NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CBS EcoMedia
today announced the launch of the "Volunteering With The Stars"
(VWTS) program as part of the new "Viewers To Volunteers" (V2V)
app. This bold new digital initiative is designed to connect
viewers to their favorite stars and some of the country's leading
nonprofits in the shared experience of giving back.
At the heart of the campaign is the "Viewers To Volunteers"
platform, announced in March 2015,
which gives the public the chance to support the causes and
nonprofits they love best, without spending their own
money. V2V's new website and digital social impact app for
smartphones and tablets will reward each user's engagement with
points that will become real dollars for the organizations and
causes selected by the user, all funded by participating
sponsors.
The "Viewers To Volunteers" website and app will display
inspiring videos, stories and articles, while encouraging users to
share them. The program will then connect users to more than a
dozen of the country's most prominent nonprofit organizations,
promoting outreach and engagement. For every video watched, story
clicked, or for participating in volunteer activities in their
local communities, users can generate points they can use to
support causes or specific participating nonprofits, which will be
translated into actual contributions from sponsors.
As a part of this new platform, CBS EcoMedia is collaborating
with award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock to create original content to
stream on the app and website.
The program's "Volunteering With The Stars" component will
connect audiences to CBS talent and the causes they support.
SURVIVOR's Jeff Probst (Stand Up To
Cancer), THE AMAZING RACE's Phil
Keoghan (National Multiple Sclerosis Society) and
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT hosts Kevin
Frazier (School on Wheels) and Nancy
O'Dell (ALS.net) are among the inaugural group of CBS
personalities to participate in the launch. Additional CBS
talent will be added in the coming months.
"This is a unique new program that, at its heart, allows every
viewer to be a philanthropist, but without spending their own
money," said Paul Polizzotto,
Founder and President of CBS EcoMedia. "Viewers To Volunteers
connects audiences to the country's most admired nonprofits, and
creates a way to support those organizations through sponsorship
dollars."
"I've always been passionate about storytelling with a
conscience and using filmmaking to give a voice to the voiceless,"
said filmmaker Morgan Spurlock.
"Viewers to Volunteers not only gives us the opportunity to share
inspiring stories about local heroes who are doing great things in
their communities, but it also allows us to propel people to
action. By watching our videos and original content, viewers can
directly support causes and nonprofits they feel passionate about,
and that's pretty amazing."
"It's a new way of engaging the public, and giving them the
opportunity and the tools to make their own impact through
engagement and interest," added Polizzotto. "We could not be
more excited to launch this initiative on a nationwide scale with
the involvement of CBS stars and the charities they support. Having
Morgan Spurlock creating original
programming for this platform creates the perfect storm of content
in context to inspire real change."
The full V2V digital experience and VWTS were unveiled at the
Social Good Summit in New York
City, alongside Morgan
Spurlock, Mike King, CEO of
Volunteers of America, and Jacquie
Hart, CEO of the Starlight Children's Foundation.
Toyota dealer groups in Southern
California, Dallas,
Minneapolis, and Philadelphia have contributed more than
$500,000 to V2V nonprofits since
March 2015. This funding helped sponsor hundreds of athletes
at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles as well as providing books and
musical instruments to students, nutritious meals to seniors, and
support to thousands of veterans, vulnerable children and adults
across the country.
For a full list of nonprofits participating in V2V, click
here.
For promotional video for "Volunteering With The Stars" please
click here.
The "Viewers To Volunteers" app is available to download for
free from the Apple App Store, Google Play, or at the Viewers to
Volunteers website.
About CBS EcoMedia Inc.
EcoMedia was founded in 2002
by social entrepreneur Paul
Polizzotto. The company's mission is to harness the power of
the advertising dollar to make tangible, quality of life
improvements in communities nationwide. In 2010, after successfully
partnering on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia was
acquired by CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS), exponentially scaling its
reach across television, radio, interactive, and publishing
media.
Through EcoMedia's patent-pending EcoAd, as well as EducationAd,
WellnessAd, Viewers to Volunteers and Volunteering with the Stars
advertising programs, national brands and local businesses
provide millions of dollars in financial support to some of the
nation's most effective nonprofit organizations, funding critical
veterans', education, health and wellness, and environmental
projects nationwide.
EcoMedia's innovative and proprietary business model has
fundamentally altered the advertising and nonprofit landscapes,
elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in
general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social
change.
EcoMedia has earned numerous awards and recognitions for its
work, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors Award for
Excellence in Public Private Partnerships (2009), Edison
Awards for Social Innovation and Social Impact (2012, 2013), and
the Starlight Children's Foundation's "General H. Norman
Schwarzkopf Leadership Award," which honors individual and
organizational leaders who are doing extraordinary work to advance
the common good and strengthen their communities.
Please visit ecomediacbs.com, like us
at Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
By participating in EcoMedia's EcoAd, WellnessAd,
EducationAd, and Viewers to Volunteers advertising programs,
EcoMedia's advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we
believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health
and/or education within local communities. EcoMedia's advertising
programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd,
WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does
not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about
EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.
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SOURCE CBS Corporation