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May 29, 2009

Raising 'Twollars' for a Good Cause

Even your most cash-strapped donors have the wherewithal to contribute “twollars” — a virtual “currency of appreciation” in circulation on the social networking site, Twitter, designed to raise awareness and money for charity.

According to a twollars fact sheet, each Twitter user is assigned 50 twollars which can by freely exchanged over the network via 140-character “tweets.” But only nonprofit groups can cash in the virtual currency for real dollars (at an exchange rate of 10 twollars to $1). Users who exhaust their twollar bank accounts can purchase more from charities, or earn them by visiting Web sites of businesses that give them away.

Rebecca Leaman at the blog Wild Apricot asks the critical question: Will these virtual dollars ever add up to real cash for charities? Her hunch? Unlikely.

While the concept has apparently raised $1,500 for for charity: water, that group’s position as a test cause for twollars makes its experience atypical, she predicts.

“When the conversion of twollars to dollars depends on Twitter users reaching for their credit cards instead of their keyboards, and promotion has to come from your own network of supporters, ‘your mileage may vary,’” she writes.

As with most other social networking tools, she writes, the real utility of twollars will likely be as an awareness-raising device.

To date, nearly 60 nonprofit groups have signed up to receive twollar donations, including Vitamin Angels and Livestrong.

Is your organization one of them? What do you think of the idea? Share your comments below.

— Paula Wasley

Friday May 29, 2009 | Permalink

Comments

1. If nothing else charity awareness is raised. Though a previous Twitter campaign #charitytuesday you were able, for example, to give a cup of rice to a starving child just by clicking on a website button. It is perhaps easy to be cynical. But we must continue to strive to help those less fortunate than ourselves. It may be that 6 million Twitter users can contribute to easing the world’s plight. If nothing else it gained world attention. It will become a permanent fixture of Twitter “Twollars : The Currency of Appreciation”

   — Philip Finlay-Bryan    May 29, 02:26 PM    #

2. I don’t know if this concept will get legs or not but it is interesting. I do believe that there is a whole world of people who do not give to charity who just have never thought about it. The twitter “community” may be fertile ground for a certain group of new donors who everything has to be super easy for. If I want to give to a particular charity why not just go to their website rather than to Twollars. But if I’d like to make a small donation to 5 or 10 charities, then twollars is i a super easy convenient way to do it. Like Rebecca Leaman I am doubtful. However people spend millions of dollars on bottled water which you can get for free at your sink. Twollars doesn’t seem to have the widespread marketing push to really make a big push yet. Maybe what they need is Oprah…..She’s on Twitter after all.

   — Marion Conway    May 29, 03:35 PM    #

3. Thanks so much for bringing this discussion to your readers, Paula! I’m actually fairly excited about these new “fundraising” tools that are popping up on social networks – not because I expect micro-donations by social media to pull our cash-strapped charities into lush green pastures, but because (a) the cost of entry tends to be very very low, which makes it accessible to even the tiniest volunteer-run nonprofits, and (b) the word-of-mouth value in giving folks an easy way to show their support is simply priceless. Fundraising is not always about the money, right?

   — Rebecca Leaman    May 29, 04:01 PM    #

4. Admittedly, if the Twollar concept relies on individuals buying Twollars from charities to share around then there is probably limited income potential. But what if companies start offering Twollars as part of online reward programmes? This could form the basis of a highly effective micro-currency transaction offered in return for engagements such as product reviews or comments on blog posts. Suddenly there could be a far larger source of real world dollars to fund the Twollar economy.

   From my reading of the FAQs on the Twollar site, I suspect that’s where they’re hoping the ‘real money’ will come from (http://cli.gs/VRtA9b)

   — Bryan    May 31, 01:47 PM    #

5. while the concept is interesting there are still some bugs to be worked out. The site seems simple but is complicated because i have no idea on how to actually use the twollars!

   — karim kanji    Jun 4, 11:35 AM    #

6. Second Life is similar.

   — Sue    Jun 19, 01:40 AM    #

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