Explaining #TheGreaterShare

If you’ve seen our billboards around town, you’ve probably noticed the hashtag we’re promoting, #TheGreaterShare! With all the buzz it’s generating, we thought we’d do some explaining for you to have a better understanding of what exactly #TheGreaterShare means, what our mission is, and how you can join the conversation.

WHAT DOES #TheGreaterShare MEAN?

#TheGreaterShare is a hashtag campaign that Children’s Bureau launched at the beginning of the year in order to raise awareness about The Greater Share, which is a social movement to prevent child abuse. By investing in a share of children’s’ success, health, parenting and community, we are investing in the greater good of society. All of this happens because of people like you.

For those of you who are thinking to yourselves, “what in the world is a hashtag and how does it raise awareness?”, don’t worry; we’ll try to lay it out for you in simple terms.

Basically, hashtags are like keywords that are used to group messages together on a social network such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+. When a hashtag (a # symbol followed by a keyword or phrase) is used in a post, that post is automatically categorized with every other post that contains the same hashtag. This grouping allows others to see all messages that include the hashtag when they search or click on it.

If you’re still having difficulty understanding how this works, let’s take a look at how we’re using #TheGreaterShare to promote Children’s Bureau’s cause. If you’ve seen our recent activity on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+, you’ll notice that we are using #TheGreaterShare in all posts that are related to our mission of preventing child abuse. By pairing this hashtag with these posts, we are giving others an example of what it means to be a part of The Greater Share. Every time someone shares our posts or uses #TheGreaterShare in a post of their own, they are spreading awareness to their network of followers about the campaign. #TheGreaterShare is, at its core, a vehicle for increasing exposure of Children’s Bureau’s cause on social media.

Mission of #TheGreaterShare

Now that you have a better understanding of how #TheGreaterShare campaign works, we’d like to share with you our mission. While you may have a pretty good idea already, some words from the movement’s creators may help the message hit home.

“[#TheGreaterShare] is about celebrating how we come together, each in our own way, to invest in the greater cause of preventing child abuse,” says Alan Berkes, Children’s Bureau board member. “You might be a volunteer at an event, or a parent taking a class or an executive making a donation. All of these ways of getting involved help our children, families and communities to thrive.”

Children’s Bureau’s president and CEO, Alex Morales explains it like this: “The Greater Share message is one we hope resonates with the community and inspires them to donate, volunteer and share our message.”

Children’s Bureau is the largest investor in child abuse prevention in the country, which is why it is crucial that we are able to provide the resources we do. Some of these resources include the Magnolia Community Initiative, our Family Resource Centers, NuParent programs, Kindergarten Readiness programs, Partnership for Families and Home Visiting Health programs. To learn more about each of these services, click here.

Join #TheGreaterShare: What you can do to help!

We encourage you to help us spread the word about #TheGreaterShare by finding Children’s Bureau on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ and using #TheGreaterShare in your own posts. If you have a story to tell, a picture that resonates with you, or have a family member or friend who is involved with foster care, adoption or preventing child abuse, connect with us by posting about it and using #TheGreaterShare!

And if you’d like to contribute to The Greater Share movement by donating time, money or your resources, please visit www.www.all4kids.org/donate to learn more about the ways you can help!