Clicktivism - does it help charities?

Last week, we posted some statistics on our blog and Facebook page about how social media has affected the way we give.

In the blog post we talked about how the viral nature of micro-blogging platforms Facebook and Twitter make it possible for social media charity campaigns to gain enormous amounts of traction and (subsequently) huge amounts of revenue.

However, what happens when people simply 'like' or re-post the message, without contributing any cash, or any of their time to volunteering? How does this social media "awareness" translate into any real change?

Kevin Lewis, a professor of sociology at the University of California, analysed the "Save Darfur" Facebook page to see whether it's huge presence correlated with donation amounts. Despite the page having 1 million members, only 0.3% of those ever made a donation. Over a 30 month period, the members only raised US$90,776 (NZ$106,307).

The trend began in the UK, where it generated £8 million

An even more relevant example, is the case of the 'no make-up selfie', in support of cancer awareness. The viral trend originated in the UK, as women posted photos of themselves sans make-up on Twitter and Facebook, and nominated their friends to do the same. The photos were often accompanied with a call to make a text-message donation to Cancer Research UK. CRUK were not the originators of the trend (whose origins are lost in the murky world of cyberspace), however they benefitted to the tune of £8 million.

NZ women adopted the trend and made donations

The campaign spread internationally and as it spread the message and its purpose was quite often diluted into 'cancer awareness', rather than an opportunity to fund-raise. Many criticised the campaign as an ineffectual exercvise in vanity, rather than constructive action for cancer research.  

There is a cynical name for this sort of ambiguous social media activism: clicktivism. It's detractors argue that it provides people with a shallow sense of "making a difference", without effecting any tangible change. Examples of clicktivism are abundant on Facebook and Twitter - think of the Kony 2012 campaign. Or, imagine a context-free image of an African child, a caption accompanying it, "Share if you care about me". Professor Lewis' research on the "Save Darfur" page shows us that these social media 'campaigns' achieve very little.

But what about the roll-on effects? Clicktivism may not directly result in revenue for charities, but does its viral nature encourage donation-giving? Social media campaigns can exponentially increase awareness of a cause, and allow a large number of individuals to come together to create change, and this will inadvertently result in some action being taken. Clicktivists are twice as likely to volunteer, twice and likely to take part in an event and 4 times as likely to sign a petition relating to issues that they've learned about online. 

Unfortunately, there is not a way to measure the number of people who saw a friend post a make-up free selfie and were then spurred on to make a donation, but the example of Cancer Research UK shows that it did indeed result in positive action. Were you or anyone you know encouraged by the #nomakeupselfie to make a donation to the New Zealand Cancer Society?

Earlier this week I stumbled across a fascinating infographic which mapped the impact of social media upon charitable fundraising.  Some of the most remarkable figures were:

·         98% of non-profit organisations utilised Facebook, 74% were on Twitter, and 66% used YouTube.

·         Online presence translates into massively increased donations. Organisations which used Twitter raised more than 10 times the amount of those that didn’t.

·         One Facebook like equates to around NZ$190 in fundraising revenue.

·         And if people see that their friends on a social media site have donated, 39% would donate as well. 

Facebook has done a lot to facilitate the giving of donations on its website, by allowing charities to have a ‘Donate’ button.

The platforms for giving are growing too. Think of crowd-funding sites such as GoFundMe or Givealittle (for New Zealanders). These websites allow people and organisations to share their story online and collect online donations. GoFundMe is the biggest crowd-funding site in the world, and specialises in helping people cope with personal causes and life-events. $25 million is raised each month by its users for a variety of causes. Another crowd-funder, JustGiving has raised 2.6 billion since its inception in 2000. That’s impressive.

I think all these trends speak volumes about the viral nature of social media, and also the importance that charities tap into these tools to maximise their fundraising. The best ways to guarantee social media success are:

·         Come up with a detailed social media strategy

·         Make social media a priority – post high-quality content regularly

·         And dedicating a position specifically to social media


View the full 'Social Giving' infographic here. http://ow.ly/v0XJq

Michael Schumacher and Living Wills

Two months after Formula One driver Michael Schumacher was injured in a skiing accident, he remains in a medically-induced coma at the University Hospital Centre in Grenoble. Tragically, Schumacher’s accident was not an anomaly; doctors in Grenoble see hundreds of injured skiers arrive each year with serious head injuries.

For Schumacher, 45, hopes of a full mental and physical recovery are looking increasingly unlikely. Gary Harstein, an American anaesthesiologist based in Belgium, who worked as head of Formula One’s medical unit, put it bleakly:

“After eight weeks, if there are no signs of waking, what most people would do is unplug”.

Accidents can occur at any time, and Schumacher’s story is a timely reminder on the importance of making a ‘living will’. A living will (also known as an Advance Directive) is a document which sets out a person’s wishes regarding life prolonging medical treatment. You can leave clear instructions for your doctors in the case of a life threatening or terminal medical emergency, for example, whether to prolong life support in case of severe injury or illness.

One of the primary reasons for instructing a living will, is that is removes the responsibility of making these difficult decisions from family and friends, and frees them from the pain of wondering whether they’re doing ‘the right thing’. 

Before instructing a living will, it is always a good idea to consult a GP or other medical professional who is very familiar to you. They will ensure that you are able to make informed decisions, by providing you with relevant medical information and making sure that your instructions are clear for other medical practitioners to follow.

Some crucial things to consider will be:

·         What qualifies as a life for you? What does ‘quality of life’ mean to you’?
·         To you, does life support count as ‘living’?
·         What level of disability would you cope with?
·         What is important to you? What is not acceptable to you?

These are difficult questions to ponder, and it is important to discuss them with your family.

For expert advice on creating a living will, call 0800 PERPETUAL.

Perpetual Giving Grows to 50!

This week we partnered with three more New Zealand charities, bringing the total number of charities in the Perpetual Giving community to 50. This is an exciting milestone for us and we are very pleased by the response. We've got a broad range of charitable organisations on board, specialising in everything from arts and culture, to human services, and animal welfare (with plenty more in between). If you are considering leaving a charitable legacy in your will, there will be a charity there to interest you.

Not that we're becoming complacent!As we continue to expand the Perpetual Giving community, we are also planning the delivery of some exciting resource initiatives to help boost the importance of charitable legacies in wills and the provision of a simple online wills service to donors. Joining the Perpetual Giving community for charities is easy. It's a completely free service for charitable organisations, and provides many great benefits, such as resources, networking, and participation in our annual charitable legacies week. If you are part of a charitable organisation, and are interested in signing up, click here.

The three Kiwi charities to join us this week are:

Starship Foundation

Starship Children's Health cares for more than 120,000 young patients; they need to fundraise over $5 million each year to ensure that these children receive the best possible care. Leaving a legacy means you can make a positive impact on the health of Kiwi children. Read more about the great work they are doing. 

Gutter Kitties

Gutter Kitties Cat Rescue are a North Shore charity dedicated to rescuing and rehoming mistreated cats and kittens, and promote responsible pet ownership. So far, they have desexed and rehomed over 800 cats and kittens. You are able to adopt your own Gutter Kitty through their website.

Rotorua Arts Village Trust

This charity has been running for just over 11 years and is home to over 30 arts and cultural groups, and hosts art classes for adults and children. Head over to their website for more info about this inspiring centre.

Introducing the New Human Services charities on Perpetual Giving

Over on the Perpetual Giving site we have so far welcomed nine charities specialising in human services, into the Perpetual Giving Community.

Here is a little bit about each of them and the excellent work that they do for some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable people:

Shine

Shine are a national domestic abuse charity who aim to make homes violence free. They rely on donations to help them fund their helpline, education programme, home visits by women and child advocates and safe houses for those escaping situations of domestic abuse. Bequests make a huge difference in enabling the essential work of Shine to continue.

Visit their website to learn more: www.2shine.org.nz

Alzheimers NZ

Alzheimers New Zealand provides support, information, education programmes and services appropriate to their local community. Services include Support for spouses, partners, families and friends coping with the financial and emotional demands of caring and befriending services and day programmes for people with dementia. Help them continue this inspiring work by considering bequeathing to this charity in your will.

www.alzheimers.org.nz/

Aspire Canterbury

Aspire Canterbury provides a supportive environment for like-minded organisations to work collaboratively, and for all people affected by a disability to explore, discover, and access tools and resources to enable them to live positively in their community. They represent other charities such as MS Society, Pain Action NZ and Paraloan. This service provides a wealth of help and advice for those living with disability in this region and bequests can help them to fund these services that make such a positive impact on many lives.

www.aspirecanterbury.org.nz

Caring for Carers

Caring for Carers is a community funded group that supports those people who are providing unwaged care for a family member or friend with a long-term mental, intellectual or physical illness or disability. Caring for Carers provides a caring and confidential environment in which carers can share their experience and feelings. Needs can be discussed and where possible, help given or inquiries made into what is available from other sources. Gifts left in Wills can help to support this charity’s work with people who are often overlooked.

Visit their website to learn more:  http://www.caringforcarers.org.nz

Look Good Feel Better

Look Good Feel Better is a service offered to Women during cancer treatment to help them to cope with the physical effects of the treatment. During a two and a half hour workshop, attendees are shown by trained cosmetic volunteers how to cope with the physical side effects of their treatment, such as dry flaking skin and pigmentation changes. The overall aim is to help women with cancer to develop greater confidence and a renewed sense of self. Bequests can aid this charity in continuing to help women diagnosed with cancer.  

www.lookgoodfeelbetter.co.nz

Lifeline

Lifeline offers helpline and face-to-face counselling to vulnerable people at a time of need. They are there for anyone who needs to talk about issues including psychological and emotional distress, financial and work issues, marriage and family problems and those who are lonely, ill, depressed or the victims of violence or abuse. A bequest to Lifeline is an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the emotional and mental health of the community for generations to come.

www.lifeline.org.nz

The Parenting Place

The Parenting place exists to equip and encourage New Zealand parents. In all that they do, they passionately believe that family is everything. They serve families through a wide range of programmes, some examples are: Toolbox parenting groups, Hot Tips for communities, Hot Tips for businesses, Fathers' Breakfasts, Parenting magazine and Family Coaches.

On receiving bequests, the Parenting place state: "We feel very blessed when we receive an unexpected donation that has been provided in a will. We want to honour those who have shown this confidence with their bequest, so we carefully consider how these funds will best be utilised to invest in future development” 

(www.theparentingplace.com).

Plunket

Plunket is a national not-for-profit organisation which is community-owned and governed. They provide a caring, professional well child and family and whānau service, and they see more than 90% of newborn babies in New Zealand each year. Plunket offers parenting information and support as well as developmental assessments of each child. They are committed to providing universal access to services for all children and families regardless of ethnicity, location or ability to pay and this is only possible through kind donations such as those received through bequests.

http://www.plunket.org.nz/

Aviva

Aviva has provided specialist family violence services to women and children living with and surviving family violence service since 1973. Aviva specialises in early intervention family violence services which are designed to stop the cycle of family violence. They support women, children and men to recognise the changes they can make to achieve a violence free future, and they offer support to access the practical assistance required to realise their goals. Bequests have helped to ensure this service has grown and developed over the years.

http://www.avivafamilies.org.nz/

Visit http://perpetualgiving.org.nz today to learn more about legacy giving in New Zealand
To learn more about how to update or make a will, visit Perpetual on http://www.perpetual.co.nz/ 

Making Legacy Giving ‘The Norm’

Here at Perpetual Giving, we are driven by one solid goal – to encourage more New Zealander’s to leave a legacy in their wills. We aim to do what no one charity can do alone; promote legacy giving in general so that leaving a charitable gift in your will becomes the right thing to do once loved ones are taken care of.

We have some fantastic causes in New Zealand and as a developed nation we are collectively some of the most socially conscious people in the world, with 1.35% of GDP donated in 2010. This makes it even more surprising that out of 15,443 estates administered in NZ in 2010, only around 6% made bequests for charitable purposes. There is definite scope to increase legacy giving in NZ.

So why are around 94% of individuals with Wills not currently leaving a charitable gift in their Wills? Research on the subject points toward a number of different motives for leaving a bequest which can help us to understand how to increase charitable gifting. Communication about legacy giving was one factor; with a study into charitable communications finding that donors who had received a request from a charity were 17 times more likely to leave a charitable gift in their wills (DameGreene, 2003). This supports our belief that working together across charitable sectors to promote the cause is essential. 

Another factor that could account for low instances of charitable bequeathing is the desire to ensure that a Will first provides adequate support for family members (Sargeant, 2008). This is why we take a ‘family first, charity second’ approach to legacy giving – promoting charitable gifting once loved ones have been taken care of.

A final factor worth noting is the perception by many that their assets are insufficient to warrant a charitable bequest (Sargeant, 2008). Perhaps this indicates a real need to promote the idea that every bequest, no matter how large, makes a real difference to charity funding and ultimately the cause they support.

How Perpetual can help:

We feel that our core business background in the trust industry, where we have over 125 years’ experience in helping people to instruct their Wills and administer their estates, makes us well placed to make a difference in the campaign to make legacy giving more prevalent. Through our own business; we will ensure that clients have all of the information they need to consider making a charitable legacy in their Wills and we will work across the sector and with charities to make this the norm.

We currently have a great deal of interest from New Zealand charities who are keen to collectively promote the cause and grow the funds obtained through bequests. We already have 25 charities in the Perpetual Giving community and this is set to grow. We promise to keep you updated as more charities come on board and benefit from this service.

If we even increase legacy giving by 5%, we could raise an extra $ 6.1 million for New Zealand charities. Help us to make a difference today.

http://perpetualgiving.org.nz/

References
DameGreen, S (2003) How to Develop a Successful Bequest Programme. The Journal of Gift Planning 
Sargeant, A (2008) Identification, Death and Bequest Giving