Howard Lake comments on cyber-begging in Internet magazine
Howard Lake | 27 May 2003 | News
UK Fundraising’s Howard Lake was asked by Internet magazine about the phenomenon of online begging.
Some entrepreneurial individuals have beaten charities to it in using the Internet to appeal for funds for themselves. UK Fundraising has featured some of the more successful or outrageous examples from time to time.
The phenomenon is covered in June 2003’s issue of Internet magazine, and author Kim Gilmour asked for UK Fundraising’s views. She writes: “Giving money to beggars requires a “great leap of faith”, says Howard Lake, publisher of UK Fundraising (www.fundraising.co.uk), an online resource for charity fundraisers. “Although people are the end beneficiaries of both begging and fundraising, with fundraising by organisations there’s an element of professional oversight as to how donations are collected and spent,” says Lake. “Where money is concerned, this professionalism should inspire trust in donors.”
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“Most begging sites, he adds, appear to be unsuccessful because of their passive approach. “There’s no attempt to cultivate donors, communicate with them and seek repeated or regular gifts from those that want to help.”
“Instead, he thinks online beggars should seek help from charities or government agencies. “But then, breast enlargement is never likely to become a lawfully charitable objective,” Lake points out.”
Do the sites work? According to Internet magazine, Brooklyn-based Karyn Bosnak raised $20,000 online to pay off her debts. Her book on the experience is due for publication in September 2003. On the other hand ‘Ernie Davis’ (not his real name) in Scotland has raised just £9 from two donors at his sendapound.co.uk site.
The original Sendmeadollar.com site now includes a list and reviews of over 150 similar online begging sites.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.