Do Something

History

The organization was co-founded in 1993 by American actor Andrew Shue and his childhood friend Michael Sanchez. He stated his motivation was to encourage young people to become active citizens and leaders while also making community involvement fun.

Overview

According to its website, DoSomething.org is activating 5.5 million young people to make positive change, both online and off. The organization has members in every area code in the United States and in over 131 countries.

DoSomething.org members take part in campaigns that make an impact on different causes. Through DoSomething.org campaigns, young people have run the largest youth-led sports equipment drive, clothed half of America’s teens in homeless shelters, and cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts.

In 2013, DoSomething.org launched TMI, a strategy consultancy that helps brands "drive social change through insights and creative solutions backed by data from millions of young people."

Campaigns

DoSomething.org spearheads campaigns so young people can take action on things they care about.

Teens for Jeans

"Teens For Jeans" was born out of a partnership in 2008 with Aéropostale. The campaign looks to help clothe the over one million homeless teens across the country, by providing a top requested item: jeans. People are encouraged to bring their gently worn jeans to Aéropostale, and they are then donated to over 1,000 homeless shelters in the United States and Canada. In 2011, 542,000 pairs of jeans were collected, and over one million pairs of jeans have been donated since the campaign started. In 2012, 902,500 pairs of jeans was collected – enough to give jeans to every 1 out of 2 homeless teens in the U.S.

Celebrities that have worked with the Teens for Jeans campaign include Nigel Barker, Jay Sean, Nikki Blonsky, Chace Crawford, David Archuleta, Ashley Greene, Justin Long, Demi Lovato, Rachel Crow, Drew Barrymore, Chloë Grace Moretz, Fifth Harmony, and The Vamps.

Pregnancy Text

DoSomething.org’s Pregnancy Text, a campaign around teen pregnancy, turned young people’s cell phones into “virtual babies.” According to the organization’s website, 132,782 young people used the Pregnancy Text to prank their friends with a phone baby to start the conversation about teen pregnancy.

Diversify My Emoji

According to its site, DoSomething.org powered the petition that convinced Apple to create non-white emoji options. DoSomething.org Head of Campaigns Michaela Bethune told the Washington Post, Diversify My Emoji “demonstrates how online action, with the appropriate target, methods, scale, and platform, can achieve real offline impact.”

Get the Filter Out (GTFO)

In 2015, DoSomething.org partnered with truth, the nation’s longest running and most successful youth smoking prevention campaign, to activate young people to clean up cigarette butts before they have the chance to harm wildlife or leach toxic chemicals into the environment. The organizations teamed up with rapper Jake Miller on a public service announcement. According to its website, young people cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts to protect the planet through the campaign.

Grandparents Gone Wired

DoSomething.org and the AARP Foundation partnered for Grandparents Gone Wired, an annual campaign that encourages young people to pass their technological expertise onto older adults in their lives. Internet personality iJustine, as well as Nev Schulman and Max Joseph from MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show have served as spokespeople for the campaign. According to its website, the campaign helped 11,753 older adults stay up-to-date on technology.

Nude Awakening

In 2015, on National Nude Day, July 14, DoSomething.org member Luis Torres launched a DoSomething.org campaign called Nude Awakening. The campaign asked young people to leave comments on Merriam-Webster's website and on social media, demanding the definition of the word “nude” become more inclusive. According to the DoSomething.org website, the campaign digitally advocated for justice and convinced Merriam-Webster to change its racist definition of “nude.”

Game-Winning Drive

DoSomething.org teamed up with ESPN to encourage young people to run sports equipment drives in various communities. According to its site, DoSomething.org and ESPN’s Game-Winning Drive campaign was the largest youth-led sports drive and collected 44,173 pieces of gear for kids in underserved communities.

Power to the Period

In 2016, DoSomething.org partnered with the U by Kotex brand to run Power to the Period, the first, national drive for period products. The organization teamed up with Internet personality Ingrid Nilsen who recorded a PSA for the campaign. Through the campaign, 585,965 period products were donated to homeless shelters from 50,257 participants.

Smiles for Soldiers

In 2016, DoSomething.org teamed up with Johnson & Johnson for a campaign called Smiles for Soldiers that asked young people to make thank-you cards for military service members. Actor Colton Haynes joined the campaign and recorded a public service announcement for the campaign. According to the organization’s website, through the campaign, young people sent 148,645 cards to military service members to show gratitude and help service members feel connected to home.

Comeback Clothes

DoSomething.org's "Comeback Clothes" campaign was launched in April 2014 in partnership with H&M. Young people are encouraged to recycle used and old clothes by bringing them to their nearest H&M.

Notes From Shawn

DoSomething.org partnered with singer Shawn Mendes to help boost the self-esteem of millions of young people across the nation. Inspired by lyrics from Mendes's song "Life of the Party", the organization teamed up with the musician to spread positivity. By posting sticky notes with positive and uplifting messages written on them, Do Something members sought to bring happiness to people, aiming to stop teens from self-harming.

Do Something Awards

Formerly called the BR!CK Awards, the awards were inaugurated in 1996 to recognize young people 25 and under who have done outstanding work in their communities and the world. The Do Something Awards include both young people making social change and individuals from the entertainment industry who have dedicated their time to activism and charity. The top four Do Something Awards nominees receive a $10,000 community grant, while the grand prize winner receives a $100,000 grant to push their community projects forward. The Awards were broadcast for the first time in 2007.

In 2011, the Do Something Awards was hosted by Jane Lynch at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California, and was broadcast on Vh1. The list of performers include Demi Lovato, Foster the People, OneRepublic featuring B.o.B and many other celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, Kristen Bell, Nick Cannon, David Beckham and Kim Kardashian.

In 2012, the Do Something Awards were hosted by New Girl cast members Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, and Lamorne Morris.

In 2013, the Do Something Awards was hosted by Sophia Bush at The Avalon in Hollywood, California and was broadcast on VH1. The list of presenters include Harry Shum, Joan and Melissa Rivers, Darren Criss, Russell Simons and Roselyn Sanchez, among others. Celebs honored at the Do Something Awards include: Patrick Dempsey, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jennifer Hudson, LL COOL J, and Kelly Osbourne. Performances were made by: Fitz and The Tantrums, J. Cole, and Sara Bareilles.

Past Award Winners