Tag: social innovation awards

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TechSoup Wins Financial Times 2010 Social Innovation Awards

NPC is happy to share that TechSoup Global won the open-vote portion of the Justmeans/Financial Times 2010 Social Innovation Awards . There were 88 other contenders for this Citizen’s Choice Award, but because your participation, we went from 116 to 1,545 votes . Great work everybody, and we deeply appreciate the help from the entire virtual community.

To win the vote, NPC/TechSoup employees and volunteers sent emails to personal contacts and deployed a grass-roots social media campaign to reach out to supporters around the world.

Volunteers rallied fans to take action through Second Life, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Avatars United, as well as through private email campaigns and on blogs.

NPC’s Layal Rabat wrote a powerful blog post which was tweeted to get folks psyched, and as voters left comments about TechSoup, we captured and tweet-shared these from Tweetphoto .

The response was phenomenal! The tweets went viral, Facebook and LinkedIn groups shared the message with other groups, and residents of Second Life reached out to their constituencies in the nonprofit, education and business communities.

What We Learned from Barack Obama’s Social Media Strategy

So how did we win when we were up against multi-million dollar companies with hundreds of thousands of employees and fancy PR firms?

First, we learned from Barack Obama’s social media strategy. For his presidential campaign his team used email, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and many other platforms to get his message out. He maintained a consistent message for his audience, centering around “Hope”. He connected with specific groups and encouraged supporters. Since his supporters believed that he could deliver on his promise, they actively helped him get his message out.

For TechSoup, the words “Social Innovation” fit naturally with its core mission. This was easily apparent to the members, constituents and partners that engage daily with us on many social media platforms. So when we reached out to our global network to help us get the votes, they were there to deliver and help us get the message out.

Thank you everyone. In both the real and virtual worlds, this was truly a Citizen’s Choice award.

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Written by: DustyArtaud

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Vote for TechSoup in the Financial Times Social Innovation Awards

I am currently an about to graduate student completing my Masters in Social Justice and Human Rights degree. It has been almost a year since I joined the TechSoup community. I started as a student looking for an interesting internship in the area of nonprofits and technology, and ended up joining a strong community of amazing people. 

I’ve met people from all over the world whose talents encompass every area of nonprofits imaginable, and push the limits of the imagination as well. While many organizations are dipping their feet into technology, TechSoup has been carrying a flag for technology for years as they connect people with other people, and the software they need to help their clients. TechSoup’s innovative use of technology to not only facilitate global social networking, but create an environment where people feel truly connected by working with each other on events and projects. Everyone can get more out of it the more they participate in the many events and activities. I very quickly realized that for each event, we not only get to bask in its success, but also form closer friendships and partnerships with those we work with on those projects. I feel like everything I do with TechSoup and its Nonprofit Commons is a win win situation for everyone involved. The TechSoup forums are an invaluable place for Nonprofits to get expert eyes on the technology questions they need answered, and to contribute their knowledge as experts in their own fields.

We have a diverse community that encompasses the globe, and it has been an honor to be able to participate. The reason you should go to the Financial Times contest and vote for TechSoup is to bring more people to the community, and give TechSoup the place on the map that it deserves. Imagine the vast networks that we have now, and how much better it will be for everyone once they join.

After graduation I will enter the Nonprofit world with a huge network of people who have taught me so much, and I can teach as well. I’ve been managing the volunteers at the Nonprofit Commons for what will be a year this coming May. It has been an amazing experience working with the tenants of Nonprofit Commons in Second Life, and participating on the TechSoup forums. Even after my internship ended, I’ve stayed on to assist, as I see a tremendous value in the community in the impact I will make on the world, which is my goal in life, and in the experiences that I continuously have.

This is just the story of one person who has benefited greatly from being a part of TechSoup. And I know that there are many stories just like mine among you, so please show the community your appreciation by putting in your vote for us. It took TechSoup years to build a community of knowledge, networking, and collaboration for Nonprofits all over the world. It will only take you a second to go to this link and vote for us in the Financial Times Social Innovation Awards of 2010

Also, please Tweet the following:

Has TechSoup helped you? You can help them with a quick vote in this Financial Times contest. http://bit.ly/6rR5nC And please RT

Since this is only my story, I would like to share what someone else has said about TechSoup’s Nonprofit Commons:

Tell us How the NPC Community has helped your nonprofit organization achieve its mission or organizational goals in some way…

We are a very small local history museum with extremely limited facilities and resources. Our presence in the NonProfit Commons area of Second Life has provided three significant benefits.
1) It has provided us with space to experiment with exhibit ideas and develop prototypes.
2) It has provided us the opportunity to meet and network with other museum professionals around the world.
3) We have developed potential collaborative opportunities with non-museum organizations that we never knew existed.

–Dave Dexter
Neenah Historical Society
Neenah, Wisconsin USA

Written by: Layal