Call ‘em the Click-Change Artists. A new social media movement centers around the notion that doing good no longer requires rolling up your sleeves at the soup kitchen or seeking out neighborhood artists to support (though we’d certainly never disparage such types of old-fashioned philanthropy). The web now offers a new way for too-busy types to donate their time — and bucks — to feel-good enterprises. And, judging by the response, social media enthusiasts are more than happy to oblige.
Case in point: Social media phenom The Pepsi Refresh Project — where webizens vote for what social causes they think should receive a donation from the soda giant — has now garnered more votes than the last Presidential election. Other sites like mammoth microlending facilitator Kiva.org allows Bob in Boise to pledge a small sum (starting at $25) to a fledgling businessman in rural Africa — and nearly 800,000 people have forked over $160M on the site to date. Later this year, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes expects to launch non-profit-focused networking site Jumo.com, aimed at directly pairing up regular people and hard-working organizations on the ground in needy spots like Haiti.
And it’s not just traditional non-profits that have benefitted from this do-good online movement. At Kickstarter.com, a crowdsourced arts initiative, visitors can pledge money to support rising artists, musicians and documentary filmmakers. According to a recent piece on PBS.com, $6M has been raised for film projects on the crowdfunding site since April 2009. (One factor helping spur the site’s growth: Donations are rewarded with small gifts, like a DVD of the film once it’s made.)
Another area where donating is a haute topic is fashion, where the buzzed-about Fashionstake.com offers a similar initiative for budding designers. It’s not only about helping support young brands, the site’s president and co-founder Vivian Weng told Stylelist.com recently. “The idea of immediate, direct feedback from consumers is one of the reasons that designers have been excited to work with FashionStake,” she says. “Designers don’t get that kind of feedback through normal retail channels.”
In fact, the ability to foster that unique personal connection — whether it’s to “tell” a designer what you’d like them to create by way of pre-order, or to lend $25 directly to a mother in Cambodia growing her rattan furniture business — that seems to be fueling this surge in support. Some clever social media watchers have dubbed it the P2P approach — and it’s clear the ability to provide a small, personal connection in the vast web is a method that’s working.
Photo: iStock
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