Posted on August 23, 2007

Blogs, Social-Networking Sites Link Youth to Philanthropy

Young donors and volunteers, snubbing traditional appeals from nonprofit organizations, are satisfying their philanthropic urges on the Internet, turning to blogs and social-networking sites to spread the word about their favorite causes, the Wall Street Journal reports.

While the donors are spreading the word, an increasing number of charities — from start-ups to long-established organizations — are launching profiles on Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, hoping that young people will link to their pages. Some are also encouraging bloggers to mention the causes on their sites, which has helped raise thousands of dollars in small donations.

In May, Project Agape, a social-action start-up, launched a new program on Facebook called "Causes," in which users create online communities to advocate for issues, charities, and political candidates. Since then, the program has attracted more than 2.5 million users and raised approximately $300,000 for the organizations and candidates. In late 2006, MySpace launched its Impact Awards in which users vote to recognize individuals and nonprofits that have successfully used the site to make a difference. Change.org enables visitors to join "virtual foundations" of peers committed to specific politicians or causes, such as fighting AIDS in Africa and fundraise for them. And other young philanthropists have turned to viral fundraising — sending appeals to their friends and family that are then forwarded to others — to maximize the number of small donations.

While established charities have long had programs targeted to young donors and employed peer-to-peer fundraising, many of them either tend to target wealthier donors or focus on occasional events rather than ongoing operations. Some charities are grappling with how to take advantage of social-networking sites. For instance, the Salvation Army has had a MySpace profile for Red Kettle since last year, but it only has eighty "friends" who have linked to it. By contrast, Kiva has approximately seven thousand friends linked to its profile.

To be successful on the sites, however, requires charities to update content and communicate with members, which can tax an already stretched staff. To keep its online postings up-to-date, DoSomething hired an Ohio University college student. "We're trying to use social networking as much as possible," says Aria Finger, 24, DoSomething's business development director. "We want to reach young people where they already are."