On Friday, December 14th the Chordoma Foundation became the first winner of the Facebook Causes Giving Challenge. Sponsored by the Case Foundation, this competition is meant to test the potential of citizen-led philanthropy via the internet. The competition lasts for 50 days and each day (3pm-3pm EST) the cause with the most unique donors wins a $1,000 prize. At the end of the 50-day challenge, there are additional $50,000 and $25,000 prizes for the group that attracts the greatest number of donors overall.

On the first day of the competition Josh Sommer of the Chordoma Foundation, and Carolyn Rubenstein, president of Carolyn's Compassionate Children created the We Can Cure Chordoma! Facebook cause, and encouraged friends and family to donate. In less than 24 hours, We Can Cure Chordoma! raised over $1,600 from 85 donors, winning the challenge, and earning the Chordoma Foundation an additional $1,000 prize.

This competition is unique because it restarts every day, meaning that the Chordoma Foundation has 50 chances to win $1,000. The key to winning this competition is to focus a coordinated nation-wide effort on a few specific days. To help supporters around the world syncronize their efforts, the Chordoma Foundation has set up a Facebook group where plans for upcoming efforts will be announced.

To date, We Can Cure Chordoma! has raised over $4,400 from 150 donors, and over 1,400 Facebook members from around the world have joined the cause. This is a big step towards the $500,000 that the Chordoma Foundation hopes to raise by April, 2008.

We appreciate the generosity that so many people have shown, and thank Facebook and the Case Foundation for bringing a sense of urgency to our fundraising campaign.

To join We Can Cure Chordoma! click here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/46999. Every donation of $10 or more counts towards the competition, so making a $10 donation over 5 days goes farther than making one $50 donation.