The year following the 2008 financial crisis wasn't easy for anyone, and the more bad news that came out, the more difficult it became for charitable organizations — because how do you get people to volunteer and help others when so many felt like they needed help themselves?

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The solution was to show how a small step can make a big difference, which is what Members Project from American Express did, in partnerships with TakePart, the digital social action network of Participant Media.

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Through a simple click, you could find volunteer opportunities around you or donate to the causes you believe in. And if you couldn't afford to give, you could vote for the ones you wanted American Express to support. Every three months, the winning charities shared $1MM in funding from the company.

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During the Academy Awards, 2 :60 TV spots filmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson and directed by Scott Hicks introduced the real life stories of Yvonne Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and the steps he took for the environment, and Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children's Zone, and the steps he took for education.

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A pervasive campaign, website, Facebook applications, and a YouTube channel extended the conversation, going deeper into the stories and inviting everyone to take a small step and share their own experiences around the country.

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People talked about the causes they believed in, the places they volunteered, and the little things they did to help someone else. So what started out as a conversation with two people ended up inspiring tens of thousands more, which proved the point we were hoping to make All along: there is no act of kindness that is too small to make a difference.

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• $2.25MM in Amex points donated to 3,000 charities in first 3 months

• >1MM site visits, exceeding targets

• >100K votes for charities to receive funding from Amex, exceeding targets

• Email performance exceeded benchmarks with an average open rate of over 34% and click rate of over 12%