Filed under: General Charity Musings, Microphilanthropy | Tags: #charitytuesday, @BigDaveSB, philanthropy.com, TechnicaVita, twitter fundraising
As an additional comment to my last post about Do-It-Yourself fundraising, here’s a great way to get the message out about your cause: the #charitytuesday tag in Twitter. Started earlier this month by @BigDaveSB, the tag has picked up like wildfire and even ranked above Swine Flu in terms of popularity when Swine Flu was all the rage.
The concept is simple: on Tuesdays, promote your nonprofit and/or charity with the tag. Tell people why the cause is worthy, and start conversations with it. For more tips, visit TechnicaVita’s blog post. To see some nonprofits who have seen some great results with the tag, look at the comments posted at Philanthropy.com.
Happy Tuesday!
Filed under: Microphilanthropy | Tags: chip in, chipin, diy fundraising, do it yourself fundraising, ride for heart, tipjoy, yourcause.com
Sometimes a cause touches your heart so much that you just want to help in any way you can. And often the best way to help is to fundraise, because what cause couldn’t use more money? With microphilanthropy online, fundraising for your favourite cause is a cinch. Already lots of organizations let you fundraise with online pledge forms when you participate in events like Ride for Heart or the CN Tower Climb for WWF (and in my opinion online pledge forms have really boosted donated dollars). But even without those events there are many easy ways for to you do your own fundraising:
- If you have your own website or blog where you already sell your cause, use ChipIn or TipJoy to start raising money! ChipIn is more for any website (including most social media sites), while TipJoy is for Twitter, but both let you create your own fundraising campaign widgets to add to your site. You set the monetary goal, and the widget will give you a goal thermometer to display, with % achieved and number of contributors. Both ChipIn and TipJoy use PayPal so make sure you have an account first. Then write some heartfelt words about why people should donate to your cause, do some outreach, and watch as the money flows in!
- If you don’t have a site yet, use Yourcause.com to create one. YourCause has over 1,000 charities for you to choose to support, and has all the tools for you to create a fundraising site. Not only does the site have a goal tracker, but you can add blogs, photos, and resources. Then you can go to the community with your page to gain supporters, and possibly even win an award from YourCause for your good work.
- If you’re lacking ideas for some creative methods for fundraising, check out Do-It-Yourself Fundraising Ideas. Although the ideas are not necessarily for online use, many of them can be adapted. For example, instead of creating a physical cookbook to sell for fundraising, why not create a digital cookbook? Or hold a beauty contest online, where contestants send in photos. Be creative!
Some examples of the TipJoy and ChipIn widgets are below. If you’d like to see the real ChipIn widget in action go to www.designerheart.com. A friend of mine is expecting and unfortunately found out that his baby girl has a congenital heart defect. He created Designer Heart after realizing that parents in similar situations could use some mutual support. If you have a few spare dollars, Chip In!
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- ChipIn Widget
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- TipJoy Widget
Filed under: General Charity Musings | Tags: change.org, jobs for change, non-profit careers
In response to President Obama’s call for social service, Change.org just launched Jobs for Change, a site designed to develop the next generation of leaders in the social sector. To quote change.org, “people are the most important factor in advancing social change” but “too many people interested in a career in service do not end up or remain in the sector because of a range of obstacles”. To help overcome these obstacles Jobs for Change is building a huge database of social change jobs and have hired a team of career advisors to blog and provide guidance on finding and developing a career in social change.
I too have felt the “obstacles” that change.org is trying to address; over the years I have seen many possible career paths at non-profits through my interactions (as a volunteer or otherwise), and none of the jobs have ever really appealed to me. Either the job environment just wasn’t driven enough, or there was too much bureaucracy, or (seeing that I work in technology) I couldn’t see myself working in a company that’s “behind the times”. For the longest time I concluded that they only way I can work in a nonprofit setting is for an organization like Google.org, essentially the non-profit arm of a for-profit company, that would hopefully operate like a for-profit but with social goals instead.
My view of course has changed in recent years; partly because I’m more educated, but also partly because I see a whole new generation of organizations cropping up that are “with the times”. And as more and more for-profits are becoming socially responsible, the number of “good” jobs that don’t come with potential drawbacks of working in the non-profit sector are also increasing in number. With Jobs for Change working to dispel the common myths of working for non-profits, and encouraging use of business for good, the landscape could be entirely different in a year.
You spend almost a third of your life at work, so you should be happy with what contribution you’re making to society while working. If not, you should definitely check out the jobs at Jobs for Change. And if you’re a blogger or non-profit leader, sign their statement about the importance of mission-driven careers.
Filed under: Microphilanthropy | Tags: end hunger, feeding america kraft, hunger site, Microphilanthropy, pledge to end hunger, stand up
If ending hunger is your cause, here are some microphilanthropy things that you can do to make a difference:
- Follow @stophunger in Twitter – they’re giving $1 to end hunger for every follower they get this week.
- Go to Kraft’s website and click on their ad – for each click Kraft is donating a box of mac and cheese to Feeding America. Over 30k boxes have already been donated, but their goal is to hit 1M boxes.
- Stand Up and take action against poverty – participate in an event during Oct 16 – 18 this year to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals! Last year over 116M people took part. You can organize your own easy event such as distributing improved seeds or organize a free lunch.
- Click at the Hunger Site to donate 1.1 cups of food to the hungry. Or buy something from the Hunger Site Store, which raised over 3.7M cups of food for charities around the world from Jul-Dec 2008.
- Pledge to end hunger – promise to either donate, volunteer, or spread the word about hunger in America. $35 can feed a child 3 meals a day for more than a month.
Filed under: Microphilanthropy | Tags: Microphilanthropy, raffle mansion, win mansion
I’m always on the look out for cool microphilanthropy models, and just yesterday I came across one that does something very novel. It sells mansions, advertises charities, and fundraises all at the same time. It’s called Raffle Mansion, and here’s how it works. Mansion owners give a price for mansions that they’d like to sell. A charity can then browse through a catalog of the mansions, and pick one to sponsor in a raffle event. A public online raffle then takes place. If enough money is raised to cover the cost of the mansion and profit for the charity, then the charity buys the mansion from the owner, and gives it to the raffle winner. If not, then the raffle is turned into a 50/50 draw, where all the raffle money is split into 2, half going to the mansion owner, and the other half going to the charity. Regardless, a successful fundraiser takes place for the charity at no cost. Raffle Mansion handles all the advertising for the event, paid for by the mansion owner, who gets to 1) do some good, 2) use Raffle Mansion’s photo and video services, and 3) have a guaranteed minimum sale price.
The cool part about Raffle Mansion for people like me is that I can purchase a raffle ticket for as low as $10 and get a chance to win some amazing properties, from beach houses in Florida to dream homes off the coast of Spain. Look at some of these photos – they’re irresistible! So if you’re looking to give to charity in a different sort of way, check out Raffle Mansion. If exotic places aren’t your thing they also have regular houses up for the taking.
Filed under: General Charity Musings, Microphilanthropy | Tags: fundraising 101, Microphilanthropy
As a member of the L’Arche Daybreak board I’ve been involved with the process of hiring consultants to assist with a a capital campaign. The consultants recently put together a “fundraising 101″ package, which included a page outlining 5 reasons why people give:
- They have the means
- They desire to improve a situation
- They believe the organization is worthy of their investment
- They respect and admire the person approaching them for a donation
- They are dealt with in a respectful manner
If 5 of out 5 elements are met, then it’s certain that a donation will happen; 3 out of 5 means a possible donation, and 1 of 5 means a decline to give. This is, of course, is from the traditional context of an in-person ask for money, which is very different from asking for micro-donations through social media. In fact, with most online microphilanthropy the barrier to entry is really low; almost anybody who’s online has the means to click on an ad to donate to a charity. So #1 is almost a sure thing.
Points #2 and #3 I actually believe are harder in some ways to meet online. With Twitter and Facebook and social media in general, descriptions and stories tend to be short and concise, making it harder for organizations to communicate what situations require improvement. While it is a lot easier to find a cause that strikes your heart simply due to the volume of causes available, there is information overload to consider. With a million other causes right beside each other on social media sites, it’s hard to figure out which organization is worthy, let alone which organization is MOST worthy. With microphilanthropy though, perhaps the #2 and #3 points don’t matter as much. If you’re giving only a few dollars instead of thousands of dollars it probably matters less which specific charity the money is going to.
Point #4 I find to be very interesting because obviously personal interaction can be entirely missing when doing online donations. If you log into Facebook Causes there isn’t a specific person asking you for money, which is why I believe the most crucial part of Causes is still the ability to post causes on walls.
In any case, online microphilanthropy probably allows you to hit the 5 elements more easily than traditional in-person donation asks. With online microphilanthropy, #1 is a given, and #2 and #3 may be less important because of the small size of the donation. #4 and #5 certainly are not any easier to do online, but assuming you make sure that the donation request is coming from a person and not just an application, then it’s not any harder either.
And there you have it – another case for online microphilanthropy.
Filed under: Microphilanthropy, social media | Tags: techcrunch, tipjoy, twitanthropy, twitter, twitter philanthropy, water charity
I have talked about a lot of microphilanthropies on this blog now, but I haven’t talked about many that are Twitter based. Partially I’ve been conscious that some readers out there are sick of hearing about Twitter. You may have read the TechCrunch post this weekend where they explained just why they’re covering Twitter so much, despite there being an obvious vocal outcry about too much hype for a very simple application. But like MG Siegler, I also believe that the power of Twitter is in its simplicity, and I just couldn’t help writing about a Twitter based microphilanthropy anymore.
So here’s one that has a very simple microphilanthropy to get involved with. It’s called Twitanthropy (@Twitanthropy), and it does fundraising for Water Charity . Funds go towards three things:
- A school water tank – total cost is $500; you can contribute by Tweeting and donating $5
- A latrine in Guatemala or Honduras – total cost is $110, contribute by Tweeting and donating $1
- A water filter in Guatemala – total cost is $37, asking contribution is $0.25 plus a Tweet
It’s all done through Tipjoy, which makes it extremely easy for you to Tweet and make a payment at the same time. In fact, the Tweet is mostly built out for you – all you have to do is press the button!
And that’s it. You won’t hear me touting Twitter again… for today. =)
Filed under: CHAMPs News, Microphilanthropy | Tags: amazee, ammado, cagora, community of action, microactions, Microphilanthropy, wiserearth
If you’ve been following this blog you’ll know that Charity CHAMPS’ mission is to encourage microphilanthropy (I’m almost sounding like a broken record with this line, but hey, a mission should be communicated, right?). As our great team of volunteer graphic artists are working on the beta site, we’ve been brainstorming the micro-actions we want to focus on encouraging. So far our thoughts have revolved around very concrete things: micro-donations, micro-lending, click-to-donate, etc. But there’s a whole slew of actions that aren’t as concrete, such as educating yourself on an issue, or joining a community of activists. These actions don’t bring a direct charitable return, but are arguably just as important as concrete ones. Most importantly, it’s these actions that get you to give more of yourself to the community; it’s through consuming media, participating in chats, and reading blogs and Twitter feeds that you get INSPIRED.
There are a lot of communities out there that gather people around specific causes so that discussions, knowledge sharing, and mutual support can happen. Some examples:
- WiserEarth: online community that gathers people around specific issues like global warming and poverty. You can create and join groups, and gain visibility for the work that you’re doing. And of course, you can network and share ideas with others of similar interests.
- Cagora: an “alternative to search engines and social networks”, where you get to create content and profit from it as any web author would on their own site through ads. What’s different about Cagora is that you can put the money towards your causes, the main point of the site being to pursue your hobbies and interests while doing good. The content created by individuals become “interest worlds” where passer-bys can land to find products, information, and services on a particular subject.
- Amazee: “empowers individuals and organizations to initiate and promote their ideas and plans in projects, to find like-minded people and raise funds”; tools supplied by the website to help a project succeed include polls, calendars, and event planning modules. All the content created around a project can easily be published to an iPhone or Facebook using Amazee’s interface.
- Ammado: a community that brings together nonprofits and people who care. Upload photos and videos, support your favourite non-profits through donations, and help spread the word on the causes you care about.
That’s just a few that I’ve been to, and there are a lot more. Like real world communities each online community has a different flavour and have different demographics of people in it. I would suggest that you shop around and see which ones you like the most. And the next time you feel blah about your day-to-day activities, just log-on! When you see all the good going on you’re bound to feel bubbly, and hopefully it will get you jumping into some new exciting project.
Filed under: General Charity Musings, Microphilanthropy, social media | Tags: don tapscott, government social media, mayor miller, toronto city data, toronto.ca/open, ttc, us now, volunteer toronto
What do Toronto’s Mayor Miller and Don Tapscott have in common? As it turns out, both are Twitter fans. For Don Tapscott, I’m obviously not surprised. For Mayor Miller, however, I would not have guessed that he won a competition against CityTV to get more Twitter followers. Then again, I have never been one to follow politics (or politicians) very closely.
I was at the Volunteer Toronto screening of Us Now yesterday night,and I enjoyed the documentary a lot. Volunteer Toronto will be making Us Now available for download later so you should definitely watch it. In line with Don Tapscott’s ideas around how corporations and production must change with the coming net generation, the documentary takes a look at how government must also change. One could make an analogy here – democracy as it exists today is like broadcast TV (we vote every few years and in between that time politicians broadcast to us), and just as TV is now giving way to two-way interactions through the Internet, government needs to change so that people are active participants at a more fundamental level.
Needless to say, I was very happy to hear the mayor Miller announce that the City of Toronto is making some of it’s data available to the public in the fall of 2009. The mayor mentioned that toronto.ca/open will launch later this year, and will allow Torontonians to access several facets of public data, such as TTC vehicle locations (using GPS). This is in line with the mayor’s vision of turning Toronto into a leader of modern cities; Chicago opened its data to the public a while back. Once the data is available the city could benefit from a wide range of applications developed by local citizens (I don’t know what will happen when the data reveals that the TTC can be horribly off-schedule – just my personal opinion here – but at least there won’t be any more arguments regarding exactly how reliable TTC service is and we can let the data do the talking).
As for Don Tapscott’s remarks at the event, I’ve heard him speak and read enough of his books that nothing was new for me, but it was good to hear his thoughts on Us Now; his opinion is that the movie raises more questions than it answers. At this early stage where governments are just starting to grapple with what social media means for campaigning (think Obama) and policy making, I don’t think anybody can profess to have the answers. But it’s great to know people are thinking about what the right questions are to ask.
And just why am I writing about this topic on a blog about microphilanthropy? Getting involved with government may not be viewed as charitable, but once the city data is available, who knows? Maybe somebody will use the TTC data and partner with local charities to help disabled persons move around town, or deliver meals to the elderly better. That’s my hope, anyway, in which case maybe Charity CHAMPS can support some of those efforts.
Filed under: General Charity Musings, Microphilanthropy | Tags: e.y.e, ecotrust, Microphilanthropy, net change, ric young, social media patterns
A while back I wrote a post about why microphilanthropy works; small actions can be transformational, and small actions have been made mainstream through social media. Today, from Net Change Week’s website, I discovered a video of Ric Young giving a talk about social innovation. Ric is a member of Ecotrust Canada’s board of directors and President of E.Y.E, a Toronto-based agency specializing in strategies that promote social change. In the talk, Ric mentions the value of social media beyond just being a tactical tool for mobilizing social change: social media allows us to see the patterns of how people move and affect each other.
As a business intelligence freak, I couldn’t agree more. There are hundreds of theories out there on mob mentality, on how social movements start, on network effects and how people relate to each other – essentially on how change takes place. Take The Tipping Point, for example. And for once, we are in a world where all of these effects can be monitored and measured digitally, thanks to social networks. If Second Life has enabled scientists to study the spread of disesases from person to person in a way that wasn’t available before, I’m positive that social media will enable social innovators to discover so much more about what really triggers and sustains lasting social change. The more data we have, the more we’ll be able to refine our techniques and strategies for solving some of the world’s most complex problems.
