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Friday Jan 19, 2007
"Consumer Philanthropy" - are we nearly there yet?
Some days it's so easy to feel enthused, excited and hugely passionate about the developments that are taking place in the world of social networking, philanthropy and non-profits.
Every now and then, however, I do sometimes wonder if we're all getting carried away with all things 2.0 – maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be. For charities in particular, there are obvious concerns about how much to invest in technologies that aren't completely bedded in and part of the furniture (and Steve Bridger's nfp 2.0 blog gives some pointers on how to work round them). Will the trailblazing non-profits reap the rewards and usher in a new utopian world, where individuals across the globe are engaged, informed and inspired to take action? Or will these new technologies stay within the corporate sector, things that only companies with balls and money can use to good effect? (OK I know in all likelihood it won't be either of these extremes, but bear with me I'm trying to be dramatic).
On days like today when I feel a tad sceptical, articles like this one by Tom Watson for OnPhilanthropy help me regain my enthusiasm. As it points out, there are some real signs that we may be at a tipping point in terms of "consumer philanthropy" as they call it.
"...if you look beyond the headlines, there are signs. And there are two trendlines heading for a collision - on one hand, people are ever more conscious of philanthropy and its role in commerce and society; on the other, these people are talking to each other more so than ever before."
I think this is also tied in with the rise of the "ethical consumer". As big business cottons onto the fact that the voluntary sector doesn't have exclusive rights to "doing good", and consumers become more enlightened about society's inequalities and needs, the links between business, society and philanthropy are strengthening all the time.
Great news for the non-profits that can fit with this model, pretty scary for those that don't have a strong, sexy brand I guess.
Posted by Sam Thomas ( 2:21 PM ) Link to this post Comments[3]
Very interesting blog post. We're trying to pioneer new ways for people to donate to Charity without a personal financial cost with Charity Checkout, and we heavily use the so called Web 2.0 meme. What we've tried to focus on is using Web 2 technolgoies to make the process of giving to Charity as user friendly as possible, encouraging "Consumer Philanthropy". Anyway I'd be very interested to hear your feedback on where you think we've got things right, and probably more importantly where we can improve as it's obviously somehting you take an interest in.
Posted by Andy Britcliffe on January 24, 2007 at 09:22 PM GMT+00:00 #
Thanks for the comment and I really like the look of your site. I'd be really interested to know what the tipping point is for you in terms of the benefits for businesses to have you promoting their products (eg. number of transactions) against the less tangible benefits of their charitable support, and how they quantify that. (If that makes sense!) It's a conversation we have on a fairly regular basis here - how do we quantify the "doing good" element of a company's support and combine it with any business benefit of being involved with us (for example if they sponsor a section of www.TheSite.org). I think generally the voluntary sector isn't there yet in terms of measuring this kind of thing, but the more evidence we get the better.
Posted by Sam on January 25, 2007 at 01:15 PM GMT+00:00 #
Glad you like the site. I think we're stilling trying to find that "tipping point" to be honest as it is still very early days for the Charity Checkout brand. Currently our focus is actually getting the buy in from the Charities that will be featured on the site and helping them understand the power of the platform for generating donations.
Once we establish that I think we can then look at our approach to how we best communicate the unique opportunity for businesses to get a ROI by having their brand/product featured with us - but we firmly beleive it is a compelling benefit for the majority of online businesses.
It is very interesting to note that without a great deal of PR work we are already being approached by online businesses asking how they can be involved with this kind of venture. It certainly appears "Consumer Philanthropy" has definate appeal to businesses and Not-for-profits should be looking to leverage this.
Posted by Andy Britcliffe on January 26, 2007 at 06:19 PM GMT+00:00 #