We have lots of great updates for you this month. Keep reading to learn about the largest matching grant in Causes history, the campaign to Save Dolphins from slaughter in Japan, and some special news about next month.
The documentary film The Cove features a team of activists and filmmakers who infiltrate a heavily-guarded cove in Taiji, Japan, to witness and document the slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises annually. The dolphins are killed for their meat, which contains toxic levels of mercury and is intentionally misrepresented as safe food in Japan. The filmmakers, who are pressuring the Japanese government to stop this tragedy, have come to Causes to build a popular movement around the film. In the past three weeks they’ve started a cause called “The Cove – Save Japan Dolphins” and a petition “End the Brutal Killing of More than 20,000 Dolphins Every Year in Japan” that now has over 83,000 signatures. Both are growing rapidly and more importantly, giving people the opportunity to take consequential action, such as signing the petition (which will be sent to the President and Vice President, as well as the US Ambassador to Japan), pledging to see the film, and educating friends on Facebook and beyond.
As we begin Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Aflac has pledged $1 million to the Aflac Cancer Center cause in the form of a matching grant. Aflac will give these funds as Facebook users make a commitment to the cause by joining, recruiting friends, and making donations. Aflac will donate $1 for anyone who joins the Aflac Cancer Center cause and match every donation on the cause, up to $1 million.
Cancer is the number one cause of death by disease for children under the age of 15. The Aflac Cancer Center treats more than 350 new cancer patients every year and has the largest sickle cell disease program in the country. It treated 6,503 patients in 2008. The Center recently announced that Aflac has given more than $50 million to the fight against childhood cancer, with much of the funds donated by 16,000 of Aflac’s sales agents who voluntarily contribute a combined $325,000 every month. Now Aflac is taking that support and leveraging it for greater impact online!
READY FOR ANOTHER GIVING CHALLENGE?
Last time Causes helped organize the Giving Challenge (nearly two years ago), Facebook users gave nearly $600,000 in small-dollar contributions to their favorite nonprofits. This time around we have roughly 10 times the number of active users we had then, and we expect the 2009 Challenge to be even bigger than last time. This year the Case Foundation will give away a total of $150,000 in daily and overall prizes for nonprofits whose causes who receive the most unique daily donations between October 7th and November 6th. The Giving Challenge does not reward the largest causes, but instead the causes that are able to mobilize the most donors to make contributions. In other words, nonprofits that have the deepest relationships with their supporters will do the best. In the last Challenge, Love Without Boundaries won the overall grand prize with 4,115 unique donors. Stay tuned to learn how to enter your cause in the Challenge and compete for that prize money!
WEBINAR: Getting Started on Causes
On Wednesday, September 9th at 2pm EDT / 11am PDT, Causes will be hosting a webinar to discuss how nonprofits can better use the Causes application and Facebook, in general. This week’s topic will be: Getting Started on Causes: Setting up a cause and your Nonprofit Profile
Description: Whether you are new to Facebook or you think you might have gotten off on the wrong foot, there are a couple key things you need to do to get started using the Causes application. In this informative webinar, Susan Gordon, Causes Nonprofit Coordinator, will walk through exactly how to get started using Causes and why you'd want to. Then, she'll dive into best practices, tips, and success stories of what makes a great cause, how to edit your existing cause in light of this new information, what being a nonprofit partner means and how to set yourself up for success on Facebook.
The documentary film The Cove features a team of activists and filmmakers who infiltrate a heavily-guarded cove in Taiji, Japan, to witness and document the slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises annually. The dolphins are killed for their meat, which contains toxic levels of mercury and is intentionally misrepresented as safe food in Japan. The filmmakers, who are pressuring the Japanese government to stop this tragedy, have come to Causes to build a popular movement around the film. In the past three weeks they’ve started a cause called “
As we begin Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, 
Last time Causes helped organize the 