As discussed in a previous post, the non-profit community is in danger of losing donors and volunteers because of the recent economic crisis in the United States. Now non-profits and charities are looking for another outlet to raise awareness and get funds. The obvious turn is the online social networks, most notably Facebook. According to comScore, Facebook is the leading social networking site based on monthly unique visitors, having overtaken its main competitor, MySpace, in April 2008.ComScore reports that Facebook attracted 132.1 million unique visitors in June 2008, compared to MySpace, which attracted 117.6 million. With America’s population all in the same network and connected, Facebook has created a way for charities and non-profits to use their online empire to help out those in the business of philanthropy. Facebook calls this application “Causes” and it has generated a lot of opportunities and publicity for non-profit companies. It has generated a number of blogs across the web to comment on the idea of Internet based donations and fundraising. This week I commented on two blogs that focused on this issue. The first was on the Newsweek.com blog titled “Facebook-ing Philanthropy.” This blog addresses those who have used the Facebook “Causes” application and how it has helped various charities as well as the Facebook Brian Braiker who is a Newsweek web writer is the author of this post. The second post that I commented on was titled, “Nonprofits Must Embrace, Share Online Civic Space” found on the blog Inside Philanthropy. This blog focuses on nonprofit and philanthropy news and is run by the Philanthropy Journal. This particular post evaluates the amount of online networks that are available for non-profit organizations looking for new ways to promote their cause. The author of this post, Todd Cohen expresses that he believes all non-profits and charities should be taking advantage of this feature that Facebook offers.
“Facebook-ing Philanthropy” :
Thank you for your excellent post on Facebook and its connection to philanthropy with the application added called, “Causes”. I found it very helpful that you started off your post explaining how many different organizations have entered the virtual world of giving such as Breast Cancer and Darfur. As an avid user of Facebook it did shock me that he Breast Cancer Research ‘cause’ has over 2.2 million subscribers. Also, not usually included in many posts about Facebook applications, is the business motivation and growth of the company. In this time of economic crisis, I find it ironic, that the Internet based social networks seem to be in the clear, and unlike most are making money in a time when the world market is in bad shape. I feel this shows the power that the Internet has created: a virtual world almost completely separate from the real world. By adding the Facebook “Causes”, it appears to be a smart move by both Facebook and those organizations who have used this program to reach out to where to public is-- on their computers.
As a member of Facbeook, I have seen the application in use by some of my friends and other subscribers of the network. Although I am someone who feels strongly about being active in the non-profit world, I was skeptical to use this application, not fully understanding its point. As a user, it seemed useless, because I felt this was just another way for these organizations to get my information and ask for money. I strongly believe that active rather then monetary help is the most effective way to change the world’s most pressing issues. After reading your post, I did realize that for these organizations, the motivation is not purely to get donations. Discussing the support and awareness was something I had not originally thought of. Looking at Facebook “Causes” after reading your post; I did realize how much press a single organization can get on the social network. As you had mentioned the donation’s coming from Facebook subscribers is small, the connection that this program fosters might make difference. I am interested to see where Facebook “Causes” goes in the future. I have more faith in this approach after reading what you wrote that it might get more people involved, and hopefully with the publicity some will start to move out the virtual world and into the one that needs help.
“Nonprofits Must Embrace, Share Online Civic Space” :
Your post was insightful on the issue of non-profit organizations using the online social networks as an avenue for reaching out to the public. The post was helpful and I felt made the point that non-profit companies should be using applications, such as Facebook “Causes” in this time of need. I agree with your argument that social networks should be seen as a “common ground” for the non-profit organization who are trying new marketing solutions for future involvement in their causes to raise awareness and ultimately to raise money.
In the post you did mention that setting up a Facebook “Cause” can difficult to do technically. I agree. Technically it is difficult and it is not as easy as just signing up and soon everyone will see the cause. The network for Facebook is extremely large and the number of users is now over 50 million. Facebook “Causes” lets you build your own cause by choosing an organization to support, writing a short brief on why they deserve your support, and picking a category. What is also a great feature, but adds to the overwhelming amount of causes, is that average person can set up their own causes .So it doesn't have to be simply big name non-profits that advertise their causes. What I feel the problem is now on Facebook is that non-profit companies are becoming lost in a sea of charities, and the key for using this program is promoting the organization to the public. This seems to be a difficult and important piece of information that I think the non-profit companies should be aware of when they start their online venture on Facebook. Some of the most popular causes, like the ONE campaign and Save Darfur, have grown exponentially, with 9,203 and 44,506 members respectively. Others, like Net Neutrality is Bogus and Simplify have garnered only 13 and 18 members. There are over 150 causes tagged as public advocacy (one of nine categories), ranging from presidential candidates to political issues both mainstream and obscure. I am not sure the way best way to go about promoting a cause on Facebook is, but the Wild Apricot Blog, gives those who are interested “5 Easy Ways” to promote their causes on Facebook.
What is also different about using Facebook “Causes” is that donations can be but not the contact information of those who donate is not available to the organization or charity who sponsors the cause. Facebook is known for being very careful with users’ privacy. I feel as a user of Facebook this is one of the best features, but for those companies who think solicitation will work on Facebook, it will not.
I do hope more organizations use the social network, Facebook for publicity, but I think the trick is knowing the best way to use to program and know its not the miracle answer for charities seeking attention.
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