You wouldn't expect a generations-old product commonly associated with your grandfather to rule the Internet. But that's exactly what happened last week when Old Spice men's deodorant became the talk of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube with an inventive (and funny) campaign featuring a previously unknown actor with amazing abs and enough stamina to spend nearly two days cranking out videos wearing nothing but a towel.

Old Spice's campaign featured the actor Isaiah Mustafa responding by video to questions posted by its followers on Twitter and in other social networks.

Mr. Mustafa's video responses became viral hits. The video, above, has been viewed nearly 3 million times on YouTube.

And the creative approach earned online mentions from stars such as Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Moore, George Stephanopoulos, and Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.

What can charities learn from this campaign?

Craig Reiss pointed out on Entrepreneur.com that organizations with small budgets can create similar campaigns by finding a personality in their own organizations who can become an online spokesman and respond to customer questions.

Goodwill in Washington has proven that creating an online persona can help an organization draw an online audience on a tight budget.

It created DC Goodwill Fashionista, a blog about thrift-store fashion, to generate discussion and drive customers to its thrift store.

What are other lessons for charities that can be gleaned from the "Old Spice Guy"? Post a comment to share your ideas and examples.