Here’s what’s going down: ten high-profile members of the community (including Canucks alumni Dave Babych and Better Business Bureau of Mainland BC President Lynda Pasacreta) will be banished to Exile Island where they will compete in a series of mental and physical challenges to win the title of “BC’s Ultimate Survivor”. Upwards of $100,000 is expected to be raised at the event, and ten Wish Children will be granted their most heartfelt wish!

The Deets
DATE: Wednesday, September 22
LOCATION: Vancouver Art Gallery (front lawn) (map here)
SCHEDULE:
Opening Ceremonies (hosted by VANOC CEO John Furlong) & media photo opportunities: 12:30pm – 1:00pm
Exile Island challenges: 1:00pm – 4:30pm
Closing Ceremonies and awards: 4:30pm – 5:30pm

How You (and Social Media) Can Help
The October 17 Media team will be down at the VAG on Wednesday, tweeting, Facebooking, Foursquaring – doing all of those social media things that we do best. Join us at the Gallery and help spread the word! Here’s how you can help out on event day:

• The official hashtag for the event will be #ChildrensWish. Remember to use it in all of your updates!
• TwitPic photos from the event and post them to your feed.
• When possible, try to include the location and cause in your updates.
• Donate to a Tribe Member and encourage donations!

Here are a few examples to get you started:

• “@ the VAG competing to raise $10,000+ for the Children’s Wish Foundation. Come down NOW to watch & meet some cute kids! #ChildrensWish”
• “The competitors are really kicking butt at today’s #ChildrensWish “Exile Island” fundraising event @ VAG! Come down and help raise $10,000+ & grant a child’s wish today 12:30-4:30pm”
• “Help [competitor] get off Exile Island TODAY & raise $10,000+ first for the #ChildrensWish Foundation! Donate here: [link]“

Confused? Give us a call. We’re social media marketing experts and can help you get the word out online: contact@october17media

The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada
Each year, thousands of Canadian children between the ages of 3 and 17 are diagnosed with a life
threatening illness. Since 1984, The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada has worked tirelessly to grant
exceptional wishes to more than 16,000 children and their families. This year, the Foundation expects to
grant 1,000 new wishes. The Foundation has never refused a wish to an eligible child, and with the help of
volunteers and generous donors, is able to grant nearly three wishes every day. Each wish is an individual
adventure, carefully structured to meet the needs of a particular child and family. For information on
Children’s Wish, visit www.childrenswish.ca.

For more info on Exile Island, contact Tom Leslie:
604.299.2241 x 222 (office)
tom.leslie@childrenswish.ca

The Internet has become the great equalizer, where everyone with a cause can spread their message, and now so more than ever with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. Social media and non-profits seem to the perfect match – both relying on people’s participation and beginning from the grassroots. In the past 5 years or so, many organizations, big and small, have used social media for their own causes. It is inexpensive and cost-effective, allowing them to directly contact with their target audience. But whether you’re a seasoned campaigner, or just getting your feet wet, it’s not as simple as just building a website and expecting the dollars to start rolling in. There are a few key tips you should keep in mind, if you want to start your own cause marketing campaign, which will keep you on track to get that hole-in-one.

Have a Clear Objective

Of course, this is the most important decision you’ll have to make as an organization. Do you want more donors? Do you want to raise a certain amount of money? Do you want people to come to an event? This will set the theme, the tone and goal of your campaign, as well as find the best platforms for you to reach your audience.

Know your Target Audience

It’s most likely you’re targeting young people if you’re using social media; after all 98% of people ages 16 to 24 in Canada are online, according to the 2009 figures from Statistics Canada. But don’t discount the older (and most likely, richer) folk – 66% of them (those over 45 years old) logged on, up 56% from 2 years before. Knowing who you want to listen to your message will make sure you tailor it to them so they’ll take action. Read what we wrote here recently about marketing to women.

Invest in Your Strongest Suit

You do have to spend money, to make money, as the old saying goes. However, that doesn’t mean you have to run up your budget to have an effective campaign. It’s about allocating your resources where they’ll yield the most results. An expensive, flashy website would be nice to have, but do you really need one? Perhaps a few, targeted Facebook ads, plus a some legwork from a few volunteers could be all you need.

Have a Call to Action!

Once you’ve gotten people’s attention – then what? Do you want them to write to their representatives? Take to the streets in protest? Or give you support by donating money? The call to action is the next most important piece after defining the objective – what do you want people to do? Simply clicking on “Like” on your Facebook Page (or becoming a fan via SMS text) probably will not make a difference. Don’t get us wrong, having 100,000 fans is pretty cool, but mobilizing those people or getting them to do something will be better!
Don’t forget to say “Thank You!”

At the end of campaign (successful or not) the last step is to follow-up with your supporters – write a thank you email or letter, letting them know what happened to your campaign so they feel their contribution was worth it.

Charity campaigning can be a lot of work, but as with any giving project, the rewards can be much greater than you’ll ever expect. Real charity, after all, is giving without the thought of remuneration. Have a question about social media or cause campaigns? Do drop us a line at 604.688.7616 or contact us via email/Facebook/Twitter and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.

We’re going to donate 15% of all website maintenance billed between June 21st and July 21st to our fundraising efforts for the Canary Derby.

So stop putting off those website updates and get them done now for some good karma! On top of helping to optimize your web presence online, you’ll be a hero for helping out the Canary Foundation and BC Cancer Foundation, great organizations that supports research for the early detection of cancer. Give us a shout here to get some updates done!

What’s this “Canary Derby” we keep talking about?
Why it’s Canary Foundation‘s 5th annual soapbox car race. It brings technology and business companies together in a fantasmic way to join forces to support their mission! We’ll be racing with Webnames.ca for the 2nd year in a row. Ain’t no Batmobile but it’s sure got game!

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our friends who have donated to our Open House Book Sale! Have you heard about it? We’ve collected boxes and boxes of books already, but we’re still looking for more! Email the phenomenal Priscilla the Intern if you have used books we can take off your hands.

Written by:
Priscilla Ho {Profile}: Online Marketing Wizard @ October 17 Media
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We also plan on having a Book Sale during our Open House. All proceeds from the sale will go towards the Canary Foundation of Canada. This non-profit organization helps “drive the early detection of cancer” by seeking out the best researchers to find ways to do this. This is our second year teaming up with Webnames.ca (Go red rocket!) and we are eager to raise even more money for the Canary Foundation than we did last year!

So we’re on a hunt for used books! Any and all books that you can kindly donate to help us with our book sale would be greatly appreciated. Novels, cookbooks, comic books, magazines, business books… we want them all! If you have any used books that you have read and do not want anymore, we would love to pick them up from you at your office or home. We can come and pick the books up. Simply let us know if you have any books to donate and we will arrange a convenient time with you!

UPDATE 6/10/2010
Wow, the response has been AMAZING so far, including tremendous contributions from Chapters, Characters Fine Books, Lawrence Books, Tanglewood, Kestrel, Oscar’s Art Books and many individuals across the city. You can count on finding something for everyone’s literary tastes! But a highly successful charity book sale isn’t enough; we’re also going to be donating to the Canary Foundation and BC Cancer Foundation 15% of all website maintenance billed between June 21st and July 21st. Learn more about how you can simultaneously take care of those ‘must do’ web updates while also building good karma.

We are a proud sponsor of this event so please join us for the 3rd annual Grape Juice Wine Auction. Come bid on unique and exclusive wines from around the world while enjoying hors d’oeuvres for a worthy cause.

Details:
DATE: Thursday, May 6th, 2010
TIME: 5-8pm
LOCATION: V @ Earls Yaletown {google map}
www.GrapeJuiceVancouver.com

Big Sisters of BC lower Mainland matches volunteer mentors with young girls who face a multitude of challenges. Many of the young children suffer from low-self esteem and social isolation due to poverty, abuse or neglect. For every Little Sister that is successfully matched with a volunteer mentor, a quiet revolution of hope takes place. It costs $2,000 to make and maintain one Big & Little Sister match for one year.

As a primarily privately funded not-for-profit organization, it really does take a village, rather a community, to mentor a child. The paths these young girls start on are critical to the future successes in their adult lives and to the lives of their future children.

To Purchase Tickets:
Contact Andrée Lalonde
Phone: 604-873-4525 EXT 302
Fax: 604-873-2122
Email: Alalonde@BigSisters.bc.ca
or Register online here.

For more information on how to donate or make a difference:
Jessica Rozitis
Jessica@GrapeJuiceVancouver.com

Follow Grape Juice on Twitter!