While the substance behind “friend”-ships on Facebook remains debatable, Vancouver’s ConnectionPoint Systems Inc. is helping members of such social networks prove they have a heart when required.
Since early July, 1,500 individuals, informal groups and organizations have used the new version of the Vancouver firm’s FundRazr application to raise funds on Facebook for everything from disaster relief and injured pets to cancer battles.
In contrast, the first generation of FundRazr facilitated roughly 3,000 fundraising campaigns on Facebook in a year. And campaigns launched through the second app thus far have been far more successful in meeting their fundraising goals than those launched through the first app.
“We’ve been tuning this thing for a year,” said ConnectionPoint president and CEO Daryl Hatton.
“The first version of the app didn’t work very well, and we learned from it. In the second one, we are regularly getting people going over their fundraising targets.”
The early popularity and improved results of ConnectionPoint’s second-generation application lie largely in its ability to tap into the personal networks of Facebook users. Whereas the first version of FundRazr could be viewed only on a single static tab within a user’s or group’s Facebook profile, the new app allows users to push a fundraising campaign out into their social media network via Facebook’s wall or news feed.
From there, friends within that network can push a FundRazr campaign further out into their networks.
And the process, with varying results, repeats itself, allowing each campaign to potentially reach thousands or more Facebook users.
Becky Correia, community relations director for Santa Clarita, California’s Villalobos Rescue Center, which rehabilitates abandoned and abused pit bulls, has noticed the improvements in FundRazr.
“The earlier version of FundRazr wasn’t quite what I wanted because it wouldn’t post right onto your [Facebook] wall - people are lazy and they don’t want to look at our tabs,” she said.
The non-profit’s Facebook profile has 14,000 fans.
“I knew there was an untapped resource out there to get people to donate for these dogs,” said Correia.
Using FundRazr, Villalobos raised US$680 in two days for one of the injured dogs rescued by the centre. The campaign had a goal of US$700.
In a campaign for another injured dog, Villalobos raised US$485 in three days using FundRazr – surpassing its goal of US$350.
Given FundRazr’s accessibility and its traction, Facebook users could become familiar with fundraising campaigns on the social media network.
“We don’t want to wear [donors] out and at the same time we want them to know that this rescue runs on donations,” said Correia.
Within FundRazr’s interface is space for campaign creators to embed YouTube videos, messages and other information about their fundraising efforts.
ConnectionPoint built FundRazr in collaboration with PayPal, which is co-branding the app with ConnectionPoint – recommending it to their customers and working with Facebook to promote the app.
To provide billing security and accountability, the company integrated PayPal’s billing platform.
Fundraisers need a PayPal and Facebook account to use FundRazr, but donors don’t.
Hatton said FundRazr makes online fundraising accessible to individuals and groups that might not have the resources to create a website, a billing platform or the online reach needed for fundraising traction.
“We’re really using social media in a much more innovative way than it has been used before for fundraising.”
Hatton acknowledged that FundRazr’s accessibility can lead to fundraising abuse. But he noted that PayPal’s billing platform traces each donation.
“We work closely with PayPal to reduce fraud and ‘phishing’ – people falsely representing themselves as official charities or political candidates.”
As well, how far each Facebook campaign spreads relies on Facebook users to share, or vet, a campaign among members of their network. That process can provide a certain level of assurance to donors, but it’s not foolproof.
Said Darrell MacMullin, who is the general manager of PayPal Canada: “As an individual, you still have to do your due diligence, but we’ll provide proof of your transaction and make sure your financial information is protected.”
ConnectionPoint collects $0.30 from each donation to FundRazr campaigns that individuals set up.
Non-profits, politicians and more formal organizations are charged more depending on what added features they require.
For example, FundRazr has a feature for managing the tax receipts that donors request.
“The total cost to a customer is well under 5% [of donations collected] usually,” explained Hatton, “which is very competitive when you think about the cost of setting this up is nothing.”