Archive for the ‘Fundraising’ Category

Ali
Martin

Spin on Holiday Tradition Supports Children with Special Needs

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Glitter, tinsel, ribbon and Elvis... the perfect trimmings for a Christmas tree!

For the past few weeks I have been working with my Spectrum colleagues to create ornaments and coordinate logistics to decorate a Christmas tree for Kennedy Krieger Institute's 20th Annual Festival of Trees. The Festival, being held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Baltimore, Md., on November 27, 28 and 29, is the largest holiday event of its kind on the entire East Coast. This year Spectrum is one of the Festival's corporate sponsors and to show appreciation of our sponsorship, Spectrum had the opportunity to decorate a seven-foot Christmas tree that will be featured in the Festival. (more...)

Tags: , , , , ,

 
Sara
Sajadi

Pretty in Pink (and Denim)! Spectrum Celebrates Denim Day in Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

 

spectrum-denim-day

At Spectrum, we all have reasons for being in the field of health communications. Whether those reasons are professional or personal, we come to work every day knowing that what we do impacts a greater good. From diabetes to HIV/AIDS to oncology to health reform--and everywhere in between--it's important to step back from our work and think about the difference we are making in peoples' lives, even if those influences aren't immediately tangible to us.

This month, our client, Genomic Health, relaunched My Breast Cancer Coach, a tool to guide breast cancer patients through their cancer diagnosis and treatment.  To commemorate National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Spectrum is participating in Denim Day to raise awareness and donations for Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Our staff showed up to work today in jeans, a wide array of pink shades from head to toe, pink ribbons and open pockets for the charitable cause. To take it one step further - I'm running in the Baltimore Half Marathon this Saturday, for which I've raised over $5,200 for Komen for the Cure.

A day like today proves how passionate we are about health communications - on and off the clock. Let's all continue to do our part to fight for a cure and improve the health of our mothers, sisters, aunts, friends and coworkers living with breast cancer.

Tags: ,

 
Molly
Hippolitus

Weekly Digital News

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Two Social Media Projects Implementing Crowdsourcing

What seems like ages ago, Web 1.0 was upon us.  Simple webpage design, no RSS feeds, not even a "Tweet This" icon... it seems unimaginable.  Fortunately, Web 1.0 had a successor: Web 2.0.  

What Web 1.0 lacked in complexity, Web 2.0 has made up for in endless possibilities in facilitating  conversation, collaboration, and participation that knows no geographical boundaries. Web 2.0 offers communications professionals a wealth of opportunities to convey our messages to specific audiences, and, more importantly, interact with our audiences and hear their comments and feedback - good or bad - in a spontaneous, real-time way.

Taking this interaction to a new level, and moving beyond collaboration, is the implementation of crowdsourcing.  The purpose of crowdsourcing  is two-fold, (1) to pool ideas and suggestions straight from the consumer and (2) creating a virtual marketplace of ideas. Think of it as a virtual suggestion box.  The crucial part of any successful crowdsourcing venture, though, is it's second phase: action.  If you aren't going to seriously consider the feedback you receive while crowdsourcing, you might as well be throwing your consumers' ideas in a  garbage can.

One successful example, My Starbucks Idea  was launched by the company as a web platform where customers can share, vote, and discuss their ideas to better the brand.  As Starbucks so politely puts it,mystarbucksidea

 "What would make your Starbucks experience perfect? We know you've got ideas - big ideas, little ideas, maybe even totally revolutionary ideas - and we want to hear them all."

(more...)

Tags: , ,

 
Colleen
Butz

Four Weeks to the 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Still Enough Time to Register You and Your Team and Support Finding a Cure for Diabetes

As 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure sponsor, Spectrum would like to remind you that there is still time to register for this year's ride. The ride will take place along the W&OD Trail, starting in the DC suburb of Reston, Va., on Sunday, June 14, 2009.

In addition to Spectrum's "SpokesPersons" team, over 1,500 bike riders from corporations, unions, family and friends, bike clubs, and individual participants will take the challenge with the ADA to find a cure. The 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure welcomes riders of all kinds, whether you're a novice or avid cyclist. With a Century Ride, Half Metric Century and Family Fun ride (just to name a few), the Tour offers different routes that can meet all levels of experience. Interested teams and individuals can register and fundraise online.

To help you prepare for the ride, the ADA, Spectrum and 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure Television Sponsor DC 50 have teamed up to provide ride participants with the "Biking for a Cause" blog. The blog provides nutrition, fitness and bike safety tips to help riders train and make this year's ride a fun, safe day for all.

The goal of this year's National Capital Tour de Cure is to raise over $530,000 to support the ADA's mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of people affected by diabetes. Donations raised through the Tour will fund research for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, prevention programs, education programs, and residential and day camps for children affected by diabetes and advocacy initiatives. The 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure Chair, and Spectrum President & CEO John Seng discusses this and much more about the importance of the ride in an interview with DC 50.

If cycling isn't for you, the ADA could use your support as a volunteer. Contact ADA's Cassandra Christian at (202) 331-8303 x4518 or at cchristian@diabetes.org for more information about the many fun and rewarding opportunities available.

Colleen Butz, Account Executive

Tags: , , ,

 
Spectrum

Internet Fundraising: The Whole Really is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

President Obama's use of the Internet to raise record-breaking campaign contributions was impressive, but now that those headlines have been replaced with the economic tsunamis hitting organizations worldwide, some are left with an agonizing question: How can we do what he did?

Well, beyond clever "Calls to Action," nice landing pages, strategic online ad buys, Bono and other effective fundraising tactics, organizations need to learn how to strategically leverage the right technology that resonates with their target audiences to tap into the long-tail - which almost goes without saying ... almost.

There are plenty of online applications - Paypal and Spare Change Payments to name a couple - and a few more on the horizon that efficiently collect and organize micropayments that could easily be integrated into a Web site, Weblog, social-network or other online property. However, it's important to remember that these applications are just pieces that should be used to enhance a larger campaign, not stand alone.

Creativity never goes out of style, and the more one understands their target, the more successful the campaign will be. These are pretty simple assertions, but all too often I see online fundraising initiatives without much substance, direction or clarity. The "if we build it, they will come" mentality has not, and will never, produce the ROI that a strategically-based campaign with clear goals can achieve.

So how can you do what the Obama campaign did? First, don't forget the fundamentals of fundraising: understand your target audience; engage people with content that moves them to take action; make it simple to donate; and don't forget to be creative. Second, don't limit yourself to the Internet. Some of the most effective campaigns I've come across are those that effectively balance their online tactics with traditional ones.

Are you going to raise over $750 million? Probably not, but by thinking strategically and creatively - not forgetting the fundamentals - you are more likely to grab hold of those dollars within the nooks and crannies of the Internet that would have otherwise been ignored.

Do you want to learn more? Here are a couple of books that really lay the groundwork for a successful Internet fundraising campaign: People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities and Nonprofit Internet Strategies: Best Practices for Marketing, Communications, and Fundraising.

Chris Rottler, Digital Strategist & Account Executive

Tags: ,