Tropical storm Ondoy (international code name: Ketsana) wreaked havoc on the Philippines last week that reverberated beyond its shores. Every Filipino, whether at home or abroad, had someone to worry about. Though tragic, it was an authentic national experience that brought together Filipnos from across the globe and revived the spirit of ‘bayanihan’ — that Filipino concept for a community coming together to perform a heroic act. ‘Bayan’ means country or town, ‘bayani’, hero. This collective heroism tumbled like a flood — but instead of a deluge of destruction, a torrent of selfless deeds engulfed the land . The spirit of bayanihan literally saved physical bodies from raging waters and lifted hearts drenched and weighed down by suffering borne of natural catastrophe and dereliction of duty.
What I felt
As someone living abroad, I felt the waves of despair pass through me even after having sent a modest donation to the Philippine National Red Cross. Like many other friends who couldn’t help directly with relief efforts on the ground, I felt that the money I sent was not enough. But inspired by tales of bayanihan, I decided to focus on what I could do from where I was, and what I could do good. If providing immediate relief to the displaced and homeless is something I can’t accomplish on a larger scale by myself, I can at least try to help with the rehabilitation efforts to come. Help is needed right at this very moment, but even more will be needed when the flood subsides and the mud is lifted from our streets and houses.
What you and I can do
If microblogging via Facebook and Twitter enhanced the collection, reporting, sharing and coordinate of crucial information for rescue and relief operation; if you were amazed by how bayanihan in combination with the social web empowered you to become an information and services hub — I invite you to try out what you and your network can accomplish wtih ‘micro-philanthropy’.
Each one of those FB and Twitter users who broadcasted relevant information, relayed latest news, expressed sympathy for the victims or admiration for the bayanihan spirit is a potential donor and/or a potential fund-raiser. You may it call by another name, but the principle is the same: the impact of small contributions and initiatives can be increased if you and your network leverage the power of the social web in your efforts for fund-raising. You’re no stranger to this: you’ve experienced how small selfless deeds when aggregated produce results with more far-reaching impact. What social media critique Stowe Boyd says of himself is true for everyone: “I am made greater by the sum of my connections, and so are my connections.” By utilising online and social media tools for fund-raising, we can help support organisations with their relief and rehabilitation efforts by not just being givers, but also effective fund-raisers. We can be present right where these potential donors are. We can help decentralise and distribute fund-raising efforts. Think of a hub-and-spokes model where supporters of non-profit organisations become indepenent fund-raisers (hubs) with their own smaller networks (spokes).
Online fund-raising tools and services
I’ve made an overview of some of the most popular online advocacy and fund-raising tools and services that you can download. These tools and services can support anyone’s relief and rehabilitation efforts for the victims of the calamities that hit Southeast Asia last week caused by tropical storm Ondoy (Ketsana) in the Philippines and Vietnam, and the earthquakes and tsunamis in Samoa and Indonesia.
In the process of wanting to create a clearer strategy and plan for the fund-raising efforts ‘Pinay sa Holland’ (a women’s group of which I am a member of) will be conducting, I started researching on the best tools to use. It turns out there are numerous options out there that can really improve fund-raising activities or any other cause. For those who haven’t had any real direct experience with fund-raising (like me), information can be a bit overwhelming at the beginning. To save you some time for research, and hopefully make you curious and excited about taking up the challenge, I decided to compile my research findings and share it with you.
For my next post, I’ll write about some general and basic steps for fund-raising, focusing primarily on what I think would best apply to my organisation. This is the first time I’ll be working directly on fund-raising (and incorporating social media strategy) so if you have any suggestions on how to approach it, I’ll appreciate it very much. In the meantime, here’s a few notes on the fund-raising tools overview (format: excel):
- This is meant as a starting guide only for you as an individual or non-profit organisation who is in search for immediate answers to general questions you may have when considering online tools for fund-rasing efforts. You should research more detailed information from the product/service websites.
- I’ve copied and pasted most of the text descriptions from the websites themselves and modified where needed.
- The information I gathered focuses primarily on the fund-raising aspect of a certain tool or service.
- This list is by no means complete. I’ve limited the choices to the ones that I think are most widely-used based on articles and blogs I subscribe to. I prioritised global fund-raising platforms and included a few US and UK-specific platforms. Please add in the comments section other tools or services that you want to share with other readers.
Good luck to us!
Summary of online tools/services for fund-raising
| Category | Platform (for donation) |
| Advocacy (constituent-building tools, issues/causes platform) + Action/Fund-raising + relationship-building (sustained supporter engagement) | Global online donation platform |
| Tool / Service | |
| Ammado – http://www.ammado.com | |
| Global Giving – http://www.globalgiving.com | |
| Category | Platform (for donation) |
| Advocacy (constituent-building tools, issues/causes platform) + Action/Fund-raising + relationship-building (sustained supporter engagement) | US only donation platform |
| Tool / Service | |
| Facebook causes – http://apps.facebook.com/causes/help?m=3738908c
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| Category | Platform (for donation) |
| Fund-raising | US only donation platform |
| Tool / Service | |
| First Giving – http://www.firstgiving.com/ | |
| Category | Platform (for donation) |
| Fund-raising | Global online donation platform |
| Tool / Service | |
| ChipIn – http://www.chipin.com/overview
To optimise, use it within the Sprout Builder platform (http://sproutinc.com/about/): |
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| Category | Platform (for donation) |
| Fund-raising | US only project funding platform |
| Tool / Service | |
| Kickstarter – http://www.kickstarter.com/learn-more | |
| Category | Platform (for donation) |
| Fund-raising | UK only donation platform |
| Tool / Service | |
| Just Giving – http://www.justgiving.com/ | |
| Category | Platform (for donation) |
| Fund-raising | Global ‘appreciation’ giving platform |
| Tool / Service | |
| Twollars – http://twollars.com/ | |
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