Tag Archives: Razoo

A Must-Read Case Study

If you’ve ever worked in fundraising, on developing partnerships, community building, or in campaign development, you want to read this case study. Which case study you ask? It’s the case study of how “Minnesota’s ‘Networked Nonprofits’ Raised Over 10M in One Day, with Only One Full-Time Employee!” That case study.

For those who prefer, a highlight video is below. But, you want to head over to Beth Kanter’s blog and read the full case study about GiveMN.org and the strategy they used to achieve such a feat.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cvpj2B-KnI&feature=player_embedded

Written by Jeff Achen, GiveMN.org’s own interactive media strategist, I promise you will walk away both inspired and enlightened. Here’s a sneak peak:

Here at GiveMN, we’ve harnessed the power of our networks to raise record amounts of money online for nonprofits in Minnesota and engage record numbers of people in an annual, one-day giving event—Give to the Max Day.

On Nov. 16, 2010, we shattered our goal of 40,000 donors in 24 hours by engaging 42,596 unique donors who donated to their favorite nonprofits using the GiveMN.org platform. All told, Minnesota nonprofits collectively raised $10,041,021 in one incredible day. [continue reading]

My big take-away from reading the case study is the amazing, incredible possibility of powerful partnerships and collaboration. Secondly, I am completely awed and greatly admire the approach this effort represents and inspires. GiveMN.org not only achieved its goals–but also united a state around the causes and the people working to improve the lives of its citizens. Minnesotans may  have different challenges, interests and experiences, but no matter all of that, Minnesota is a shared commonality that GiveMN.org used to help communicate that we are all in this together–a great message that obviously resonated with donors. Bravo GiveMN.org!

Thank you Beth and Jeff for sharing!

Do You…Razoo?

Social networking gains momentum everyday. My latest find includes the beta Razoo. Razoo is a New Zealand word for a small coin. Founder J. Sebastian Traeger likes to think that a lot of something small can turn into something great. According to the website:

Razoo is a community united around making a positive difference in the world. Where passion leads to action, and a whole lot of collective good comes from individual contributions.

Razoo is a for-profit online community where members can create profiles, join groups, create groups, post comments, share blogs, support causes and keep updated on new events in the non-profit world. Causes include a full range from saving the ocean to aiding the homeless to international development. In turn, Razoo then donates grant money to the causes who host the most members. I encourage you to check the site out. The best past about the site is that you do not have to be a member to browse.

Razoo has recently been featured in the Washington Post. Both articles come from December 2007:

  1. Social Networking for Social Causes. This article talks about Razoo and other social networking applications that work for the social good.
  2. Social Networking for the Socially Minded. This article provides more background on how the internet start-up began and its history.