Inside every city, there are passionate, hard-working volunteers who strive to provide services and support for their community. In St. Joseph, the local Kiwanis club members can be seen judging local science fairs, raising money to purchase coats for children in need and reading books in elementary school classrooms.

One thing that service groups sometimes struggle with is spreading the word about their mission. They also need ways to continuously add to their membership base. But when members are busy holding toy drives and stuffing backpacks with food for children, there’s no one around to “market” the club.

Are there ways Kiwanis can start conversations about the amazing things they do for the community without spending too much time and resources? The answer is pretty simple. The secret to spreading the word is to start a movement that inspires action. Luckily for Kiwanis, movements are easy to start because social media provides fast, real-time opportunities to inspire people.

If you are not familiar with how powerful a social campaign can be, visit the Plunge for Landon Facebook group. You’ll find a story about a five month old boy in Northwest Missouri who was diagnosed with cancer in October. In March, people from his hometown starting jumping into freezing water, challenging their friends to follow and posting videos of their plunges on Facebook. For each person who accepted, the challenger would donate money to a fund to help pay for Landon’s medical treatment and transportation to his chemotherapy treatments. Almost overnight, Plunges for Landon became a pay-it-forward movement so inspirational and far-reaching that even governors have jumped into the Potomac in Washington, D.C. “Plunges for Landon” started on March 30, 2014. Within two weeks, over $64,000 was raised in his honor. There have been plunges in all but two states in the U.S and numerous countries around the world.

That’s what you call a movement. It’s the type of movement groups like Kiwanis could really benefit from. This year is the service group’s 100 anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to welcome more members and spread the news about all of the great things they do. Kiwanis could really benefit from a “pay it forward” movement similar to the Plunges for Landon campaign that combines both awareness for their cause and an act of kindness that will inspire their community into action. What if they pledged to do 100 acts of random kindness in their community and posted inspiration on their Facebook page for others to follow along?

A quote from the 2000 movie Pay It Forward sums it up:  “Think of an idea to change our world – and put it into ACTION.” To start a movement and get people inspired about what you’re doing, contact us at Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions today and let’s get started.