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NEWS RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:Ariella Levine
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation
646-943-7430
alevine@ccfa.org The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America Introduces Social Media Application to Advance Its Mission
Leading foundation for Crohn's & Colitis Research Leverages Facebook to Expand Public AwarenessNew York, NY—February 24, 2009—The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) today announced the launch of a new web application on Facebook. The new online property, developed by FreeCause, Inc., has been designed to help patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis make connections within the Crohn's and colitis community and to facilitate creation of support networks for fund raising initiatives. The application may be visited at http://apps.facebook.com/supportccfa/.
"We believe that social networking in the Web 2.0 environment has emerged as one of the most efficient ways to grow and empower our membership base," says Marie Granieri, Senior Director of Marketing at the Foundation. "The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's membership has a tremendous track record in grass-roots fund-raising and advocacy for government support to our research mission. This new tool should amplify our member voices as they raise awareness and funds going forward."
Casey Adkisson, Co-Founder of FreeCause, Inc., says, "Social Network Applications are the most efficient way for organizations to identify new constituents and grow their membership bases online. CCFA is now at the forefront of the movement to leverage Social Media in order to expand public awareness."
The challenges of living with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, two painful and unpredictable diseases, collectively known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) can make it difficult to find time for outreach. According to Sarah Levin Weiss, 29, a social worker living near Cleveland, Ohio, and a Crohn's disease patient, the new easy-to-navigate Facebook application has already opened new doors for her. She commented, "When I learned of the CCFA's latest online property linking the IBD community, I added the application to my Facebook profile. I found a new kind of support online that instantly allowed me to connect with other patients. I also invited friends and colleagues to add the application to their profiles as a way of spreading awareness and inviting participation in signature fund raising marathons and walks." She added, "Although IBD affects over 1.4 million people in this country, most of them early in life, I find that there is a lot of ignorance to overcome. This new web tool helps overcome the hurdles in being vocal about the disease."
The new Facebook application enables viral communication, contains background on CCFA, a platform to share patient stories, and an introduction to CCFA's "Take Steps" and "Team Challenge" signature fund raising events. This application serves as an extension of the Foundation's other online properties, and a vehicle by which the CCFA can leverage the robust 170 million-person Facebook community in order to build awareness and connect communication.
About Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative ColitisCrohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are painful, medically incurable illnesses that attack the digestive system. Crohn's disease may attack anywhere from the mouth to the anus, while ulcerative colitis inflames only the large intestine (colon). Symptoms may include abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fever and weight loss. Many patients require hospitalization and surgery. These illnesses can cause severe complications, including colon cancer in patients with long-term disease. Some 1.4 million American adults and children suffer from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, with as many as 150,000 under the age of 18. Most people develop the diseases between the ages of 15 and 35.
About the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of AmericaThe Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America's mission is to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases. The Foundation ranks third among leading health non-profits in the percentage of expense devoted to research toward a cure, with more than 81 cents of every dollar the Foundation spends goes to mission-critical programs. The Foundation consistently meets the standards of organizations that monitor charities, including the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance (give.org) and the American Institute of Philanthropy (charitywatch.org). For more information, contact the Foundation at 800-932-2423 or visit www.ccfa.org.
About FreeCause, Inc.Headquartered in Boston, MA, FreeCause, Inc. (www.freecause.com) is a private company founded in 2006 by a group of innovative Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers. As an industry leader, FreeCause provides cutting-edge solutions to unlock the value of constituent relationships for the benefit of non-profits and other affinity-based organizations. The FreeCause custom browser toolbars and social network applications are both dynamic and innovative communication platforms that help to reach and engage supporters, fans, or members in fundamentally new ways. With an affinity network of over 5 million active members on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Friendster, FreeCause is committed to providing the online communications solutions organizations need to extend their online reach and maximize the potential of their constituent relationships. ###
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