My Facebook Birthday Cause: Thank You (and Some Unsolicited Feedback To Causes)

Before I go further, I have thank everyone for the early birthday present - a donation to the Sharing Foundation.   In less than 24 hours, I've raised $806 to help children in Cambodia using a new feature in Facebook Causes. 

January 11th is my 52nd birthday and even though I'm an official member of AARP, I couldn't wait for my birthday this year.  Why?   Every year I do a fundraising campaign using social media.  Last year, when I turned 51, I posted a challenge on my blog - could I get 51 people to donate $10 to the Sharing Foundation?  And, yes they did!   For my 50th birthday, I held a 50th Birthday Card Flickr Photo Remix Party

Well, a few weeks ago, I read a blog post by Amy Sample Ward about Birthday Causes,  This new feature lets individuals on Facebook create a birthday fundraising campaign as part of a Cause.  It's easy to set up.  It lets you ask your friends for donations instead of presents and makes it easy to thank them. 

After donating $26 to FreeGeek to honor Amy's 26th birthday, I went poking around Causes to see if I could install the application.  The folks at Causes are controlling the installation.  This is a good way to avoid application fatique and a great way to build interest in the application.  As soon as I read and contributed to Amy's campaign, I knew I wanted to set up my own campaign for the Sharing Foundation.

Not two minutes had passed after I set up my birthday campaign and added it to my profile, I got pinged from Facebook friends asking how they could install it.   The short answer:  you have to wait until two weeks before your birthday and you most likely receive the email from Causes if you have installed the application.

Yesterday, two weeks before my birthday, I got this email.

Happy (Almost) Birthday!

Thanks to Facebook, in two weeks all of your friends will see that it's your birthday. Instead of just writing on your wall, or giving you something you don't need, what if they had a chance to help a cause you believe in? Whether you want to raise money for clean water in Ethiopia, vaccinations for children in Haiti, or a safe home for a puppy in Mississipi, with a Birthday Cause your friends can give in honor of your special day.

The email directed me to a set up page where I selected a Cause from the too many I've installed on my profile There was also a recommendation from Causes which was for CharityWater.   There was link to the Charity for more information, but it made wonder how they are selecting these recommendations.  It would be good to spread the love.

The set up page was easy to set up, but you are only given a limited number of options for the fundraising pitch.  You can ask 5, 10, or 20 friends for as many dollars as you are in years.   So, in my case, the campaign goal was:

• 5 friends donate $52 = $255
• 10 friends donate $52 = $510
• 20 friends donate $52 = $1,020

I've never lied about my age (okay, once when I was senior in high school), but I was tempted to say I was younger because the trend is with micro gifts, smaller gifts.   $52 isn't a huge amount, but it is more than the cost of a latte.  But the overall goal would have been smaller (I'm guessing).   So,  I added some messaging that any amount would be appreciated.   There wasn't enough flexibility in the suggested donation amount or campaign goal or number of donors.

I opted for a 20 friends campaign, the largest number.  But it set up my goal as 18 donors for $969.  Probably some glitch. 

Despite some drawbacks with the interaction design - please let me have more flexibility in setting up my campaign parameters - amount, number of donors, etc., I think this is application might just be a winner:

• It meshes with Facebook culture

Celebrating Birthdays is definitely part of Facebook culture.  When you log into your Facebook account, you can see which of your friends is celebrating a birthday.   I remember when I was first joined Facebook in 2007 how surprised  I was the first time friends left birthday messages on my wall.  There are many ways to send virtual presents, greeting cards, and even applications that make sure you won't forget a friends special day.

• It uses the status line and newsfeed for viral marketing

The application helps you promote your campaign.  You can send a message to all your friends immediately which I selected and I also checked the option to send the reminder to everyone two days before my birthday.  You can also send out invitations to the Cause (up to 60 per day).    The application also automatically updates your status with messages and link to your birthday Cause.  As friends make a donation, it automically appears in your profile newsfeed.

• It matches real world philanthropic behavior

Asking for donations in lieu of birthday gifts is not new.  I've been doing this for years.  Kids being brought up today are also learning about the importance of giving and philanthropy.  I'm sure I'm not the only parent who has hosted or attended a kids birthday party where donations were requested instead of gifts.

• It facilitates free agent fundraising

In a round up of 2009 social media predictions,  expert Charlene Li predicted that Obama-maniacs will spawn a new age of activism.  "The millions of online-activated volunteers in the Obama campaign will find the drudgery of governing unappealing and abandon Obama's citizen government movement.  Looking for new challenges, they will champion causes ranging from gay marriage to local school improvements.  Non-profits will recognize the potential of bringing on these virtual community organizations, especially their ability to raise in tiny increments in a down economy.   So, despite a recession, charitable giving will have new numerous new -- albeit smaller sources of contributions."

On that latter point, social media savvy nonprofits will be thinking of strategies and ways to leverage this free agent fundraising - and it gets back to relationship building.   The role of having an active individual presence on behalf of the organization on a social networking site will be important.   

I asked Danielle Brigida for her thoughts about the application:

So far, the birthday feature on causes has impressed me the most. I wonder if they got the idea from you last year! It is really sweet on a number of levels and if we see people really using it I could probably convince people here to get the birthday person a card and little gift to thank them for their thoughtfulness. I think it's a great way to support a cause and a friend all in one!  I recently asked our supporters on Twitter if they'd prefer a personal or organizational blog, but nearly everyone preferred personal blogs. Our supporters want a personality included and a relationship.

I promoted this campaign mostly through Facebook friends, but also mentioned it on Twitter.  Some of my Facebook friends let me know that budgets were tight this year and couldn't participate with a cash donation.  Robert Tolmach from Changing the Present  emailed me this screenshot and concerns about credit card security.  (He'd probably prefer to send me a birthday card from Changing the Present, I suspect)

Friends that aren't using Facebook asked if there was another way to donate.  Ah, I needed a multi-channel birthday campaign ...  In addition to sending a birthday card, the Sharing Foundation has just launched its campaign for college student sponsorships over at Global Giving.

And, I've also set up Twitter Micro Campaign using TipJoy and will ask folks for $5.20 to support the Sharing Foundation.  That's the cost of one school uniform and will try to get 100 kids covered.

I've also set up a way for those want to raise money for their favorite cause - the Beth 5.2 Flickr Photo Birthday Card Remix Contest. Join the group, remix a photo of me, add the name of your favorite charity, and I'll donate $52 to the winner's charity. More on this later, my kids just made a wonderful video to promote this.

How will you celebrate your birthday this year?

Comments

[marguerite manteau-rao]

Beth,

First, thanks for stopping by La Marguerite and for your comment:
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/beware-of-micro-donors-fatigue/

I just had one thought in response to this post. As a potential donor, another incentive would be for me to connect with a face behind all those charities; I don't do well with logos . . . One of the main reasons behind the success of the Obama campaign is Obama himself. And one of the main liabilities of global warming is the fact that it does not have a human face.

[Beth Kanter]

Good point.You know, I've been blogging about the Sharing Foundation and telling my personal story about why I care so much - that I forget that there are new people reading this blog who haven't heard me talk or read the hundreds of older posts about the Sharing Foundation.

Good reminder to me that there are always new people coming into your network.

[marguerite manteau-rao]

:)

[Kivi Leroux Miller]

Thanks for sharing, as you always do so well, Beth! I'm celebrating the big 4-0 on March 31 and am thinking about all the different ways to go about it.

[Kevin Ball]

Hi Beth,

I'm glad that you've had a good experience with the Birthday Cause feature, and thank you so much for the constructive criticism. There was definitely a glitch in the amount selection page, which we have since fixed.

Improving the ability to specify the amount of your target is definitely on our list of things to experiment with. We like the symbolism of having the amount be your age, and think that it adds some extra meaning to the request, but there is definitely a concern about making the ask reasonable and doable.

Good luck on the rest of your fundraising, and I hope to see further blog posts about what worked well and what needs improvement.

Kevin Ball
Causes

[Beth Kanter]

Kevin,

Glad you found the feedback useful - maybe even worth $10 donation to my cause? ;-)

I like the symbolism of asking for dollars for your age, which is fine if you're 20. The application shouldn't make all the decisions for us - let us add a number we want.

I've also written a follow up post - suggested some other ways to improve the application. Geez, I think you should get everyone in the office to kick in ten bucks to my cause! :- )