Suppose the act of sharing or tweeting on your favourite charity’s behalf generated an automatic corporate donation. Would you share that message through your networks? The Assiniboine Park Zoo and FineLine/Social Ambassador have teamed up to test that idea at helppolarbearsnow.org, powered by Social Ambassador. A quick click lets supporters share news about the planned polar bear environment at the zoo and triggers a one dollar donation from RBC.

“It’s a very low-maintenance system,” explains the zoo’s marketing and community engagement director Kevin Hunter. “The software itself does all the work and tracks the numbers accurately for RBC’s donation.” Unlike some other social media commitments, it takes little staff time from the sponsor or the charity – a big advantage as nonprofits squeeze their operations budgets ever more tightly.

Turn a donor into a sponsor

Nearly two months after launch, the trial has raised close to $3,000. Not a huge sum, but as Hunter points out, “It’s $3,000 that we didn’t have before.” A potentially greater advantage is that it engaged RBC, a regular corporate donor, as a sponsor for the first time.

“We’re all learning as we go along,” Hunter says, so the zoo and RBC are still parsing the early data and planning further communications for the campaign.

“Philanthroship”

FineLine/Social Ambassador’s COO Jocelyn Chipman is enthusiastic about the platform’s potential to break down silos at both corporations and nonprofits. She and CEO Polly Craik, a member of the zoo’s board of directors, have coined the term ‘philanthroship’ to describe the integration they would like to see users achieve.

“Corporations want their philanthropy, social media and sponsorship people to work together and bridge those silos,” Craik explains. “Social Ambassador offers a great opportunity to create a project that will achieve that.”

The Social Ambassador team will do all the work of putting up the campaign page and tracking results for their clients. Corporations will pay an activation fee scaled to the size of the campaign, while participating charities pay a minimal monthly fee. There’s little information on the FineLine website so far, but with early results from the Assiniboine Park Zoo in hand, Craik and Chipman are eager to talk to potential customers.