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Charities Not Donating To Social Media Giving

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In my prior career lifetime, I worked as a database administrator for several organizations.  With the world of philanthropy, nothing is more crucial to your campaign than the interpersonal relationship between your development staff and donor.  Mistakes in the acknowledgment letter or negligent communication can kill the lifeline of small charitables.  

The explosion of social media would seem to benefit philanthropic organizations that have limited resources to solicit and engage new donors.  According to this article in today’s New York Times, the market has several intermediaries such as Network for Good, Crowdrise, and Causes on Facebook.  They have driven traffic to sites, cut expenses with cloud services, and given visibility to a plethora of missions.

This piece also mentions the downsides of these intermediary websites.  One of them is cost.  Network for Good charges a fee for opportunities to donate through their e-commerce system.  I’ll admit that fees have discouraged me from giving through these portals in the past.  The fees may prove even more discouraging to those with little understanding of the industry or purchasing power. Secondly, fundraising executives worry whether social nonprofit hubs are in line with the business model or mission of the organizations on their service ledger.  Once these sentiments arise, then the gift’s value has been undermined in the eyes of a donor.

Social nonprofit hubs, of course, argue that the fee covers several necessary objectives for participating organizations.  “Saying the people can donate on an organization’s Web site misses the fact that nonprofits have to advertise to get people there, do marketing in various places to convince them to donate, cover credit card fees and pay for technology associated with their Web site and payment processing,” said Matthew Mahan, a representative of Causes.  Charity Navigator is an excellent website that holds data on several leading philanthropies.  Guidestar is another hub with a wealth of information along with Form 990 reports that can help any corporate or individual donor.

I look at both sides and think that you must go with your gut.   Charitable giving relies on sentiment, but needs business involvement to survive. It is a cold, hard fact.  If you have a relationship with an organization, then clearly you do not need to solicit through a social network hub.  I believe that unsolicited donations through these hubs are necessary for exposure. Organizations need it for operating expenses. It also builds credibility for ecommerce ventures.

Donors with a short giving history, however, should not be a dependent sector of your profile.  Their contributions are seldom consistent.  The emotional involvement also may come from a different, personal source that does not fit the organizational mission.  Your individual base that exemplifies charity on several channels is the building block.  They deserve your gifts of fundraising and community development.  Socialize with them this holiday season.


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