Mix grassroots nonprofit fundraising and social media at Philanthroper.com

I’m always intrigued by the positive results that can be achieved with the combination of social media and nonprofit fundraising, in part because it’s making a difference but also because in real terms it’s a new frontier in terms of networking, building new contacts and building relations with your donors. The internet has rapidly changed the way we acquire information and are able to research specifically what we want to know about essentially anything, while in the nonprofit world it has helped immeasurably in making a cause global but also leveled the playing field for many smaller nonprofits who otherwise would stand little or no opportunity to be recognized outside of their immediate community or network. So what I find most interesting is the growth of grassroots nonprofit fundraising by way of social media, more and more websites are springing up with that aim specifically in mind and while I don’t know if there is ultimately going to be room for them all to survive each legitimate one is helping to bring growing awareness to a charity that probably not otherwise be visible to so many.

My feeling is that when it comes to grassroots fundraising the actual opportunity to donate a small amount does matter but is probably superseded in importance by the exposure and potential for a cause to be shared with others. That’s why I think a site I just found called Philanathroper.com might be a contender for long-term survival online.

The premise for the website is as simple as it is effective, each day the site which is built on a social media platform designed to interact with the ‘Facebook like’ feature will spotlight a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a profile, some information about the cause plus the requisite links you would expect. The website then features the chosen nonprofit for 24 hours as the homepage of the site and asks visitors to donate $1 to support the charity. I’ve done some extra research and the website is 100 percent authentic, each daily profiled nonprofit includes some history, the official website plus some financials. You can then watch in real-time the donations update as the day rolls on. However it’s the simplicity of the site that I think may well find some firm footing – registration is simple, philanthroper.com do not take any fees from your donation, payment is fully secure, the payment gateway specializes in low-level transactions and therefore a one dollar contribution results in just one percent (a penny) going to banking fees, donations are dispersed within seven days to the nonprofit and donations are tax-deductible. The social media aspect is the one that I think can take a small idea and make it grow rapidly in a viral sense, with the integration of Facebook within the site your donation or simple support for a cause can instantly be shared amongst your friends. Not everyone is in a position to make larger donations to nonprofits and this is the first example that I’ve seen where a donation as ‘small’ (I use that term positively) as $1 is accepted and much of the reason for that would be the negotiation of lower fees to process the transaction.

Naturally enough my next question was who gets featured on the site and how do they select deserving nonprofits?

According to the site they network within the industry, review databases for nonprofit performance and qualify that their business practices are sound. They take a particular interest in smaller nonprofits that bring in less than $1 million in revenue annually and like to feature many of the smaller ones that are new, just beginning to grow and in need of any extra support/exposure. You can also submit your nonprofit organization for evaluation to be considered for a future day just so long as the qualification as a registered 501(c)3 is in place.

It’s an interesting concept and one that promotes the idea that every little bit helps and I wish them well, fundraising services for smaller nonprofits are often a luxury but sites like this can help to close that gap. To find out more visit their Facebook page.

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