Aptus Consultants

On April 14, actor Hugh Jackman pledged to give AUS $100,000 to the charity that could best convince him, via Twitter, that it was deserving of the award. On Friday, Jackman announced that, unable to decide, he had chosen two winners to split the prize: Operation of Hope, a medical foundation that donates surgical procedures to children in developing countries born with facial deformities, and Charity: Water, a non-profit dedicated to providing safe drinking water in developing countries. 

One of the winning tweets came from Charity: Water president and founder Scott Harrison, who tweeted a link to a photo of a group of Ethiopian children holding up a hand-made sign with the simple message "Dear Mr. Hugh Jackman, thank you for helping us!" Harrison added: "dear @realhughjackman -- just snapped this near eritrean border at a school of 1400 w/o clean water."

Charity: Water is only one of many examples of non-profits using social media to raise awareness and encourage donations. Although the media is always abuzz about the latest corporation to open a Twitter account or YouTube channel, research indicates that it's actually non-profits that are most likely to make a push into the world of online social media -- and reap its benefits.

Charity 2.0

This isn't the first time that Charity: Water has harnessed the power of social media to fund its projects. In February, it was the beneficiary of Twitter-based charity drive Twestival, when it posted daily videos of its ongoing efforts to drill wells in Ethiopia. In March, it was the first charity to use YouTube's Call-to-Action feature, a video overlay available to non-profit users that links viewers to a group's donation page.

Play from YouTube