It's Becoming Easier and Easier to Raise Money

It seems that there is a stark divide within this country at this moment. A divide that, at the present, pits generation against generation, traditionalists against modernists, old against new. Whether you fall into the camp of “technology is ruining us as humans” or “technology is bringing about positive change,” it’s tough to debate the effect that new tech has on philanthropy.

While phrases like “I’ll text you” may be debatably sullying our ability to communicate interpersonally as human beings, less-spoken but often-read phrases like “click here to donate” or “support the Johnson family” are having a large-scale effect on how we support charitable causes.

Online fundraising isn’t exactly a “new” means of raising money for positive causes, but with the advent of social media, mass-sharing and more secure online money management methods, the concept is taking on legs of its own in recent years.

Take, for instance, GoFundMe. In essence, GoFundMe is an online fundraising platform–simple, easy to use and effective. But diving deeper and exploring the platform itself lends insight into just how powerful a tool as simple as GoFundMe can be. On it, you’ll find college fundraisers for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford a higher education. You’ll find fundraisers to help the elderly retire, help cover expensive medical costs or help feed the homeless. You’ll also find sombering fundraisers, those that collect money to help a family pay for funeral expenses for a loved one, or start a memorial scholarship in the name of a tragically passed friend.

All of the above lend credibility to the fact that technology has had a monumental impact on how we help others. With a click of a button or a tap of a smartphone screen, philanthropists can give $25 to help a student pay for textbooks, or $5,000 to help a terminally ill child receive the care they need. This wouldn’t have been possible without the intersection of technology and philanthropy.

Facebook has also jumped on the bandwagon, adding the ability to add “Donate” buttons to the pages of certain charitable causes to facilitate online donations. In the second quarter of 2016, Facebook–often named as a “fading” social medium–had about 1.71 billion users. Imagine a single platform–even an amalgamation of numerous platforms–that could possibly reach an audience that large without technology.

The next time you go to chide someone for using their phone too frequently, consider how large an impact that simple technologies like a smartphone or a reliable internet connection could have on the people who need it the most.