App of the Day: Causes
14/07/07 23:27 Filed in: Reviews
The Pitch:
Causes is ideal for
people who have had the urge to
join, or donate to, a worthy cause
and decided not to because they
could not easily find one online.
Essentially, every cause ever
thought of — and some created just
for the application — is here ready
to be joined and to receive
donations. Users are not obligated
to actually do anything more than
click "join" — and instantly they
are part of a movement. If they are
feeling a bit more generous, it’s
easy to donate money, connect with
other members and recruit others to
the cause.
The Good:
The concept itself is pretty sweet: Raising money for worthy causes is never a bad thing. It is also a nice way to see who is putting their money where their mouth is so to speak . There is also an informative value in seeing the numbers behind some of these movements, and even more in the lack thereof in some cases. For instance, the legalize marijuana movement has raised only $68despite 33,000 members — suggesting it may be illegal for a while longer. Another curious and fun development is the pattern already familiar in Facebook Groups where people passionately opposed to the cause/group join and attempt to educate the ardent believers. This results in an elevated and stirring discourse between the two sides.
Not as Good:
Conceptually, it’s hard to find much to fault here. However, there are several complaints on discussion boards about organizations not receiving the money donated (this has the potential to become a big problem), and recruits/donations not being displayed in a user's profile (not as big of a problem). It is not clear how they are verifying 501(c)3 status of the organizations, and I doubt many of the "causes" have such a status. This is something to check on before taking the tax deduction. The only other nit pick is the number of racist groups. I would not suggest censoring groups that have members (hey everyone is entitled to their "cause," whatever it may be) but if a group like "Send Them Back to Africa" is going to be displayed it should at least have one member claiming responsibility for it. Hopefully the owners will consider deleting causes with no members.
Monetization Possibilities:
I think that is the point. Actually, in addition to raising money, it raises awareness for a cause as well. For example, I had no idea there was a movement to "Put Paris Hilton Back in the Slammer" until seeing it on Causes. (There are only two members at this point!)
In most cases the money being raised is relatively small — exceptions include Save Darfur, Invisible Children, and Support Breast Cancer Research. These are obviously causes that exist outside of Facebook, but perhaps the platform has enabled an easy way to donate money. Any application that aspires to monetize should take a good look at how seamlessly it has been done here. The donate button directs users to a secure Web site where a credit card is processed, and the user is redirected to Facebook. The donated money shows up in the "my causes" area. It could not be any easier to donate.
Is it Contagious:
Causes is another application with a top-20 user base (joining previously profiled Where I've Been). The viral strategy of Causes borrows a page from the old George Bush Rangers/Pioneers playbook (and now copied by all aspiring presidential candidates). It consists of the following (over-complexization included):
1. I support X cause.
2. I publicly join X cause.
3. I donate Y amount of money to X.
4. I get others to join X cause.
5. They donate Y amount of money.
6. I get public credit for
a.) the money I donated
b.) the people I recruited to the cause
c.) the money I — and they — donated to said cause
7. I get a warm feeling for doing good (or bad, in some cases — there is not a requirement that the cause be a noble one).
So far the strategy seems to be working. Very few of my friends are members, which only seems to suggest that I have very apathetic friends. The ease of joining a cause seen on someone else's page or donating to a special cause is very easy, and Causes has done a great job of utilizing its box space for maximum effect. Raise enough money and become listed in the "Hall of Fame" for that cause. Personally, it seems as though converting someone from a competing cause should be worth more than getting the loyalty of someone previously unaffiliated. This might encourage even more heated discussions on the cause walls (Credit Appaholic for the chart).
Make a difference, on Facebook! Causes on Facebook lets you start and join the causes you care about. Donations to causes can benefit over a million registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits.
Causes is ideal for
people who have had the urge to
join, or donate to, a worthy cause
and decided not to because they
could not easily find one online.
Essentially, every cause ever
thought of — and some created just
for the application — is here ready
to be joined and to receive
donations. Users are not obligated
to actually do anything more than
click "join" — and instantly they
are part of a movement. If they are
feeling a bit more generous, it’s
easy to donate money, connect with
other members and recruit others to
the cause.
The Good:
The concept itself is pretty sweet: Raising money for worthy causes is never a bad thing. It is also a nice way to see who is putting their money where their mouth is so to speak . There is also an informative value in seeing the numbers behind some of these movements, and even more in the lack thereof in some cases. For instance, the legalize marijuana movement has raised only $68despite 33,000 members — suggesting it may be illegal for a while longer. Another curious and fun development is the pattern already familiar in Facebook Groups where people passionately opposed to the cause/group join and attempt to educate the ardent believers. This results in an elevated and stirring discourse between the two sides.
Not as Good:
Conceptually, it’s hard to find much to fault here. However, there are several complaints on discussion boards about organizations not receiving the money donated (this has the potential to become a big problem), and recruits/donations not being displayed in a user's profile (not as big of a problem). It is not clear how they are verifying 501(c)3 status of the organizations, and I doubt many of the "causes" have such a status. This is something to check on before taking the tax deduction. The only other nit pick is the number of racist groups. I would not suggest censoring groups that have members (hey everyone is entitled to their "cause," whatever it may be) but if a group like "Send Them Back to Africa" is going to be displayed it should at least have one member claiming responsibility for it. Hopefully the owners will consider deleting causes with no members.
Monetization Possibilities:
I think that is the point. Actually, in addition to raising money, it raises awareness for a cause as well. For example, I had no idea there was a movement to "Put Paris Hilton Back in the Slammer" until seeing it on Causes. (There are only two members at this point!)
In most cases the money being raised is relatively small — exceptions include Save Darfur, Invisible Children, and Support Breast Cancer Research. These are obviously causes that exist outside of Facebook, but perhaps the platform has enabled an easy way to donate money. Any application that aspires to monetize should take a good look at how seamlessly it has been done here. The donate button directs users to a secure Web site where a credit card is processed, and the user is redirected to Facebook. The donated money shows up in the "my causes" area. It could not be any easier to donate.
Is it Contagious:
Causes is another application with a top-20 user base (joining previously profiled Where I've Been). The viral strategy of Causes borrows a page from the old George Bush Rangers/Pioneers playbook (and now copied by all aspiring presidential candidates). It consists of the following (over-complexization included):
1. I support X cause.
2. I publicly join X cause.
3. I donate Y amount of money to X.
4. I get others to join X cause.
5. They donate Y amount of money.
6. I get public credit for
a.) the money I donated
b.) the people I recruited to the cause
c.) the money I — and they — donated to said cause
7. I get a warm feeling for doing good (or bad, in some cases — there is not a requirement that the cause be a noble one).
So far the strategy seems to be working. Very few of my friends are members, which only seems to suggest that I have very apathetic friends. The ease of joining a cause seen on someone else's page or donating to a special cause is very easy, and Causes has done a great job of utilizing its box space for maximum effect. Raise enough money and become listed in the "Hall of Fame" for that cause. Personally, it seems as though converting someone from a competing cause should be worth more than getting the loyalty of someone previously unaffiliated. This might encourage even more heated discussions on the cause walls (Credit Appaholic for the chart).