In April, the Knight Foundation and Monitor Institute published a new report called “Connected Citizens” that looks at the impact of networks on communities, and asks, what do these emerging networks mean for community change?  The report was filled with examples, but more and more are coming to life everyday. And, with resources like “Like Minded” that facilitate the fast sharing of best practices, we’re bound to see more.

Here’s one:

ACTion Alexandria is an online civic engagement initiative with three main goals:

• Create a vibrant online platform that inspires offline action, where challenges are posted, solutions are debated, successes and failures are archived, data is both disseminated and captured, stories are shared, and essential civic relationships developed.


• Improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable residents in a cost-efficient manner through a platform that provides everyone a voice and the opportunity to identify problems and offer solutions.


• Engage residents and business people in problem solving to strengthen community ties and increase each individual’s stake in creating positive outcomes for specific community problems.

But, what happens when you pair a connected citizenry with social fundraising?

ACTion Alexandria’s social fundraising initiative, “Spring2ACTion,” raised $104,156 in donations and matching grants for 47 participating nonprofits. The effort, held May 5-7 encouraged Alexandria citizens to donate using a variety of Razoo’s social fundraising tools from Facebook and Twitter outreach to emails and website widgets. (Disclaimer: Razoo is a Zoetica client).

Social fundraising is the practice of using person to person online media to solicit online donations. In all, 1265 citizens donated to the causes during Spring2ACTion, almost one percent of Alexandria City’s 150,000 person population. The average donation was $59, and the frequency of donations increased each day of the initiative. Twenty five percent of the donations were $10 gifts.

Does a fundraising campaign simply happen by itself or are there core organizers who help with lift off? How much collective fundraising is magic or just happens versus having a strong group of organizers behind it? I’m also curious about the role of Free Agent fundraisers or in this context “Militant Optimists” what does it take to be successful?

What you think?

By Beth Kanter

Beth is the author of Beth’s Blog, one of the longest running and most popular blogs for nonprofits and co-author of the highly acclaimed book, The Networked Nonprofit, published  by J. Wiley in 2010.