Stern College Class Charity Campaign Goes Viral; Raises $42,000 to Make Home Wheelchair Accessible
For the final project in his 鈥淪ocial Media to Drive Business Results鈥 course at 黑料社 All鈥檚 , Adjunct Instructor Rob Longert gave students a simple assignment: raise money for a charitable cause by crowdfunding鈥攃ollecting small amounts of money towards a shared goal from a large group of donors, usually via online platforms鈥攗sing the social media tools they had learned in his class.
The group knew they had to focus on an achievable goal. They kept their expectations realistic. After meeting to discuss their options, they settled on the case of Sara Bezaley, a young girl from Great Neck, New York, who suffered terrible complications after contracting swine flu at age 7. Liran Weizman, a senior in the class majoring in public relations and psychology, had met Bezaley the year before while volunteering in the hospital where she was being treated and was immediately struck by her determination to fight and thrive. 鈥淭hank God, she鈥檚 a rock star,鈥 Weizman said.
The class met with Bezaley鈥檚 family, created a video and a webpage, and came up with fun but inexpensive perks for donors. Then they launched their campaign, 鈥,鈥 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo and started reaching out via Twitter, Facebook and email. Their goal: $4,000 to make the bathrooms in Bezaley鈥檚 home wheelchair accessible. They gave themselves two weeks to raise the money.
In less than 24 hours, the class raised almost twice that.
In another 24, that amount had more than doubled. And the money kept pouring in.
鈥淥n Wednesday night, we started class with $7,000, and Rob was so proud of us,鈥 said Yaelle Lasson, a senior majoring in journalism. 鈥淏y the time class was over, we had $10,000. The next day alone, we raised $14,000. We鈥檇 just sit there clicking 鈥榬efresh鈥 and watching the numbers go up.鈥
The class quickly revised their goal from $4,000 to $24,000. Within days, they had met and exceeded that goal too. They set a new stretch goal of $40,000 - 10 times what they had originally hoped to raise. When the campaign closed on May 13, they had raised more than $42,000.
鈥淭his started out as just another project with a grade and it became something we鈥檙e all so invested in,鈥 said Weizman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible to see how we had this idea and transformed it, with the help of such an amazing team, to create such a huge impact on a wonderful family. I am still so blown away by the people and by the power of social media.鈥 She added, 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 when you know you鈥檙e really a team鈥攚hen it鈥檚 no longer about the grade, but about helping this beautiful girl live a better life.鈥
If the campaign has been astonishingly successful so far, it鈥檚 in part because of the way the students integrated what they鈥檇 learned in the classroom into their planning and execution, according to Lasson.
鈥淥ur professor, Rob, really taught us that it鈥檚 not about how many times you post something on Facebook,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he story has to be compelling and you have to tell the story right. I don鈥檛 think this is so much about how many times we posted on social media as it is about the story that we told. I learned in my journalism courses that just because you write the story, that doesn鈥檛 mean someone will want to read it鈥攂ut once we told this one, everyone was talking about it.鈥
鈥淥ur class was designed as a way to teach my students the power of social media by experiencing it firsthand,鈥 said Longert. 鈥淲e spoke a lot about 鈥楥onversation Capital,鈥 a term coined by Bertrand Cesvet, founder and CEO of Sid Lee, a global creative agency, and how to generate experiences that people want to talk about, both online and off. To me the key takeaway is that when a community of people is passionate about something, they want to talk about it and spread the word. It鈥檚 been a core value that I鈥檝e taught in my class and we are seeing it come to life right now.鈥
For Bezaley鈥檚 family, the Stern College class鈥檚 social media experiment has life-changing implications. With the money the campaign has raised, it鈥檚 no longer just about renovating the bathrooms鈥攖he family is now planning to make the entire house fully accessible, a prospect that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago. To Longert, that kind of impact is indicative of the unique nature of the YU community.
Professor Rob Longert with students in his "Social Media to Drive Business Results" course
鈥淏oth of my class鈥檚 campaigns, 鈥極pen Hearts, Open Doors鈥 and 鈥,鈥 were launched to help people and support community,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t speaks to the type of people that are part of Stern and how the leaders of tomorrow are going to think, act and lead.鈥
The campaign鈥檚 success is a lesson in itself, enabling students to learn how to develop pitches to media and how to keep the momentum going once a goal has been reached. 鈥淲e have a much bigger story to tell now,鈥 said Lasson, who spent most of the morning tweeting major New York papers about the project. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 not just 鈥榯his great girl needed a house鈥 anymore. It鈥檚 鈥榯his great girl needed a house, and everyone wanted to help, and now you have to hear how it happened.鈥欌
To make a contribution or to learn more about the project visit .
The class quickly revised their goal from $4,000 to $24,000. Within days, they had met and exceeded that goal too. They set a new stretch goal of $40,000 - 10 times what they had originally hoped to raise. When the campaign closed on May 13, they had raised more than $42,000.
鈥淭his started out as just another project with a grade and it became something we鈥檙e all so invested in,鈥 said Weizman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible to see how we had this idea and transformed it, with the help of such an amazing team, to create such a huge impact on a wonderful family. I am still so blown away by the people and by the power of social media.鈥 She added, 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 when you know you鈥檙e really a team鈥攚hen it鈥檚 no longer about the grade, but about helping this beautiful girl live a better life.鈥
If the campaign has been astonishingly successful so far, it鈥檚 in part because of the way the students integrated what they鈥檇 learned in the classroom into their planning and execution, according to Lasson.
鈥淥ur professor, Rob, really taught us that it鈥檚 not about how many times you post something on Facebook,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he story has to be compelling and you have to tell the story right. I don鈥檛 think this is so much about how many times we posted on social media as it is about the story that we told. I learned in my journalism courses that just because you write the story, that doesn鈥檛 mean someone will want to read it鈥攂ut once we told this one, everyone was talking about it.鈥
鈥淥ur class was designed as a way to teach my students the power of social media by experiencing it firsthand,鈥 said Longert. 鈥淲e spoke a lot about 鈥楥onversation Capital,鈥 a term coined by Bertrand Cesvet, founder and CEO of Sid Lee, a global creative agency, and how to generate experiences that people want to talk about, both online and off. To me the key takeaway is that when a community of people is passionate about something, they want to talk about it and spread the word. It鈥檚 been a core value that I鈥檝e taught in my class and we are seeing it come to life right now.鈥
For Bezaley鈥檚 family, the Stern College class鈥檚 social media experiment has life-changing implications. With the money the campaign has raised, it鈥檚 no longer just about renovating the bathrooms鈥攖he family is now planning to make the entire house fully accessible, a prospect that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago. To Longert, that kind of impact is indicative of the unique nature of the YU community.
Professor Rob Longert with students in his "Social Media to Drive Business Results" course
The class quickly revised their goal from $4,000 to $24,000. Within days, they had met and exceeded that goal too. They set a new stretch goal of $40,000 - 10 times what they had originally hoped to raise. When the campaign closed on May 13, they had raised more than $42,000.
鈥淭his started out as just another project with a grade and it became something we鈥檙e all so invested in,鈥 said Weizman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible to see how we had this idea and transformed it, with the help of such an amazing team, to create such a huge impact on a wonderful family. I am still so blown away by the people and by the power of social media.鈥 She added, 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 when you know you鈥檙e really a team鈥攚hen it鈥檚 no longer about the grade, but about helping this beautiful girl live a better life.鈥
If the campaign has been astonishingly successful so far, it鈥檚 in part because of the way the students integrated what they鈥檇 learned in the classroom into their planning and execution, according to Lasson.
鈥淥ur professor, Rob, really taught us that it鈥檚 not about how many times you post something on Facebook,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he story has to be compelling and you have to tell the story right. I don鈥檛 think this is so much about how many times we posted on social media as it is about the story that we told. I learned in my journalism courses that just because you write the story, that doesn鈥檛 mean someone will want to read it鈥攂ut once we told this one, everyone was talking about it.鈥
鈥淥ur class was designed as a way to teach my students the power of social media by experiencing it firsthand,鈥 said Longert. 鈥淲e spoke a lot about 鈥楥onversation Capital,鈥 a term coined by Bertrand Cesvet, founder and CEO of Sid Lee, a global creative agency, and how to generate experiences that people want to talk about, both online and off. To me the key takeaway is that when a community of people is passionate about something, they want to talk about it and spread the word. It鈥檚 been a core value that I鈥檝e taught in my class and we are seeing it come to life right now.鈥
For Bezaley鈥檚 family, the Stern College class鈥檚 social media experiment has life-changing implications. With the money the campaign has raised, it鈥檚 no longer just about renovating the bathrooms鈥攖he family is now planning to make the entire house fully accessible, a prospect that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago. To Longert, that kind of impact is indicative of the unique nature of the YU community.
Professor Rob Longert with students in his "Social Media to Drive Business Results" course
