This document discusses how social media has impacted charity work and fundraising. It notes that over 2 billion people used social media in 2015, removing barriers to communication. Social media allows anyone to positively impact society through networking and community engagement. "Clicktivism", the use of digital technologies to support causes, has increased some charities' donations, like UNICEF raising over $1 million through Facebook in 2014. However, many people learn about causes through social media but do not donate. Some campaigns on social media have successfully increased donations, like the ALS ice bucket challenge. While not all social media exposure translates to donations, donation amounts have increased for many charities. It concludes that while traditional fundraising is not obsolete, it would

1. Has social media
impacted charity
work and
fundraising?
By William French
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Prawny

2. It is estimated that over 2
billion people were using
some sort of social
network in 2015.1
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: LiaLeslie

3. No More Barriers
“Social networks have removed
all the communication and
interaction barriers, and now
one can communicate his/her
perception and thoughts over a
variety of topics.”2
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Seemann

4. “Social technologies can
empower anyone to have a
positive impact on the
society by creating
networking effects and
initiating community
engagement.”3
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: JoeysPhotos

5. What is Clicktivism?
The use of
digital
communication
technologies in
support of
worthy causes.4
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: DMedina

6. So is Clicktivism a good thing?
In 2014, 2.6 million UNICEF Tap Project
participants from the U.S., Australia, South
Korea, China, Germany and 20 other
countries across the globe generated more
than a million dollars in clean water
funding. More than 350,000 referrals to the
Tap mobile site came through Facebook.4
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Prawny

7. Or is Clicktivism a bad thing?
However, of the 70% who said they used
digital media to learn about changes they
can make in their lives to create positive
social or environmental change, only 25%
made changes.5
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Prawny

8. A look at current impact:
In the last few weeks, a
Facebook campaign produced
over 1000 prom dress donations
for Fort McMurray victims who
lost everything in the wildfire.6
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: marykbaird

9. Past Success:
The ALS ice bucket challenge
was a viral sensation that
increased donations for ALS by
approximately 800%.7
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Jason Gillman

10. Photo: Morguefile Photographer: svklimkin
Not only does social media give a
charity a wider audience, it has
become a cost-cutting tool to replace
more traditional/costly fundraising
methods (door-to-door campaigning ,
holding events, etc.)8

11. Preferences
A 2013 study was able to
breakdown how most
charities receive
donations.9
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: GaborfromHungary
Infographic: hCps://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/assets.visceralbusiness.com/Visceral-
Business-2013-Social-Charity-Index.pdf

12. While national average income
has declined, the top 100 charities
saw an increase in their income
represented by per online
supporter (a “like”) from $3,914
to $1,032.10
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Melodi2

13. Photo: Morguefile Photographer: hotblack
The Issue: Converting
supporters into donors
In 2014 UNICEF Sweden
launched a campaign called
“Likes don’t save lives” in an
attempt to address the issue of
people being “aware” but not
actually contributing.11

14. Converting
supporters into
donors – but is this
actually an issue?
It was found in a recent
study that 57% of
respondents followed a
charity on Twitter/
Facebook but only 8%
actually donated.12
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Prawny

15. Photo: Morguefile Photographer: mockingbird
Are people even seeing
the posts?
Twitter has a click-
through rate of
about 1.6% per
tweet.13

16. Counter
“76% of all internet users are
using some sort of social
media.”14
That’s simply too big of a market
to ignore.
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Prawny

17. Is it really about the charity or is this just our own
narcissism?
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Pippalou
“They
[campaigns]
encourage and
reward
audience
participation
(selfies, videos,
etc.)”15

18. Does it even matter
why people are
donating?
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: DogertonSkillhause
If donations are on
the rise then who
cares if people just
want to appear
charitable?

19. Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Jamierodriguez37
We’ve explored
arguments both sides of
the coin on this issue.
But we need a
conclusion

20. So what’s the verdict?
While traditional methods for fundraising
may not be completely obsolete, it would be
foolish to ignore the benefits of the
connected universe. While not all exposure
translates to donations, you can’t argue
donations have increased.
Photo: Morguefile Photographer: Prawny

21. Works Cited
1. "Number of Worldwide Social Network Users 2010-2019 |
Statistic." Statista. Statista, 2016. Web.
2. Kingston, Ali. "Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on
Society."LinkedIn. LinkedIn, 31 Oct. 2015. Web.
3. Bresciani, Sabrina, and Andreas Schmeil. "Social Media Platforms for
Social Good." Queen's University, 2013. Web.
4. Stern, Caryl M. "In Praise of Clicktivism." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 May 2015. Web.
5. Kielburger, Craig, and Marc Kielburger. "A Click Is Not Enough to Have
Impact on World." Canoe.com. Canoe.com, 10 Apr. 2015. Web.
6. Phillips, Catherine. "Prom Dress Donations Pour in for Graduating Fort
McMurray Students." The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail, 12 May
2016. Web.
7. Sharma, Ritu. "Stop Pouring Ice on Clicktivism." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Oct. 2014. Web.
8. "Social Media – What Is Right for You?" Marketing for Nonprofits.
Marketing for Nonprofits, 21 Feb. 2013. Web.

22. Works Cited
9. "The 2013 Social Charity Index." Visceral Business, Oct. 2013. Web.
10. McCrossan, Anne. "Authentic Audiences Give Smaller Charities an
Advantage on Social Media." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 19
Sept. 2013. Web.
11. Amar, Zoe. "Five Social Media Charity Campaigns You Need to Know
about." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Apr. 2014. Web.
12. "How Social Media Has Changed Charities Forever." Koozaicom How Social
Media Has Changed Charities Forever Comments. Koozai, 23 Oct. 2014. Web.
13. Collins, Matt. "It's Time for Charities to Stop Wasting Money on Social
Media." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 11 Mar. 2016. Web.
14. Miranda, Carlos. "Telling Charities to Step Away from Social Media Is
Short-sighted." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 17 Mar. 2016.
Web.
15. Waylan, Brad. "Social Media's Role in Modern Charity." Social Media Today.
N.p., 01 Oct. 2015. Web.