SXSW 2010 PanelPicker - Will Kiva Kill Your Nonprofit? Donations 2.0

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Title:

Will Kiva Kill Your Nonprofit? Donations 2.0

Your vote:

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Organizer:

Skylar Woodward, Kiva

Description:

Connecting donors directly to the beneficiaries of contributions is a game-changing fundraising strategy. Will traditional nonprofits need to adopt new technologies and fundraising models as donors demand greater accountability for their funds? This vibrant, moderated discussion will include representatives from Kiva, OptINnow, and 2 national advocacy organizations.

Questions Answered:

Have social media and Web 2.0 fundamentally changed donors’ expectations about data availability?
What is Kiva, and how is their approach to online fundraising unique?
Why is “doing Twitter” not the same as being a leader in online donations?
According to current research, what are online donors looking for from non-profits? Are their needs different from those of offline donors?
How can nonprofits with other models or causes take advantage of the same strategies for stronger donor relationships?
How can your nonprofit offer greater transparency and accountability in donations?
While technology gives nonprofits powerful options to increase their transparency to donors, what logistical or organizational barriers still prevent some organizations from doing so?
Can we help more people/change the world faster with Kiva than traditional models?
What lessons can we learn from Kiva about embodying the Web 2.0 spirit even in their offline work?
Do collaborative efforts threaten organizations who only use traditional direct marketing fundraising tactics?

Level:

Intermediate

Category:

Business / Entrepreneurial / Monetization, Economic Concerns, New Technology / Next Generation, Non-Profits, User Experience

Type:

Panel

Event:

Interactive 2010

This panel will explore some tough and revealing questions about whether nonprofits must use the social web to offer donors a transparent, direct connection to the real-world impact of their giving. Kiva’s groundbreaking work in online microfinance is motivating some organizations, and forcing others, to find ways to compete on the direct-to-beneficiary giving model. But is the Kiva model relevant beyond the microlending space? OptINnow, among others, is innovating micro-funding for making small donations directly to beneficiaries. Advocacy organizations are tying their asks to small discrete efforts to increase the tangibility of their donors contributions. Is the direct-to-beneficiary giving model responding to smaller dollar donors interests? Is it creating a new expectation against which everyone will need to compete? What might it take for organizations to evolve to this approach? If they don’t evolve, will their donors leave them for someone else who does?

Join moderator Michael Cervino of Beaconfire Consulting and panelists Skylar Woodward, Director of the Kiva Developer Program, Ian Haisley, Online Marketing Communications Manager at OptINnow, and two advocacy organization representatives to explore this new model and what future it may hold for donors and organizations alike.

Definitely an interesting set of questions. Do people need or even want most/many organizations when there are local and/or highly focused or short-term projects out there and ready made ways to raise $ for them?

This is a really interesting idea for a discussion. I know that many non-profits struggle with the idea of tying their donations to specific programs because donors like to know what their money is actually funding, but that makes it difficult to raise general operating funds. It would be good to know what others are doing and what are the things that non-profits might want to be thinking about for a new model.

This just in - Amnesty International, a leader in the human rights field for nearly 60 years, is able to participate. If this panel is chosen, Milo Sybrant, Online Fundraising Manager at Amnesty International USA, will be on hand to discuss evolving approaches to advocacy. Since microlending, microfinance and advocacy organizations are on the panel, the conversation will be able explore areas of overlap and those of incompatibility among various direct-to-beneficiary models.

I'm really looking forward to this discussion! We spend so much time engrossed in our model we don't often get to step outside of Kivaland and consider how this is affecting online philanthropy at large. The intimacy and transparency of a Kiva loan certainly comes at a cost. To what extent is it reasonable to expect other organizations to correlate every dollar to good done in the world? Are we setting donor expectations too high or is this the reality of technology-enabled world driven by postmodern values? If this is the future, how do we scale operations, especially on a non-profit budget, to keep accurate data flowing between donors and recipients?!? At Kiva we've certainly had to find the balance between perceived impact and explaining what's actually going on under the code and on the ground.

It will be great to engage in this debate with others that have been doing fundraising much longer than us, and those who are trying the new models out for themselves. Keep the pre-discussion rolling and let us know which questions you're most eager to discuss!

Definitely sounds interesting, as I see lots of non-profits being left behind with these new strategies to for fund raising. Here in NYC I continuously see non profits asking for money on the street?? I don't give cash, and I only give online via credit card. Am I the only way who practices these kinds of rules when it comes to "giving"?

Theres not much transparency in a person on the side of the road wearing an "official non profit" t-shirt collecting cash money.

Awesome topic. The future of non profits is an important one.

Having worked with both Milo and Michael I know this panel will be dynamic and interesting. With the collection of minds from Kiva, OptInNow, and Amnesty I can't wait to hear this discussion.

Wow, I think this is really compelling topic considering the desire for donors and investors to have access to software that empowers them to interact directly with what their money is doing and also the increasing demand for specificity in the non-profit arena where giving is concerned. I look forward to hearing more about what other non-profits can learn from Kiva and OptINnow and also what the panelists have found to be limitations with the peer-to-peer lending strategy.

Great topic! Looking forward to listening to this!

After being engaged in the microfinance conversation and experiencing the effectiveness of peer-to-peer lending sites, I think this would be a valuable contribution to the discussion regarding developing donor engagement methods! Do it!

I think this is a great way to open up the debate, and a chance to learn from each other - those who are more 'traditional' in their models, and those who embrace the new technology - cherry picking the best of both worlds is surely the best option, and this is a great opportunity to discuss the pitfalls and successes of microfinance.

This is a great idea for a panel. One of my concerns about these new online giving models is whether big donors will now choose to go online to fund loans to entrepreneurs of their choosing versus giving donations that can be used at the organization's discretion to support the most needed programs and operations. Perhaps this could be addressed by the panel.

This discussion proves to be an interesting one because it raises important questions about the ethics of direct-to-beneficiary fundraising when the human lives are involved. It's one thing to make a gift to cover the costs of snacks for children in a New York City school (as is possible through orgs like DonorsChoose). But it's a different proposition to ask someone to make a contribution in order to get a specific political prisoner released from detention in Iran. I'm very interested in hearing other panelists' and conference participants' thoughts on these questions.

These days I see a lot of non-profits and cause oriented organizations borrowing pages from Kiva.org - from fundraising to marketing, Kiva.org has almost become an example of a "next-generation" non-profit. There's something about the way Kiva.org embraces transparency, operations, and engagement which has made it a phenomena. WRT fundraising specifically, in a way Kiva is doing what Radiohead did when they launched their album for free and asked fans to pay what they wished; at the point of transaction, Kiva says "hey, we're offering this service for free, but if you wish to help us do what we do, please pitch in" -- and it's working. I for one am very curious to see if this model (and the associated transparency and required operational efficiency) might work for other organizations as fundraising is one of the biggest challenges non-profits face.

This is definitely an interesting topic. I first heard of Kiva a couple years ago when I was at Amnesty Intl, and we had an "internet summit" to discuss the best of the best ideas out there. Kiva came up, and ever since then I loved what they did. I'm not sure it's going to kill non-profits though. Yes, there is a place for direct aid, and for tangible gifts. But my gut says that this will swing the other way. What about the larger systemic issues that underlie the poverty Kiva hopes to alleviate? There are huge issues that won't be tackled by direct aid groups. I know it's much harder to be an advo org, that argues for the ambiguous, often slowly moving change. But our hope for a better future relies on these advocacy orgs.

As for transparency, I think all non-profits have a long way to go. It's only a matter of time before watchdog groups pop-up to make sure non-profits are being excellent stewards of the gifts they receive. And as much of a pain in the toosh it'll be to deal w/ these watchdogs, it'll force many sloppy orgs to get their act together and be much more careful with how the spend their money. This is not a comment about Amnesty or any other org specifically, but it's based on 15 years of working for many many groups and often seeing the same issues over and over. We need more transparency. This will lead to greater trust, which in the long run is what all orgs need. Wish I was attending. I'm one of Milo's biggest fan.

This should be an interesting panel. It is fairly straightforward to see how the Kiva/DonorsChoose models of micro loans and direct donations can apply to/possibly supplant organizations that primarily serve as bundlers, vetters, and conduits for individual projects and direct assistance. I'm curious to see how the panelists feel the model can apply to other spheres such as advocacy groups.

I think that this panel provides an excellent forum to hear from leaders in the P2P lending & donation space AND to extend that conversation to how do the principles of transparency, measuring impact, connection translate to other aspects of an organization's work. What learnings can be applied to large scale donations, infrastructure, program needs, advocacy. And, how do you manage donor expectations, reporting, impact and sustainability.We all have to learn to evolve. Kiva has provided a case study many of us can learn from, hopefully not die from. I work at Opportunity/OptINnow - count me in for this dynamic discussion!

Can't beat a session with Kiva to evaluate how the innovative work they have done has changed the fundraising space. Not asking the easy questions but good to have this conversation about transparency in a transparent environment!

Exciting, important topic with well respected panelists...will be an interesting panel!

Great topic. Doesn't every non-profit aspire to donor connection, organizational transparency, and connecting funds directly to the needs with minimal overhead? Certainly because of human and organizational frailty we don't fully achieve these goals. But isn't the Kiva approach what we all should be aiming for? And if not, why not?

Awesome topic.

Terrific info in support of small enterprise. Great idea!

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