Facebook Causes is one of those conundrums in the nonprofit world - it seems like a perfectly wonderful tool for gaining attention for a cause, but there are significant barriers to adopting Causes as an online giving mechanism. The biggest barrier is cultural: people are used to socializing on social networking sites, not giving. But they will...it's just a matter of time. This post explores the barriers to online social giving.

In this NTC 2009 Session "The Value of Online Fundraising," representatives from Care2 and Blackbaud discuss case studies and survey results that offer current benchmarks for online email marketing ROI and social network fundraisin ROI.

A New York Times article on energy efficiency inspires thoughts on peer to peer fundraising. Does peer giving -- knowing who else is giving and what amounts -- make social network fundraising more effective?