Birthday Philanthropy: The Hot New Trend In Crowdfunding
Great birthday fundraisers are simple because all you need to do is pick a charity, organization or cause that you care about and tell everyone you know , “Instead of spending money on a birthday gift for me you can donate it to this amazing cause that really needs it.”
And because everyone who gives to your effort also has a birthday, when you launch a birthday fundraiser you just might inspire your friends and family to launch their own birthday fundraisers, creating a chain reaction of people using their birthdays for good.
And think, it will all be because you chose to fundraise for your birthday.
The basic strategy behind birthday fundraising is for individuals to ask for donations to a nonprofit in lieu of birthday gifts — essentially ‘giving up’ their birthday for a cause.
Take for example Facebook: Birthday fundraisers, which let you raise money for one of the 750,000-plus non-profits with Facebook pages, are a relatively new offering. Facebook launched the tool in August 2017, five months after introducing personal fundraisers. Prior to this, users could put a “Donate” button on their own posts, or click the “Donate” button on a non-profit’s Facebook page, but there was no dedicated space for launching a campaign.
Creating one is ridiculously easy: Pick the non-profit, set a fundraising goal, choose an end date, write a story about why you’re raising money, and give your fundraiser a title. Click “create” and your friends will see the fundraiser in their News Feeds and get a notification letting them know you’re raising for a cause.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post that birthday fundraisers have raised over $300 million for more than 750,000 nonprofits. He said those organizations range from food banks to animal shelters to Alzheimer’s research. Last year in June, Facebook said it would donate $5 for every birthday fundraiser started, so long as it supports one of those 750,000 vetted nonprofits.
Global celebrities like NBA star Stephen Curry took advantage of it to raise money for Nothing But Nets, an organization that fights malaria. The Golden State Warriors point guard hoped to raise $30,000 for his 30th birthday and instead got $82,000.
Less famous folks also made use of the tool. In one widely reported case, Valentine Toohey Smith wanted to help charity: water, an organization with a mission to bring clean water to people in 24 developing countries, and started a fundraiser for her daughter’s 12th birthday. The mother and daughter ultimately raised $2,161.
With such clear user interest in the tool, Facebook wants to make birthday fundraising even more effective. The social media platform has added a new function that should help you figure out which nonprofit organizations best match your interests.
And Facebook isn’t the only fundraising option users have.
And of course other major crowdfunding portals have been active in encouraging people to show their love for humanity, animals, and Mother Earth on the day they were born.
Ketto & Birthdays
Ketto is a leader in this regard. You can encourage your most active supporters to start a fundraiser for your non-profit on Ketto and instead of accepting gifts, ask them to accept contributions to their fundraisers. At Ketto, we’ve seen wonderful initiatives started by campaigners — for instance, Neelesh Mishra, a Bollywood lyricist raised funds for Bharatiya Gramin Vidyalaya on his daughter Vaidehi’s first birthday. He wanted her birthday to have a positive impact on the lives of underprivileged children in Uttar Pradesh. His fundraiser managed to raise Rs. 2,65,034 — a wonderful initiative.
Ketto Blog remains committed to inspiring and compelling social change to India’s most pressing problems through the power of great stories and engaging our audiences to take meaningful action.
