October 17, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
An environmental group used a popular location-based social network in its recent advertising campaign both to raise money and to introduce its work to young people.
The advertisements Earthjustice placed in San Francisco’s subway system starting in July focus on oil drilling, endangered species, and the water quality of Lake Tahoe. One of Earthjustice’s large donors agreed to donate $10 each time someone “checked in” at one of the advertisements on the Foursquare social network, up to $50,000.
So far people have checked in nearly 4,000 times, which represents some $40,000 for the Oakland, Calif., environmental group.
A big part of the campaign’s success was timing, says Ray Wan, manager of marketing and design at the organization. This year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had already galvanized public concern about the safety of oil drilling, he says.
If Earthjustice were to conduct a similar campaign again, it would encourage participants to leave messages—“tips” in Foursquare parlance—when they sign in, says Mr. Wan.
“It would have been even better if we had asked people to put in tips,” he says, “maybe tips about how to reduce their dependence on oil or ways to help improve water quality.”
For more information: Go to http://www.earthjustice.org.
