Adoption Fundraising With Widgets

Here’s a cool idea for adoption fundraising from adoptive mom, Beth Kanter: a Widget Campaign. A widget is simply a graphical gadget (in this case, a fundraising progress meter) that even non-techies can easily embed on a blog or Web site (more on how to do that in a minute).

Beth Kanter, the mother of two children adopted from Cambodia, writes on her blog:
When we adopted our beautiful children, we also adopted their birth
country. We have embraced Khmer culture and we also feel a
responsibility to give something back to the country, particularly to
seriously disadvantaged children in Cambodia. Soon after coming home
with our first child nearly seven years ago, I volunteered for the Sharing Foundation,
an ngo that works directly with local officials, orphanages, and NGOs
in Cambodia to identify and carry out projects which improve the lives
of children.  I now serve on the board.

She explains that the Sharing Foundation works to create and improve
educational opportunities for Cambodian children of all ages, including
public school projects, pre-school, Khmer literacy, English language
instruction, high school and college sponsorships, and vocational
training.

Beth’s family contributes $750 annually to sponsor an orphan’s college education through the Sharing Foundation.  She created the Sharing Foundation widget using ChipIn, a Web-based service that provided her with a widget that displays her monetary goal, how much money has been
raised, and the date her fundraising campaign ends. She raised $872, exceeding her goal!

ChipIn does not charge any fees for organizers and contributors of events which raise less than $10,000. ChipIn processes and tracks all contributions, which can be made via PayPal or any major credit card. ChipIn users can have the funds directly deposited into their bank accounts, receive a check after the fundraising event is completed, or deposited to whatever PayPal account you specify.

Beth lists the names of donors to her widget campaign on her blog (I assume she obtained permission from her donors to use their names).

Beth’s latest project was to set up a charity badge  at Network for Good to support the Sharing Foundation’s educational programs. Network For Good Charity Badges are a beta release now, which means there might be bugs, but Beth says you can upload personal photos, text, and video on them.

She writes:

"You can select the
recipient from the charities registered on Network for Good. The main incentive for me to set this up was that you can also create
it through Yahoo!’s Network of Giving campaign and the Sharing Foundation could receive up to $50,000 in matching funds, plus publicity on Yahoo!’s web site."

Thanks, Beth, for sharing such a great fundraising idea! Readers, if you are looking for a good cause for year-end giving, consider contributing to Beth’s campaign to benefit the Sharing Foundation.