Social Gifting: Please Have A Cow With Me

I’m reaching out to you this holiday season with a humble request.

Please help me gift a cow to a community in need by donating $5.

You may already be familiar with the work of Heifer International — I have in the past gifted smaller mammals (chickens, rabbits, etc), but was inspired at this year’s TEDxMidAtlantic to aim higher and reach for the cow.

Photo by Ryan McFarland via Flickr. (www.zieak.com)

Photo by Ryan McFarland via Flickr. (zieak.com)

Here’s my outreach goal:

100 People + $5 Each = 1 Happy Cow

This is GrayMatter Minute’s very first social media-based fundraising effort. So, please, help a sister out. The faster we hit the $500 cow-mark, the bigger the hurrah for the power of social media.

Why Heifer International?

Because I like their philosophy of sustainable support. That is, Heifer programs foster self-reliance through livestock and training until entire communities are transformed. They are very busy working to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth at the same time. This, to me, seems like a jolly good idea all around. Even for the cow. You can find out more at the official Heifer International web site.

What does this have to do with social media?

Well, on the social tools front I’m using ChipIn to coordinate contributions. If you cannot see the nifty ChipIn donation box above, it is viewable on the GrayMatter Minute blog sidebar or on ChipIn’s handy custom web page.

To help spread the word, I invite you to add a little cow to your profile pic on Twitter or Facebook through Twibbon if you really want to rally for this cause or if you just really like cows.

So there you have it. Thanks to those who have already dropped their fivers in the bucket.

Hope you, too, willl be mooved to help.

Tags: ChipIn, Heifer International, Social Gifting, Social Media Fundraising, TEDxmidatlantic, Twibbon

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Social Media, Social Media Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to “Social Gifting: Please Have A Cow With Me”

Joedy Isert Says:
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Renee:

Thank you so much for including Heifer International in your blog and sharing its mission and work with your readers.

We are always touched when we see people such as yourself take the time to encourage people to get involved, to help Heifer make a difference in someone else’s life.

These are men, women and children they will likely never meet, and likely never see the difference they have helped make in nutrition, income, health, education … hope. But please know that the difference is profound–life-changing for generations.

Thank you again for your support for Heifer and for sharing the work we do with others.

Best wishes.

Joedy
Renee Lemley Says:
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Thanks for your note, Joedy. You guys do amazing work.
Best,
Renee
Twitted by usegraymatter Says:
December 8th, 2009 at 11:17 am
[...] This post was Twitted by usegraymatter [...]
betsy harmatz Says:
December 8th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Renee- I am glad you are doing this and i am happy to help. I know of Heifer International and have given to them for many years. It is always fulfilling because it just makes so much sense !! Thanks for setting this up…all the best–betsy
Renee Lemley Says:
December 8th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Thanks, Betsy!
Daniel Says:
December 8th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Nice job Renee! I just contributed my $5. From a SM marketing standpoint, have you thought about adding a button to let people tweet their contribution? the RT button is great…but someone could easily RT without actually giving.
Renee Lemley Says:
December 8th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Great idea…just DMed you on twitter.
And, for the record, if someone doesn’t feel inclined to contribute, I’ll take an RT to help spread the word.
All forms of support are most appreciated.

-R
Social Media Moooovie | GrayMatter Minute Says:
December 17th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
[...] « Social Gifting: Please Have A Cow With Me [...]
Holy Cow! We Did It! | GrayMatter Minute Says:
December 21st, 2009 at 2:07 pm
[...] you all so very much for supporting our holiday heifer campaign for Heifer [...]
Socializing Online Says:
April 20th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Socializing online or offline may not be as difficult as it appears first. Traditionally speaking the primal fear of contacting a stranger should not be considered as the sole reason as to why people are shy to make new friends. Similarly; socializing with new people will aid in developing social skills that may help lead to a more fulfilling live.