How much can we give and why?
Sylwia Korsak | 30 March 2010 | Blogs
Looking at reactions to Haiti crisis and recent Twestival events I suspect we can give more than we think we can – but what motivates us to do so?
There is an interesting article on the Third Sector today, in which Cathy Pharoah examines Haiti effect and amount of money raised during the crisis: “The total of £91m raised to date by the DEC is equal to about a tenth of all giving to international causes in a normal year. If this amount can be raised in a matter of weeks, perhaps we should be rethinking our assumptions about the public’s capacity to give.”
This statement made me realise that I have just recently experienced something similar. Last week Thursday marked the day of series of fundraising events called Twestival happening all around the world to raise funds for Concern Worldwide. I volunteered to organise Oxford Twestival for the third time and for the third time I was pleasantly surprised how generous Oxford community was – this time we have raised £1,000 during the event which hosted about 100 people, had no budget whatsoever and took about 100 hours to organise (in about 4 weeks, shared by four organisers)!
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I am convinced we are happy to give, however I also think that we tend to give in exchange for various experiences as well as good feeling of helping . As a social media consultant I am still learning mechanisms of fundraising but from what I can see so far donors like to feel good about themselves and have something in exchange. The beauty of Twestival is the fact that you get to meet people you already know from on-line communities, like Twitter; you get to spend an evening listening to good music and go home with few good business cards, but most of all great feeling of being an active player in making the change happen.
Am I right? What are the factors of giving? Can we give more than we think we can?
Let me now what you think, and if you attended it – do let me know what you think of Twestival!
More on Twestival
- Over 150 cities to host Twestival local events (23 March 2011)
- Social media unconference – new form of events for nonprofits (9 November 2010)
- Twestival ends after five years (31 January 2014)
About Sylwia Korsak
Community Champion at Off the Record (Bristol) - a mental health social movement by and for young people in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Social media advisor, blogger and trainee cyber wellness counsellor.