Building A Microphilanthropy Movement

Building A Movement Of Microphilanthropy PR Agency Briefing, March 2009

From Wikipedia: Social Movement Definition.

Movement Definition: Social interaction between scores of people uniting around a common goal.

It was in communities, where people of similar goals could find each other, gather and organize, that those early social movements first appeared.

This Is Where We Were…

This Is Where We Are…

This Is Our Goal…

How Do We Plan To Get There?

Who?

Brief Introduction to the team.

Why are we doing this?

What is our vision going forward.

What?

Provide a genesis/history of the 1 Dollar Club.

Back to the drawing board – findings from qualitative research focus groups.

Phase 1 and 2 – plans for phase 2.5

How?

Build advocacy by leveraging the power of our own social networks.

Widespread exposure in web 2.0.

Need for PR to help us reach critical mass.

Founder Matthew Crowe’s Vision.

The prominence of social networking sites today has brought with it a status attached to an individual’s degree of connectivity.

Either social or professional, currently little is being done to leverage our interconnectivity as a force for good.

Instead of philanthropic giving being only for the rich, what if we could mobilize our networks around a common cause – the notion of small charitable giving but on a large scale.

Founder Matthew Crowe’s Vision.

The prominence of social network sites today has brought with it a status attached to an individual’s degree of connectivity.

Either social or professional, currently little is being done to leverage our interconnectivity as a force for good.

Instead of philanthropic giving being only for the rich, what if we could mobilize our networks around a common cause – the notion of small charitable giving but on a large scale.

What if we could make Microphilanthropy Mainstream?

Matt’s Vision Became Our Mission. Making Microphilanthropy Mainstream =

So How Does One Become A Microphilanthropist?

It’s not rocket science:

1. Donate 1 US Dollar.

2. Select the charity(s) of your choice.

3. Ask your social networks to do the same.

Your Impact As A Microphilanthropist Is Not How Big Your Wallet Is… Your 1 Factor is measured by how many other microphilanthropists are in your social network.

We Found That Creating A Movement of Microphilanthropists Is An Iterative Process…

In December, we conducted 4 focus groups, talking to both existing and potential donors – it was very enlightening…

The Same Issues Kept Cropping Up.

Eradicate perceptions of an online scam

With Internet privacy a concern, people wanted proof the site was a legitimate charity.

Simplify

The design of the site was confusing – the interface had to be made much more simple and intuitive.

Flexible

Philanthropy is a very personal thing, we needed to give people the ability to choose the charity where their dollar went.

Concrete

There was little evidence of what happened with the donations – we had to emphasize the credentials of our partner charities and what change they are making in the world every day.

Voila! We now feel we are much better equipped to raise $10 million from 10 million different microphilanthropists by 2010.

10 Million??!!!!

It sounds like a lot, but we aren’t talking a lot of donors here – it is only the populations of Minnesota and Wisconsin combined.

And Our Reach Goes Well Beyond The US. We Already Have Visitors/Donors From 25 Countries.

Blogging, Tweeting and Facebooking Are Starting To Get The Word Out…

In Phase 2.5, We Also Plan On Creating Engaging Content That Will Go Viral. Plans for both Facebook and iPhone applications are also in development.

Who Are We Targeting? Some Of Our Dream Advocates…

Prominent Bloggers In The Social Media/Philanthropy Space. David Armano, Logic+Emotion Stephen Collins, acidlabs Peter Deitz, Social Actions Todd Cohen, Inside Philanthropy Beth Kanter, Non-Profit Social Media Guru

Challenges.