By Nancy Millar

I am very new to social media as I grew up in the age of telephones, mail and hand-written cheques. If someone needed me it would have to wait until I was at home and near the phone.

Now this fast-moving age of technology is catching up to me and I have found I must succumb to a certain degree if I want to know

what is going on in the world. I am also very involved in my church and we are always looking at ways we can make a

difference in our community and around the world. So when I heard about Microphilanthropy, I was curious and decided to have

a look at this topic. And these are some of the questions I asked myself.

What is it?

How does it work?

How can I find something I would like to contribute to?

The origin of philanthropy means the “love of humanity”. A more modern definition would be "private initiatives, for public good, focusing on quality of life“. While charity relieves the pains of social problems, philanthropy attempts to solve those problems at their root causes (the difference between giving a hungry man a fish, and teaching him how to fish for himself).- Wikipedia

Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions. -Wikipedia

Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers from a large number of people, typically via the internet. - Wikipedia

What is it?

Microphilanthropy is a model of philanthropy that is based on smaller, more direct interaction between "helpers" and "doers." ”This opens up a broader range of activities such as volunteering, emergency response activities, mentoring, and many other patterns of uplift.” – Wikipedia

Philanthropy + Crowdfunding or Crowdsourcing Microphilanthropy

It can be small contributions by many people of money or a service.

or

It can be ordinary people creating large scale social change by choosing generosity over consumption.

instead of

WHATEVER WAY YOU LOOK AT IT . . .

THIS COULD CHANGE THE WORLD!

How does it work?

According to Munnecke and Wood, Microphilanthropy can be compared to the story of the starfish.

“A little girl was walking along the seashore after high tide, tossing starfish back into the water. She passed a man, who said:

"What are you doing? You do realize that it is impossible to save all those starfish don't you?" She leaned down and picked up a starfish

lying at their feet and tossed it back into the waves. "I saved that one," she said”.”

While a philanthropist might donate one million dollars to a specific

cause (and this could possibly be for a tax right off as much as wanting

to help someone), one million people could donate a dollar to the

same cause and this would be called Microphilanthropy. Not everyone

has one million dollars to donate but most people can donate a dollar,

and maybe on a regular basis. If you then share this information with

people you know via social media, creating web sites that organize this

funding, this then is an opportunity for anyone with a computer to

make a difference in the world, and together, change the world,

through small-scale contributions.

Adam Carter, a microphilanthropist who created The Cause

and Affect Foundation, says in an interview with Capture

Our Flag, that by creating this kind of crowdsourcing, he is

able share his experiences of helping others with friends

and family, by spreading this spiritual goodwill together

through this kind of communal exchange. He can create

ideas and find connections that on his own he would not be

able to afford to do. He also reports back to donors on the

status of the cause they have contributed to.

Let’s look at how Microphilanthropy has impacted people’s lives through an organization called Modest Needs.

Modest Needs is a national non profit form of crowdfunding, empowering members of the general public to make small,

emergency grants to low-income workers who are at risk of slipping into poverty.

By visiting to their website you are able to find and connect with someone with a particular need and make a donation. The funds are not given directly to the individual but are given directly to the area of need such as direct payment of a bill. This type of microphilanthropy helps to keep those at risk from slipping into poverty, thus adding difficulty to their lives and more strain on government assistance.

As I said before, THIS COULD CHANGE THE WORLD!

Have a look at this great online initiative

Through The Small Change Fund, great things are happening.

The Small Change Fund had a goal. It was to advance issues of environmental sustainability and social justice in Canada by supporting the role of grassroots action in advancing these issues. When they started talking about their vision, they shared a common belief:

“Grassroots action is the heart and soul of positive change. People at the grassroots

know best how the need to solve a problem in their community, and they have a deep

and passionate conviction to make it happen. By generating more financial support for grassroots groups, we

believed we could build a stronger, more resilient grassroots movement, to develop solutions

from a local perspective and respond quickly to change.”

How can I find something I would like to contribute to?

By connecting to sites such as:

Charity Champs

Network For Good, or

Give Well.

They will help you search for a charity or cause that you like. Or, you can simply search the internet on your own.

What do people think of the idea?

I wanted to find out how people I know would react to this idea so I posted a question on Facebook (that is my big connection to social media):

“So I am taking a course on Social Media and I am doing an assignment on Microphilanthropy. This is small giving by lots of people, or lots of people helping out with something. So you might find a need on social media and instead of donating $200 dollars to somewhere in Africa, you can donate $20.00 to a specific place or person in Africa along with a lot of other people. So I want to know if this kind of giving would be interesting to you, either through money or your time, instead of trying to make large donations to something. I have to use social media to find my answers so that is why I am asking on FACEBOOK. So, how do you feel about this kind of giving? Thanks for your help.”

This is what some of them said:

”Does it have to be Africa. Or can it be more local to help

the local people out. I like to help our community first.”

”I think donating to a specific person or place would be

wonderful. I would prefer this because you are getting to choose

where your money is going.”

“When donating to overseas

projects a few friends and I

pooled our small donations to

gain 10x our value in a

supplying some vaccines to a

medical clinic in Africa.”

“Most people are willing to give a little toward a specific cause

but if a large amount is required then they are likely to give

nothing. Yes Nancy, more people would be able to contribute and thus feel good about contributing.”

“LOL as you know, Z LOVES using social media to fund raise. We have found that small amounts

towards a certain cause has been the most successful fundraisers for him. Social Media has made

fundraising easier, safer, and people only have to donate if they can or want to without any pressure.

Z loves it!!!”

“I think it is also a great idea! It reaches

more people and enables them to help

others. Not everyone has $200.00

sitting around but $20.00 is more of a

reasonable amount that most people

can give.”

“Organizations for child sponsorship

like Compassion, ICC, World Vision are

based on this type of donation ...

everyone does a little each month and

it adds up to a lot ... Especially for the

little ones who benefit.”

Can my church benefit fromthis kind of giving?

The Bible says in Acts 20: 35“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

So you can see we are in the business of giving. As I find a charity or cause I want to donate to, I can upload a link to that charity on my church

website, telling about my involvement with it and how others can get onboard. If everyone did this, we would be a great community of

Microphilanthropists.

Did I mention that THIS COULD CHANGE THE WORLD?

Are there risks when donating throughsocial media? How can I protect myself?

“Corruption is certainly active element in many countries. If a transaction is too small to be of consideration for corrupt officials, then the gift is less likely to be purloined. For example, a pair of shoes sent through the mail to someone in Kenya is not likely to arrive. If, however, the pair is broken up into two packages, each sent separately, it is much more likely that the recipient will get the pair delivered. The value of each shoe individually is below the radar screen of those who would steal them.

If we lower the value of each gift and increase the quantity, it is possible that we can increase the probability of the gifts making it to their destinations. If the gift is actually encoded in a bit stream and is merely an electronic communication, it becomes even more difficult to thwart the delivery of the gift.” excerpt from Towards a Model of Micro Philanthropy

You can also check out the Smart Givers Network for some great tips on keeping yourself safe when giving to charities through an online source.

Whatever the case, do your homework before taking the plunge and then you too can be someone who CHANGES THE WORLD!

Now you know a little more about this great idea of Microphilanthropy and how, through small giving, you too can make a BIG difference to that ‘one starfish’.

Publications

Towards a Model of Micro PhilanthropyTom Munnecke and Heather Wood Ion

May 2002