Dr. Neil Hair

Just giving, a web site in the UK based on acquiring charitable donations got more than it bargained for recently. Over the weekend I noticed several of my online paper feeds running articles on the 'Atheist Bus Campaign'. Good publicity for the web site and the campaign. What's interesting about the campaign is the speed with which the organizers achieved and then surpassed their funding goals. By 10.06 am (presumably the same day the campaign launched) they achieved their £5000 goal. The current funds available to organizers is now £125,258 proving once and for all the potential of the internet in charitable work. Now, irrespective of ones personal religious beliefs the business model of attracting attention online, driving participation amongst the wider population and securing funds is worthy of comment. Another interesting aspect of the web site of just giving are the comments you can post in support of the fund raiser. Whats interesting here are the comments on why people support a campaign and the speed with which facebook appears to have driven awareness across a section of the British population. Studying how this took off (virally one assumes via an aggressive word of mouth campaign) could lead us to understand how other charities or awareness campaigns might adopt similar strategies. Unfortunately it does now mean that visitors to our great nation will be bombarded by red busses sporting the same logo where ever they go. Boooooring… You can check the site out here.