Category archives for

– #GivingTuesday –

The Hockey Foundation

by C.C. Chapman · May 21, 2013

My beloved Boston Bruins are currently working their way towards another Stanley Cup, so I thought today would be the perfect time to tell you about my friend Adam’s organization The Hockey Foundation.

A couple of years ago when I first met Adam he was working for an NHL team trying to get them to embrace social media. They never fully understood it, he left and then he started talking about how he wanted to go to remote parts of the world where they had never heard of hockey and teach it to the kids. I vividly remember him first mentioning going to India to do this and my reaction being that I didn’t even know they had ice there to skate on. How wrong I was.

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SPARK – #GivingTuesday

by Marc A. Pitman · May 14, 2013

While doing some fundraising training in Philadelphia last week, I was introduced to an incredibly cool program called Spark.

Spark was founded by a 7th grade science teacher who wanted his students to see why school mattered. The premise is really simple: place 7th and 8th grade students in apprenticeships with people in their community. They’ve placed students in apprenticeships with all sorts of professionals: fire fighters, chefs, pilots, artists, and tech folks.

The results speak for themselves

Spark Program Logo for Social Media Examiner's #GivingTuesday featured charitySpark has grown to serve in students in at-risk neighborhoods in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. And the results have been phenomenal. Despite very high high-school drop out rates with their peers, 98% of Spark alumni stay in school.

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Wediko – #GivingTuesday

by C.C. Chapman · May 7, 2013

As a father, whenever I see children hurting it hits me in my soul. That is why five years ago when I first learned about the amazing work that Wediko was doing they got my attention. Next thing I knew I was joining their Board of Directors and now know first hand how passionate of an organization they are. You might not know, but May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and this week is dedicated towards raising awareness for mental health issues in children. You might also not know that 15 million American children have a diagnosable psychiatric or learning disorder? What is even scarier to me is that less than half of them will ever get the help that they need.

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Amirah – #GivingTuesday

by Marc A. Pitman · April 30, 2013

Ask someone about slavery, and they’ll typically think about the trade of African natives to Europe and North America a couple hundred years ago.

Tell them that slavery still exists today, and most will scoff. But the reality is pretty ugly. More slaves exist today then were trafficked in the trans-Atlantic slavery that was outlawed in the 1800s.

The UN estimates that there are 27 million people trapped in slavery around the world. The CIA estimates there are 1 million in the USA alone. And the city of Boston is one of the major ports of trafficking in the US. Many organizations of modern day abolitionists exist to rescue people out of trafficking. But when they’re out, the USA has woefully lacking resources for helping them rebuild their lives.

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Raising a Reader – #GivingTuesday

by C.C. Chapman · April 16, 2013

By third Grade, 39% of all third graders do not read proficiently and this number jumps to 60% for low income children. Children who are not reading proficiently by 3rd grade are 4 times more likely to leave school without a diploma.

Think about those facts for a moment.

I know when I first heard them I was shocked. Sure, I knew reading skills were vital, but I hadn’t seen the numbers so clearly showing how critical it is to get all kids reading at such an early age.

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Twestival – #GivingTuesday

by Marc A. Pitman · April 9, 2013

Twestival is back!

Twestival combines social media and in-person events to raise money for charity. And it works! The first global Twestival was in 2009. Since then, Twestival has raised $1.75 million for over 285 charities around the world!

Now, in 2013, with the help of global sponsors PayPal, StayClassy, and Project 7, Twestival is poised to expand its impact. Since it started, all the local Twestival events were hosted on the same day around the globe. This year, Twestival is opening up the ability for local organizers to choose the date that’s best for them. It’s like a year round Twestival!

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beremedy – #GivingTuesday

by Marc A. Pitman · April 2, 2013

I recently took to Twitter to ask what nonprofit I should write about. Kate Atwood suggested we feature beremedy.

Never having heard of it, I went to their Indiegogo page to learn more. This group started with a simple idea:

We have the resources in every community to meet the needs of that community.

It’s really that simple

beremedy logo for write up by Fundraising Coach Marc A. Pitman for Social Media Exlporer's #GivingTuesday seriesIn his TEDx talk, founder Blake Canterbury wanted to help other people. They just didn’t know how. So he started using the power of social networking to get it done.

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Cradles to Crayons – #GivingTuesday

by C.C. Chapman · March 26, 2013

Children have no control over the world they are born into. I think this is why any organization that aims to make the lives of those born into poverty or other less than desirable situations always get my attention.

Cradles to Crayons provides children from birth to age 12, living in low- income and homeless situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school and at play. They supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need.

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Community Foundations – #GivingTuesday

by Marc A. Pitman · March 19, 2013

As we’ve gone through these weekly #GivingTuesday posts, we’ve highlighted one organization a week. This week I want to focus on a “type” of organization: community foundations.

Community foundations are generally established by donors to benefit a specific geographical region be it a city, a county, or even a state. Wikipedia lists six hallmarks of a community foundation as:

  1. Act as grant-making foundations – e.g. give grants to support development projects
  2. Their mission broadly defined (e.g. to improve quality of life in a community)
  3. Serve geographically defined communities – a city, state, region, district or province
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