Client Experience Project and its new Twitter social cause program – TwitCause – was profiled in one of the most influential tech blogs

Ice Cream Maker Paying For Your Tweets To Save Honeybees

By MG Siegler

Back in August, we covered the launch of TwitCause, a service not unlike Causes on Facebook, only built on top of Twitter. Basically, they find a cause to support (partially based on community feedback) and use Twitter to drive awareness for it. They also ask that you donate some money if you find the cause worthy. But today brings a new little twist: A sponsor willing to pay for any Twitter user who tweet out their support for a cause. Ice cream maker Häagen-Dazs has stepped up to do this to try and save honeybees.

Perhaps you’ve heard the stories over the past several years about honeybees mysteriously vanishing around the world in large numbers. The root cause is believed to be something called Colony Collapse Disorder, which causes bees to stray from their hives and die. This is bad news since honeybees are vital to pollinating a lot of different types of foods we eat. They’re also vital to making ice cream, which is why Häagen-Dazs is supporting this TwitCause.

Starting today and running through November 11, Häagen-Dazs will pay $1 for the first 500 people that tweet everyday with the hashtag #HelpHoneyBees. The money will go towards both a UC Davis research project to further look into Colony Collapse Disorder, as well as help fund the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, which aims to teach people about how to create their own honeybee farms.

Experience Project helps charities with TwitCause and lands a spot in the San Francisco Chronicle!

Got a tweet to spare? It could help the charity of your choice.

A week ago, a record number of status updates on Twitter and Facebook using the phrase “#BeatCancer” helped raise $70,000 for four non-profit cancer organizations.

Meanwhile, sales of a virtual crop for the popular Facebook game FarmVille raised nearly a half-million real dollars to feed poor children in Haiti. And a group called TwitCause used tweets to promote organic foods and a walk to benefit diabetes research.

These are just a few of many recent examples of how social networks have quickly become a powerful yet inexpensive tool to raise money and awareness for charities, even at a time when the economy has reduced overall donations to nonprofit groups. Read More.

At Zenzi, we believe in giving back to organizations that are helping to make the world a better place. Supporting nonprofits working to implement social change not only feels good, it is a great way to create buzz about your company. It’s a win-win situation. This is why we encourage our clients to engage in cause marketing campaigns and seek out the right alliances for their mission and corporate goals. When you act out of goodness, people begin to trust you, and right now, trust is one of the most meaningful and hard-earned assets a company can possess. So take a step back from the financial fears and think about what you and your company can do to help the greater good. You’ll be surprised what a difference it will make.

1. 1. Choose a cause that is relevant to your brand: The charity you choose should make sense for your company and be in line with your mission and values. Be strategic when thinking about which non-profit is meaningful and will complement your brand messaging.
2. 2. Be original: The more unique or groundbreaking cause you choose, the more press-worthy it is and the more mileage you will get out of it. Plus, you will help spread an interesting message and will be viewed as an industry leader. The Haagen-Dazs “Save The Honey Bees” Campaign is a perfect example of a creative cause that is also right on target for the brand.
3. 3. Take advantage of social media: Tap into the power of social networks as a cost-effective way to spread the word. TwitCause, new from Experience Project, is an innovative way to help spread the word about your favorite charity via Twitter. We also love SocialVibe, where you can partner with sponsors to create greater impact for your cause campaign.
4. 4. Make sure you walk the talk: Be ethical. Don’t just claim to be helping a charity unless you plan on playing a big role or donating a significant amount of money to the cause. There has been a huge swell of corporate brands falsely claiming to be “green” (2% less plastic used…but still horribly toxic for the environment) or “pink” (check out Think Before You Pink).
5. 5. Be compassionate: Charity causes are often a sensitive issue to those involved, so make sure they know that you genuinely care about what they are doing for the world. A good non-profit should be equally concerned about your mission and values as its own. Sincerity and kindness are the name of the game.
6. 6. Pick one and stick with it: When deciding on a cause to support, it is important to think about the long-term. What are you passionate about? Choosing a cause that resonates with your employees will help energize your team and will help its staying power. No campaign can achieve overnight success, so you have to be willing to hang on to see the results you want.
7. 7. Drive dollars back to you: Tie product purchases into support for the cause. If you donate a percentage of each product to a cool non-profit, consumers are more likely to choose your product over others that aren’t giving back. Sometimes having a direct relationship (i.e. For every ten bikes purchased, you provide one bike to a child in a third-world country) helps to give your customers something they can grasp on to.
8. 8. Think big: Partner with an organization that is already getting good press on their own, then figure out how you can add to it for a bigger and better impact. Maybe choosing a smaller non-profit is right for your company, so you can really make large-scale change for their cause.
9. 9. Be comprehensive: Make sure you are supporting your campaign from all sides, including PR, media messaging, in-store displays, online, events, and guerilla outreach. Evaluate your progress along the way to ensure you are achieving your goals.
10. 10. Have Fun: Be sure to take a moment to enjoy how good it feels to give back! Celebrate your success with a party. Give out awards. Put on a check presentation or ribbon-cutting ceremony. Say thanks to those who helped along the way.

Experience Project was recently featured on Playboy Radio with host Tiffany Granath.

Armen Berjikly, CEO of Experience Project, spoke on Playboy Radio and shared his expertise on social networking. His website, ExperienceProject.com has a vast selection of topics including ‘Relationships’ which he discussed with Tiffany.

 

Visit www.ExperienceProject.com and check out the different discussions happening online and share your stories on the world’s largest anonymous online social networking site!

In an age when the Internet has made nearly everything public, even once deeply hidden secrets are surfacing en masse online. More and more women reveal intimate details of their lives online.

No longer are some women seeking solace in the confessional booth or gossip sessions with close girlfriends. They are looking toward the infiniteness of the digital space to post their inner-most thoughts anonymously.

Women confess things like, “I told my boyfriend that I was on birth control but that was a lie and I ended up getting pregnant with our now 5-year-old child. I guess the interesting thing is I don’t really know if I want to be a mother and honestly I don’t think I am happy with my husband ironic huh? ”

And Web sites like www.experienceproject.com allow users to spill their guts online without identifying themselves.

Hear one mom’s true confession on Good Morning America…