ChipIn: Online fundraising's next frontier
I noted with interest the recent launch of ChipIn, a new online fundraising service that allows an organization (or an individual or a school) to conduct a fundraising campaign without setting up a merchant account or using a traditional online vendor. ChipIn can even be used by a campaign that doesn't have its own website, which opens up interesting possibilities for new adopters.
What's of particular interest to me is not just the arrival of (yet) another software as a service vendor in the nonprofit sector, but the arrival of a company that seeks to harness the burgeoning phenomenon of social networking, viral (person-to-person) marketing, and personal fundraising pages to raise money for worthy causes.
ChipIn creates a "Web widget" for each campaign that is set up, which allows campaigners to embed it in websites, blogs, MySpace or Facebook pages, and other emerging online and mobile platforms. The widget carries with it key information about the fundraising campaign such as money raised to date. The landing page on the ChipIn server can include other content or rich media such as video or audio.
My favorite feature of the ChipIn widget is a small button on the widget called "Share this widget" which allows anyone to clone the campaign on their own website, blog or social network page, thus helping the campaign reach new audiences. (I embedded some widget code in the top left corner of this blog posting.) This opens up new possibilities for the person-to-person spread of online fundraising campaigns. It remains to be seen how this will impact giving levels.
Having observed the growth and demise of dozens of online fundraising services and portals over the last decade, I'm interested in how ChipIn changes some of the models of software as a service. Up until now, creating an online fundraising campaign required contracting with a online vendor, integrating transaction tools and content into a website, and sometimes setting up an Internet merchant account. ChipIn bypasses many of these steps with its quick setup tools, and nimble delivery mechanisms. Can ChipIn grab the Web by the tail and let the grassroots drive the distribution of an online fundraising campaign into ever-widening circles of donors?
The inaugural ChipIn campaign supports the Hawaii Island Earthquake Recovery Fund that was set up in the aftermatch of the October 2006 earthquakes that struck the Hawaiian Islands damaging buildings, triggering landslides, and causing a statewide power outage. While there were no lives lost in the disaster, homes and property were devastated by the massive tremors. Over 2000 homes were damaged on the Island of Hawaii and most of the homeowners do not have the necessary insurance to cover the cost of repairing their homes. Total property damage caused by the earthquakes is estimated to be over $200 million. Funds raised by this ChipIn widget benefit the Hawaii Community Foundation which will share proceeds among nonprofit organizations that work with earthquake victims getting their homes repaired or rebuilt.
Hat tip to Peter Deitz for authoring an excellent article on the features of ChipIn, I recommend it.
