Social Media: Can I be a free agent?

I have always been a dog lover so, when in fourth grade, my mom went to our local SPCA to adopt a cat but fell in love with a puppy instead, I was ecstatic to learn that we would be getting a dog. What I did not know at that time was just how much he would mean to me. We had that dog for 19 years-- which in dog life is 133 years old. (I promise this post will tie in with the purpose of this class and our reading this week.) This dog followed me everywhere, literally, as I moved quite often after graduating from undergraduate school. My dog died this past July and it felt like I lost a family member. Since then, I have thought a lot about how I can use my experience with the animal shelter and my loss to raise funds for the same local SPCA where we adopted our dog. After reading The Networked Nonprofit, I am really interested to see if I can use social media to raise funds.

In chapter ten of the book, Kanter and Fine talk about how nonprofit organizations have used social media to raise funds for a cause. They say that it is important to tell a story to make fundraising personal "storytelling brings alive the activities of an organization and makes their issues real and urgent for current and potential supporters" (p.142). In chapter five the authors also say that is important to build relationships by listening and engaging with "supporters, potential supporters, and other organizations..." (p.65). Do I really have a story to tell and will anyone really be interested? People lose a pet all the time, and people who have never had a pet would probably think that mourning over one is somewhat hysterical. I have had a Facebook account for over five years, but have I really made any connections? Is it enough to send out a Facebook message and an email telling people that in memory of losing my own pet I am trying to collect as many donations as possible to donate to the organization that I adopted him from? If you are my friend on Facebook or if you were, would you be willing to donate and would you be willing to send emails to your friends asking them to? How much am I really capable of? Can I become, as the authors call it, a free agent for this cause?

I like the quote in the book by Clay Skirky, "We spend so much time trying to make something perfect rather than just trying something." I think I just displayed a classic example of this.