Online Social Networking Funds Hope With Personal Giving Web Pages

Some may doubt the worth of social sites but social media has made possible a beautiful gesture--fundraising by individuals for favorite causes.

There are many ways online social networkers can raise funds but one of the easiest and most effective is through FirstGiving.com. Individuals can easily set up a personal fundraising page, send a message about it to all their friends, and raise contributions for their cause.

Just click on the site and check out a few of the featured pages. No doubt your eyes may tear up and for certain your altruism drive will roar into action.

Nonprofits can also set up pages for a particular fundraising campaign, through which their supporters can set up personal pages and a web of social networking can ensue, providing all with a happy outcome.

Dana Hagenbuch, formerly marketing director for FirstGiving.com, wrote in the January '07 issue of Nonprofit World Magazine about a nonprofit that raised $10,000 in two months through the magic of FirstGiving's site.

The development staff at the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America (FSSCA) set up a page to solicit money to plant 2,000 trees in El Salvador. They emailed a link to that page to the organization's list of supporters.

Five of those people created online fundraising pages and sent the link to their friends asking for a donation of $10 per tree. The result was $10,000 produced with a very simple process and a handful of supporters.

Check out FirstGiving.com if you are a donor with a cause to share, or if you are a nonprofit with a yen to try out online fundraising and social media. Be sure to tell your friends about it too.