Tag Archives: Facebook

Naturally Nora Offers HUGE Prize to Cupcake Fundraising Teams!

Nora of Naturally Nora has just given us some huge, amazing, and most importantly, delicious news! The gourmet cupcake mix maker will donate, to one VERY lucky and dedicated She’s the First cupcake team, enough cake mix to make 1,000 (yes, that’s right, one THOUSAND) cupcakes!!!!!!!! We’re still trying to calculate how long it would take us to eat that many cupcakes… So before you start drooling — and don’t worry, we still are — here’s how you can win!

1. You must be signed up to host a Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off. If you aren’t – get signed up today!!

3. Enter the contest over on Naturally Nora’s page (you can enter as many times as you want)!

4. Now through October 19th, whoever comes up with the most entries, will win enough mix for 1,000 cupcakes – YUM!

So, get the word out to your social networks — we can think of few things better than 1,000 cupcakes!

*Unfortunately, due to shipping costs, Alaska and Hawaii are not eligible to win, but are still more than welcome to participate. The local New York and New Jersey Bake-Offs will be receiving free mixes from Nora, so they won’t be either. BUT we encourage all of you to participate anyway — imagine how many more people will find out about She’s the First!

Posted in Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off | Tagged contest, Facebook, Naturally Nora, tie-dye cupcakes | Leave a comment

Support AfricAid & She’s the First with Just 1 Click

Want to make a difference, but you’re short on cash and time? You can help She’s the First and our Tanzania partner AfricAid raise money to support girls’ education with the click of your mouse!

For AfricAid, Africa Adventure Consultants (AAC), an Africa travel company, is pledging to donate $1 to AfricAid for every “Like” they receive on their Facebook page through Monday, April 11. AAC will donate up to $1,000. Get to AAC’s Facebook page now, especially if you dream of traveling to Africa someday. And, if you haven’t already, make sure you “Like” AfricAid, too.

On the Twitter front, @GlamourGoneGood, an organization connecting the glamour industry with charitable organizations, is pledging to donate $1 for every new follower received through April 12, up to $500! Even without that reward, @GlamourGoneGood is a great follow for news on cause marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) news, especially pertaining to the beauty industry.

Thanks for your support!

Posted in Online Fundraising | Tagged AfricAid, Donations, Facebook, Glamour Gone Good, twitter | Leave a comment

Meet Zonia Saloj, Sponsored in Guatemala by IWantHerJob.com

Yesterday we got a first glimpse of one of two girls sponsored in Guatemala, from last December’s successful “Likes for Learning” fundraising campaign, hosted by career blog IWantHerJob.com. The founder and editor of this inspiring, aspirational blog, Brianne Burrowes, secured funding from her personal network and matched every “Like” of the blog’s Facebook page and every new Twitter follower of @IWantHerJob with a dollar donation — the result was $1,700 to sponsor two girls for our Guatemala partner, Starfish One by One!

Meet Zonia on IWantHerJob.com here, and see her on video below. Let us know what you think about fundraising on social media — and if it’s something that you might try out this year if you have a Facebook fan page or Twitter account that is aligned with She’s the First’s mission. Here’s how Brianne did it.

Posted in Online Fundraising, Starfish One by One | Tagged Brianne Burrowes, Facebook, IWantHerJob.com, Likes for Learning, twitter, Zonia Saloj | Leave a comment

"Likes for Learning" Campaign by IWantHerJob.com Sponsors Two Girls in Guatemala!

This one-week campaign matching Facebook likes for IWantHerJob.com with dollars for girls' sponsorship in Guatemala raised $1,700!

Just in case you didn’t catch the good news on our Facebook page or IWantHerJob.com‘s blog, the December campaign called “Likes for Learning” successfully sponsored two girls in Guatemala at the Starfish One by One program — which She’s the First 360 travelers Christen, Kate, and Maisy are now visiting! See below for a recap from IWantHerJob.com editor-in-chief Brianne Burrowes…and read her full post here. Congrats!

A few weeks ago I Want Her Job challenged its community — including you — to come together in support of educating two girls in Guatemala through our ‘Likes’ for Learningcampaign, in partnership with She’s the First and Starfish One-by-One.

The idea was small. I Want Her Job asked you to “like” the site on Facebook and follow the community’s Twitter feed to raise money, awareness and support of women’s education. And “like” you did! On Facebook, more than 800 people supported the campaign, and on Twitter we reached nearly 300 followers. But that’s nothing compared to all of the community members who retweeted, posted the campaign to their Facebook walls, sent out e-mails, invited their friends, wrote blog posts, and generally got the word out in every way possible.

Without you this never would have happened.

On Christmas Eve I received an e-mail from Travis Ning, executive director at Starfish One-by-One. He wanted to introduce us to the two girls we’re sponsoring.

I’m thrilled to share that in 2011 you will get to know Andrea Sosof Sisay, a girl living in Santiago, Atitlan, and Zonia Saloj, who is from a rural village across the lake near the city of Sololá.

I don’t have a lot of information on Andrea yet, but I can tell you that Zonia is the oldest of eight siblings and works making beaded necklaces. Her dream is to graduate and later pursue a degree at a university. She hopes to also see her community become more developed and have more employment opportunities. Those are pretty grown-up aspirations for a 13-year-old girl.

These are two girls who are set on making a difference in their communities, and I want to ask you to help me welcome them.

Starfish asked us to send a letter to Andrea and Zonia telling them about some of our favorite holiday traditions. So, if you like lighting candles for a Christmas Eve service or have a day-after-Christmas annual tag football game with your family in the snow, please share your favorite holiday tradition below. I will compile your responses and they will be sent to Starfish for translation and will reach the girls early this year.

Posted in Online Fundraising, Starfish One by One | Tagged Facebook, IWantHerJob.com, Likes for Learning, Starfish One by One | Leave a comment

IWantHerJob.com Ups the Ante! $1 for Every Facebook 'Like'

Bridget & shesthefirst.org are part of IWantHerJob.com's creative campaign to fundraise for a girl's sponsorship in Guatemala!

We’re thrilled to report that IWantHerJob.com raised $280 to date for sponsorship of a girl in Guatemala — just through Facebook ‘likes.’ There are five day to go in the campaign…so if you haven’t already ‘liked’ this empowering career blog for women, we encourage you to do so. Today, IWantHerJob.com editor-in-chief Brianne Burrowes announced that for every ‘like’ this blog receives on Facebook, one dollar will now be donated toward the sponsorship of a girl educated by our partner Starfish One by One! Here’s the good news she emailed us:

“I’ve been blown away by the amount of support the ‘Likes for Learning’ campaign has received so far! Because we have so many generous sponsors backing this effort, I wanted to step up I Want Her Job’s contribution to the campaign. So now, instead of donating $0.50 for every click, we’re doubling it and pledging $1. I Want Her Job is committed to female empowerment, and believes the best place to start is through education. Every single woman featured on the site was blessed with the gift of education, and the profiles are indicative of where it’s gotten them. We want to help in our small way to make a difference in the lives of a few girls in Guatemala who don’t already have this opportunity.”

We’d also like to point out that one of the young women on the founding team of She’s the First, our Midwest Ambassador Bridget Nelson Monroe, was profiled on IWantHerJob.com today for her rewarding job in digital PR. So proud!

We encourage you to visit IWantHerJob.com’s Facebook page for the latest inspiring interviews with women who love their jobs, and ‘Suggest to Friends’ to pay it forward for a girl in Guatemala.

Posted in Online Fundraising | Tagged Facebook, IWantHerJob.com, Likes for Learning | Leave a comment

"Likes for Learning": Could This Be Our First Girl Sponsored on FB?

The campaign begins midnight, December 13th, and lasts for one week!

Help us send a girl to school in Guatemala — one click from you contributes 50 cents to a sponsorship (without costing you a cent). It’s a small amount, yes, but it makes a difference. Haven’t you seen how fast things go viral among hundreds and thousands of people online? This will all add up!

All you have to do is ‘Like” the I Want Her Job Facebook page. I WantHerJob.com is a blog that profiles women who have fun, fulfilling jobs and how they got them. Here is the announcement about the campaign.

At She’s the First, we remind you that fundraisers for a girl’s sponsorship come in all sizes and styles, depending on where your talents and passions lie. For Brianne Burrowes, a leader of our She’s the First Los Angeles branch, that fundraiser was naturally via Facebook. She is a digital strategist by day at WONGDOODY in LA (profile here) and editor-in-chief of IWantHerJob.com blog by night. Of course, She’s the First wouldn’t have advocated a ‘Like’ campaign for just any brand…but IWantHerJob.com is directly aligned with the mission of She’s the First. Many “firsts” that we celebrate are those who attained dream jobs, and that’s exactly what IWantHerJob.com guides women to do.

Brianne’s idea for a Facebook “Like” fundraiser for She’s the First developed a few weeks before GAP announced their own holiday campaign to donate to a charity for every “Like” it received on a video…so we want to recognize Brianne for being so forward-thinking, congratulate her on launching her blog’s first non-profit campaign, and thank all the sponsors who made it possible.

The campaign runs from Dec. 13th to Dec. 17th — we encourage you to Share the page on your Facebook Wall too, encouraging others to join in — if we succeed and sponsor a girl in Guatemala, through partner Starfish One by One, you’ll all get to meet her on the blogs and Facebook.

Posted in Los Angeles, Online Fundraising, Starfish One by One | Tagged Facebook, IWantHerJob.com, Likes for Learning | Leave a comment

How Facebook Unites Sponsored Students in Kenya

the Kenya Education Fund uses Facebook to stay in touch with alumni and students spread across 200 schools in Kenya

Yesterday in New York City, we met up with Bradley Broder, Executive Director of the Kenya Education Fund (KEF), a partner of She’s the First (see all our partners here). Brad will visit Kenya again in December. On this trip, he will be working on a film, showing the impact of education on his students, and he will also meet with the Kenyan staff who serve as KEF’s liaisons. Since the sponsored students are spread out across 200 high schools in 18 regions of Kenya, the liaisons do periodic site visits to local schools, making sure the students’ needs are met.

Another way KEF stays in touch with students sprawled across Kenya, Brad told us, is through Facebook! Rachel Silver, who works with Brad on Donor Relations for KEF, filled us in on how this works.

When did you create the KEF group on Facebook?

We created the KEF Student and Alum page in the Summer of 2010. The Kenya Education Fund has had a general presence on Facebook for several years now, but we decided that we wanted to designate a unique forum where our students and alumni from across Kenya could communicate with each other and with us.

How many members are there?
Currently we have 22 members. However, 150 KEF students will graduate at the end of this calendar year. We will formally invite all of them to join in the materials they receive from us upon completion of our scholarship. We are also in the process of reaching out to past alumni and current students who have internet access. I anticipate that our group will grow rapidly. We receive requests to join fairly frequently.

What kind of discussions do you see going on?
Because our page is relatively new, most discussions are simple conversations welcoming new members to the group, as well as commentary around the usefulness of this forum. Once we have a more established base, we at the KEF offices will frequently share news and updates with our students and alumni through this group, as well as opportunities that we hear about. Mostly, we also hope that it becomes a venue in which students can keep in touch with, or, if they are from different regions, get to know one another. Finally, we are working to keep in better touch with graduates as their educational and professional careers grow and change. We believe that this group will help us better facilitate this.

What comments have you heard from students about Facebook or social media, if any? Is it a big part of their life when they have Internet access to use it?
Kenyan students who have Internet access seem to be enthusiastically embracing social media, including Facebook and yahoo messenger. There is a significant community of Kenyan youth on Facebook, especially centered around urban areas, and it is ever expanding as access to internet expands. In addition to its regular features, Facebook has become a particularly unique venue to share opinions on and ideas about new stories and current events in the US and Kenya.

shesthefirst.org/gifts

Follow KEF on Facebook! Click here to ‘Like’ them.

Also, remember that KEF receives a part of the proceeds from our She’s the First bracelets made by Asha Patel Designs!

Posted in Kenya Education Fund | Tagged Facebook | Leave a comment

Letter to the Editor: "Small Change" by Malcolm Gladwell

Once in a while, you read something that irks you so much, that you have to vent in writing. I did this in 2009, when I read a terribly skewed article on teenage girls in an African newspaper; I posted it to my Facebook wall in anger, and lo and behold, STF Director Christen Brandt saw it, and that got the wheels turning for launching She’s the First.

I read an article in The New Yorker today that riled me up so much, because I thought it was an unfair assessment of social media’s power to effect social change, and it underestimates the impact that each of you who’ve fundraised or given to She’s the First have made. So even if The New Yorker doesn’t read my letter, I at least wanted to share it here — my personal views that come from a place of deep passion for She’s the First — and I invite you to agree/disagree in the comments and even write your own letter to The New Yorker. For starters, read the article “Small Change” here. (And if you ever write a letter to the editor that speaks to what She’s the First is all about, email it to us! We’ll publish it.)

Through a Retweet, I clicked through to “Small Change ” by Malcolm Gladwell today. I’m sure you knew promoting the article on social media would get a rise out of the very audience whom Gladwell undermines. I’ve read The Tipping Point and found it to be a fascinating explanation on why things as odd as Silly Bandz can sweep our culture, so I was surprised to find myself in such intense opposition with Gladwell on the power of social media to effect social change. I am a social media activist, the founder of She’s the First, a global grassroots movement to sponsor girls’ education in the developing world. I have an endless to-do list as I oversee our offline events, online multimedia, and strategic development—all done with passion, not pay, outside my full-time job—and writing Letters to Editors isn’t typically something I prioritize. But this article required it.

First, you should know that within 15 minutes of posting this article to my own Facebook page with commentary on how it irked me, I received three ‘likes’ from friends and two comments encouraging me to write this letter. And I will post this letter to my Facebook so that even if you don’t publish it, my peers will know how misunderstood our platform can be, and why we have to take the time to defend it–because it is what we will be remembered for someday.

Now here’s the tremendous fallacy I find with Mr. Gladwell’s article: why are we pitting offline action against online action? Since when have we had to pick one tactic over the other? Because in the She’s the First movement of 1,738 Facebook friends and 1,205 Twitter followers who came together in less than a year, activism is about bringing together the best of offline and online action. Our supporters are hosting creative, affordable fundraisers in one night–benefit concerts, parties with purpose–to collect small donations that add up to one-year sponsorships for a girl’s education . We use Twitter and Facebook to inspire each other with our fundraising ideas and to promote our events to our local communities, sometimes also attracting donations via mail or Internet from those who can only be there in spirit. I appreciate that Mr. Gladwell sees the strengths of social media (“Social networks are effective at increasing participation,” he writes), and I agree with the flaws that he points out: it “lessen[s] the level of motivation that participation requires.” Yes, it’s easy to get someone to click their support, and not all 1,738 of our Facebook friends are going to have the initiative to host their own fundraiser, but you cannot underestimate the influence of your cause spreading through their networks. Continue reading →

Posted in Founder's Updates | Tagged Facebook, Malcom Gladwell, social media, The New Yorker, twitter | 10 Comments

Guest Post: 5 Tips for Being an Activist Through Social Media

[Editor's Note: Sophie Davis is a follower of @shesthefirst on Twitter and she wrote about STF on her impassioned blog, so we invited her to guest blog and spill her secrets for being an online activist!]

Guest Blogger Sophie Davis, a young online activist who found She's the First when researching the issue of girls' education worldwide, then connected with us on email and Twitter.

Being an activist means getting involved and taking part in order to achieve a social or political goal. As social media gains more and more influence, we can understand why activists from across the world are bringing their message online. If you want to create change and want to use social media to do so, here are a few tips that helped me on my journey to becoming a better activist and citizen on and off line:

#1: Be very clear about your social/political goal

When I decided to become an activist, I wasn’t sure what my goals were. Of course, the main goal is always to make the world a better place. But I didn’t know where to start and what I wanted to fight for exactly. So I started to do research. I realized that what touched me the most was when human rights were transgressed, especially women and children’s rights.

You have to find out what is closest to your heart, what touches you the most and makes you want to get involved on a deeper level.

If you need help, here’s an awesome website, DoSomething.org, where you can get informed on today’s most important issues.

Sophie Davis is decoding the puzzle of using social media for social good.

#2: Figure out what kind of activist you are

Do you want to raise funds? Do you want to volunteer? Do you want to raise awareness? Or do you want to do a little bit of everything? Would you be interested in starting your own group or do you want to be involved within an existing organization? Your answers don’t have to be set in stone, but it’s very helpful to have some kind of idea in your head.

When I started my activism journey, I knew that I wanted to raise awareness on issues, because I believe in education. Therefore, blogging about women and children’s education seemed like the obvious path for me and that’s what I’ve started doing. What is the path for you?

#3: Express yourself

According to social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk, “social media is word-of-mouth on steroids.” A little goes a very long way. You can send tweets, you can write blog posts, you can shoot videos…there are so many mediums that you can use to make your voice be heard. Choose what’s the best medium for you!

@amanda is amazing at using Twitter to raise money and awareness. Through Twitter, she created the Twestival events and helped raise half a million dollars for various causes. The guys @thecovenews also use Twitter to share latest updates on the issue of the killing of dolphins in Taiji. I use Twitter and Facebook to share links of interesting articles and facts about children’s rights across the world. I blog about the issues I’m most interested in and feature organizations I believe in.

#4: Connect with your community

Social media is an incredible tool to connect with like-minded individuals, whether they are journalists, experts or activists within an organization from all corners of the world. TakePart.com is an amazing resource to find organizations and people who might have the same goals as yours.

It’s as simple as sending an e-mail or a tweet to someone whose work you feel you can appreciate and relate to.

How She’s The First and I connected is a very good example. I found out about She’s The First through one of their blog posts. So I went on their website and sent them a contact email. And then, we connected via Twitter. That’s how online connections are born. Don’t be afraid to reach out and connect.

#5: Take action

Spreading your message, establishing and nourishing connections online make you so much stronger when you will be ready to take action off-line.

Meg at The Hatches is really taking action. Her goal is to go to Ethiopia to build a library/resource center. She is working in collaborations with Partners for World Health in Portland, Maine. She uses her blog to spread her message and her social media connections to raise funds for the trip. You can see her work here.

Social media makes to spread messages and ideas. So don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. Individuals like you and I are the ones who can come together and create a movement that will lead to change. We can do it.

[Editor's Note: Sophie Davis is a follower of @shesthefirst on Twitter and she wrote about STF on her impassioned blog, so we invited her to guest blog and spill her secrets for being an online activist!]

Guest Blogger Sophie Davis, a young online activist who connected with @shesthefirst through Twitter. Tweet her @thesophiedavis!

You have to find out what is closest to your heart, what touches you the most and makes you want to get involved on a deeper level.

If you need help, here’s an awesome website, DoSomething.org, where you can get informed on today’s most important issues.

#2: Figure out what kind of activist you are

#3: Express yourself

#4: Connect with your community

It’s as simple as sending an e-mail or a tweet to someone whose work you feel you can appreciate and relate to.

#5: Take action

Spreading your message, establishing and nourishing connections online make you so much stronger when you will be ready to take action off-line.

Posted in Guest Posts | Tagged Facebook, social media, twitter | Leave a comment

She Donated Her Birthday to She's the First!

Tara donated her birthday to She's the First by using Facebook Causes.

Tara donated her birthday to She’s the First and its partner Goods for Good in Malawi through Facebook Causes! Read why in her special guest post:

When you think about it, everyone has the power to change the world for the better. And while it’s often easier to sit back and let others work tirelessly to make a difference, you’ll never get to feel the heart-warming satisfaction that “doing good” gives you if you don’t do something yourself.

So when I started reading about what She’s the First and their partners were doing, I felt that wonderful tingle of inspiration and decided that I just HAD to do something. As a busy mom of two young children, I don’t have as much time as I’d like to dedicate to philanthropic endeavors, but Facebook makes it super easy to raise money for causes you believe in. This year, I decided to use my birthday as a way of getting my friends to donate to my charity of choice: Goods for Good as part of the She’s the First campaign. I feel strongly about promoting the importance of education, particularly for the daughters of the world, and the message that with an education we can break barriers and become firsts–especially since I was the first woman in my family to go to college and then pursue a Masters degree (a good example for my own daughter). So far I’ve reached 25% of my goal, but I’ll continue to encourage people to look beyond their own families–and country–and realize that by supporting others we are helping the world move in a more positive direction. I hope that you do the same!

You can donate your birthday too! Email tammy@shesthefirst.org to find out which of our directory partners are on Facebook Causes, and you can fundraise for them as part of the She’s the First campaign.

Posted in Online Fundraising, Sponsor Stories | Tagged Facebook, facebook causes, goods for good, tara rummell berson | 1 Comment

We're 1,000 Fans and Growing on Facebook!

We just reached 1,000 Facebook fans!

She’s the First believes social media can create social change, which is why our campaign thrives off of our YouTube PSAs, Twitter feed, and Facebook fan page. For that reason, we are thrilled to announce that our fan page on Facebook has surpassed 1,000 fans! (If you didn’t know we are on Facebook, you can join us now and help us get to the next milestone of 1,500!) We always cross-promote our blog posts and share thoughtful links on the value of girls’ education on Facebook. You can contribute to the cause simply by sharing those links to your own News Feed or posting our videos to your wall.

Thank you all for your tremendous support and interest! Together we are going to drive so many sponsorships for girls worldwide in 2010.

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged Facebook | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: Facebook

shesthefirst.org/gifts

Follow KEF on Facebook! Click here to ‘Like’ them.

Also, remember that KEF receives a part of the proceeds from our She’s the First bracelets made by Asha Patel Designs!

[Editor's Note: Sophie Davis is a follower of @shesthefirst on Twitter and she wrote about STF on her impassioned blog, so we invited her to guest blog and spill her secrets for being an online activist!]

[Editor's Note: Sophie Davis is a follower of @shesthefirst on Twitter and she wrote about STF on her impassioned blog, so we invited her to guest blog and spill her secrets for being an online activist!]

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