Location Aware for the Greater Good

Location Aware Apps

I confess, I’m on my iPhone entirely too much. Whether it’s sending e-mails, sending Tweets, updating Facebook or even writing blog posts it’s a device that’s my near constant sidekick. I’ve noticed a trend though recently in the number of articles detailing non-profits use of geolocation apps. I’m sure everyone is well aware of the new breed of geo-location apps Foursquare, Gowalla, and Brightkite. Even Twitter, Facebook and Yelp have been picking up on the geo-location phenomenon. Depending on which one you use you can earn various awards. The only problem is you can’t actually do anything with your points, pins, or badges (trust me I’m a mayor).

CauseWorld

A new app CauseWorld allows users to use those points for good, (Techcrunch review here). CauseWorld gives you a great incentive for checking in.  Every time a user checks in they earn  karmas. After earning enough karmas they can be redeemed to help a handful of causes directly through the app. I really love what CauseWorld is doing. As a FourSquare user I find myself checking in at random locations and earning “points” on an everyday basis. It’s great to know that by using CauseWorld you can actually give back after  ”checking-in”.

How are non-profits using Foursquare?

I’d be remiss in this post if I didn’t mention a little bit about how non-profits are using location to raise awareness. Mashable did a great article in April covering how non-profits are creating geo-location apps and increasing engagement through their use. Not all of us have the resources to create such awesome apps so I wanted to include a quick couple suggestions for using Foursquare to promote your non-profit.

1. Add yourself to Foursquare – Make sure you’ve created added your office on Foursquare so that volunteers and friends can check in. Imagine if you have a meeting and your office is the trending location, it’d be pretty cool! (just getting started? Non-profit 2.o has a great post on where to begin with Foursquare)

2. Add some tips – Make it fun for volunteers! Add some cool tips for things to do while they’re visiting. If someone notices your venue and you can offer a cool prize who wouldn’t want to stop by and see what it’s all about?

3. Add your events – When you’re having an event add it to Foursquare. It’s a great way to be the trending topic and raise a little awareness.

Do you have any other tips for promoting a non-profit with Foursquare?