The Stars of Social Good Series is supported by CITGO and the Fueling Good Campaign, helping to change the world through contributions to local charities.

Spend enough time on the Internet and you'll inevitably bump into a "meme" or two. Memes are concepts, links or media that spread across the Internet. You know when people say "It went viral"? Yes, that's a meme.

So what do Sad Keanu, the Old Spice Guy or Charlie Sheen's #winning quotes have to do with non-profits? Charitable organizations are quickly learning that the best way to get the word out about important causes is to piggyback on cultural phenomena.

The hard part, for non-profits, is choosing a meme that is relevant without looking like it's spamming pop culture. We've gone through and picked out some non-profits that got the formula right, from tiger blood to Justin Bieber to Harry Potter.

1. The Red Cross Has Tiger Blood







The American Red Cross hit on pop culture gold when Charlie Sheen went on his week-long public breakdown. Out of the many catchphrases Sheen created — "winning!" or "I'm a grand wizard master!" — the Red Cross picked up on "tiger blood." Sheen used tiger blood to refer to his virility and enthusiasm, and the Red Cross referenced it in an official tweet: "We may not collect #tigerblood, but we know our donors & volunteers have fierce passion for doing good! #RedCrossMonth."

The tweet earned a massive response thanks to the #tigerblood hashtag and a ton of media outlets picking up on the Red Cross' strangely appropriate use of a massive cultural moment (some positive, some negative). The tweet even resulted in a modest increase in blood donations.

2. Harry Potter Alliance Gets Muggles to Give Back







The Harry Potter book series (and film mega-franchise) may be over, but that doesn't mean its legacy has passed. The Harry Potter Alliance is a registered non-profit dedicated to fighting "the Dark Arts in the real world by using parallels from Harry Potter," according to the site. That may sound like activism lite, but the Alliance has applied the books' positive message to do an enormous amount of good work.

The Alliance has sent cargo planes of supplies to post-earthquake Haiti, donated more than 80,000 books worldwide from Mississippi to Rwanda, built a library for a New York charter school and more. All the campaigns are named after Harry Potter terminology. One campaign to stop bullying was dubbed a "Bullying Horcrux." The Alliance, made up of Harry Potter fans and volunteers, is currently petitioning Warner Bros. Studios to only use fair trade chocolate in Harry Potter-themed confections. The Alliance is proof that a community of fans can be turned into opportunities for good.

3. American Cancer Society Is a Belieber







The American Cancer Society took to Facebook and YouTube to spread the word on cancer research and support. Their campaign, "Tag2Nag," encouraged users to post a supplied image to Facebook and tag friends as if the picture was of them. Those images were first generic but then included memes like Sheen's tiger blood comment. The meme pictures earned more than 1,000 impressions and increased Facebook Likes.

The Society also ran a YouTube "Happy Birthday" campaign which latched on to the fact that celebrity birthdays often trend on social networks like Twitter. They created YouTube videos of birthday wishes to stars such as Justin Bieber. That video racked up more than 660,000 views. "Pop culture advertising gets the attention of teenagers," wrote Ashley Engelman, the American Cancer Society's communications and marketing project manager. "Teenagers, in turn, get the attention of their parents. And this is how we reach our target demographic."

4. The Trevor Project Turns Film into LGBTQ Support







The Trevor Project sprung from an Academy-Award winning short film in 1994, Trevor, about a gay teen who attempts to take his own life. In 1998, when the film was set to air on HBO, writer James Lecesne, director/producer Peggy Rajski and producer Randy Stone decided to fund and create an organization to offer help and support to teens like their fictional title character. The Trevor Project is now one of the only 24/7 crisis and suicide prevention lifelines for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.

Other organizations such as Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" have also tried to blend pop culture and Hollywood stars with LGBTQ issues and resources.

5. Facebook Game is a Farmville for Change







Everyone knows that FarmVille hooked about a bazillion Facebook users on caring for virtual crops. Well Farm Rescue decided to spin off their own version of the immensely popular game with an emphasis on charity. Farm Rescue took on alleged animal abuse in factory farms by asking users to build a virtual sanctuary for rescued hens. Users tended after their fowl wards, helping them practice natural behaviors and then "adopting" them out to good homes.

The game latched onto the enormously popular FarmVille in both content and style as a way to educate and raise awareness about factory farming. Outside of the game, Farm Rescue also has an actions page where users can pledge their support, sign petitions or learn more.

What's Next?

There is a real art to applying pop culture to charitable work. It's what Andrew Slack, executive director of the Harry Potter Alliance calls "cultural acupuncture." The basic idea is to find where a community of people are focusing their energy and then apply that energy to important causes and issues.

Slack has tapped the Harry Potter fan base to do good by applying elements of the story to real-world issues. For example, he describes ignoring the conflict in Darfur or the troubles of climate change as tantamount to when the fictional world of Harry Potter ignores the rise of its main villain, Voldemort. "We love these books," Slack says, "but if we really loved these books we would bring them into the world. It's like a classic fantasy role play, but in reverse."

He sees opportunities in other fan communities as well. Take for example the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. Fans from both cities vigorously defend their team and city as the best. What if that sense of competition was applied to civic initiatives, such as a joint challenge to see which cities could get the largest amount of volunteers to help clean up or donate?

Slacks says the road wasn't always so easy: "When I called [companies] I would tell them where I was calling from and would have to start with 'Before you hang up...' Now that we have metrics, it's a little harder to dispute the effectiveness of [the Alliance]."

Pop culture and non-profits are increasingly coming together to make a real difference. The more that organizations can authentically tap into cultural phenomena, the more awareness can be raised for important causes. In the end, everyone's #winning.

What do you think about non-profits using pop culture memes? Are there any more good examples out there? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Series Supported by CITGO and the Fueling Good Campaign

The Stars of Social Good Series is supported by CITGO and the Fueling Good Campaign. It all starts with one person helping another. Then that person helps two more. Pretty soon you have a neighborhood, a community, an entire city – one act of kindness inspiring another. That’s why CITGO donates thousands of gallons of gas to worthy charities. It’s our way of keeping the momentum going.

Images courtesy of Flickr, plainsight, Undertow851, lisadragon