Thanks for joining in, Ehon! I definitely think the kind of cause (the sector, the mission, the community, etc.) influences everything. I wouldn’t say that it means it is “either/or” but that it is still a mix of both – the kind of cause determining which platforms and which opportunities are most appropriate.

Tweet:
http://twitter.com/rachelbeer/statuses/14696322810

Post:
http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2010/05/how_to_raise_mo.html

Thanks for commenting, Beth! I completely agree – that’s why the four steps I recommend include doing both in a balanced way. It doesn’t make sense to use up your capacity just finding places to list your organization; but you can pay attention to where your community is going online and be sure to your organization listed there; and you don’t want to just list your organization and hope people will find ways to support you but instead should create a place on your website and regular storytelling to help those “free agents” get started.

The chicken or the egg metaphor is to point out that we can’t really say which was first, or at least at this point it doesn’t matter, because we have and need both.

You need to balance organizational strategy with reaching and embracing “free agent fundraisers” — that’s the name of the chapter in The Networked Nonprofit about this very issue.

Thanks, Stacey – as always you’ve shared your passion and dedication in your response and are always true to the mission.

I definitely agree with you about selecting places online to list your organization that match the values and purpose you’re working towards – and not just selling yourself everywhere you possibly can. This is why in my steps above I said to only take the time to list your organization on the networks or platforms your community was already using/gathering (so they had the opportunity/access to send funds your way). But I think the framing of “fundraise for us in your own way because you want to be part of this” vs “fundraise for us because we need the money” is something that only the organization can help provide to the participants and community members and that framing is not just a one-time thing.

I’d love to hear if you have had experience with people finding your Causes or other platform listing and creating a fundraising effort that benefits you – how they did it, how you found them, how you connected/supported them.

Thanks again for sharing here – I really appreciate it!

I think, personally, I’ve opted out of the egg, too. It took some learning, and I used to try diligently to keep us on most platforms. Every time I saw a new one arise, I’d wince, because I’d have to reformat our data to comply with the new platform.

Now, though, almost universally, I opt out of genericizing fundraising platforms. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like I’m commoditizing the great work of our partner each time I add her to one of these platforms. I feel like she becomes one of a million instead of one in a million. They almost ubiquitously charge a fee and, with rare exception, rely on the organization to drive traffic to a particular project or page.

If I’m going to have to do the marketing, and pay a fee, I’d rather use the time to build a platform of my own. Maybe it’s as simple as a Chipin or Paypal widget on a WordPress page, but it’s an experience I can customize fully and one that isn’t surrounded by thousands of other opportunities – that may not frame our work in the way we’d prefer. So often the photography or storytelling by many nonprofits & projects on these sites is so need-based, and ours tries to be potential-based – I don’t want there to be any confusion of our message by entering her in an online catalog of global “needs.” Ick.

Our economic system is rooted in this propensity to scale & create convenience & supposed “economies of scale”. Bigger=Better, right? and many platforms are built on this notion. I wholeheartedly believe that there are many situations in which boutique or custom solutions for a particular project or community are radically more effective.

I hope we’re careful not to build core platforms that effectively create McDonald’s, Wendy’s & Burger King flavors of causes online to make it “easy” for our users and “efficient” for our organizations. Double Ick.

Maybe, just maybe, change is about love & art. And efficiency & ease just aren’t the right metrics.

Thanks, Christine!

I like the chicken and egg debate much better for framing and discussing than the catch-22; not because I don’t think it is fitting, but because I think the catch-22 idea can totally disempower people from figuring out how to make something work.

I definitely agree with you that a free agent fundraiser (or, I think I’d recommend a free agent supporter, so it’s fundraising and everything else) page is a great way to start and bring both the chickens and the eggs together in one basket! (see what I did there, yeah…)

Looking forward to more comments and hopefully some experiences/stories here.