Citizen Philanthropists Turn Networking Into Fundraising
In a recent post we discussed the "long tail" of fundraising as part of the way small donations can add up to a large contribution through the Internet.
When the Case Foundation teamed up with Parade Magazine, Facebook, Network for Good, and Global Giving to launch the America's Giving Challenge and the Causes Giving Challenge, it was banking on this phenomenon of many givers with smaller gifts adding up to a lot.
In the words of the Case Foundation:
"Both [campaigns] were designed to introduce millions of people to newer, more convenient, and more efficient forms of civic engagement. Specifically, the Challenges focused on how people could use simple Web 2.0 tools and social networking strategies to put their own passions to work on behalf of their favorite charities and causes."
The outcome of these projects, announced at the Case Foundation website, is pretty awe inspiring with more than 80,000 donors to about 700 nonprofits, and a total of more than $2.5 million raised.
Probably most of us were the recipients of someone's "mini" campaign for their favorite cause whether it was through a charity badge, emails, blogging, or online videos. The winning campaigns' causes received from $1000 to $50,000 from Case and its partners.
I'm not sure how much more E-philanthropy needs to be proved. Network for Good, which processes online donations for nonprofits, reports that last year online contributions through its website increased by 50%. Similarly, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that some of America's largest charities had double digit increases in online giving for last year.
With social networking providing the means for "citizen philanthropists," to tap into their well nurtured webs of contacts, a whole new front has opened up for nonprofits to raise money. It is no longer just about having a "Donate Now" button on your website.
How are you using social networking (Web 2.0) to raise funds for your organization? We would love to hear about it. Just use the comments section below.
More about online fundraising:
I don’t think the Case Foundation proved anything, except that someone wins and most people lose.
I use maps of Chicago to show all of the high poverty neighborhoods and locations of poorly performing schools. All of these neighborhoods could benefit from volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs, and while more than 200 organizations provide services in Chicago, the number of kids served is small, the quality of programs differs greatly, and many neighborhoods are underserved.
A competitive funding strategy has all of these programs, and many other non profits constantly competing with each other and only some winning. This is no way to run a business that must constantly improve and maintain connectiong between kids and volunteers for many years.
It’s not how corporations, with centralized offices, support hundreds, or thousands of locations distributed around a city or country.
Thus, I attempt to connect programs to each other in what I call a “network of purpose” with a goal of increasing visibility in ways that capture donor and volunteer attention, and motivate the resource providers, and those who share our goal of education and ending poverty, to search the map to shop and choose which agency they want to help, based on what neighborhood that group serves, and what the show on their web site that helps the donor understand what they do.
Combined with the traditional marketing of each agency, this can help create a better, more consistent distribution of resources into all of the places where they are needed.
Thanks Dan for that view. I feel a bit reluctant to endorse the competition angle of these campaigns too. Sounds like you are doing a good job with with your “maps.” I do think that email fundraising is the future though and I think that is part of Case’s intention…to show the worth of the Internet and social media to provide new models of fundraising.