To me, the recent New York Times article about online “cause” services (“Social Networks Meant for Social Good, but at a Price”) was spot on. Do these sites ever end up generating any significant amount of funding for the organization they represent? To me, that remains to be seen. To see the whole article, browse to…
What’s your own experience? Have these “cause” services generated any income for your own ministry or mission yet? Click “Comment” below to give your own testimony. Thanks in advance for any sharing you can do, anonymously or otherwise. (And thanks to Lissa for unearthing this article from her working desk in Uganda.)
On the whole, I have been disappointed with the online giving response from facebook causes.
We have had a presence there for well over two years, and have been able to gather about 700 followers to our page, but online giving remains anemic at best.
The majority of our donations still come from one-on-one contacts, local churches, and grants from organizations like I.D.E.S.
I’d be interested to hear of other’s experiences on Facebook in particular.
I don’t think Facebook Causes are at all about donations but abut raising awareness. Once people have seen or know about or have joined a cause because they agree with the sentiments expressed or signed up for email news subscriptions, they are then more likely to give something when confronted with the cause elsewhere in the marketplace. Facebook and Twitter have exponential news-sharing capacity.