AniseSmith: Providing Total Marketing Solutions: Social Media, The new way to give: Celebration of Giving on this MLK Day of Service

Social Media has taken the world by storm and most people are really enjoying it. I know that I am! The growth of Social Media for fun, entertainment, job search and company brand exposure has been amazing.

One of the things that has been great is how people are using Social Media as a way to give to different organizations and causes. Social Media has given people an easy avenue to find out about different causes, charities and social organizations that are in need of support.

So on this day of celebration I'd like to share some of the causes that Facebook has been involved with. I believe that Martin Luther King would be proud of our positive uses of Social Media to do good!

Let's keep doing good things!
Amplify’d from mashable.com
5 Facebook Giving Campaign Success Stories
1. Free the Children We Day Campaign
Free the Children, an organization that helps empower children in North America to improve the lives of children elsewhere, hosts an annual event called We Day. The event brings together youth in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal for a day of motivational speeches and performances. This year, sponsors like The Keg Spirit Foundation, CTV, and Me to We agreed to donate $1 for every “Like” that the We Day Facebook Page received.
The Jonas Brothers, Al Gore, Jason Mraz and Ellen DeGeneres were just a handful of people who helped spread the campaign through their Twitter and Facebook accounts. After about three months, Free the Children is halfway to the $1 million goal that the sponsors agreed to.
2. Tyson Hunger Relief and the Monterey County Food Bank
Tyson Hunger Relief, which regularly makes donations to food banks around the country, added a Facebook twist to its food donation to the Monterey County Food Bank this September. For every new “Like” that the food bank’s Facebook Page received, Tyson donated 100 pounds of food.
3. Stand Up to Cancer Telethon Facebook Credits
The Entertainment Industry Foundation’s second national Stand Up To Cancer telethon accepted Facebook credits as donations this year. Facebook users simply visited the SU2C Facebook Page, which hosted a live stream of the pre-show and broadcast event, in order to place their donations. They could then share their donations through wall posts, spreading the word about the charity.
4. Timberland Earthkeepers Virtual Forest App
Creating virtual forests with Timberland’s Earthkeeper app helps plant real trees. The original version, which launched in 2008, helped plant 1 million total trees in China, Haiti and Nepal. A new version that launched in October teams up with Trees for the Future and the Yéle Haiti Foundation to focus on planting trees in Haiti.
For each set amount of virtual trees planted, Timberland commits to planting a certain amount of real trees. For every five virtual trees planted, for example, Timberland commits to planting one real tree. After a user has planted 25 total virtual trees, another two real trees are planted. Users can plant trees in either their own forests or in their friends’ forests. In the new app’s first month, users’ tree planting has committed Timberland to planting about 3,000 new trees in Haiti.
5. Kohl’s Cares for Kids Facebook Contest
In order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its philanthropic program Kohl’s Cares, Kohl’s department stores decided to let Facebook users decide where to spend a donation to education. The company gave away $500,000 to each of the 20 schools that solicited the most votes on the company’s Facebook Page.
Facebook fans could vote up to 20 times, but no more than five times for one school. Voters were also encouraged to leave ideas for what the schools could do with the money, and every school needed at least one idea contribution in order to be eligible for the contest.
Read more at mashable.com