Clicktivism - does it help charities?

Last week, we posted some statistics on our blog and Facebook page about how social media has affected the way we give.

In the blog post we talked about how the viral nature of micro-blogging platforms Facebook and Twitter make it possible for social media charity campaigns to gain enormous amounts of traction and (subsequently) huge amounts of revenue.

However, what happens when people simply 'like' or re-post the message, without contributing any cash, or any of their time to volunteering? How does this social media "awareness" translate into any real change?

Kevin Lewis, a professor of sociology at the University of California, analysed the "Save Darfur" Facebook page to see whether it's huge presence correlated with donation amounts. Despite the page having 1 million members, only 0.3% of those ever made a donation. Over a 30 month period, the members only raised US$90,776 (NZ$106,307).

The trend began in the UK, where it generated £8 million

An even more relevant example, is the case of the 'no make-up selfie', in support of cancer awareness. The viral trend originated in the UK, as women posted photos of themselves sans make-up on Twitter and Facebook, and nominated their friends to do the same. The photos were often accompanied with a call to make a text-message donation to Cancer Research UK. CRUK were not the originators of the trend (whose origins are lost in the murky world of cyberspace), however they benefitted to the tune of £8 million.

NZ women adopted the trend and made donations

The campaign spread internationally and as it spread the message and its purpose was quite often diluted into 'cancer awareness', rather than an opportunity to fund-raise. Many criticised the campaign as an ineffectual exercvise in vanity, rather than constructive action for cancer research.  

There is a cynical name for this sort of ambiguous social media activism: clicktivism. It's detractors argue that it provides people with a shallow sense of "making a difference", without effecting any tangible change. Examples of clicktivism are abundant on Facebook and Twitter - think of the Kony 2012 campaign. Or, imagine a context-free image of an African child, a caption accompanying it, "Share if you care about me". Professor Lewis' research on the "Save Darfur" page shows us that these social media 'campaigns' achieve very little.

But what about the roll-on effects? Clicktivism may not directly result in revenue for charities, but does its viral nature encourage donation-giving? Social media campaigns can exponentially increase awareness of a cause, and allow a large number of individuals to come together to create change, and this will inadvertently result in some action being taken. Clicktivists are twice as likely to volunteer, twice and likely to take part in an event and 4 times as likely to sign a petition relating to issues that they've learned about online. 

Unfortunately, there is not a way to measure the number of people who saw a friend post a make-up free selfie and were then spurred on to make a donation, but the example of Cancer Research UK shows that it did indeed result in positive action. Were you or anyone you know encouraged by the #nomakeupselfie to make a donation to the New Zealand Cancer Society?

Earlier this week I stumbled across a fascinating infographic which mapped the impact of social media upon charitable fundraising.  Some of the most remarkable figures were:

·         98% of non-profit organisations utilised Facebook, 74% were on Twitter, and 66% used YouTube.

·         Online presence translates into massively increased donations. Organisations which used Twitter raised more than 10 times the amount of those that didn’t.

·         One Facebook like equates to around NZ$190 in fundraising revenue.

·         And if people see that their friends on a social media site have donated, 39% would donate as well. 

Facebook has done a lot to facilitate the giving of donations on its website, by allowing charities to have a ‘Donate’ button.

The platforms for giving are growing too. Think of crowd-funding sites such as GoFundMe or Givealittle (for New Zealanders). These websites allow people and organisations to share their story online and collect online donations. GoFundMe is the biggest crowd-funding site in the world, and specialises in helping people cope with personal causes and life-events. $25 million is raised each month by its users for a variety of causes. Another crowd-funder, JustGiving has raised 2.6 billion since its inception in 2000. That’s impressive.

I think all these trends speak volumes about the viral nature of social media, and also the importance that charities tap into these tools to maximise their fundraising. The best ways to guarantee social media success are:

·         Come up with a detailed social media strategy

·         Make social media a priority – post high-quality content regularly

·         And dedicating a position specifically to social media


View the full 'Social Giving' infographic here. http://ow.ly/v0XJq

Michael Schumacher and Living Wills

Two months after Formula One driver Michael Schumacher was injured in a skiing accident, he remains in a medically-induced coma at the University Hospital Centre in Grenoble. Tragically, Schumacher’s accident was not an anomaly; doctors in Grenoble see hundreds of injured skiers arrive each year with serious head injuries.

For Schumacher, 45, hopes of a full mental and physical recovery are looking increasingly unlikely. Gary Harstein, an American anaesthesiologist based in Belgium, who worked as head of Formula One’s medical unit, put it bleakly:

“After eight weeks, if there are no signs of waking, what most people would do is unplug”.

Accidents can occur at any time, and Schumacher’s story is a timely reminder on the importance of making a ‘living will’. A living will (also known as an Advance Directive) is a document which sets out a person’s wishes regarding life prolonging medical treatment. You can leave clear instructions for your doctors in the case of a life threatening or terminal medical emergency, for example, whether to prolong life support in case of severe injury or illness.

One of the primary reasons for instructing a living will, is that is removes the responsibility of making these difficult decisions from family and friends, and frees them from the pain of wondering whether they’re doing ‘the right thing’. 

Before instructing a living will, it is always a good idea to consult a GP or other medical professional who is very familiar to you. They will ensure that you are able to make informed decisions, by providing you with relevant medical information and making sure that your instructions are clear for other medical practitioners to follow.

Some crucial things to consider will be:

·         What qualifies as a life for you? What does ‘quality of life’ mean to you’?
·         To you, does life support count as ‘living’?
·         What level of disability would you cope with?
·         What is important to you? What is not acceptable to you?

These are difficult questions to ponder, and it is important to discuss them with your family.

For expert advice on creating a living will, call 0800 PERPETUAL.

Perpetual Giving Grows to 50!

This week we partnered with three more New Zealand charities, bringing the total number of charities in the Perpetual Giving community to 50. This is an exciting milestone for us and we are very pleased by the response. We've got a broad range of charitable organisations on board, specialising in everything from arts and culture, to human services, and animal welfare (with plenty more in between). If you are considering leaving a charitable legacy in your will, there will be a charity there to interest you.

Not that we're becoming complacent!As we continue to expand the Perpetual Giving community, we are also planning the delivery of some exciting resource initiatives to help boost the importance of charitable legacies in wills and the provision of a simple online wills service to donors. Joining the Perpetual Giving community for charities is easy. It's a completely free service for charitable organisations, and provides many great benefits, such as resources, networking, and participation in our annual charitable legacies week. If you are part of a charitable organisation, and are interested in signing up, click here.

The three Kiwi charities to join us this week are:

Starship Foundation

Starship Children's Health cares for more than 120,000 young patients; they need to fundraise over $5 million each year to ensure that these children receive the best possible care. Leaving a legacy means you can make a positive impact on the health of Kiwi children. Read more about the great work they are doing. 

Gutter Kitties

Gutter Kitties Cat Rescue are a North Shore charity dedicated to rescuing and rehoming mistreated cats and kittens, and promote responsible pet ownership. So far, they have desexed and rehomed over 800 cats and kittens. You are able to adopt your own Gutter Kitty through their website.

Rotorua Arts Village Trust

This charity has been running for just over 11 years and is home to over 30 arts and cultural groups, and hosts art classes for adults and children. Head over to their website for more info about this inspiring centre.