wondering what is going on here? What is it about UNICEF that causes so many different opinions, from those that support the organization and those that seem to think it has no merit at all.

I thought it might be worthwile to do a little investigating and see what this organization is all about.

History.

UNICEF was founded in 1946 to help deal with the problem of millions of starving children in the aftermath of the Second World War. Here’s a video, narrated by Sir Roger Moore on the organization’s history:

I don’t think anyone would disagree with UNICEF’s mission – there is no question that the it has saved many thousands of children’s lives since 1946 and played a part in improving the lives of many many more.

So why would the choice of an organization doing such good work, where it’s workers are dedicated enough to literally put their lives on the line (see the clippings I’ve included) in some of the toughest parts of the world cause so much controversy? Surely people working to protect children, often right in the middle of active conflicts, deserve support from those of us safe at home with our families?

I’m inclined to believe that the biggest issue UNICEF has is that it is part of the United Nations. The UN isn’t the most popular organization here in the United States, largely due to its history of poor management, but also because the UN is structured so that the US doesn’t get its way all the time. The fact that any of the five permanent Security Council members (US, UK, France, Russia and China) has a power of veto has often stopped the US from pushing through its agenda. Actually, I see this as a good thing since the US doesn’t have a very good foreign policy track record of late!

So UNICEF is having to operate in the field while carrying the burden of its unpopular owner – easy to see why there is a lack of enthusiasm. Of course, there are also advantages with being part of the UN, worldwide scope, access to government leaders and funding way above what any other childrens charity could hope to attain. I wonder if the huge budget of UNICEF is also an issue for 12for12k supporters? No matter what we were to raise, it is unlikely to show as a big line item on the UNICEF balance sheet.

While I do believe that UNICEF does great work and I’ve personally contributed to 12for12k this month (and certainly encourage you to do the same, because it is a great cause) I am somewhat disappointed that UNICEF has not played any role in the June campaign. The 12for12k Challenge relies on support – not just from supporters and contributors, but from the charities themselves. UNICEF could had actively supported 12for12k on their site and their various blogs, to the benefit of both. It would raise more for UNICEF in June and making more people aware of 12for12k would create a higher public awareness and better results for the charities lined up for the rest of the year. Instead UNICEF has been silent. Not my idea of a partner.

So today, I feel a little let down. Let down by people who could do more to support 12for12k instead of just complaining and by UNICEF which I thought could do so much to help, but has not come through. I’m certainly not feeling let down by the actual UNICEF workers and supporters who are doing great things or by social media users who have made contributions to the campaign.

So please contribute to support the great work being done by UNICEF and please consider becoming an active supporter of 12for12k. It is a great opportunity for us regular people to get together and actually make a difference. Rather than sit back and criticize, get involved and make it better. Go to 12for12k.org for more info.

I’d love to know if you agree with my thoughts. How can we work together to help 12for12k be more effective? What about that Roger Moore video commentary? Would you view UNICEF differently if it was part of the Gates Foundation rather than the UN?

12for12k

David — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:45:55 +0000

The 12for12k challenge is a remarkable effort being made to use the power of Social Media to make a positive impact to a lot of people’s lives.

The idea is to select a different charity each month during 2009 and raise at least $12,000 to support that charaty’s efforts.

The charity for April has been Yehu Microfinance, dedicated to supporting mothers and their families in Kenya. As it says on their site:

“Yehu is a microfinance organization in the rural coastal region of Kenya for the poor, run by the poor. It provides financial and other support services for small businesses owned by very poor people.

Yehu operates in conjunction with Choice Humanitarian, an international NGO specializing in village development. Yehu was created based on the principles and procedures of the world-renowned Grameen Bank.”

Microfinancing has been proven to be very effective in reducing poverty in developing nations, see the Wikipedia article here.

There will be a new charity for May announced soon. You will still be able to donate to Yehu at the 12for12k site.