Trophy Wall - ME/CFS Community's Winnings in Online Contests - List in post #2

[Tuha]

Is not the ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group a Facebook group? I will not have anything to do with Facebook, but I vote in other fundraisers. There are probably others like me, so this Fueling Good contests should have more participants. Off to vote!

I would propose you to think about your decision about Facebook. There are a lot of patients who dont like facebook (including me) and they never use facebook except those contests but they did it because we really need the support of everyone (in the last Aviva contest which can bring important 150 000 dollars for a ME hospital - only around 100 patients actively participated in the contest - it´s very sad because the campaign had to reach a lot of patients and organisations) and those contests are often the only way how we can bring some money for our organisations (we all know how little money we get from the governement and we all know that without money we will do any progress).

a lot of people are affraid about their privacy but you can avoid this just with doing fake facebook account - it means to write fake name and doing a fake email adress. then you have to write there 2-3 informations about yourself like age, sex but this can be also fake.

I dont want to force you just think about what is important

bye

 

[Merry]

Is not the ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group a Facebook group? I will not have anything to do with Facebook, but I vote in other fundraisers. There are probably others like me, so this Fueling Good contests should have more participants. Off to vote!

Thanks, Bluestem, for voting in Fueling Good. You can also vote in the Avia contest by registering at the contest website rather than voting through Facebook (participants have a choice). The first round of the Avia contest just finished, and our sponsored charity, Complex Chronic Diseases Clinic, to open in 2012 in Vancouver, Canada, was a winner. The next round of voting for CCDC in the Avia contest begins December 3rd.

I don't like Facebook, either, and only use it to participate in contests to raise money for ME/CFS organizations. For me the issue is not privacy but, rather, I find the pages "busy" and hard to read. I just check in at the fundraising page a few minutes now and then to look for information on ongoing or upcoming contests.

 

[Little Bluestem]

I would propose you to think about your decision about Facebook.
...

a lot of people are affraid about their privacy but you can avoid this just with doing fake facebook account - it means to write fake name and doing a fake email adress. then you have to write there 2-3 informations about yourself like age, sex but this can be also fake.

I dont want to force you just think about what is important

bye

I don’t like the idea of allowing Facebook access to my computer, even under a fake name. I have read about a variety of underhanded and even illegal things that they have done. In lying to them, I feel like I would be bringing myself down to their level.

I am both suspicious and resentful that Facebook is using these contest to try to get desperate people such as ourselves to join. I am also suspicious of the companies that go along with it since it limits the people that can participate in their contests. They must be getting something out of it from Facebook to compensate and I somehow don’t think that it is something beneficial to the Facebook members.

At this time I think it is most important to protect my personal privacy and integrity. I am taking a “this too shall pass” attitude towards Facebook and hoping it passes sooner rather than later.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Thanks, Bluestem, for voting in Fueling Good. You can also vote in the Avia contest by registering at the contest website rather than voting through Facebook (participants have a choice). The first round of the Avia contest just finished, and our sponsored charity, Complex Chronic Diseases Clinic, to open in 2012 in Vancouver, Canada, was a winner. The next round of voting for CCDC in the Avia contest begins December 3rd.

I will be watching for December the Avia contest. I saw that they allowed voting through their site. It was the mistaken idea that it was a Canadian only contest that caused me to stop reading the thread. Now I know better.

 

[Purple]

I am both suspicious and resentful that Facebook is using these contest to try to get desperate people such as ourselves to join. I am also suspicious of the companies that go along with it since it limits the people that can participate in their contests. They must be getting something out of it from Facebook to compensate and I somehow don’t think that it is something beneficial to the Facebook members.

• More than 10% of the world's population uses Facebook every day
• Facebook is by far no. 1 social medium
• More than a half of people in North America use Facebook - great percentage of them log in every day
• Facebook allows amazing ways to interconnect people via sharing content

So in effect, Facebook is an amazing marketing tool which is (more or less until recently) completely free of charge. So that's what companies get out of Facebook - access to a potentially very large customer base and free advertising - which is really unprecedented. Many companies now use Facebook as their no. 1 way of communicating with customers/potential customers.

These contests are just another way for the companies to market themselves: they appear socially responsible by giving funds to charities and it doesn't take much effort for them - people using Facebook do their marketing on their behalf during these contests by creating presence on the world's most popular social medium.

We cannot influence how a company decides to give funds to charities - however, if they decide to do it via Facebook vote, I don't see why we shouldn't take full advantage of it. Yes, it's a non-traditional way of raising funds but there is such great potential. As is clear from the numbers of the trophy wall. There are so many of us - if greater numbers voted, we could be easily winning all the contests. It's really like a goldmine of free money... and in the case of the ME/CFS community, this money is so sorely needed, it's surprising only so few people participate in these contests.

There are various ways to set Facebook for maximum privacy (but of course Facebook's security sometimes lapses) so one has to decide how/if to use Facebook. It's matter of trade-offs and priorities.

(btw, Little Bluestem, I just used your quote because it related to what I wanted to say... it's not necessarily aimed at you personally )

 

[Purple]

Just a few links regarding statistics on Facebook - this would be very good to study for contests as it could be helpful to know and use to our advantage:

Facebook penetration by country:
http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=7435

Various Facebook statistics (click on the side to see different numbers - it will for example show you that the company's Kit Kat page gets approx. 9 million new fans a day!!! - though by looking at the statistics closely, this is not normal - Kit Kat seem to be currently running some sort of competition/promotion. But hundreds of thousands of new page fans doesn't seem out of the ordinary.)
http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/

More statistics:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/facebook.htm

By looking at these numbers, I get a feeling Facebook is here to stay.

 

[Merry]

CFS Solutions won $1000 in the Mercantile Bank of Michigan Contest.

 

[Merry]

Thanks to Helen at the Facebook ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group for keeping track of the wins.


2012

Dec $5000 (plus approximately $15,000 -- to be determined by Tupperware sales of designated products in six months)

1. Citgo Fueling Good (http://fuelinggood.com/)

• CFS Solutions of West Michigan http://www.cfssolutions.org/

2. Supported ME/CFS Australia in Tupperware contest- they won approx $15,000 in support

Nov $1000

1. Mercantile Bank 15 Days of Giving http://www.facebook.com/MercBank

• CFS Solutions of West Michigan http://www.cfssolutions.org/

Oct $400

1. Patchwork Road http://www.facebook.com/PatchworkRoad

• ME/FM Action Network www.mefmaction.com/

Sept $30,000

1. Chase Community Giving http://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving

• NIDA (Neuro Immune disease Alliance) www.nidalliance.org ($20,000)

• Phoenix Rising http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php ($10,000)

June 200 pounds

1. Small Charity Week http://www.facebook.com/smallcharityweek

• Invest in ME www.investinme.org

May $500

1. Veribo http://www.veribo.com

• ME/FM Action Network www.mefmaction.com/

Mar $5,000 and $250,000

1. Colonial First State (3AW competition) $5000

• ME/CFS Australia (Vic, Tas, NT) (Patient who nominated also received $500)http://www.mecfs-vic.org.au/3aw-5000-charity-competition$250,000

1. Home Depot Foundation ( http://www.facebook.com/homedepotfoundation?sk=wall )

• Veteran's Guest House http://www.veteransguesthouse.org/

Feb $25,000

1. Home Depot Foundation ( http://www.facebook.com/homedepotfoundation?sk=wall )

• Veteran's Guest House ( http://www.veteransguesthouse.org/ )

 

[Merry]

Could someone explain the Veteran's Guest House wins? I understand that the Veteran's Guest House was not an ME/CFS charity.

 

[Merry]

2012 total for ME/CFS charities: 57,225 US dollars or 35, 209 British Pounds Sterling

for Veteran's Guest House: 275,000 US dollars or 169,200 British Pounds Sterling

 

[Enid]

Great to see you Merry. As you will see my avatar your photo - Bonhoeffer - now there was a man. Thanks for great work raising funds all round.

 

[Merry]

Always good to see you, too, Enid. I'm flattered you used my photo of cherry blossoms. Yes, a few days ago I watched a documentary on Dietrich Bonhoeffer (and before that read a biography). Are you ready for another exciting year of voting in contests?

 

[Merry]

Helen in the Facebook ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group explained that although the Group hadn't entered Veteran's Guest House in the Home Depot Foundation contest, they decided to support it as a show of solidarity with veterans with Gulf War Illness.

 

[Nielk]

Helen in the Facebook ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group explained that although the Group hadn't entered Veteran's Guest House in the Home Depot Foundation contest, they decided to support it as a show of solidarity with veterans with Gulf War Illness.

I think this type of support is very important. It's a way for us to build alliances which in turn could increase our
base when needed.

 

[Merry]

In the Chase contest, organizations who met the early deadline for acceptance of nomination received $335. If I remember correctly, twenty some organizations were nominated. How many met the early deadline is unknown. Only two reported to the Facebook Fundraising Group that they had received the $335. So add $670 to the total for 2012 above. I'll edit the post later, if I don't forget.

 

[Purple]

There were 8 in the Chase that we could vote for so presumably they all received the $335.
OFFER Utah, Enterovirus Foundation, HHV6 Foundation, NIDA, Phoenix Rising, Wisconsin CFS Association, New Jersey CFS Association and Rocky Mountains CFS Association (best to confirm the names - some of them may include FM too). But best to confirm this if possible.

 

[Merry]

There were 8 in the Chase that we could vote for so presumably they all received the $335.
OFFER Utah, Enterovirus Foundation, HHV6 Foundation, NIDA, Phoenix Rising, Wisconsin CFS Association, New Jersey CFS Association and Rocky Mountains CFS Association (best to confirm the names - some of them may include FM too). But best to confirm this if possible.

Thank you, Purple. You are probably right that all of these organizations met the early deadline. I'm trying to remember what the contest rules were. I think the organizations had until the end of the contest to accept the nomination (get the proper paperwork in to Chase). You are right that we need confirmation. Very likely I won't have the time until next week to do anything about this.

 

[helen41]

Little Bluestem, and many others, I truly do understand your concerns about Facebook. Privacy on Facebook is leaky. You set your preferences to one thing, and next time around, they have done an update that negates your preferences, and makes them public.
I have a Facebook account that I use to enter contests. I have never entered onto Facebook my date of birth, my legal name, or my address, so I am pretty certain no one would be able to steal any meaningful data.
When I enter a contest, vote, etc, I consistently use a slight variation of the truth, and I always use the same variation, so I don't forget.
In 3 years of contesting, I have never had a problem, including the 2 times I have had to go to a notary to get an affidavit to claim a prize. They understand mixing up month/ day/ year and, truth is, sponsors want to give you the prize and be done with it.
Please consider opening an account with as little info as you can, and using that to support our efforts.