BOCA RATON, Fla. – Sept. 24, 2020 – Mediavine, the largest exclusive ad management company in the United States and a Comscore top five lifestyle property with 125 million unique monthly visitors, has partnered with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and Operation Gratitude, two well-known 501c3 non-profit organizations, to provide additional public service announcement options to its more than 7,600+ publishers.
Mediavine designed its ad technology to collapse unpurchased ad space in real-time programmatic auctions. With this update, every Mediavine publisher now has the option to enable multiple PSA options, including the company’s original COVID-19 education and We Stand With You campaigns.
When enabled, this feature will automatically show a PSA creative in that site’s unfilled ad inventory. If a publisher opts into more than one option, the technology will provide equitable distribution among the campaigns selected.
When a PSA for one of these campaigns is clicked, the user will be redirected to landing pages provided by the non-profit organizations.
The Cookies for Kids’ Cancer initiative began on September 3, 2020, launching with six unique public service announcements, including one specifically targeting awareness for September as Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.
The organization was founded to help raise funds for research of pediatric cancers after the founders’ son was diagnosed with childhood cancer in 2007. Since then, there have been 12,500 grassroots fundraising events in all 50 states and more than $16 million granted to the leading pediatric cancer research centers across the country. They annually hold thousands of in-person events, such as bake sales and a large gala, with that directive.
Founder Gretchen Witt said, “Our organization is built on word of mouth – one person sharing our story with another. The power, though, of bloggers sharing our story and the needs surrounding pediatric cancer takes that sharing to a whole new level. We are so grateful for the support of Mediavine and its more than 7,600 superstar bloggers who help bring awareness to the needs surrounding the number one disease killer of children in the U.S. The first step to creating change is making people aware and their bloggers definitely make people aware and care.”
Operation Gratitude launched the letter-writing initiative on September 23, 2020, with five initial PSAs designed to encourage participation in the organization’s online efforts to garner virtual volunteerism to show gratitude to servicemen and women, their caregivers and families, wounded warriors and first responders.
Operation Gratitude’s mission is to forge strong bonds between Americans and service men and women and their families through volunteer service projects, acts of gratitude, and meaningful engagements in communities nationwide. More than 17 years ago, in March of 2003, Operation Gratitude sent its first four Care Packages to deployed Service Members in Iraq. Since its inception, the organization has given millions of Americans the opportunity to express appreciation through hands-on volunteerism and lifted the spirits of more than 1.8 million Deployed Troops, and another 1.1 million recruit graduates, veterans, military families, first responders and healthcare heroes.
“We are grateful for Mediavine and their extensive network of bloggers. With their support, we will expand our virtual volunteerism movement and provide grateful Americans with opportunities to give back in meaningful ways to those serving on the frontlines of the pandemic. Volunteers are and always will be the heart and soul of our organization,” said the CEO of Operation Gratitude, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Schmiegel.
In a time when both organizations’ ability to push grassroots volunteerism and activism to their causes has been stymied by the global pandemic, the Mediavine PSA option, seen by millions of people across the internet, becomes a viable way to increase awareness and involvement.
“Giving back to the causes that Mediavine publishers hold dear is something they have consistently told us is important to them. The technology is in place for us to easily create relationships to allow our publishers to do just that. We’re excited for the future and all the good these partnerships can bring,” said Mediavine Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer Amber Bracegirdle.