When I heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 12th, I reached out to our friends over at International Medical Corps to offer a hand.

They agreed so I started planning a very quick blogger public affairs informational outreach to let bloggers around the world know about IMC’s good works and their mission to get doctors in-country to physically put medicine to use on the injured, hungry, and dehydrated residents of Port au Prince and Haiti in general.

Well, I got onto our Abraham Harrison weekly management team meeting on January 18 and initiated a campaign to craft a one email outreach to over 9,700 English-speaking bloggers with a very short pitch and a simple plea: please post or tweet about IMC’s mission, here’s a widget if you like, we would love your readers to help.  Here’s the email we used on our January 20th outreach and here’s the email I received:

From: Ellie Brown <ellie@imc-haiti.org>
Subject: Haiti still needs help

Dear Chris

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization, founded by volunteer doctors and nurses and dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through relief and development programs. Our emergency response team is in Haiti responding in force and I would like to ask for your help to get the word out to the readers of Because the Medium is the Message. There are still thousands of patients seeking treatment of which approximately 80% are in need of surgery and are running out of time – especially with the tremendous aftershocks still devastating this country. The team is treating crush injuries, trauma, substantial wound care, shock and other critical cases with the few available supplies – And they’re in it for the long haul.  I would love your help spreading the word by blogging or tweeting about IMC’s rescue efforts. We’ve put up a blogger friendly widget here on our site:

http://www.imcworldwide.org/haiti

With the widget it’s really easy to let your readers know that donating $10 to help the people of Haiti is as simple as sending a text message of the word “haiti” to 85944. If you have any questions just let me know and I will do my best to help you out. If you are able to post the widget or tweet, I would appreciate it if you could send me the link.

Thanks so much,

Ellie

–
Ellie Brown
International Medical Corps
ellie@imc-haiti.org

If you’ll notice, we were very explicit with what we asked, what we needed.  We also reached out with Ellie Brown’s real name — as we do in all of our campaigns, no false name for us, ever –  but as representing International Medical Corps.

We act as consultants for our clients so we feel comfortable reaching out as our clients on these client-blessed campaigns.  Also, the sole link we included usually goes to our own bespoke Social Media News Release — see USOC, FAF, OLX, MotionBox, BrandsClub, etc — but in the rush around doing this pro bono rush outreach, we were happy that IMC already had a landing page / microsite already developed for the campaign,  http://www.imcworldwide.org/haiti, which is perfectly useful and meets all of our outreach campaign needs.

While we generally do a three wave campaign with two follow-ups on the initial ask, in this case time was of the essence, so we just made one single request outreach.

Also, we generally don’t do outreaches as aggressive as the 9,700+ strong outreach we did in this case for IMC — generally closer to 2,000-per-outreach — but I was willing to risk a little because IMC’s mission in Haiti is such a good, meaningful, generally-understood, and timely event and I really wanted the largest and broadest impact possible.

So far in this unique campaign we have been able to log 171 earned media mentions that could be directly connected to our outreach, not secondary or tertiary “echoes.”

Next week, I will post all of the blogs and tweets — 171 — that we have received between the initial outreach on January 20th, when we sent out the request, the ask, and January 26th, when the campaign organically concluded.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the residents of Haiti and to all of those noble folks who are doing good works down there and will continue working on rebuilding Haiti and helping Haitians well past the media moves on to something else.  We love International Medical Corps because they always invest in communities long term and that’s what Haiti needs right now: commitment.

Via Marketing Conversation

Last week, our intern, Ellie Brown, asked me if it would be OK to blog about her experience as an American University-credited intern at Abraham Harrison.  Of course! Of course!  Well, here it is, enjoy, My super fantastic internship:

Hi everyone!  My name is Ellie and I am here to share with you the trials and tribulations of my internship this semester with Abraham Harrison LLC.  I am a grad student getting my master’s in Public Communication and hope to someday be a a snarky public relations executive at a big company where I can boss interns around all day…just like Chris Abraham, president of Abraham Harrison.Actually, that couldn’t be further from the truth.  My internship so far has been anything but getting bossed around.  Abraham Harrison is a public relations company that engages in social media management, online grassroots & new media marketing, business intelligence, search engine services and online reputation clean-up.  Really, really cool stuff.

My responsibilities so far have been reading up on all the latest social media news and info, writing about it for the company blog Marketing Conversation, helping out with blogger outreach for International Medical Corps to raise money for Haiti, and whatever else comes up.  Oh and did I mention this was all done from the comfort of my own home (or the uncomfort of the AU library)?  That’s right, AH doesn’t have a physical office.  Everything we work on is done online and staff live all over the world.  It’s pretty great.

My introduction has been brief, but I hope you’ll check back every now and again to see what I’m up to.  More about blogger outreach next time…

Ellie Brown 9:35 am on February 1, 2010

Wow, that was great.  Uh oh, I surely hope we don’t screw everything up for all of the NYC, SF, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, and Boston agencies and firms that spend most of their time abusing their interns while making them go in Starbucks runs and all of that filing and photocopying and dry cleaning pick up and so forth.

Funny thing is, we had an Intern once, Lasse, who insisted we find him a proper job in a proper office, requiring him to wear proper shirts and slacks and shoes and — gasp — ties and jackets!  To each his own, I guess.

Via Marketing Conversation

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS IN HAITI

• Our emergency medical team is working at the De’l Universite d’etat d’Haiti Rue Monseigneur Guilloux Pau P, Haiti, a 700 bed hospital that is barely functioning. Hundreds of patients are waiting for medical care. Yesterday, only four Haitian doctors were working at the hospital – everyone else is caring for their own families, missing or dead.
• We delivered desperately needed medical supplies to the hospital yesterday. More supplies are expect today, including emergency medical kits and food.
• We are also working out of our hotel — Villa Creole — which has been turned into a make-shift clinic. See pictures under the MEDIA tab on the left.
• The team is treating crush victims, trauma, basic wound care, shock and other critical cases with the few available supplies. A lot of patients with broken bones, fractures and ruptures.
• We are currently treating teenage sisters today. They arrived at the hospital without their parents – we expect they are missing. Both have serious injuries and we are worried one may lose her foot. They are just two of the many people who need our help.
• We have 16 more physicians and nurses arriving today.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

On January 12, a 7.0 earthquake struck 10 miles south of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team is in Port-au-Prince assisting survivors of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday. The team is providing medical care outside the general hospital near the Presidential Palace where hundreds of people have congregated for help.

• Estimated 2.5 to 3 million people are expected be affected.
• Earthquake triggered mudslides, collapsed buildings, and knocked out power and communications lines.
• Injuries and loss of life are predicted to be substantial.
• People reportedly trapped under rubble and much of Port-au-Prince is destroyed.

Other members of the Emergency Response Team are conducting a rapid needs assessment and visiting hospitals around the city to explore their condition.

In addition to emergency medical care, survivors of the earthquake are likely to be in immediate need of food and water, as well as non-food items like blankets, tents, stoves, and water purification equipment. Public health is a major concern as well. International Medical Corps will also focus on providing emergency shelter and other essential items in its relief effort.

The response draws on 25 years of experience in emergency settings, including last September’s earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia, and the massive 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

Abraham Harrison LLC

I have been busily collecting testimonials from our current and past clients and I just added a couple more just now on the Abraham Harrison website and I thought I would cross-post them over here for you to check out.

Colleen Fitzgerald, Director of Advocacy Implementation, Habitat for Humanity International

On behalf of Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), thank you for your company’s pro bono work on World Habitat Day blogger outreach during the fall of 2009. We were astounded by the results achieved by Abraham and Harrison (A&H), and we appreciated your donation of staff time and resources.

Olivier Grinda, Co-Founder and CMO, BrandsClub

Abraham & Harrison has been doing a terrific job for brandsclub. Not only have they created and managed our twitter account, that has the most followers in the world for our business model, their outreaches have gotten us tons of responses. Last but not least they are always coming up with great suggestions and worldwide contacts for any crazy idea you might come up with. I would recommend them to anyone!

Francois Baird, Co-Chairman, Baird’s CMC

The dedicated team at Abrahamharrison assisted Baird’s CMC with new media outreach to create an international discussion about the Baird’s CMC report on the view of U.S. multi-nationals about investment in Africa. The results of their work were outstanding; leading to substantial coverage and vigorous debate. Abraham Harrison proved to be smart, responsive and highly effective.

Fabrice Grinda, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, OLX

It’s been a true pleasure working with the team at Abraham Harrison. They increased the online awareness of OLX far more than I thought would be possible with English, Spanish and Portuguese bloggers.

Jenny Morgenthau, Executive Director, The Fresh Air Fund

Abraham-Harrison tackled an extremely time-sensitive project for us and got up to speed quickly. We were impressed with their expertise in the industry, ability to execute a plan successfully and willingness to listen to our needs and goals. Their work has made an impact on our programs already and has given a tremendous boost to our awareness efforts.

Jerry White, Co-Founder and Director, Survivor Corps

Abraham & Harrison has been a critical catalyst for the online debut of SURVIVOR CORPS. They helped us create a blogging buzz around the launch of Survivor Corps, offering savvy counsel on strategically targeted audiences who would resonate with our mission. A&H cleverly leveraged the release of my book — I Will Not Be Broken: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis — to generate word of mouth promotion online and cultivate new supporters for our work to help survivors of war in the United States and abroad. Abraham & Harrison will jump into a campaign with passion and panache. They’ve been responsive to our needs and a pleasure to work with from day one.

Rebecca Milner, Vice President, Institutional Advancement, International Medical Corps

Abraham & Harrison has been a tremendous asset to International Medical Corps during our American Express Members Project campaign. Their online strategy and outreach helped introduce International Medical Corps to many new audiences and raised our visibility during this time-sensitive campaign. International Medical Corps was written about in more than 170 blog posts.

Abraham & Harrison brings a unique approach to online public relations. The worldwide web is a vast space, yet Abraham & Harrison has found a formula to reach out to target audiences, effectively raise awareness and get online readers and activists to take action.

The entire Abraham & Harrison team has been fantastic. Each team member brings creativity and passion to the cause. Without a doubt, International Medical Corps would engage Abraham & Harrison for another campaign.

Shari F. Leventhal, Partner, FireMedia Partners (Former CMO, the dear departed Firebrand)

With Chris Abraham’s audacious voice and mastery of a variety of blogs, feeds and social media networks, Abraham Harrison was instrumental in significantly raising the volume for Firebrand during its short but illustrious history.

Via Abraham Harrison and Marketing Conversation

I love the tag cloud that my Abraham Harrison web site offers — when it looks like it is supposed to — it is styled to — then it give you a most excellent representation of what’s going on on the corporate site, allowing a visitor to more visually — and instinctively — find what he’s looking for.  Here’s a picture of what the tag cloud should look like:

And, here’s the tag cloud without styles rendered.

abraham Abraham Harrison Abraham Harrison Earned Media Abraham Harrison LLC ahllc blogger activation blogger outreach Blogger PR blogger relations bloggers blogging blogs BR buzz marketing case studies case study Chris Abraham conversation marketing corporate blog corporate blogging corporate blogs crisis response defensive SEO digital PR digital public relations earned media FAF Fresh Air Fresh Air Fund google google apps google apps premier Harrison IMC International Medical Corps Mark Harrison online community Online Engagement online marketing online outreach online PR pr blog pr blogging products publicity blog public relations search engine optimization SEO services smpr SNS social media social media PR social network social networking services social networks Survivor Corps testimonial Twitter web 2.0

When I sell Abraham Harrison‘s blogger outreach and blogger PR services I tend to focus on the initial promotional and profile benefits associated with having hundreds of highly targeted organic earned media blog posts show up almost overnight on behalf of our clients.  If you would like to know what this sort of campaign looks like, check out our case studies.

That’s not it, there’s more. As I have mentioned before, unlike SEM, these blog posts, reviews, and mentions are permenant and not ephemeral.

Finally, there is the issue of the powerful and amazing SEO benefits associated with having over 100 bloggers choose to write about your brand, product, campaign, or service.

Unlike pay-for-play services like Review Me, PayPerPost, or IZEA, the blog posts written by the bloggers we reach out to are not pay per post, they are earned media.  When my team and I reach out to our A-Z list bloggers along dozens of verticals targets, it is up to each blogger to choose to accept our message and decide that what we’re offering is worthwhile to post or Twitter.

There is real power associated with this sort of thing. Like any journalistic or consumer-generated promotional pitching, results are not guaranteed; however, we have done this for over two yearsd and our penetration, success, and results have improved over time.

If you want to see the sort of posts that are associated with this kind of blogger PR pitch outreach, here are some examples:

• Thank You All Who Supported International Medical Corps!
• Thank You Operation Survivor Bloggers
• Thank You International Medical Corps Bloggers
• Thank You Again Survivor Corps Bloggers
• Thank You Fresh Air Fund Bloggers
• Book Promotion with Blogger PR 

I am always to allow these things to be as transparent as possible.  What’s more, linking back to all of the fine blog posts that bloggers have shoehorned into their busy days is sort of a link love thank you.

And, to be honest, Google thinks were the bees knees because the content that our messaging drives real content. In all cases, we’re at the mercy of the blogger — if we’re not smart, generous, engaging, charming, positive, responsive, and even supportive, we’ll get tarred and feathered, and so will out client.

We’re better than that.

With each blogger outreach that results in a hundred or more organic earned media, highly-textual, brand-centric, keyword-dense and diverse, and often times almost completely based on the Social Media News Releases (SMNRs) we create for the client, the level of powerful Google, Live.com, Technorati, Ask.com, and Yahoo! love is not only formidable, but, over time, and much sooner than you think, both our social media new releases as well as our blogged content can challenge our clients for top-spot, which is OK because we’re not their competitor.

Here are some examples of client SMNRs we especially like, feel free to check them out:

• http://anamigo.smnr.us
• http://freshair.smnr.us
• http://banclusterbombs.smnr.us
• http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us
• http://survivorcorps.smnr.us
• http://iwillnotbebroken.smnr.us
• http://internationalmedicalcorps.smnr.us

I have almost ten-years of SEO experience and have always done things the right way, and Social Media and Blogger PR is the right way. None of us coerce any of our bloggers into blogging, we’re just able to figure out how to appeal, how to give, how to engage, how to message, and how to ask for what we want from our long tail list of upwards of 500 A-list blogger and 30,000 B-Z list bloggers.

Anyway, if you’re interested in learning more or getting on a call with my Director, Dan, my CEO, Mark, and/or me, pop me an email and we’ll sort it out.

(Via Marketing Conversation)

I tell anyone who will listen to me that the current crop of advertisement methods is too short-lived. The moment you spend the money and your ad runs, that is the moment it is either gone to the grave or becomes a patient existing on life support. Either you’re smart and willing to keep it alive, in conversation, online on YouTube for the spots, or on a blog somewhere for the print work — or you feel compelled to keep on throwing money at it ad infinitum, because contextual ads, banner ads, etc, only last as long as you write checks.

What my specialty is is online conversation marketing, online public relations, and online earned media. When you earn peoples’ attention and when they choose to speak about you, your clients, and your services, then you have a gift that keeps on giving — this is content that lasts well past the campaign and into the future. This is both the sort of thing that Google loves — it is SEO catnip — and it is just the sort of content that flows, both upstream to A-list bloggers and to mainstream media and down to your readers, aggregators, and to other bloggers and other blogs.

If you want to see some examples of powerfully successful blogger outreaches, check out International Medical Corps (IMC) 2008, Survivor Corps Operation Survivor 2008, and Fresh Air Fund Summer 2008, Jerry White’s I Will Not Be Broken book promotion. In many cases, these campaigns are close to a year old, yet they still still live in hundreds and hundreds of blogs and feed Google’s index until all of these blogs are taken down. It is really amazing how effective this sort of “advertising” promotion works. What’s better, when the campaign is over and the client “turns off” our tap, the content continues living and isn’t just shut off like it is with banners, buttons, and contextual advertising. Very interesting, very cool, and powerfully effective.

Remember how much fun Communication Arts is to page through? — CA is intoxicating! Well, every ad you make can be as interesting, as long as you’re willing to come out of your art department and share your process, share your experience, share your steps. Keeping those ephemera alive through narrative, sharing, conversation, and story, is what social media is, it is what customer service is, it is surely what branding should be.

Anyway, There is a lot of opportunity in this time of chaos, of this time of transition. The same sort of transition (and opportunity) happened when PCs came online, replacing the IBM Selectric II; when the Internet changed E-Commerce, threatening to eviscerate bricks and mortar stores, and it is happening now, more than ever, with advertising, marketing, and PR.

I call it white knuckle syndrome: holding on to the handholds you have, frozen on the face of the cliff, because you don’t know where the handholds of the future are. This chaos is pretty amazing to watch as the economy pitches and GM bails on Super Bowl.

Advertising knows it needs to jump off the locomotive before it pitches into the gorge (the bridge is out!) but reaching out to the proffered hand of the guy in the helicopter seems pretty risky too. But, as the current handholds become chalky and you start to feel them crumble under your weight, you’ll need to find somewhere else to go, and quick!

To me, Chris Brogan said it best the other day on Twitter, “customer service is the new PR.*” Looking at what @comcastcares has been able to do, customer service is the new PR, the new marketing, and the new advertising.

So, as those handholds start to get chalk and begin to crumble, it is important to at least set your eyes on a new handhold — or maybe a helping hand — before your original handhold turns to powder.

And for you who have yet to do the reading, please check out Cluetrain Manifesto and Naked Conversation.

On behalf of the International Medical Corps and Abraham Harrison, thank you so much for all of your support over the last four weeks to get the vote out to help get the International Medical Corps into the top-five of the Members Project and then for securing the $100,000 from American Express, to be used to feed hungry children worldwide. Here’s a thank you video blog entry from Paige Strackman, who was the PaigeS who submitted IMC in the first place under the title, Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children.

Here’s the official, final, press release you can read, directly from International Medical Corps:

International Medical Corps Wins $100,000 Grant from American Express to Save Malnourished Children

October 14, 2008, Los Angeles, Calif. –International Medical Corps (IMC) has been awarded $100,000 through the American Express Members Project. The grant will be used to treat malnourished children worldwide. IMC is one of five organizations to receive funding in the nationwide campaign where American Express Card members submit and vote for projects that are meant to bring people and organizations together for positive change.

The funding will be used to implement the project, ‘Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children.’ Submitted by American Express cardmember Paige Strackman, the project focuses on treating malnutrition through nutrient-rich, ready-to-eat food, which International Medical Corps provides to more than 35,000 children every month through a network of 215 supplementary and therapeutic feeding sites in some of the world’s most food-insecure environments, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. The project was selected by an elite panel out of 1,190 others and received more than 14,000 votes in the final round of competition.

“I submitted this project because, as a mother, I cannot ignore that five million children under five die every year due to malnutrition,” says Paige. “This funding will save thousands of malnourished children around the world who otherwise may not have been reached. I am so grateful to everyone who supported this project and helped make it a reality.”

While the project was submitted by one individual hoping to make a difference, it gathered public momentum. The project’s message was shared in the media from Los Angeles to New York, on nearly 200 blogs across the Internet, through thousands of emails and on social networking sites, including Facebook, My Space and Twitter.

The grant from American Express comes at an opportune time when rising food costs are driving millions deeper into poverty everyday while trying to afford basic staples. As a result, hunger and malnutrition kill more people each year than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.

“We are incredibly grateful to Paige for not only submitting the project, but also for fueling it with the passion to make it so successful,” says Rebecca Milner, Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “There are approximately 178 million children around the world who are malnourished and only 3 percent get treatment. This funding makes it possible for International Medical Corps to reach more of those children who desperately need our help.”

In Democratic Republic of Congo alone, International Medical Corps’ supplementary feeding centers admitted 3,500 new children in the past two months. At one center for severely malnourished children, IMC has a 35-bed capacity, but is accommodating 82. Another 30 children await treatment. This trend is symptomatic of the food insecurity affecting East Africa and much of the developing world. The World Food Program estimates that 15.7 million of those in need are in East Africa, and another 8.6 million are in Afghanistan.

With a mission that focuses on training, International Medical Corps works to empower individuals and communities, providing education on how to treat malnutrition, identify warnings signs, and intervene before malnutrition worsens. Health care workers and parents are educated on proper diet and hygiene, and communities are equipped to grow their own food and reduce their vulnerability to rising prices.

*The ‘Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children’ project can be viewed here: http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/OZH1P1
**Videos of children’s dramatic recoveries from malnutrition can be seen on International Medical Corps’ YouTube Channel: http://ca.youtube.com/user/IMCMembersProject

For more information visit our website at www.imcworldwide.org.

Also, thank you to every single blogger and social media maven who was so generous as to help us spread the word out and get as much attention as possible for both the Members Project as well as for International Medical Corps as well. You were all more than generous and all of us at IMC and AHLLC would love to thank you for being so generous and selfless.

• Help Feed Hungry Children via Danny Fisher.
• Help Save Kids via Three Sons and a Princess.
• Seeking $1.5 million to feed malnourished children via http://www.cabraham.com/node/693.
• International Medical Corps Matched With Top 25 American Express Members Project, via The Colombo Times News Blog.
• Altruism – For Whose Sake? via Jakartass.
• Cast a Vote, Help Save a Child via The Blog That Ate Manhattan Goes to Italy .
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Here There and Everywhere.
• International Medical Corps Matched With Top 25 American Express Members Project Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Samotalis.
• International Medical Corps responds to the food crisis with emergency nutrition programs, food relief aid, agricultural assistance, and training via Holly’s Fight to Stop Violence.
• Calling All American Express Card Members via All 4 My Gals.
• Russia using cluster bombs and humanitarian efforts for children… via Glass City Jungle.
• I’ve got this via E-Mail To Publish on this site, For the sake of children via The Triple Gem!.
• In This Election, The Winners are the Children via The Blog That Ate Manhattan.
• International Medical Corps via Christefideles.
• saving malnourished children via Lotusinthemud.
• Help Save the Lives of Malnourished Children With International Medical Corps via Myrtus.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Ontario.
• International Medical Corps via Sakshum…cultivating dreams.
• International Medical Corps Matched with Top-25 via Jumping Monkeys.
• Banner on Site via Nerds Eye View.
• Fabulicious Friday #26 via cookienotes.
• Sharing Saturday – AmEx and Int’l Medical Corps via My Life as a Hot Professional.
• Cause Everyone Needs to Eat via Grassroots Activism.
• International Medical Corps via Yoga and Judaism Center.
• Radyo Inteligentaindigena-09-20-2008 via Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo.
• Help IMC save the lives of malnourished children in Africa! via A Romanian in Africa.
• Fighting Deadly Malnutrition: This Time, A Morally Imperative Rescue via The Cogitamus Blog.
• Fighting Deadly Malnutrition: This Time, A Morally Imperative Rescue via litbrit .
• Do the right thing via Bloody Brilliant.
• Let None Go Hungry via Pipecleaner Dreams.
• Click to Help Malnourished Children! via A Red Thread Connection.
• Tweet via Bloggapalooza.
• Here’s Something Cool via Cool Mom Picks.
• A Different Vote: Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Sexy Spanish Club in Buenos Aires.
• Saving Lives for Malnourished Children via Connorcolesmom.
• This won’t take a minute. via Miss Cellania.
• People Watching in Lipscani via Writers Bloc.
• A Good Deed via My Boyfriend is a twat.
• Corporate do-gooding: Vote for the best ideas that American Express is sifting through via Religion Blog: Dallas News.
• Please consider voting via Living in shkoder Albania.
• Banner via Andres V.
• Help Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Progressive U.org.
• International Medical Corp via Jaden’s Journal.
• We Get Stuff via Winds of Change.
• International Medical Corps, Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Art of the Possible Online.
• Banner via Postcards From Across the Pond.
• Another AmEx Submission… via Fat Doctor.
• Up to 5 million children a year die of malnutrition – with one mouse click, you can help via Shakesville.
• Help International Medical Corp Save Starving Child With Just One Click via William K. Wolfrum.
• International Medical Corps Needs Your Vote via The Rotten Word.
• Give ‘em a vote via Army of Mom.
• Int’l Child Relief NGO Needs Our Votes…1.5Million At Stake via The Democratic Daily.
• Members Project by AmEx is amazing. Vote to send their money to help children here. via Craphammer.
• Reaching Out in the Love of Christ via The Day of the Lord.
• Do you Hear the Cry? via Christs Redeeming Passion.
• Compassion that makes a Difference. via Passion that Redeems.
• The Greatest Gift is Love via About the Father’s Business.
• Making a Difference via Redeemed by the Passion of Christ.
• Be a Light that Makes a Difference via Life in Christ.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via What’s a Delmer Look Like.
• banner via The Legless Blog.
• Contribution to a Noble Cause via Aa..Ha [Thinking Inside The Blog!].
• Help International Medical Corps Earn $1.5M via Turning Left.
• Help International Medical Corps Earn $1.5M via eNews Park Forest.
• They Need Your Vote … via Freaked Out Fathers.
• posted widget via Albtranslator.
• Please check this out via Braveheart Does the Maghreb.
• Saving the lives of malnourished children via Tongue and Cheek.
• American Express’ Members Project International Medical Corps via Sugar and Spice.
• International Medical Corps Matched With Top 25 American Express Members Project Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Budget Nomad – US Ex – Pat on the Move.
• Vote for International MedicalCorps to Help Children in Need. via humorgrafe .
• Voting for International Medical Corps via Tall Skinny Kiwi.
• Revealing myself as a LOTR nerd via Journey Mama.
• Thank You for Blogging About International Medical Corps! via Chris Abraham Because the Medium is the Message.
• Dora, the sheep droppings explorer via The French Mountain Dweller.
• Int’l NGO Needs Our Help To Win $1.5 M For Starving Children via Daily Kos.
• Thank You Bloggers for Blogging about International Medical Corps via Memes.org.
• Thank You International Medical Corps Bloggers via Abraham Harrison.
• “Vote for International Medical Corps to Help Children in Need” via Ben Heine.
• Feeding Hungry Children via Kuru Lounge.
• Your click could mean $1.5 million for malnourished children around the world via Pirate Pappa.
• One Click to Save Lives via So a Blonde Walks Into a Review.
• Members Projects via OBVI.
• With One Click You Can Save Thousands Of Malnourished Children via Blogher.
• Help International Medical Corps Feed Hungry Children via Chrisfernando.net.
• Thursday, September 25, 2008 via Island In the Pacific.
• Your click could mean $1.5 million for malnourished children around the world. via Fresh Motivation.
• Click for $1.5 million – A win-win-win situation via Stet.
• Vote to make a difference via Onlinefundraisingblog.
• Something About Saving Lives? via NDAGHA.
• Click to Donate via More Than An Army Wife.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via The Existential Lip.
• International Medical Corps via Backyard Missionary.
• International Medical Corps Matched with Top 25 American Express Members Project, ‘Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children’ via Bio-Medicine.
• Time is Running Out!!! via Pre School Mama.
• “The International Medical Corps: Please Consider This Good Cause” via Working With Word.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via javajive.
• Things I should have avoided whilst pregnant via Whitterer on Autism.
• American Express Members Project: Join me in voting for the project, “Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children.” via Make College Pay Off.
• Interested in Saving a Child From Malnutrition? via Reservoir.
• Go Vote for the International Medical Corps via Christian Spirituality w/ Edges.
• Vote for the International Medical Corps! via Understanding The Psychology and Effects of Abandonment Issues.
• International Medical Corps via Stories on Malawi.
• The Least of These via Paravanes: Christian Meditations .
• Vote to help feed hungry kids! via Happy at HFC.
• Please support International Medical Corps and help feed hungry children via The Sreisaat Adventures in cambodia.
• Tela’s Finds via Working Moms Against Guilt.
• Save Lives with Your Vote via Servant of Chaos.
• FYI via Left of Centre.
• International Medical Corp via Desert Phoenix.
• sidebar via Pardon Me For Asking.
• One Day Left – the AMEX Members Project via A Mom a Blog and the Life In-Between.
• widget via Psychiatryforpublic.
• sidebar via Tamil Newsfeed.
• Help Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Progressiveu.
• A Little Charity Is All It Takes. via Anchor Rising.
• When Snark Just Isn’t Enough via World-O-Crap.
• International Medical Corps via Portrait of a Writer.
• The Members Project via Earnest Parenting.
• Vote to Feed Hungry Children via Looney Bin 4 Sure.
• American Express Members Project via Big Blueberry Eyes.
• Vote Now!! Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Lost Girl’s World.
• International Medical Corp Matched… via Chris Zenzine.
• We get letters via Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
• Just a Note via Code Yellow Mom.
• International Medical Corps – Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Awakening To Enlightenment.
• Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Contented Woman.
• Beyond THE FUTURE: International Medical Corps via Beyond Understanding .
• Beyond THE FUTURE: International Medical Corps via Publishers Marketplace.
• Banner via Arwin Soelaksono .
• Vote to Help Feed a Hungry Child! via Three P’s in a Pod.
• I get mail — worthy causes via The Reaction.
• I get mail — worthy causes via Newshoggers.
• I get mail — worthy causes via The Impolitic .
• Vote to Help Hungry Children via Dad Talk.
• Social Media News Release via Nandigram United.
• IMC project: Saving the lives of malnourished children via Motherscribe.
• Nobody likes to go hungry – especially kiddos. via Jelly Mom.
• HELP FEED CHILDREN via Smart Christian.
• International Medical Corps via Mama Speaks.
• International Medical Corps–Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via This Mom.
• I don’t usually do this, but… via Non-Essential Equipment.
• Before I Forget (Again) via Drye Portents.
• Haiti Update via Gonna Make a Change.
• Vote to save hungry children! via Make it Happen.
• Please vote via All 4 My Gals.
• Att: American Express Card holders via Writers Bloc.
• Hey..Vote Again via ZenZine.
• Vote For These Guys and Save Some Children via Intuittech.
• Widget via The Disenchanted Forest.
• Vote for the International Medical Corps! via understanding the effects of unresolved abandonment issues.
• Help the International Medical Corps Feed Hungry Children via Danny Fisher.
• Help Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Progressiveu.
• Saving the Lives of malnourished children via The French Mountain Dweller.
• Last chance to Save The Lives of Malnourished Children via Simple Green World.
• International Medical Corps’s Good Deeds Triumph!! via Three P’s in a Pod.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children – NEWS FACTS via Ontario.
• $1.5 Million For Malnourished Children Around The World Possible – Your Vote In The American Express Members Project Could Help This Happen via Medical News Today.
• International Medical Corp Vote Now! via Holly’s Fight for Justice.
• International Medical Corp Vote Now! via Holly’s Fight to Stop Violence.
• International Medical Corp via Jakartass.
• widget via Andres V.
• widget via Que es El Testamento Del Paisa?.
• Part II Vote to Help Hungry Children via Dad Talk.
• Continue Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via What’s Delmer Look Like?.
• Sharing Saturday – Bloggers Rule! via My Life as a Hot Professional.
• Banner via Earnest Parenting.
• International Medical Corps needs your help via Sociolingo’s Africa.
• Food Charities via Grasshopper New Media Presents….
• That good deed that some of you did …. via My Boyfriend is a twat.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Paravanes: Christian Meditations .
• Giving back to Africa via Africa Safari Blog.
• Can Social Media Make the World A Better Place? via Digital Podcast.
• Vote to Feed Hungry Children via South Africa.
• Members Project Submissions Due 8/19 via The Drew Blog.
• Help International Medical Corps Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via International Medical Corps.
• Help International Medical Corps Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Chris Abraham.
• Help International Medical Corps Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Marketing Conversation.
• Help International Medical Corps Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Chris Abraham: Because the Medium is the Message.
• Help International Medical Corps Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Chris Abraham: Internet Analyst and Web Strategist.
• Vote AGAIN!!! for “Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children” via finding joy in Liberia .
• International Medical Corps needs your vote ! 4 days left “ via Ben Heine.
• International Medical Corps via Worldfoodvision.com.
• Calling All American Express Cardholders via Everything Finance.
• American Express Members Projects 08 via Ground.
• Its Easy to Make a Difference via Baer This In Mind.
• Hello guys! via Halo Scan.
• Help Feed Hungry Children! via Friends of the World Food Organization.
• International Medical Corps now in American Express Members Project Top 5, Vote Today via Yubanet.
• American Express Members Project Contest: Support the International Medical Corps via The Human Trafficking Project.

CHALLENGE: This was a two week, high pressure campaign focused on getting International Medical Corps (IMC) into the final five of the American Express Members Project $2.5 million giveaway competition. 1,190 projects were nominated for participation in the competition, Amex cardholders could vote for their favorite project, and the top five projects receive a portion of the $2.5 million in grant money.

The challenge that Abraham Harrison faced was to take IMC, a relatively low-profile $100MM per year organization that gets all its money from government grants and had essentially no support base among the general public and activate a mass wave of support and votes for the organization – in two weeks.

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training, relief operations, and development programs.

STRATEGY: Abraham & Harrison has developed strong relationships with a large group of bloggers interested in humanitarian issues who in turn act as influencers in their communities of readers. The goal, as with all online influencer outreaches, was to earn these bloggers’ support and their willingness to act as repeaters and amplifiers of our client’s message, get their implicit or explicit endorsement, and motivate their readerships to action – in this case to vote for IMC in the Amex Members’ Project competition.

Abraham & Harrison was in constant consultation with the client, advising International Medical Corps on their message copy, their use of widgets, their posting of banner ads, and guiding their broader strategic decisions.

TACTICS: Abraham & Harrison reached out to close to 4000 bloggers across a spectrum of demographics. The Abraham & Harrison team reached out to these bloggers multiple times over the course of two weeks directing them to the Members Project website and the helpful, blogger-friendly Social Media News Release that made blogging on the topic an easy cut-and-paste action. http://internationalmedicalcorps.smnr.us/

Abraham & Harrison also turned to its strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, and several other social networks, building groups and messaging followers as well as the broader Abraham & Harrison community. To drive SEO and further traffic, every one of the over 190 blog posts was posted on Digg and several other social bookmarking platforms.

RESULTS: Within two weeks the team at Abraham & Harrison had achieved close to a 10% response rate to the outreach emails, leading to over 190 blog posts with more trickling in daily. Millions of impressions were made, and given the permanent nature of blog posts and the resultant presence on the search engines, impressions will continue to be made into the future.

International Medical Corps was able to fend off challenges from those organizations in 6th and 7th place, finally finishing in the top five, guaranteeing them a portion of the $2.5MM in grant money.

"Abraham & Harrison has been a tremendous asset to International Medical Corps during our American Express Members Project campaign. Their online strategy and outreach helped introduce International Medical Corps to many new audiences and raised our visibility during this time-sensitive campaign. International Medical Corps was written about in more than 170 blog posts.

"Abraham & Harrison brings a unique approach to online public relations. The worldwide web is a vast space, yet Abraham & Harrison has found a formula to reach out to target audiences, effectively raise awareness and get online readers and activists to take action.

"The entire Abraham & Harrison team has been fantastic. Each team member brings creativity and passion to the cause. Without a doubt, International Medical Corps would engage Abraham & Harrison for another campaign."

Rebecca Milner
Vice President, Institutional Advancement
International Medical Corps

Firstly, please vote now for the Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children. Secondly, I really want International Medical Corps to do as well as possible in the American Express Members Project. IMC has an amazing worldwide mission, “dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.”

My team and I have been working with the IMC team for the last three weeks. After the first two weeks, we all were were able to collectively get IMC into the top-5, which was an amazing feat since there were quite a few organizations who were really hot on our heels!

The project? Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children. Now that the Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children project has made the top-5, we’re all pushing for the last 5 days and we need your vote! We’re currently in 4th place, which guarantees $100,000; however, if we are able to secure number 3, International Medical Corps would receive $300,000; then, if we could make it to second, IMC would receive $1,000,000. Making first would mean $1,5 million dollars to help feed hungry and malnourished children worldwide, saving the lives of malnourished children.

If you want to learn more about the project, Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children, feel free to check out the Social Media News Release we created for this campaign. If you wan to learn more about the International Medical Corps, please check out the IMC web site and their about page:

About International Medical Corps

International Medical Corps (IMC) is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.

Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, IMC is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide.

By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, IMC rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

“Abraham & Harrison has been a tremendous asset to International Medical Corps during our American Express Members Project campaign. Their online strategy and outreach helped introduce International Medical Corps to many new audiences and raised our visibility during this time-sensitive campaign. International Medical Corps was written about in more than 170 blog posts.”

“Abraham & Harrison brings a unique approach to online public relations. The worldwide web is a vast space, yet Abraham & Harrison has found a formula to reach out to target audiences, effectively raise awareness and get online readers and activists to take action.”

“The entire Abraham & Harrison team has been fantastic. Each team member brings creativity and passion to the cause. Without a doubt, International Medical Corps would engage Abraham & Harrison for another campaign.”

Rebecca Milner
Vice President, Institutional Advancement
International Medical Corps

First off, if you haven’t voted yet, please vote. Secondly, as recently as Wednesday, September 24th, 2008, I posted a thank you for blogging about International Medical Corps as a thank you for all of the bloggers who were so generous as to blog about the current voting contest going on — 73 earned media posts — called the Members Project. International Medical Corps is being represented by the Member Project called Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children. Well, three days later, we have been lavished with another 30 earned media mentions, listed below:

• Thank You for Blogging About International Medical Corps! via Chris Abraham Because the Medium is the Message.
• Dora the sheep droppings explorer via The French Mountain Dweller.
• Int’l NGO Needs Our Help To Win $1.5 M For Starving Children via Daily Kos.
• Thank You Bloggers for Blogging about International Medical Corps via Memes.org.
• Thank You International Medical Corps Bloggers via Abraham Harrison.
• Vote for the International Medical Corps! via Ben Heine.
• Feeding Hungry Children via Kuru Lounge.
• Your click could mean $1.5 million for malnourished children around the world via Pirate Pappa.
• One Click to Save Lives via So a Blonde Walks Into a Review.
• Members Projects via OBVI.
• With One Click You Can Save Thousands Of Malnourished Children via Blogher.
• Help International Medical Corps Feed Hungry Children via Chrisfernando.net.
• Thursday September 25 2008 via Island In the Pacific.
• Your click could mean $1.5 million for malnourished children around the world. via Fresh Motivation.
• Click for $1.5 million – A win-win-win situation via Stet.
• Vote to make a difference via Onlinefundraisingblog.
• Something About Saving Lives? via NDAGHA.
• Click to Donate via More Than An Army Wife.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via The Existential Lip.
• International Medical Corps via Backyard Missionary.
• International Medical Corps Matched with Top 25 American Express Members Project, ‘Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children’ via Bio-Medicine.
• Time is Running Out!!! via Pre School Mama.
• The International Medical Corps Please Consider This Good Cause via Working With Word.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via javajive.
• Things I should have avoided whilst pregnant via Whitterer on Autism.
• American Express Members Project: Join me in voting for the project Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Make College Pay Off.
• Interested in Saving a Child From Malnutrition? via Reservoir.
• Go Vote for the International Medical Corps via Christian Spirituality w/ Edges.
• Vote for the International Medical Corps! via Understanding The Psychology and Effects of Abandonment Issues.

Anyway, bloggers and everyone else who has supported, thank you very much from both the IMC and AHLLC!

If you want more information, please check out the informational page we made for the project — the SMNR — and you can learn a lot more and see all the various and sundry assets the organization has provided for this noble campaign.

Finally, please let me know if I missed your post in the Chris Abraham comment area — and if you want to post about the contest and the issue, please feel free and pop the URL into the Chris Abraham comment section and I will add you and thanks in advance!

The International Medical Corps and my team have been working on winning $1.5 Million dollars through American Express’ Members Project. IMC needs to be in the top 5 in order to win. Please check out the Member Project page, Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children, and then please vote.  I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who have blogged about the issue and about the contest — see below:

• Help Feed Hungry Children via Danny Fisher
• Help Save Kids via Three Sons and a Princess
• Seeking $1.5 million to feed malnourished children via Bearing Drift
• International Medical Corps Matched With Top 25 American Express Members Project, via The Colombo Times News Blog
• Altruism – For Whose Sake? via Jakartass
• Cast a Vote, Help Save a Child via The Blog That Ate Manhattan Goes to Italy
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Here There and Everywhere
• International Medical Corps Matched With Top 25 American Express Members Project Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Samotalis
• International Medical Corps responds to the food crisis with emergency nutrition programs food relief aid agricultural assistance and training via Fight to Stop Violence
• Calling All American Express Card Members via All 4 My Gals
• Russia using cluster bombs and humanitarian efforts for children… via Glass City Jungle
• I’ve got this via E-Mail To Publish on this site, For the sake of children via The Triple Gem!
• In This Election, The Winners are the Children via The Blog That Ate Manhattan
• International Medical Corps via Christefideles
• saving malnourished children via Lotusinthemud
• Help Save the Lives of Malnourished Children With International Medical Corps via Myrtus
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Ontario
• International Medical Corps via Sakshum…cultivating dreams
• International Medical Corps via Jumping Monkeys
• Banner on Site via Nerds Eye View
• Fabulicious Friday #26 via cookienotes
• Sharing Saturday – AmEx and Int’l Medical Corps via My Life as a Hot Professional
• Cause Everyone Needs to Eat via Grassroots Activism
• International Medical Corps via Yoga and Judaism Center
• Radyo Inteligentaindigena-09-20-2008 via Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo
• Help IMC save the lives of malnourished children in Africa! via A Romanian in Africa
• Fighting Deadly Malnutrition: This Time, A Morally Imperative Rescue via The Cogitamus Blog
• Fighting Deadly Malnutrition: This Time, A Morally Imperative Rescue via litbrit
• Do the right thing via Bloody Brilliant
• Let None Go Hungry via Pipecleaner Dreams
• Click to Help Malnourished Children! via A Red Thread Connection
• Tweet via Bloggapalooza
• Here’s Something Cool via Cool Mom Picks
• A Different Vote: Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Sexy Spanish Club in Buenos Aires
• Saving Lives for Malnourished Children via Connorcolesmom
• This won’t take a minute. via Miss Cellania
• People Watching in Lipscani via Writers Bloc
• A Good Deed via My Boyfriend is a twat
• Corporate do-gooding: Vote for the best ideas that American Express is sifting through via Religion Blog: Dallas News
• Please consider voting via Living in shkoder Albania
• Banner via Andres V
• Help Save the Lives of Malnourished Children via Progressive U.org
• International Medical Corp via Jaden’s Journal
• We Get Stuff via Winds of Change
• International Medical Corps, Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Art of the Possible Online
• Banner via Postcards From Across the Pond
• Another AmEx Submission… via Fat Doctor
• Up to 5 million children a year die of malnutrition – with one mouse click, you can help via Shakesville
• Help International Medical Corp Save Starving Child With Just One Click via William K. Wolfrum
• International Medical Corps Needs Your Vote via The Rotten Word
• Give ‘em a vote via Army of Mom
• Int’l Child Relief NGO Needs Our Votes…1.5Million At Stake via The Democratic Daily
• Members Project by AmEx is amazing. Vote to send their money to help children here. via Craphammer
• Reaching Out in the Love of Christ via The Day of the Lord
• Do you Hear the Cry? via Christs Redeeming Passion
• Compassion that makes a Difference. via Passion that Redeems
• The Greatest Gift is Love via About the Father’s Business
• Making a Difference via Redeemed by the Passion of Christ
• Be a Light that Makes a Difference via Life in Christ
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via What’s a Delmer Look Like
• banner via The Legless Blog
• Contribution to a Noble Cause via Aa..Ha [Thinking Inside The Blog!]
• Help International Medical Corps Earn $1.5M via Turning Left
• Help International Medical Corps Earn $1.5M via eNews Park Forest
• They Need Your Vote … via Freaked Out Fathers
• posted widget via Albtranslator
• Please check this out via Braveheart Does the Maghreb
• Saving the lives of malnourished children via Tongue and Cheek
• American Express’ Members Project International Medical Corps via Sugar and Spice
• International Medical Corps Matched With Top 25 American Express Members Project Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Budget Nomad – US Ex – Pat on the Move
• Vote for International MedicalCorps to Help Children in Need. via humorgrafe
• Voting for International Medical Corps via Tall Skinny Kiwi
• Thank You for Blogging About International Medical Corps! via Chris Abraham Because the Medium is the Message.
• Dora the sheep droppings explorer via The French Mountain Dweller.
• Int’l NGO Needs Our Help To Win $1.5 M For Starving Children via Daily Kos.
• Thank You Bloggers for Blogging about International Medical Corps via Memes.org.
• Thank You International Medical Corps Bloggers via Abraham Harrison.
• Vote for the International Medical Corps! via Ben Heine.
• Feeding Hungry Children via Kuru Lounge.
• Your click could mean $1.5 million for malnourished children around the world via Pirate Pappa.
• One Click to Save Lives via So a Blonde Walks Into a Review.
• Members Projects via OBVI.
• With One Click You Can Save Thousands Of Malnourished Children via Blogher.
• Help International Medical Corps Feed Hungry Children via Chrisfernando.net.
• Thursday September 25 2008 via Island In the Pacific.
• Your click could mean $1.5 million for malnourished children around the world. via Fresh Motivation.
• Click for $1.5 million – A win-win-win situation via Stet.
• Vote to make a difference via Onlinefundraisingblog.
• Something About Saving Lives? via NDAGHA.
• Click to Donate via More Than An Army Wife.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via The Existential Lip.
• International Medical Corps via Backyard Missionary.
• International Medical Corps Matched with Top 25 American Express Members Project, ‘Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children’ via Bio-Medicine.
• Time is Running Out!!! via Pre School Mama.
• The International Medical Corps Please Consider This Good Cause via Working With Word.
• Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via javajive.
• Things I should have avoided whilst pregnant via Whitterer on Autism.
• American Express Members Project: Join me in voting for the project Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children via Make College Pay Off.
• Interested in Saving a Child From Malnutrition? via Reservoir.
• Go Vote for the International Medical Corps via Christian Spirituality w/ Edges.
• Vote for the International Medical Corps! via Understanding The Psychology and Effects of Abandonment Issues.

Also, please let me know if I missed your post in the Chris Abraham comment area — and if you want to post about the contest and the issue, please feel free and pop the URL into the Chris Abraham comment section and I will add you and thanks in advance!

If you need more information, please check out our informational page, International Medical Corps Matched With Top 25 American Express Members Project, “Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children”