Blog
ThinkSocial Awards: World Malaria Day “Twitter Challenge for Malaria No More”
VOTE
Name: World Malaria Day and Twitter Challenge for Malaria No More
Nominated Category: Organization/Collaboration
URL: http://www.malarianomore.org/news/features/world_malaria_day_world_malaria_day__april_25__2
Area: Advocacy, Fundraising
About:
Malaria kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds, and results in $12 billion every year in lost productivity, according to non-profit Malaria No More. The organization is working toward actualizing its name—making malaria, truly, no more—and enlisting social media methods to do so.
Description:
Working toward an ambitious Dec. 31, 2010 goal of universal access to malaria treatment and prevention in Africa, Malaria No More asked supporters to pitch in on Global Malaria Day this past April. Supporters were asked to follow Malaria No More on Twitter to “Tweet and save lives;” attend a global Facebook event to take a stand; sign an online proclamation showing support of President Barack Obama’s pledge to end malaria deaths by 2015; and donate money to purchase mosquito nets to prevent children from being bitten by (malaria-carrying) mosquitoes at night.
Malaria No More also had a few high-profile events—a BritWeek dinner in Los Angeles featuring former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for example, the One World Against Malaria summit with other activist partners—but perhaps what got the most attention this Global Malaria Day was the involvement of a one Ashton Kutcher.
Malaria No More and Kutcher (@aplusk) partnered to raise awareness on Twitter by tweeting the message about malaria—with Kutcher pledging to donate 10,000 mosquito nets to the cause if he could beat CNN to one million Twitter followers. (Remember that?) He did, he donated, and then CNN matched his net pledge, other celebrities like Oprah and Ryan Seacrest made donations—as well as non-celebrity Twitter users worldwide. According to Malaria No More, the bed nets will be distributed to families in Senegal this November.
The Basics:
WHO: Malaria No More and supporters around the world
WHAT: Twittering (and using other social tools) to raise awareness about malaria, and to donate mosquito bed nets.
WHERE: Around the world. Families in Senegal will receive the bed nets in November.
HOW to get involved: You follow Malaria No More on Twitter, @malarianomore, join the Facebook Fanpage, or donate and learn other ways you can help spread the word about malaria through the web site.
What other people are saying:
What do you think?
- Comment on this entry and tell us what you think. Who else should we be highlighting in this category?
- Share these initial selections with your network, through Twitter, Facebook etc
Learn more about ThinkSocial Awards here.
Thanks for your support and participation.
Posted in: Collaboration, Health, Human Rights, Non-profit, Organization, awards | Tagged: Blair, CNN, facebook, fundraising, Kutcher, Malaria, Non-profit, obama, Oprah, twitter
One Comment to “ThinkSocial Awards: World Malaria Day “Twitter Challenge for Malaria No More””
[...] the ranks to victory – and we need your help to ensure we get there! To show your support, visit our page on ThinkSocial and cast your vote. You can sign in through your email, Twitter handle, Facebook and MySpace [...]