For the past few days, social media feeds have been clogged with selfies from friends and family reunited over Thanksgiving Break. But on Tuesday, The Central New York Community Foundation hopes to clog those same feeds with #unSelfies.

The foundation joined the national philanthropic movement of Giving Tuesday — which follows the busy consumer spending days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday — last year. Giving Tuesday will take place this Tuesday.

Peter Dunn, president and CEO of the foundation, said local nonprofits have started to implement the day into their communication plans and that the buzz surrounding the event has increased since last year.

“Giving Tuesday is an effort launched a couple years ago to focus people around the country away from the consumer aspects of the holiday season and toward the concept of charitable giving as part of the holiday season,” Dunn said.

This year the foundation hopes to harness the power of social media with the #unSelfie.

Participants are asked to write down a charitable cause on a piece of paper and explain how or why they support the cause. They are then asked to post a picture of themselves with the piece of paper on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the caption #unSelfieCNY.

When Giving Tuesday has come to an end, one person that posted a photo with the event hashtag will be selected at random to donate $1,000 to the local charity of their choice. The donation will be funded by the foundation. The “unSelfies” will be compiled into a gallery open to the public on the foundation’s website.

Magazine, newspaper and online journalism graduate student Ruthnie Angrand has interned for nonprofits in the past, but has never gotten to use social media in her efforts like she has this year as an intern for the foundation.

At other nonprofits, Angrand has always been the youngest person in the room and the only one in tune with social media. Many people in the older generation view it simply as entertainment rather than a tool to expose their cause or broaden their reach, she said.

But social media has the power to connect organizers with volunteers and donors, and also the people that these organizations serve, Angrand said. With social media, nonprofits are more accessible to the people that they benefit.

Angrand added that she believes social media campaigns put everyone on the same level and make people feel more comfortable approaching nonprofits, either as donors or recipients.

“Normally when you walk into a nonprofit or a human service environment, you are there because you need something. And there’s this wall that says we are up here and you are down here — we are not on the same level,” Angrand said.

The CNYCF is not the only foundation that has taken advantage of social media. When the foundation participated in Giving Tuesday for the first time last year, Angrand said she saw other nonprofits joining social media to participate in the event.

Dunn said fostering a community of giving is part of the foundation’s mission, and social media is another tool that helps nonprofits to reach their constituencies. Dunn said he hopes it will help mobilize people and increase interactions between nonprofits and the people they serve.

Katrina Crocker, communications officer for the foundation, said she wants people to rally around the “unSelfies” and use them as a creative space to translate their messages.

“We decided to adopt it here locally as an effort to sort of highlight how charitable community members in central New York are and hopefully to inspire others,” she said.

Crocker encourages local nonprofits to utilize the campaign as a way to assemble their donors, volunteers and workers in a fun way.

“There are a lot of opportunities for people to engage in conversation about local charitable giving while creating these,” Crocker said. “I hope that local business owners encourage their employees to participate, and I hope our local nonprofits encourage their workers, volunteers and donors to participate as well.”

Published on December 1, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu