Two girls, two friends who had two different types of cancers had two distinct nonprofit organizations founded in their honor, respectively. With the help of social media, these two nonprofits have touched peoples lives and are continuously growing.
For childhood friends, Anna Basso and Micaela White, the use of social media was a big factor in beginning the foundations set in their honor.
Anna Basso was diagnosed with a highly aggressive bone and tissue cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma at the age of 16. After her death in June 2011, her parents sought out to continue the battle Anna was fighting. They began the nonprofit foundation now known as 1 Million 4 Anna.
Up-and-coming nonprofits are able to reach their desired audience and become more personal thanks to the increasing popularity of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, Texas Tech University Social Media Coordinator and Community Manager Allison Matherly said.
The 1 Million 4 Anna Million 4 Anna foundation strives to put the word out about what Ewing’s sarcoma is and does. The foundation aims to provide college scholarships to those who have battled or are still fighting Ewing’s sarcoma, while also funding money for the research of this cancer and empowering those affected by it through inspiration.
Anna’s mother, Carol Basso, is the co-founder of the foundation.
“By using social media,” Basso began, “it keeps people tied into the foundation so that they know what we are doing and feel confident about it.”
The power of social media directly affected the foundation after a recent Twitter announcement from the Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban. Cuban is known to receive fines each game due to his foul mouth, and it is known he matches those fines with a donation.
“Myself and friends all emailed Cuban asking for him to match his fine by donating to 1 Million 4 Anna by emailing him with the same heading hoping it would reach him,” Basso said.
Six hours after the emails were sent, Cuban tweeted he was donating $75,000 to the 1 Million 4 Anna foundation. Knowing how many people follow Mark Cuban on Twitter and the demographic he would reach, she said it was a good feeling to know people would look into the foundation.
Social media feeds to all age groups and all audience types. Basso said it helps connect people who have Ewing’s with each other and is an important part of the foundation.
“Social media will always be a focus on our upcoming goals and always a major part of every event that happens,” Basso said.
Anna’s childhood friend, Micaela White, was diagnosed with Leukemia during high school and passed away in August 2011. Similar to the creation of the 1 Million 4 Anna foundation, Micaela’s family and friends began a nonprofit, Micaela’s Army, in her memory. It was first introduced through the creation of a Facebook group people may join and support the family.
Amanda Rivera, a close friend to Micaela and a continuous supporter of Micaela’s Army, said the nonprofit was first advertised through both Facebook and Twitter. She said use of those two social mediums helped connect people.
At the time this article was written, Micaela’s Army was still in the works, and the organization strives to help fund research for childhood cancer. Amongst other attributes, the organization members create various arts and crafts for the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas oncology unit.
Along with continuous efforts to raise money for childhood cancer research, Rivera said, the foundation also wants to raise awareness about childhood cancer to everyone.
“Social media usage helps get the word out to people,” Rivera said. “Since everyone is connected by Facebook and Twitter, it is easier to find people to help the organization grow.”
A Basso family neighbor, Mark Hall, created the website that empowered the 1 Million 4 Anna foundation.
“It’s always nice to have a group of people who can help out and know exactly what they’re doing,” Basso said.
Hall established the 1 Million 4 Anna website, so people all over the world could click a button and pledge to pray for her at the particular time of 12:12, which is part of a Bible verse that helped Anna through her battle.
The name 1 Million 4 Anna came from a goal set during Anna’s battle. Through the website, the goal was to get one million people to pledge to pray for her. The group reached that goal a couple of days before her death.
“Because it is a low-cost alternative and more and more of the audiences are moving to more online sources, it is a big benefit for nonprofits,” Tech Social Media Coordinator Matherly said.
Without social media, nonprofits would have a difficult time building up the organization because it would lead to more written communication rather than online communication, and that would greatly affect the prosperity in getting nonprofits’ names across.
About Nina Alavizadeh
