The Chronicle Of Philanthropy ran another article on the use of some of the newer online web based fund raising techniques.The piece is titled 'Donors Take Control, Grass-roots fund raising flourishes on the Internet ' and is viewable if you have a subscription, or if you scroll down I have some excerpts I find most interesting. There is a follow up article that provides some tips on the use of these systems. In short it is nice to see the chronicle looking at the wide scope of philanthropy channels as they arise.
Donors Take Control
Grass-roots fund raising flourishes on the Internet
By Holly Hall and Peter Panepento
Among the groups that have succeeded in raising relatively large sums for little cost:
Invisible Children a group founded in 2004 by three California college students, has raised more than $6-million to help children in war-torn northern Uganda. Its Web site features videos and other interactive tools designed to get young people involved in the cause. The site offers numerous low-cost ways people can support projects in Uganda, such as a Give Peace a Tri campaign, in which donors give up a small luxury — like a fancy coffee drink — to make a monthly gift as small as $3. More than 10,000 people have contributed through the group's Web site, and thousands more have participated in offline events such as Global Commute, an all-night demonstration held nationwide to publicize Invisible Children's cause.
Red Nose Day, held every other year by the charity Comic Relief, in London, now generates more than $125-million in a single day by persuading 60 percent of Britain's residents to give and raise small amounts to help needy people in their own country and in Africa.
The event's Web site encourages people to raise money in fun ways, such as organizing a stand-up comedy show or a pie-throwing contest. Through the site, people can make online donations; play games; create a personal fund-raising page to be shared with others by e-mail; buy products such as red clown noses and T-shirts; and share fund-raising ideas.
"There is an enormous future for small gifts as a way to engage people," says Martin Gill, Comic Relief's head of new media. "Our objective is to get these people the tools they need to do our work for us."
The United Nations Foundation created the Nothing But Nets campaign 10 months ago to persuade people to donate $10 to pay for a mosquito net to prevent the spread of malaria in Africa. So far, the campaign has raised at least $4.2-million from more than 4,000 participants who have used the campaign's Web site to make an online donation, form a fund-raising — or "Netraiser" — team, or join a team created by someone they know.
Skepticism About Approach
Some charity fund raisers question whether such campaigns will ever become successful enough to go beyond sparking small, one-time gifts. And while plenty of charities have tried new ways to interact with potential supporters online, not all have produced donations.
For example, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has created a profile on the social-neworking site MySpace and recruited 120,000 supporters who have viewed its videos there on animal abuses. It has also produced short videos that are archived on its own Web site and posted on others such as YouTube.
While those efforts have helped the charity expand its audience of people interested in animal rights, it has yet to figure out how to turn them into donors or fund raisers.
"Converting people is a challenge, whether it's offline or online," says Scott Anderson, the group's senior vice president of development. "A lot of what happens depends on how well we can develop that long-term relationship with donors who come online. There is an unlimited number of opportunities and an unlimited number of challenges."
But other groups have succeeded in recruiting long-term, dedicated donors and advocates.
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