Word of Mouth Spreads Like Wildfire

It takes fire to start an inferno. Need a light?

The elements are upon us again, and time around we're playing with fire.

This morning I received the last in a line of text messages from friends in Southern California who I needed to confirm were okay. People are displaced, avoiding smoke and traffic, and looking for ways to help others. Erik Lokkesmoe, Ryan's dear friend, lost his home and church but his family is staying is relatives, Nedra Weinrich is giving blood, Nicole Robinson is still planning her wedding, Stephanie Meier is keeping her baby indoors, Max Gonzales is grateful for prayers, and so on.

I'm sitting on my duff in D.C. wondering how I can help, but confident that Americans will rally around this with support and donations, just like the time New Orleans was underwater. I'm also thinking how shameful it is that we don't parlay that benevolence with day-to-day needs.

Ah, but we can, and we are, through the wildfire of word of mouth (WOM). (What can I say, pessimism doesn't wear well on me).

People trust WOM more than newspapers, consumer opinions and web sites. If you support a Facebook Cause, have forwarded a petition to friends, or have asked others to donate to your cause or cure, then you are a purveyor of WOM.

Katya Andresen just sent over a new report from Network For Good about this phenomenon: “The Wired Fundraiser: How technology is making fundraising ‘good to go.'" The report reveals that "superactivists" [edit: on the new network Social Actions] reach an average of 150 people and raise approximately $9,000 each (finally, PROOF!) and covers

• What happens when regular people with a cause take world of mouth to cyberspace
• Why marketers and fundraisers should care; and
• What they should do about the rise of this amateur yet effective Wired Fundraiser.

Here are the highlights, with thanks to Katya:

1. When Wired Fundraisers Talk, People Listen: Wired Fundraisers are regular people with a cause and a keyboard, and they are proving highly effective at fundraising for their favorite charity in an ever-widening personal sphere of influence online. That’s because today, the messenger matters even more than the message. People trust messengers they know, like friends and family. These messengers naturally communicate in the most effective ways – through personal means, in a conversational tone, and with great stories. A promotion from a charity can’t compete with that level of intimacy, authority or authenticity.

2. Not Every Wired Fundraiser Is a Champion: The successful Wired Fundraiser has a relatively rare combination of true passion and a means to lend a sense of urgency to their cause. Not every Six Degrees fundraiser or Facebook Cause is a winner, but a proud few – the superactivists - are very effective, raising $9,000 on average and reaching 150 people.

3. Technology Gives the Wired Fundraiser Special Power: Widgets and social networks make personal fundraisers more effective for four reasons. Widgets – bits of code that enable you to generate and place content anywhere online, including on Facebook pages or blogs – make it possible for personal fundraisers to take their message anywhere they communicate online, including social networks where messages spread very efficiently. They make it possible for the fundraiser to evangelize in their own way, in their own words. Because they make fundraising so easy, widgets attract a new group of fundraisers. Importantly, widgets also make it easy and convenient for friends and family to give instantly, when they feel an impulse to give. That means more donations to more causes.

4. Smart Charities Embrace the Wired Fundraiser: Technology enables anyone to be a fundraiser, anywhere online. The control over the message is in the hands of the Wired Fundraiser. Wise charities see this as something to embrace rather than something to fear. They tap into the opportunity to spread their message further, by new means, via new messengers.

The full report is available here.

Network for Good brings it full circle by making Wired Fundraising possible through its Six Degrees program, which enables people to raise money for their preferred causes through badges and widgets for their blogs. They've just released a new widget to help support victims of the wildfires sweeping California.

That, friends, is a flame worth fanning.