Sunday, January 31, 2010

Philanthropy, New Media, and Tragedy in Haiti: A New Era Brings New Ways to Help

I wrote the below a few weeks ago, and am just getting around to posting it here. An earlier version is posted here. Many others are focusing on the impact of new media - here and here are two great blogs to watch on this topic.

Philanthropy, New Media, and Tragedy in Haiti: A New Era Brings New Ways to Help

It will take years to fully recover from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12. Along the way, a tremendous amount of resources will be required to help heal the injured, rebuild infrastructure, and provide general relief and services. As with many natural disasters before, both large- and small-scale organizations are already on the ground, trying to create order in chaos and help restore impacted areas to functional.

What makes the response to this tragic event different is the immediate utilization of new media to help organize efforts and, perhaps even more importantly, raise funds to support the work that needs to be done. Asking for help is inevitable when tragedy strikes; new tools, however, are making it is even easier to participate.

Perhaps nothing has had as immediate an impact over the last few days as mobile text messaging. This has been a critical element of sharing information and raising funds. The use of text messaging has been employed with great success – millions have been donated to aid organizations at a pace never seen before.

This type of effort has been in existence for several years, with organizations like MobileGiving.org establishing the process for a wide array of charities to receive donations via text messaging. This disaster, however, is a turning point for text donation opportunities, and with more than 280 million Americans possessing a mobile phone, we should anticipate that this avenue for supporting a specific cause will grow exponentially in the coming year. Chances are that this will become a de facto element of future fund raising efforts.

Twitter, the popular microblogging service, has also been a tremendous source of information regarding the earthquake aftereffects. Search for the hashtag #haiti and you will find yourself in a sea of tweets from individuals organizations. The information ranges from first person accounts (including pictures), detail on relief efforts, donation details, news, reactions, and conversations on how to help.

As evidence of how mainstream media has embraced this tool, one needs to look no further than NBC News Correspondent Ann Curry (@AnnCurry). An avid user of Twitter, she actively solicited local individuals for interviews.

The above is a brief but powerful display of how technology has influenced our immediate response to world events. It also highlights the importance of these tools as a means of gathering information and a growing expectation that we should be able to find real time updates for world events as they unfold. Long after #haiti stops being a top trending topic (i.e., one of the most referenced subjects), the tag will still be a viable way to see what people are talking about, providing a rich data source for insight on ongoing developments.

Creativity combined with new media has accomplished the feat of shortening the distance between a private citizen’s desire to help and the ability to do so by leveraging familiar tools and creating mechanisms to instantly connect and support. What will be tested in the coming months is the ability to keep individuals engaged and connected to the ongoing needs of a damaged country.

There is a danger that the immediacy of text donations provides people with a sense of “I’ve done my part, and I can move on” when in reality the harder part is the long term rebuilding efforts. In an information-soaked world, organizations will have to embrace the tools of new media (and the spirit of transparency and accountability) to maintain the attention of potential supporters, reminding them of why they acted in the first place, specifics of how their participation has made an impact, and how their continued support will influence positive change.

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