"When you look at a cupcake, you've got to smile."
- Anne Byrn (food writer)

In 2004, a group of 12 local bakeries in New York City participated for four days in CancerCare's first Cupcakes for a Cause. They baked and sold specially decorated cupcakes to raise funds to benefit the CancerCare for Kids program.

Since then, Cupcakes for a Cause has evolved into a week-long fundraiser involving hundreds of bakeries nationwide, as well as bake sales and corporate sponsors. The campaign, developed and run by the national non-profit CancerCare, has raised more than $325,000 for the CancerCare for Kids program.

This year's Cupcakes Week is September 20 - 26, 2010.

Christina M. Wyman, Director of Corporate Relations for CancerCare, says of Cupcakes for a Cause, "Psychosocial services for children is an often over-looked area. CancerCare for Kids helps children, who might otherwise have no outlet outside the home, cope with a cancer diagnosis in their family. Perhaps now more than ever, people want a sweet treat and a way to feel good by giving back."

CancerCare for Kids serves children and adolescents, typically between the ages of 4-18, who are coping with cancer - either their own or that of a close family member. Children have age-related specific needs and questions in terms of understanding the illness and the challenges that it presents, and the CancerCare for Kids program strives to address their concerns.

CancerCare's professionally trained oncology social workers work with families to help them navigate the often complex issues that they face when coping with a cancer diagnosis arises. Services that Cupcakes for a Cause helps fund include:

• Age-appropriate counseling to help children and families cope with all aspects of the cancer process, from diagnosis to bereavement.
• Telephone (teens and parents/guardians)
• Face to face (children and families)
• Online (currently running a teen caregiver support group).
• Therapeutic Recreational Events.
• Educational materials focused on the physical, and emotional, and practical aspects of coping with cancer and bereavement
• Financial assistance for cancer-related expenses including child care and transportation.

CancerCare offers these tips for parents to talk to their children about cancer:

• Speak honestly and help them express their emotions, making it easier for them to feel safe and secure.
• Speak soon after the diagnosis is made.
• With children of different ages, you might speak with older children first.
• Tell them cancer is not contagious. Young children often think of being sick in terms of catching a cold.
• Use age-appropriate language and a calm tone.
• Watch for any emotional changes in your children that might indicate they are stressed from worry.
• Check to see if they have misinformation.
• Contact CancerCare for Kids.

Get involved with Cupcakes for a Cause and CancerCare. You might just see cupcakes in a whole new way.

Do you want to be our Cause of the Week? Tell us who you are and why you should be featured in our blog right here. We would love to hear from you.

Twestival, the most successful fundraising campaign to date that uses Twitter, goes into action again on March 25.

Twestival's global event will benefit Concern Worldwide. At the Twestival website, you can find out about events in your city and what you can do to help. The first global Twestival raised more than $250,000 in 2009 for charity.water. Then in September, local tweet ups were held in 130 cities to raise funds for local organizations. That effort raised some $450,000.

Twestival is a unique combination of social media and on-the-ground events, or Tweet-Ups. Its success lies in that combination. Kristin Ivie, at The Case Foundation, has blogged about Twestival and the lessons that other nonprofits can learn from its stunning efforts.

Ivie says Twestival's success is all about:

• Giving volunteers ownership and autonomy
• Making specific asks for help
• Seeking input from a lot of people
• Helping people to feel connected to the impact of their donations

I highly recommend Ivie's excellent post, What Twestival can teach nonprofits about engaging volunteers and donors, which delves into these lessons, and that even includes a video.

Then, get involved with Twestival, You can organize, volunteer, attend a Tweet-up, donate, dress up your Twitter avatar, get music, buy something at an auction, sport a Twestival shirt. It's fun and you'll be helping a great cause.

Related:

• Will Twitter Help Your Nonprofit Raise Money?
• 5 Reasons You'll Love Twitterville
• Twitter Tips for Nonprofit Tweeple ... People
• Jump Start Your Nonprofit Social Media

Disney...what a magical word! Disney and mouse ears are as iconic as anything can be in American culture. And the brand has always been associated with good feelings and family fun.

Recently, Disney and the HandsOn Network ran a months-long campaign to encourage volunteerism. I was especially in love with the campaign because its lovely ads were shown on this website. Being in sync with my topic, those ads drove out all the marginally irrelevant ones for a long time. Utter bliss!

The campaign is over now, but not forgotten. Since the program started just 10 weeks ago, on Jan. 1, a million people have volunteered or have committed to volunteer in their communities. "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" was a smashing success by anyone's standards. Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said, "By any measure, the 'Give a Day, Get a Disney Day' program exceeded our expectations. These one million volunteers touched their communities with their hearts and hands. Their commitment to service is truly worth celebrating, and there's no better place to celebrate than at Disney Parks."

To celebrate the good deeds of all those volunteers, Disney Parks offered each volunteer who completed an eligible project a free one-day admission to one theme park in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida or Disneyland Resort in California. Although registration is now closed and the program has ended, those who volunteered have until Dec. 15, 2010, to redeem their free park ticket.

The Disney culture has long encompassed volunteerism. Through Disney VoluntEARS, cast members have been giving back to communities for more than a quarter century. More than 5.5 million hours of volunteer service worldwide have been donated in this way. "Give a Day" was just an extension of that tradition.

Disney's partner in volunteerism, the HandsOn Network, applauded Disney's efforts. "The innovative nature of this program has exponentially increased our capacity to both invite and excite people about volunteerism," said Michelle Nunn, co-founder of HandsOn Network and CEO of Points of Lights Institute. "The overwhelming participation of families - and youth especially - is a testament to a growing trend. Many of these volunteers are serving for the first time, and some will develop into service leaders who help change the face of our nation."

Neighborhoods in need were the big beneficiaries of "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" - from San Juan to San Diego, Vero Beach to Vancouver.

• In Puerto Rico, 500 volunteers cleaned the beaches of Vaciatalega and La Perla located in the vicinity of Old San Juan. In Oakville, Ontario, a neighborhood center got new shelving and a spruced-up mural.

• In Boston, volunteers served meals to people in need, knitted and crocheted scarves and mittens for children afflicted with life-threatening illnesses and helped as caregivers at an animal adoption center. In California, San Francisco Bay-area volunteers helped with basic English lessons, painted park benches and planted flowers.

• In Jacksonville, Fla., volunteers painted murals and spruced up rooms at a home for women and children, while in Pittsburgh they took on construction tasks - tiling, sanding, staining and painting - to help create affordable housing.

Ears off...er, hats off to Disney for its terrific and memorable contribution to volunteerism.

Photo: Disney volunteers pose with Mr. Big Ears himself (courtesy of Disney).

Social Media

This delightful article from Duck Call is just fun, thanks to the research done by Rebecca Hume: Can these Facebook statistics get more fans than Megan Fox?

I get cross eyed over things like "policies." So I was glad to see this post by the inimitable Beth Kanter that pretty much provides all that you need to know and all the resources you could possibly want about Social Media Policies, all in one place.

Nonprofit online competitions are proliferating like bunnies in springtime. Dan Morrison, in a guest turn at Geoff Livingston's blog, reveals some of the tips for success from Scott Beale of Atlas Corp about how that NPO won more than $300K in the last two years in online competitions. Read Winning Online Competitions: A Coalition of the Giving

Nathaniel Whittemore, of Change.org, explains a great new geo location app for some smart phones in A Mobile App That Lets You Check In For Charity. It's called "CauseWorld," and it creates "Karma."

Philanthropy and Fundraising

Kerri Feazell summarized what he has learned about the "new normal" in recent months in 5 Things Nonprofits Need to Know About Philanthropy in 2010.

We all hang on Warren Buffett's every word, and now he has shared some thoughts about fundraising and philanthropy. Ian Wilhelm, of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, captures some of the best of Buffett's remarks in Warren Buffett Shares His Philanthropic Philosophy.

Cause Marketing and CSR

Joe Waters, cause marketing guru, reveals how he keeps his edge without ever leaving his couch at Whatgives? We should all be so lazy!

The HuffPost explains the quite wonderful program that American Express is waging to encourage volunteering in American Express Rewards Members For Volunteering.

If you want to check out which companies are doing the best on corporate social responsibility before you spend money, take a look at The Goodness 500. This nifty site knows that we are all busy, so it rates companies on their "goodness" quotient so we can make better spending choices. Check out the blog too for vignettes of inspiring people doing cool things.

Social Marketing

I'm psycho for psychology and ate up this article from Stanford Social Innovation Review titled Subtle Nudges for Greater Good. Learn how to help people rise to their best, not sink to their worst.

News

Charities in N.Y. and Washington Look to Hire in 2010, Studies Find". Oh, let this be one of those "green shoots" they keep talking about with the economy. This article at The Chronicle of Philanthropy is bound to raise your spirits.

Obama to give Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 charities. This CNN article lists the charities chosen by Obama. See what you think about his choices.

Webinars

This free webinar from Guidestar caught my eye because I am a big admirer of Perla Ni, CEO and founder of GreatNonprofits. She will speak on the topic, "Don't Get Lost in the Crowd - Tap into Your Supporters' Passion to Become a Great Nonprofit," on March 31, 1 p.m. (EDT).
Register here.

Network for Good is hosting a free webinar, Online Donors: Why They Leave and How to Get Them Back, featuring experts Katya Andresen, Rebecca Higman, and Kivi Leroux Miller. The date is March 30, 1 p.m. (Eastern).

Photo by Getty Images