Causes+Birthday’s = It Works

I’m sure a lot of you already know about Causes. If not you should. I used Birthday’s to raise some money for the American Cancer Society this year. My friend and rockstar Beth Kanter used it to raise over 5k for her cause. But you don’t have to have 2,000+ friends to make it work.

I know a lot of people have talked about the backlash against people asking people money for their Birthday’s but I personally think it’s amazing. Causes also has made it easy as possible to do. With timed updates, reminders and the ability to share with the click of a button. Check out the stats below….

The last few months have also highlighted the success of Causes Birthday Wishes, accounting for a third of all donations in the past 6 months.  As Facebook users know, participation in Birthday Wishes has risen enormously over the last year.  In 2009, Beth Kanter created a Birthday Wish for the Sharing Foundation and raised $3,600.  Just a few weeks ago, Beth created another Birthday Wish for the same organization and saw donations rise almost 40% to over $5,000.  This is the kind of peer-to-peer giving that Causes was built for and is excited to see take off. Birthday Wishes tap into the potential of every cause member, empowering them to be fundraisers (many for the first time) as well as identifying new donors who nonprofits would not have discovered otherwise.

Social Media Fundraising in Online Social Networks

This is the presentation I did for 2010 around Fundraising in Online Social Networks. Covers everything from Social Networking to Facebook Causes to the Frozen Pea Fund and takes a look at ROI and tech channels for Non Profits to leverage in their efforts.

The presentation also talks about the lightscamerahlep.org “Power of Ten” Campaign.

Innovating Social Change – LIVE on 501derful.org

Organizations focusing on today’s social innovations range from a handful experienced players (Root Cause, Ashoka, Standford Social Innovation Review) to a growing presences of regional nonprofits and/or social enterprises addressing fundamental community problems.

With a newly established federal agenda to stimulate and nurture social innovation in this country, how will Sonal Shah, head of the White House Office of Social Innovation create a national agenda sparked by efforts on the ground that can spread across the country and line up with other successful global initiatives such as the United Kingdom’s Office of the Third Sector and Canada’s growing Centers for Social Innovation?

Anne DeHaro, Public Affairs Director and host of Clear Channel Radio, will be facilitate a discussion and field questions from an online audience as she interview panelists Andrew Wolk, CEO of Rootcause (www.rootcause.org), Elizabeth Darling, CEO of OneStar Foundation (www.onestarfoundation.org), & Stacy Caldwell, Executive Director of Dallas Social Venture Partners (www.dsvp.org).

How is Giving in Austin changing? Do we still suck?

The purpose of this survey is to find out how giving to charitable organizations in the Austin area has changed over the past few years and to examine factors influencing giving.

Please consider taking 10-15 minutes of your time to respond. As a special thanks, your participation automatically enrolls you in a raffle for a $25 Polo/Ralph Lauren gift certificate. To begin the web survey that has been designed specifically for you, please click the link below. Your response will be kept confidential.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=TC6IMLAPmaunlXS46qXdsA_3d_3d

About the 2009 I Live Here, I Give Here Study
The content of this survey was developed by staff at the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the University of Texas at Austin, led by Dr. Peter Frumkin and Dr. Sarah Jane Rehnborg with the assistance of research assistant Rachel Veron Douglas.  As such, this study is informed by more than 50 years of combined experience in the fields of philanthropy, volunteerism, and civil society.

This survey is part of a larger study designed to assess specific aspects of charitable giving in the Austin community, including how individuals make charitable decisions, how the I Live Here, I Give Here campaign has influenced these decisions, and how changes in giving culture have affected Austin nonprofits. Individual surveys are collectively tabulated, and a summary report will be presented to I Live Here, I Give Here.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Dr. Sarah Jane Rehnborg
Rachel Veron Douglas

RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service
The University of Texas at Austin