Social media is often characterized as egocentric. “Selfies” are posted along with pictures of the latest dining experience. Relationships are launched, celebrated and lost in a matter of a few tweets. In one instant, a celebrity can be created simply by sharing a photo of a day at work.
The Rose, however, sees a different side of the community created by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (social networks where we have an active presence). As a community-based organization focused on providing access to care for ALL our neighbors since 1986, The Rose has relied on community support – initially physical and now virtual – to expand our mission’s outreach to what is now 35 counties and growing.
In that vein, the next two months will be devoted to promoting the various means our “followers” have to connect with us online.
The Rose is once again highlighting #GivingTuesday, a first of its kind effort intended to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. #GivingTuesday refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which this year is December 2, 2014. Giving Tuesday is a movement to create a national day of giving to kick off the giving season. Giving Tuesday was started as a response to the post-Thanksgiving shopping focus on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and donations have almost doubled since its inception.
#GivingTuesday is a part of The Rose’s overall emphasis on gratitude throughout November as organizations, businesses, and individuals are highlighted for their work during October’s breast health awareness month. That spirit of gratitude extends beyond the holiday season with weekly #ThankfulThursday mentions via The Rose’s social media outlets.
Supporters of The Rose who want to multiply their impact can select from several means of giving back through their shopping choices including the following:
Shop2Care, a new not-for-profit online charitable shopping program, has selected The Rose as one of its first cause partners. Shop2Care is a program that enables users to generate donations for causes they care about at no extra cost to the user, by simply buying the same products and services they would normally buy from the same online retailers where they normally shop.
Shop2Care is absolutely free with no membership fees or dues. 100% of the money generated goes toward the selected cause. All Shop2Care operating expenses are underwritten by corporations and private foundations.
The Shop2Care experience includes a website and browser app. After signing up at www.shop2care.org, download the Shop2Care browser app, and seamlessly shop directly from participating retailers’ sites using normal accounts and passwords. The app will allow participating retailers to recognize that users are a Shop2Care member and credit any rebates/donations earned. Users may also continue to shop directly from the Shop2Care site at www.shop2care.org, however, with the browser app installed, they do not need to.
The retailers already committed to Shop2Care now number more than 800 and include Nordstroms, Best Buy, Macys, Expedia, and 1800Flowers.
Each time users visit a participating retailer’s site, a Shop2Care message will be visible at the top of the page and by simply clicking on the DONATE button before shopping, the retailer will then send a rebate/donation to Shop2Care after a purchase is made (at no extra cost to the user).
For eligible purchases at AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the customer’s selected charitable organization. When first visiting AmazonSmile (www.smile.amazon.com), customers are prompted to select a charitable organization from almost one million eligible organizations including The Rose. In order to browse or shop at AmazonSmile, customers must first select a charitable organization. To ensure that your donations are channeled to The Rose, search for Rose Houston.
Our involvement with Kroger Community Rewards is especially worthy of note as supporters begin planning their holiday menus. Kroger Plus Card holders can select The Rose as their charity. Kroger then tracks all the card holder’s purchases (excluding alcohol, tobacco and gasoline), with every dollar counting as a vote for The Rose. At the end of each quarter, Kroger totals up dollars spent by enrolled customers and distributes money proportionately. While the card can be linked to only one organization at a time, users may choose to give to two organizations annually by changing their non‐profit organization designation after six months. Go online at www.krogercommunityrewards.com and follow the member enrollment steps. Within 7‐10 business days of successfully registering the Kroger Plus Card, users will see the following at the bottom of their Kroger receipt: “At your request, Kroger is donating to The Rose.”
“Our gratitude is by no means limited to Thanksgiving and the generosity of spirit so evident during the holidays. We appreciate our supporters every day of the year. Yet we also welcome the opportunity to give them simple, efficient, and innovative ways to help our women simply by doing the things they do every day,” said Dorothy Gibbons, CEO and Co-Founder of The Rose. “We are thrilled to be a part of the online community and look forward to the impact these new emphases can make as we continue to address the ongoing issue of access to care.”
Secure online donations can also be made directly to The Rose at www.TheRose.org/donate. The Rose is a nonprofit breast health organization and all direct donations are tax deductible.
