Skoll Foundation

Feeling "Whelmed" in a Cause Driven World

Submitted by Kari Dunn Saratovsky on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 11:57
Bubble Battle 2008 - Overwhelmed by Technology

Over the long weekend I had an opportunity to catch up on some blog posts and stories that caught my eye last week. It’s not often that I’m disciplined enough to actually go back through my feeds to play catch up – but I’m glad I did. I was struck by a conversation taking place on Skoll Foundation’s Social Edge moderated by Jill Finlayson and Hildy Gottlieb called, Issue Fatigue – Fighting for Attention and Funds in an Aware World. The basic premise is that perhaps we’re not suffering from donor fatigue as much as we are overwhelmed by the causes that surround us as we go about our daily lives. 

I thought back through my past month.  I have been invited by three friends to donate to their birthday cause on facebook; I was pinged multiple times reminding me to buy my tickets to Twestival; I had one friend running in a cancer race in LA, and another who was racing up the stairs in Indiana to support Riley Children’s Hospital. In addition to all of the ways I’ve been solicited for money – I’ve been asked to vote for a nonprofit who was competing in the IdeaBlob contest, reminded to bring recycled bags the next time I shopped at Trader Joe’s, and I was hit up by my neighbor who is a Girl Scout and bought the obligatory box (or two) of Thin Mints.
 
And those are just a few of the things I could come up with from the top of my head – but if I thought long and hard I’m sure there are more.  My guess is you’re feeling the same way. So, in our new connected world, why might awareness be increasing but support waning?
 
Hildy and Jill provide four main factors to this question that I thought were worth sharing:  
  • It’s the economy.  With the disappearing grants, dwindling corporate support, and declining donations, fundraising confidence is at 10 year low with more than 93 percent of fundraisers saying the economy is having a negative impact on fundraising. There is less money and more need.
  • It’s the number of nonprofits. With more than 1.5 million in the U.S. alone (up about half a million in the past four years), and new people starting nonprofits, appeals are up and competition for discretionary funds is greater. 
  • It’s the awareness. With Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth and global leaders speaking out, people believe they need to change their habits to save the world.  We have reached a tipping point in public understanding of climate change and many other issues.
  • It’s the internet. With so many more ways for people to help and ways for nonprofits to reach supporters, it is no longer just direct mail. People can help their favorite nonprofits by nominating, voting, joining, sharing, evangelizing, blogging, petitioning, auctioning, gifting, loaning, and making small changes, taking small actions. 

Is your organization or cause tredding a little differently in this new hyper-connected world?  Do you see your personal style of giving changing? Or, are you just plain overwhelmed?

 
in
Syndicate content