Causes Exchange

We’re pleased to announce that more than $20 million has been given through the Causes Application since our launch in 2007.  Most importantly, giving on Causes in 2009 increased more than 4 times over giving in 2008.   Here’s a graph of giving on Causes since our launch on May 27, 2007:

We thought you might be interested in a few other numbers that offer insight into giving on Causes:

• 400,000 people have made at least one donation
• $25 median donation amount
• 35,000 causes have received at least one donation
• $2.1 million raised by 2009 America’s Giving Challenge participants
• $4.5 million raised through the Birthday Wish feature

So how did we get here?  One of the fundraising highlights of 2009 was America’s Giving Challenge.  The 30-day competition raised $2.1 million, with over 100,000 individuals contributing to almost 8,000 causes.  The winners were an array of small organizations that used Causes to multiply their reach and impact.  We are proud to be a platform where even small organizations can maximize their resources to reach so many.

The success of small organizations on Causes does not mean that larger nonprofits have not hit their stride in fundraising with us.  20 organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, Doctors Without Borders and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, have each raised over $100,000 using the Causes application.  Given the decline of offline donations in the past few years, dynamic nonprofits are taking advantage of online platforms and we have stepped up to meet their organizing and fundraising goals.  As nonprofits experiment with this new form of interaction and hone their best practices, we expect peer-to-peer fundraising through social media to continue to provide reliable streams of donations and new supporters for the organizations that invest in it.

For organizations that are serious about raising money through Causes, we have created a custom project-based fundraising tool.  Instead of soliciting donations for a general fund, nonprofits can market campaigns for specific projects, ensuring users that their gifts will help in explicit ways.  During its first custom campaign, Oxfam has raised over $120,000 to help the survivors of the earthquake in Haiti.  In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, spokeswoman Helen DaSliva said, “This is definitely the first time we’ve really seen Facebook Causes really perform at this level”, noting that Causes is becoming a “powerful fundraising tool.”  We are excited to see more nonprofits utilize custom fundraising campaigns and maximize the potential of our platform.

The last few months have also highlighted the success of Causes Birthday Wishes, accounting for a third of all donations in the past 6 months.  As Facebook users know, participation in Birthday Wishes has risen enormously over the last year.  In 2009, Beth Kanter created a Birthday Wish for the Sharing Foundation and raised $3,600.  Just a few weeks ago, Beth created another Birthday Wish for the same organization and saw donations rise almost 40% to over $5,000.  This is the kind of peer-to-peer giving that Causes was built for and is excited to see take off. Birthday Wishes tap into the potential of every cause member, empowering them to be fundraisers (many for the first time) as well as identifying new donors who nonprofits would not have discovered otherwise.

Through the dedication of organizers, nonprofits and our increasingly active and generous users, Causes is on the rise as a fundraising medium.  In these difficult times, we have so much to be proud of.  The spirit of giving and increasing success of peer-to-peer philanthropy is coming out of a recession and a natural disaster energetic and online.  We have been incredibly inspired by the efforts, care, trust and passion that innovative nonprofits have put into Causes.  We are eager to work with all of you to maximize the potential of social media and to raise the next $20 million!

Originally published on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010.
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