![5 Must-Follow Non-Profits Making a Difference With Social Media [MASHABLE AWARDS]](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/archives/06zoB7bPJPfIlxOKzcHRB7y/hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1647019170.jpg)
Groups are using social media a variety of ways, from raising money to engaging with constituents on personal and meaningful levels. The most important thing social media offers for non-profits, though, is a highly effective channel to spread awareness about their cause. “Having 10 million people is more important than $10 million,” Change.org founder and CEO Ben Rattray told Mashable recently. “For advocacy you need to mobilize people, and the web helps you mobilize people like never before.”
There are any number of worthy non-profit organizations utilizing social media in new and interesting ways; below are five that caught our eye this year as must-follow groups. Please share in the comments any other non-profits you think deserve a follow and nominate them for a Mashable Award.
More than just a great art museum, the Brooklyn Museum is one of the most social media-savvy organizations on the planet. From a mobile website that lets visitors tag items in the gallery (which, in turn, helps to organize the museum's vast, 94,000-record online collection) to a Foursquare account that offers tips for things to do in the neighborhood and rewards mayors with special parties and other offers, the Brooklyn Museum is hip to the latest social media trends.
What's really great about the museum, which can also be found on Tumblr, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, is that the staff is not afraid to innovate and try new things. They're constantly testing out new social platforms and innovating new ways to use their current social media accounts. They even share the code behind some of their best ideas on GitHub!
Sesame Street Workshop is the non-profit organization behind the beloved children's classic television series Sesame Street, among others. And despite being 41 years old, these cats -- er, Muppets -- really know social media.
You can find your favorite Sesame Street residents on Twitter and Facebook (characters like Elmo, Big Bird and Oscar have their own Pages). Where the Workshop really excels, however, is YouTube. Sesame Street Workshop has made its biggest social media splash on YouTube, with exclusive content that often features celebrity guests and frequent parodies of other digital media memes, such as the Google search stories or the Old Spice Guy, that prove the people behind Sesame Street know their stuff.
Founded in 2006 by noted African conservationist Dr. Richard Leakey, WildlifeDirect aims to save endangered animals in Africa. The organization helps local conservation groups around Africa raise funds, awareness and support for their conservation projects.
WildlifeDirect can be found on many of the usual social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, but where it really shines is blogging. The organization has set up an active blog network of more than 100 field blogs penned by conservation groups across Africa. The blogs are one of the main drivers of donations to the conservation work that the organization supports, but they also offer a fascinating look into the struggle to save endangered species in some of the most diverse and threatened areas on Earth.
Founded in 2008 by Gabe O’Neill and his then 9-year-old daughter, MaryMargaret, Kids Are Heroes is a non-profit group that has the admirable goal of inspiring children to get involved in the act of giving back. The website offers profiles of more than 100 kids who have at a young age (some as young as 5-years-old!) had a meaningful impact on their communities and the world -- whether by training diabetic service dogs, donating books to low-income families, or raising millions of dollars for out-of-work war veterans. The organization's message is loud and clear: Kids can make a difference.
Along with the inspiring stories, the Kids Are Heroes website allows children to send "shout outs" to one another, and the group maintains active and engaging Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project is a force to be reckoned with. Afflicted with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) -- a genetic degenerative muscular disease that killed his older brother -- Darius and 11 of his friends set out six years ago to travel across America with the ultimate goal of getting Darius' wheelchair customized on MTV’s Pimp My Ride. The group filmed that trip and turned it into the much-celebrated documentary film, Darius Goes West.
Six years later, Darius Goes West has become a movement -- non-profit vehicle to raise money and awareness for the search for a DMD cure that now seems so tantalizingly close. Darius, who continues to defy the odds, recently turned 21 years old and the Darius Goes West crew continue to come up with innovative ways to spread their message and raise money using social media. From raising money through Facebook widgets to inspiring people to do crazy things in the name of charity, Darius Goes West is a must-follow cause for their innovation and unflappable humor.
What's Your Take?
Which non-profits should we absolutely follow? Let us know your picks and recommendations in the comments below or nominate them for the Mashable Awards.
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