Dan Pallotta once said, “People are yearning to be asked to use the full measure of their potential for something they care about.” And he's right.
One of the various ways we can support is by donating either our time, support or money to a cause we care about. There’s no shortage of opportunities to do our part, but there’s a massive gap, trust.
So why is it so hard to donate online?
For one, our journey is completely fragmented, moving from platform to platform. More solutions become available to make an impact with donations, but it also creates an unnecessary complex experience that often involves too many forms to fill in, and no consistent visibility on where the impact is felt.
Only 56 per cent of people globally trust NGOs. The next generation of donors want more transparency in the products they consume, to the causes they support. Consistently building transparency is more important than ever for nonprofits and commercial brands alike, blockchain technology can vastly simplify how we give.
At its basic level, blockchain is a system of recording information. A chain of blocks that include meaningful information that is very hard, or rather impossible to change. Every transaction records the data, the transaction itself, and a timestamp.
Think of it this way, If an NGO website had a micropayment feature that allowed you to contribute as much or as little as you wanted, with no personal data shared, no forms or credit card information to divulge. Wouldn’t this instantly unlock our potential to support?
Now imagine, coupling blockchain technology with the platforms we spend so much time scrolling through. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok catch fire with viral challenges for dancing routines, but what if those same moves could also fuel an action to drive meaningful impact beyond a double-tap. By embedding the opportunity to donate to view the content, and or participate and interact. This is exactly where awareness turns into an opportunity for impact.
What can be done
Decentralizing and simplifying the giving process from small one-off donations to staying top of mind for one-time donors to reoccurring support. NGOs will need to diversify their marketing efforts to include gamification and participation, across various mediums. This takes planning and creativity.
I recently had a conversation with an NGO who explained that the reason making an impact through online giving is so challenging by using similar strategies to that of the for-profit space is that with the commercial space, you give something to get something in return, whereas with a non-profit there is no such transaction, other than your conscious.
I still think NGOs have a lot to offer to their potential and existing donors, one of these areas being the knowledge of the impact. All of which can be turned into digital assets through courses, lectures, experiences, connections. Content. And that is a powerful online vehicle. UNICEF's Innovation Fund is currently leveraging on this by developing open-source, blockchain-based solutions toward greater financial inclusion. Making it the first time a cohort is receiving both USD and cryptocurrency.
While online donors may give considerably less than a private donor or partnership, NGOs need to be able to shout about the great work that they do, by cultivating communities online, one way is via hybrid virtual events, combining this with the opportunity to simplify giving and participating, without compromising data or investments for event spaces, contracts and more.
If we want to connect and resonate with the next generation, we must do so in this native backyard, the platforms we are on, with communication and content that speaks to the truth of the impact, and how we can be a part of something bigger. In 2020 we had no choice but to learn and adapt to a virtually connected world, payment technologies were not spared in this effort and thus opening possibilities to digitally transform how NGOs view online engagement as a driving force of where we give, and moreover how.
We’re excited to explore blockchain technology and its use across causes and businesses. Schedule a chat with us today.
