As Facebook Timeline continues to roll out to individual users site wide, it’s worth noting that three ‘Giving” apps have been launched in Facebook’s new App Gallery for Timeline: Causes, FundRazr, and Artez Interactive:
Organized under the category of “Giving” in the new App Gallery for Timeline, two of the apps focus on social fundraising (friends asking friends to donate to causes and their favorite nonprofits) and one is a simple Share-on-Facebook-that-you-donated app. Likely just the first of many new “Giving” apps to come to Timeline, nonprofit social media practitioners would be wise to get acquainted with the new Timeline Apps to best prepare for when Timeline comes to Pages (not confirmed, but highly likely). That said, in reference to the social fundraising apps, according to Network for Good social giving is on the rise with an average donation of $52 (as of Q3 2011). Best for nonprofits that respond to crisis or who organize fundraising events like marathons, social fundraising inside of Facebook is worth experimenting with:
1) Causes :: View App
Cost: 4.75% donation processing fee
Donation Processor: Network for Good
Website: causes.com
Availability: U.S. Nonprofits Only
Most nonprofits that are active on Facebook know about Facebook Causes. As the first fundraising app launched inside of Facebook, since its founding in 2007 it has raised more $40 million for over 27,000 nonprofits. Their tool set has expanded and improved over the years so if your nonprofit was one of the early adopters of Causes and you haven’t checked out their Causes Tab recently, or their community tools, Wishes, and gift cards, then be sure to have a browse around their FAQ for Nonprofits and the Causes Blog.
2) FundRazr :: View App
Cost: 4.9% donation processing fee + small transaction fee (varies by country)
Donation Processor: PayPal
Website: fundrazr.com
Availability: Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and numerous countries throughout Europe (see list)
Many nonprofits outside of the United States have voiced frustration over the years that the majority of the shiny new fundraising tools out there are not available them. The primary reason is that there is no international database of verified legal nonprofits. In the United States we have the GuideStar database which is used by many U.S.-based donation processors, such as Network for Good, to easily process and distribute donations to verified legal nonprofits. The obstacle for international online fundraising is mostly a technical one since an equivilent database does not exist.
3) Artez Interactive :: View App
Cost: Free
Donation Processor: Artez Interactive
Website: artez.com
Availability: Canada
This app doesn’t process donations or let individuals raise money on Facebook. Rather, it’s an app (of sorts) that nonprofits can install on their website’s “Thanks for your donation!” landing page that allows donors to then share on Facebook that they made a donation. Quite simply, it’s a “Spread the Word” app. It’s great idea, however, this particular app is only available to nonprofits that use Artez’s suite of online fundraising tools. It will be interesting to see how many more fundraising and activism apps are launched by online fundraising and advocacy service providers through Facebook’s new Open Graph API for Timeline.
Related Links:
Nine Nonprofits Offering Timeline Covers for Their Facebook Fans
Webinar: How Nonprofits Can Successfully Use Facebook and Facebook Apps
