Makin’ It on MySpace
Nonprofits have a lot to learn — and teach — about social networks and online fundraising.
July 2008 By Heather Mansfield
In 2001, I launched a small, Web-based nonprofit organization called eActivist.org. Like most other small nonprofits, we were strapped for cash. At the time, “Donate Now” buttons were the latest and greatest in nonprofit fundraising, and I had the highest of hopes and expectations for this new and cutting-edge technology.
But, like many others, I was quite disappointed when I finally got the button on my Web site and … nothing … happened. No donations. No mass outpouring of giving. No silver bullet.
Back then, there were two important lessons that we had to learn about successful “Donate Now” fundraising. First, simply embedding the button on your Web site did not magically result in online donations. We had to learn how to ask our donors to give via those buttons. Thus, the nonprofit community embraced e-mail marketing.
Second, we had to educate our donors about how online donations were processed, and not only assure them that their privacy was protected, but also explain how it was being protected.
Today, when questioned about social networking and its online fundraising potential, I immediately think of “Donate Now” buttons. The fact still remains: Simply putting a fundraising widget on your MySpace profile or Facebook page is not going to result in large amounts of online donations. We need to learn new ways of asking donors to give on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Change.org, etc. The ask is done via blog posts, comments, bulletins and updates.
Also, for this new technology to produce results in terms of online giving, it’s crucial that we educate our donors that giving on social networks through widgets and apps is safe — and, of course, we have to ensure that it is.
It’s important to recognize as well that it has taken almost 10 years for online giving to account for even a very small percentage of all donations made by Americans annually. Successful fundraising using social-networking Web sites isn’t going to happen quickly. It’s going to take time, but I don’t believe it’s going to take as long as it has taken for Web 1.0 online fundraising to evolve.
So, what’s different?
Social-networking fundraising (aka Web 2.0 fundraising) differs from “Donate Now” fundraising in one very significant way: The masses on social-networking Web sites — aka your thousands of “friends” — are empowered to fundraise on behalf of your organization in ways we’ve never seen before. Through fundraising pages, widgets, and MySpace and Facebook apps, the masses now have the tools and power to raise money on behalf of the causes they care about and the nonprofits that are working for those causes. Imagine the possibility of 1,000 supporters out there on the Web, fundraising on behalf of your organization.
But, like many others, I was quite disappointed when I finally got the button on my Web site and … nothing … happened. No donations. No mass outpouring of giving. No silver bullet.
Back then, there were two important lessons that we had to learn about successful “Donate Now” fundraising. First, simply embedding the button on your Web site did not magically result in online donations. We had to learn how to ask our donors to give via those buttons. Thus, the nonprofit community embraced e-mail marketing.
Second, we had to educate our donors about how online donations were processed, and not only assure them that their privacy was protected, but also explain how it was being protected.
Today, when questioned about social networking and its online fundraising potential, I immediately think of “Donate Now” buttons. The fact still remains: Simply putting a fundraising widget on your MySpace profile or Facebook page is not going to result in large amounts of online donations. We need to learn new ways of asking donors to give on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Change.org, etc. The ask is done via blog posts, comments, bulletins and updates.
Also, for this new technology to produce results in terms of online giving, it’s crucial that we educate our donors that giving on social networks through widgets and apps is safe — and, of course, we have to ensure that it is.
It’s important to recognize as well that it has taken almost 10 years for online giving to account for even a very small percentage of all donations made by Americans annually. Successful fundraising using social-networking Web sites isn’t going to happen quickly. It’s going to take time, but I don’t believe it’s going to take as long as it has taken for Web 1.0 online fundraising to evolve.
So, what’s different?
Social-networking fundraising (aka Web 2.0 fundraising) differs from “Donate Now” fundraising in one very significant way: The masses on social-networking Web sites — aka your thousands of “friends” — are empowered to fundraise on behalf of your organization in ways we’ve never seen before. Through fundraising pages, widgets, and MySpace and Facebook apps, the masses now have the tools and power to raise money on behalf of the causes they care about and the nonprofits that are working for those causes. Imagine the possibility of 1,000 supporters out there on the Web, fundraising on behalf of your organization.
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Pretty sharp stuff, Heather. It's very straightforward. As someone who is actively working on things like this at my organization, I can say that your reasoning is spot-on. There are simply too many options out there to rely on the "old ways." Keep up the good work!
I enjoyed this article. It was very insightful and extremely resourceful.
Sincerely,
Fran Briggs
We have had similar problems. Thank you for sharing and starting this new project on Non Profits.
I am grateful someone has come up with it. Congrats.
Ghani
Very Very Helpfull article!!!
Thanks