Digital donations & new technologies
#Sharingiscaring
If I am choosing to write this article today is because my homeland Lebanon is in trouble and urgently needs international help and financial support.
This article aims to explain how technology has transformed the way we give, but also to raise awareness about the importance of donating especially during these strenuous conditions.
Technology has helped people, especially the Millennials to discover the world of charities, their goals, their impact and concretely understand how all this money is spent. It has actually changed transparency, which has improved the number of donations coming from all ages.
#BigData
In spite of this boom, a lot of people still hesitate or perhaps don’t really get the chance to participate because of bad communication. However, technology is changing the situation. It is henceforth possible to hugely increase donations and make bigger impacts thanks to the exciting innovation of big data and analytics.
Here’s an example to understand how it works :
#Bitcoin
Another new technology in digital donations is bitcoin and blockchain. An increasing number of charities are starting to accept bitcoin donations, including Fidelity Charitable, the largest donor-advised fund program in America, which took in $69 million worth of cryptocurrency donations in 2017. This increase is due to the reduction of barriers and instead using transparency to facilitate the act of donating. It also allows the donator to see where his money is moved and when was it used.
#SocialMedia
Social media has helped a lot the spread of collecting donations : from facebook, instagram stories, text messaging and many other ways… It is now easier to donate than ever before. And we have noticed that, when the way is easier, people are willing to donate more. Yet, there might be new ways of donations, for exemple via Amazon or Apple (iMessage, iTunes…). Maybe these companies could create a way to encourage people to donate, like when they buy something on Amazon.
A successful fundraising campaign on social media is based on 4 steps :
#DonateForLebanon
Lebanon is plugging into darkness. Today, the basic human rights are violated. No electricity, no fuel, no medications, no water, no bread… People are literally starving, they cannot find basic food, which is being thrown because of power outages. Lebanese people have maximum 2 hours of electricity during the day. A shortage of fuel has caused an explosion in the north of Lebanon, killing at least 28 people and injuring 80 others. People are queuing for at least 6 hours each day in the strong sun of August to get fuel for their cars. It is dehumanizing!
You can still send some help for people there. This is a list of trusted websites collecting donations for Lebanon :
- Save the children : https://www.savethechildren.org/us/where-we-work/lebanon
- global giving : https://www.globalgiving.org/search/?size=25&nextPage=1&sortField=sortorder&selectedCountries=00lebano&loadAllResults=true
- Beit el Baraka : https://beitelbaraka.org/
- Donner des médicaments : MedsForLebanon https://www.medsforlebanon.com/
- Assameh Birth & Beyond : https://www.assamehbb.org/
- ICRC : https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/lebanon