Comments on: Clicking never looked so good: the new dynamics of online fundraising http://www.netfornonprofits.org/2008/08/06/clicking-never-looked-so-good-the-new-dynamics-of-online-fundraising/ Using the Net for Non Profits Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:00:23 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Sean http://www.netfornonprofits.org/2008/08/06/clicking-never-looked-so-good-the-new-dynamics-of-online-fundraising/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Sean Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:57:36 +0000 http://www.netfornonprofits.org/?p=11#comment-3 Following on from the Avaaz reference...online petitions only get you so far, right? So Avaaz often follows it up with a direct action: they take the signed petitions and physically present them to world leaders at a summit, or turn them into a document that gets mailed out to VIPs. This idea of turning a mass of "virtual" support into a physical thing is, I think, the key to really making a difference with the net. Clay Shirky (personal hero and internet theorist) writes about just this sort of thing in his recent book, "Here Comes Everybody." The example he uses is the internet campaign to bring back the cancelled TV show "Jericho." A group of aggrieved fans fostered widespread support online to bring back the show. Then they encouraged all their members to send packages of nuts to the executives at the Network ("Nuts!" was a reference to a line uttered by a character in the show - I think you had to be a fan to get it, but whatever floats your boat.) An online petition can be ignored. Several tons of nuts sitting on you loading dock is harder to miss. Anyways, strange example, but it captures the essence of what I'm saying :) Following on from the Avaaz reference…online petitions only get you so far, right? So Avaaz often follows it up with a direct action: they take the signed petitions and physically present them to world leaders at a summit, or turn them into a document that gets mailed out to VIPs. This idea of turning a mass of “virtual” support into a physical thing is, I think, the key to really making a difference with the net. Clay Shirky (personal hero and internet theorist) writes about just this sort of thing in his recent book, “Here Comes Everybody.” The example he uses is the internet campaign to bring back the cancelled TV show “Jericho.” A group of aggrieved fans fostered widespread support online to bring back the show. Then they encouraged all their members to send packages of nuts to the executives at the Network (”Nuts!” was a reference to a line uttered by a character in the show – I think you had to be a fan to get it, but whatever floats your boat.)

An online petition can be ignored. Several tons of nuts sitting on you loading dock is harder to miss. Anyways, strange example, but it captures the essence of what I’m saying :)

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