June 29, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
In just three weeks on MySpace, Sunny the Seal made more than 2,000 friends.
Sunny’s friends at the Humane Society of the United States, in Washington, set up the page — which discussed seal hunting in Canada from the perspective of a seal — on the popular social-networking site this spring to raise awareness about the issue and reach out to new animal-rights activists.
The MySpace campaign added 500 names and addresses to the Humane Society’s e-mail list.
In an interview on Beth’s Blog — run by Beth Kanter, a nonprofit technology consultant in Boston — Carie Lewis, Internet marketing manager at the Humane Society, writes about the MySpace campaign and offers advice to other nonprofit groups.
She cautions that campaigns on social-networking sites are time intensive.
“Never put together a page then leave it, expecting people to come to you,” Ms. Lewis writes. “Take the time to respond and interact with all your friends. If you don’t have this kind of time to do it right, find another way to get your message out.”
Has your organization tried using social-networking sites for advocacy or fund raising? Was the effort successful? Click on the comments link below this post to share your experiences.
