Several weeks ago a friend of mine told me about a friend of hers who was struggling to pay for steep medical bills that resulted from a brutal case of domestic violence. She was rallying support for Jacey Gengenbach, set up a Facebook page and started getting the word out to people that they could read Jacey’s story and donate money through Red Basket , a crowdfunding non-profit that helps donors connect with causes and tracks progress to that specific goal. To date, Karyn’s efforts have raised $14,450 for Jacey with $4300 left to go. My family made a small donation and shared the link within our respective networks to help drive traffic to Jacey’s facebook page.
This week the New York Times ran an article on the efficacy of Crowdfunding sites. The question was, did legacy non-profits like The United Way lose donors to these types of sites where people could direct their donations to a more specific cause or individual. Crowdfunding is still a very small percentage of overall monies raised for philanthropies but it is growing quickly and legacy institutions total annual donation totals have stagnated. The article mentions not surprising points that impulse-giving is more likely to occur when people see eye-catching photos or emotionally appealing video content, though not as much interest is paid to the results of these donations and the impact they have, whereas established, traditional non-profits typically have reporting and accountability mechanisms in place.
I find this dynamic interesting and believe that traditional philanthropic institutions have an opportunity to incorporate some of the components of crowdsourcing into their models. The on-line crowdsourcing and social media component may also help remind the larger institutions that giving stems from an emotional response and if all politics is local, giving is about people, not concepts. Once we contributed to Jacey’s cause, the follow up was tremendous. We tracked her progress to the goal daily, learned more about her experience and felt like part of a larger community dedicated to a righteous cause. That cause had a face and a story. The ability to donate on my phone and in under a minute (including account sign up) was also key. And it felt good. I can also say that it created a heightened sense of the importance of giving and the opportunity to teach that to our kids. In that respect I think that in the world of philanthropy, a rising tide lifts all ships.
January 19, 2021
Software development is a team-based endeavor because of the complexity involved in launching a new system. Gone are the days when one developer can be point on the whole back-office software stack. It now takes multiple specialized roles to (appropriately) fulfill the software delivery lifecycle. A typical software project requires: Leadership Product management Project management […]
January 13, 2021
One definition of rot is the process of deterioration. Something that decays over time. By this standard – software rots like food in the Nebraska heat. It’s true. If your software isn’t regularly updated, it deteriorates and breaks down. Consider this – software is written to work at a moment in time…but time marches on. […]
January 4, 2021
OMAHA, NE, January 4, 2021 – In late 2020, Volano Solutions announced it has changed its name to Volano Software and launched a new website: www.volanosoftware.com. The name change was made to more accurately reflect what the company does, and the website was designed to be more informative and user-friendly to clients and prospective clients […]
June 2, 2020
According to LinkedIn technology (software) has a higher overall turnover rate than retail. With that, it isn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when. Volano has engineered a culture of “by developers, for developers” and this helps our retention. In fact, most of the folks that work at Volano have been here +5 […]
June 2, 2020
It is hard enough to build a successful business, and few want to invest time and resources into worrying about an Intellectual Property Assignment. But alas, you must do your homework. Fortunately, we make it easy for Volano customers. When asked – “Who owns the software and IP for my project?” – it is an […]
May 28, 2020
Many of us remember the grade school game Telephone. It was funny to see how a simple message would get garbled as it was passed along from person to person. But it’s not as funny when that message is a critical business requirement that will be turned into software that will power your business. Yet, […]