Dear Mashable,

While I applaud your desire to do good while tweeting, blogging and partying – the Summer of Social Good (SoSG) once again proved that we are not raising significant funds via social media. And I am the first to be disappointed. If you can’t pull it off, who can?

I agree! The non-profit industry needs to get on board with social media. Like on-line giving a decade ago, the industry can be slow on the uptake. While engaging in the social media is not the end all and be all for non-profit organizations – it definitely needs to be a part of an overall marketing and fundraising plan.

However, I must be the only person, working full-time for nonprofit organizations, that sees some of the challenges regarding the “success” in raising almost $35,000 to be divided by four.

I also have a great deal of respect for:

• WWF assets = 2007 revenue $160M+
• LiveStrong 2008 revenue $40M+
• The Humane Society 2008 revenue $131M+
• Oxfam – 207 revenue $9M+

These very large, international groups are doing great work with professional, full-time staff including amazing social media folks. They each must raise at least $35K EACH in a week!

I am glad Mashable launched the SoSG and delighted they could host some fun parties in the name of charity and potentially raise some awareness. And $35K is $35K, but there was a lot of press for not a lot of dough…especially when divided by four.

Let’s start a conversation about impact and making a difference – IMPACT how many lives changed, people and animals helped – for less than $9,000…..??? Nice start. What’s next? We have to learn how to harness the power of social media for good and make an impact at the same time. I also realize there were a number of impact measures – RTs, watching videos, attending the conference, corporate partnership.

A question I hope you would ask – Does giving less than $9,000 to each of the four organizations have an impact?

• Could a larger, better impact have been to give the $35K to one organization to spend as they see fit or invest in social media planning and implementation?
• Host a grant process for organizations that can REALLY use $35K or even $9K to make a difference in their communities?

I am sure you thought of all these ideas with the great minds you brought to the table to create, organize and implement the SoSG.

It was generous generous of Zappos, MailChimp and Hyatt to sponsor the SoSG, I bet the expenses for the events in each city cost more than $9,000 each. And I get the price of ALL tickets purchased went directly to the Mashable non-profit fund – but DONATING and/or MATCHING all the gifts made would have meant $70K was raised – now there’s a number worthy of sponsors like Zappos, MailChimp and Mashable.

I applaud your investment in the conference. Our industry needs you to lead the social media conversation. And I look forward to continuing opportunities for sharing and learning as well as the results from the survey. Think about collaborating with organizations already hosting major conferences for non-profit leaders – Association of Fundraising Professionals, Direct Marketing Association, Association of Society Executives of America, Association Foundation Group, BoardSource the list goes on and on.    

Good effort. Now let’s get a fundraising strategy on the table that really makes an impact!

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