Fundraising on Facebook (Idealware)
Idealware continues their good work in support of the nonprofit technology sector with this video: How do I fundraise on Facebook?
They mention What Gives and Facebook Causes as two tools where causes have seen success. However, they also rightly assert that it’s a difficult place to raise funds, and that not many organizations have seen success overall.
“Friend to Friend Fundraising” is mentioned as an exception to the rule that the primary thing you should be doing on Facebook (right now) is engaging with your community and strengthening relationships. There are scads of tools supporting this style of fundraising, but I think it’s only one of many potential models of fundraising that we’ll find DO work on Facebook and other social networks. We need more experimentation, and risk taking, to discover them.
I’d like to look into the old archives of Progressive Exchange and see how people were talking about email back in 1995 – 2000. Do you think there was a similar reluctance to ask for money? Was there a similar lack of success until people discovered the best practices we now consider common sense?