The Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust wanted to engage their readers and the citizens of Greater Chicago with not-for-profit organizations focused on youth education, art and civic engagement. The Chicago Sun Shine Project provided a platform for locals to nominate and influence the selection of which charities, organizations and projects they felt the Sun-Times Media Foundation should support with up to $500,000 in total grants.
Opportunity
The Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust has been awarding grants to Chicago-region charities that support youth-related initiatives for 75 years. With so many worthy non-profits potentially eligible for awards from the $500,000 of available grant monies, the Trust wanted to engage Chicagoans to nominate worthy groups (big and small) and also provide citizens with an opportunity for ongoing conversation, input and feedback.Solution
Chaordix worked with The Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust to build and manage a dynamic crowdsourcing community: The Sun Shine Project. People in the greater Chicago area were invited to nominate organizations, causes and projects that might be worthy of Charity Trust grants. Following nominations, the Trust reached out to nominees, determined their eligibility, provided help with applications, and suggested ways to promote the charity's ideas. Once the nominees were made public, the crowd voted and commented, often providing feedback on ways the charity could enhance and update their proposal.Impact
Many smaller charities received unprecedented visibility for their great organizations' work and volunteer opportunities ... right alongside the larger non-profits. Ultimately 150+ excellent proposals were eligible, more than 20,000 people joined the online community and actively participated, and publicity for the various projects spread widely through social media and traditional publications. The rich analytics of the community's conversations, votes and suggestions provided the Trust with unique insight to inform the selection of the grant recipients.“We reached out to youth because we want to help them reach their highest potential ...”— Matthew Saleski, Charity Trust Board of Trustees & VP Marketing & Business Development