Jan 07, 2010 – How can web 2.0, 'peer-to-peer', or 'friend-to-friend' fundraising benefit your charity or nonprofit?  With so many options now available, which one do you choose?  Do you simply put your cause on facebook, or set up a webpage stating your cause and goals then email everybody and hope for donations to roll in?  What do you do a week later if you haven't gotten any response?  How do you get donors interested and keep them involved?  "Video is one of the most powerful tools on the internet and has the potential to be one of the most successful platforms to promote the need for donations to a cause. Even so, people are still struggling to find the best use of video sharing for raising money." [http://www.streamthatcause.com/buzz]

The modern concept of a friend-to-friend approach using web 2.0 fundraising is appealing because of its relative ease and far-reaching potential.  Donors anywhere on the globe can be exposed to your nonprofit's cause because of the world-wide web.  Simply asking people to donate is highly effective, yet most of us feel more comfortable sending a solicitation email than cold-calling people asking for money.  According to an article in the NonProfit Times, "Those surveyed who said they planned to give said emails or enewsletters (27 percent) and direct mail (28 percent) also influenced the decisions, the first time the two channels have been almost equal.  Peer-to-peer fundraising is still making its mark – 23 percent said an email from a friend or family member encouraged them to support a fundraising effort." [http://www.nptimes.com/instantfund/09Nov/IF-091201-1.html].  By combining email with social networking platforms such as facebook and twitter, the requirement to ask face-to-face and in real-time is diminished.  In the comfort of their own computer desk, what will motivate them to give? If you aren't looking your potential donors right in the eye, how do you maximize your opportunity for them to commit in this age of web 2.0 fundraising?

With the right on-line 2.0 fundraising tools nonprofits and charities can engage their supporters in ways that were not possible in the recent past.  It is a known fact that a story well-told motivates people to give.  Pitching your nonprofit's cause via video allows potential donors to put a human face on your cause and enables information and emotion to be passed to the viewer.  Because donors like to have closer ties with those that they are supporting and want to see results --  the difference their donations are making, video-sharing is an effective tool to accomplish this by keeping donors updated and informed about a cause's progress.  This allows donors to feel that they are partners in the nonprofit's work that you are asking them to support.  It doesn't matter if they are donating to a large charity or to help their niece's cheerleading group go to camp, supporters like to see the smiles their donation helped put on those real faces.  Since feedback is important, showing gratitude to the donors with acknowledgments, or even a special 'Thank You' video is also a nice finishing touch.  The actual making of the video can be as simple or as sophisticated as the cause requires or is able.  Schools and churches may find that the production of the video may be leveraged into a class or group project that brings people together, fostering community and additional sense of purpose. It is a plus if the video-sharing platform allows multiple video uploads and archiving to better keep supporters engaged.


As in real life, the key to a successful web 2.0 fundraiser is to conduct an event or a campaign with a timed duration.  Having a defined beginning and end to your campaign creates a sense of urgency that open-ended donation sites lack in their appeals. According to a study by techsoup.org [http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/funding/page6917.cfm] average donation amounts were higher in deadline-driven appeals than in open-ended campaigns.

With that said, where does one start?  It is important to know that email solicitation and social networking; deadline-driven campaigns; or video-sharing alone, will not be as effective as a multi-channel web 2.0 approach which integrates all features as a means to facilitate fundraising.  As of this writing, only one fundraising website -- www.streamthatcause.com,  [http://www.streamthatcause.com/]   – integrates video-sharing and social networking, a deadline-driven campaign function, as well as blogging in a unified platform. These are tools that when effectively yielded by determined users will not only allow your charity or nonprofit to save lots of time and money, but will provide a unified base to use your blog to engage supporters in conversations about the challenges you are facing, build relationships with your base, tell your story, and show your gratitude, all with one tool from the comfort of wherever you are.  When you enable your potential donors to actually see what you do, or are planning to do, through the use of video, they get a true sense of your mission and why it is so important.  They feel that they are included and will want to become involved.  Having everything in one place creates the sense of community that people are coming to expect in this new era of web 2.0 fundraising, social networking and sharing.  Additionally, utilizing a unified video-sharing/social networking/deadline-driven 2.0 fundraising campaign as an adjunct fundraiser to a primary fundraiser is also a good idea. Having a walk-a-thon? Why not video it and share it with others via the internet to reach even more supporters unable to participate locally and raise even more money and awareness?  According to the same article which appeared in the NonProfit Times,  "Respondents also gave at events (38 percent), used the Internet to sponsor a friend or family member in a run, walk or ride (17 percent), and responded to a telefundraising call (16 percent), in addition to online giving. “What the online consumer is saying is, ‘I’ll engage with you in a variety of ways, but it has to be easy.’"

"The survey asked more than 5,000 respondents about their giving plans this holiday season. When asked how often respondents access the Internet, 74 percent said several times a day, 17 percent said once a day, 7 percent said several times a week, 1 percent said once a week and 1 percent said several times a month. Other answer options for amount of online time, including logging on once a month, less than once a month and not going online at all, did not receive any responses."

So sell your best assets: yourselves and your cause's story with web 2.0 fundraising via video sharing and social networking on the internet -- and see how you can engage your supporters more meaningfully and effectively than ever before.

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John F. Maeder is the former assistant director of the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, a 501 c (3) located in Bristol, Va.-Tn. that promotes the musical and cultural heritage of the Southern Appalachian region.