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"Name: Pencils of Promise\nBig Idea: By adopting the pencil, both symbolically and literally, the non-profit organization builds schools and educates children in developing countries.\nWhy It's Working: PoP's newest campaign, Made With Pencils, engages participants via online art auctions, killer website design and a social media strategy that dates back to the roots of Facebook.\n\nPencils of Promise (PoP) is a global project that aims to build schools and establish learning initiatives for millions of children around the globe who lack access to education. The non-profit organization \u2014 or as its 28-year-old founder Adam Braun would call it, the \"for-purpose organization\" \u2014 has already helped lower the number of uneducated children from 75 million in 2006 to 67 million today.\nThe organization's namesake pencil is more than just a totem representing education. Braun conceived of the idea for PoP while traveling through India, where he encountered a young boy. When Braun asked what the child wanted most in the world, the boy answered, \"a pencil.\" \n\"We assume that every child has that,\" says Braun. \"I had this very direct, firsthand experience with a young boy, who basically illuminated that it\u2019s just not the case. Not only for him, but for millions of children worldwide.\u201D\nSince that experience in 2008, Braun launched PoP, the supporters of which have helped raise the funds to open more than 50 schools throughout Laos, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Did we mention that one of his major supporters is Justin Bieber? Not too shabby.\nOther celebrities (or \"cultural luminaries,\" in Braun's terms) have contributed to Made With Pencils, PoP's newest campaign, produced by branding agency AKQA. Launched during the 2011 holiday season, the project hosted an online auction where supporters could bid on pencil art crafted by celebs like Coldplay, Mariah Carey and Shaquille O'Neal. The next auction is planned for the 2012 holidays.\n\n\nThe initiative raised thousands of dollars, which goes a long way in global education. PoP can educate one child for an entire year on only $25, and the organization can build an entire classroom for $10,000. How do we know? The Made With Pencils campaign also includes The Pencil Shop, where \"everyday philanthropists\" can choose among six pencils, each of which costs between $25 and $25,000. Manufactured by Faber-Castell, the pencils display phrases like, \"This pencil educates ten children.\"\nThink of the pencils as a 2012 take on the Livestrong bracelets. \"People said to us over and over, 'I love Pencils of Promise so much, but I want to have a reason to talk about it. I want people to ask me so I can tell them more.'\" says Braun. \u201CI find that the people that are purchasing our pencils are those who want to make a character statement about their personal values.\"\nThose people also tend to be relatively young, which translates to being very digitally-savvy, says Braun. When asked what earned PoP the largest social media following of any non-profit in the last four years, Braun explains that \u201Cwe were this lean, scrappy startup in the non-profit space. We didn\u2019t want to spend any money on advertising, so we\u2019ve only put our time and energy into digital. And because of that, I think it\u2019s now paid off.\u201D\nWith more than 150,000 followers on its Facebook alone, we'd agree.\nPoP will use its strong digital presence to help spread the word about its latest goal: to build 100 new schools throughout the world in 2012. We'll be sure to \"pencil\" that into our calendars.\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/03/28/pencils-of-promise/>