Facebook lets users raise funds online
Howard Lake | 25 June 2007 | News
Social networking site du jour Facebook has introduced a facility to let its millions of users promote their favourite charity on their profile page, donate online, and encourage their friends by email to donate or promote the charity. At present only US nonprofits are listed, but the option to support UK charities won’t be far behind.
Facebook users have been using the ‘social utility’ site for some time to promote charities and fundraising activities, forming themselves into online groups. The ‘Causes’ application, one of a range that Facebook’s 25 million users can choose to add for free, takes that a stage further by allowing users to support any 501(c)(3) organisation listed by nonprofit financial information service GuideStar.
Facebook must now rank as a key platform for US fundraisers to include in their online fundraising strategy. In February 2007 it was the sixth most visited site in the USA and 18th most visited site in the world.
The Causes application (or ‘app’) of course includes a social element to giving or supporting a charity: users can keep track of how much they have donated, how much their friends have donated, and how many ‘members’ they have recruited. It is in effect, member get member/donor get donor fundraising. On top of that you get electronic plaqueing, or donor recognition every time you sign up to a cause: your name and photo is included in the list of supporters on that nonprofit’s page.
Donations are processed by San Francisco-based nonprofit Justgive.org, not to be confused with the UK-based online donations service Justgiving.com, whose US operation is called Firstgiving.com. It’s creators explain that for a $100 donation, $95.50 goes to the nonprofit, $3 goes to Justgive.org, and $1.50 goes to Project Agape, the Berkeley, California-based organisation that built the app.
Its co-founders Sean Parker and Joe Green say that they are aiming for “equal opportunity activism.” By this they mean “trying to level the playing field by empowering individuals to change the world… We’re democratizing activism by empowering activists with an arsenal of tools for users of Facebook who want to leverage their network on Facebook to effect positive change.”
They seem a little surprised that it has taken so long for social network sites to develop an application like causes. “Leveraging real world social networks is an important part of activism, fundraising, and political campaigning”, say the founders on the app’s page. “Given all this, it’s a bit surprising that online social networks haven’t been more aggressively leveraged until now.”
Paulette Maehara, president of the US Association of Fundraising Professionals, told her members recently: “Because of the social networking aspect of Facebook, charities and fundraisers don’t have to try to reach everyone on the site, but just a few people. By identifying and cultivating champions, and having them post information and links on their profile pages, organizations can reach hundreds and thousands of people very quickly.
“But it’s a process and a technology that many fundraisers will need to learn and get familiar with quickly.”
A UK version of the app is likely. Organisations that might provide the registered charity information and online donation services include Guidestar UK, Charities Aid Foundation, Justgiving and Bmycharity.
Nevertheless, UK charities with 501(c)3 operations in the US can benefit now. For example, donations to Comic Relief can be made via Facebook to its US arm, Charity Projects Entertainment Fund.
Related posts
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.