YOU Are Making a Difference

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Added: Wed. Apr 01, 2009 12:04pm
Posted in: Volunteering

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People of the Interwebs, our experiment has worked! Despite the lethargy that we all bemoan; despite our divergent political views and inability to agree on even basic ideas, one thing is clear.

We all care about making a difference.

We proved it, with the challenge that I issued just a few weeks ago. Don't remember? Refresh your mind here.

Basically, I wrote a blog as part of our Age of Opportunity think tank project, in which I pledged to test my theory that the Internet is the Greatest Bridge Ever Built. I asked you to leave comments on that blog and to use Twitter.com to post comments using the #ageop tag.

For each #ageop tag and comment, I pledged $.25 to Share our Strength, through the 12 for 12K Challenge.

Watch this to learn more about the organization:



I wasn't sure if my challenge would get any attention at all -- in fact, my fear was that people wouldn't take the time to read the blog (nearly 900 of you have at this posting) and wouldn't follow the instructions.

I had nothing to worry about. In fact, it's a good thing I set a financial limit, because I could have been in real trouble when all was said and done!


(that's just one of the 60 pages of Tweets!)

Here are the totals:

3,000 tweets total.
  -200 tweets by me.
  -200 tweets by @ageopportunity.
       7 blog comments.

That leaves 2,600 tweets. If I had not set a financial cap, I'd be shelling out a hefty $651.75!

Since I capped the donation at $250, I have followed through with my commitment and sent the money to Share Your Strength, via the 12for12K Challenge. I'd be happy to send anyone who asks a copy of the receipt.

The rest of the tweets will be translated into volunteer hours -- a whopping 32 of them! Wow!

This has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and I'll be brainstorming ways to continue to connect social media and social good. I'd love to see some of you try out your own ideas!

Questions, concerns, want to double-check my math? E-mail me at katy@growingbolder.com or leave a comment below. And tell me how YOU are making a difference!

(Need inspiration? Check this out.)