More than 1,500 charities and nonprofits have rallied their social network troops this fall in the Aviva Community Fund’s online race for votes and project funding. But as more and more companies turn to online giving contests to fulfill corporate social responsibility mandates, some critics are wondering who these contests really benefit.

The Aviva Community Fund, now in its fourth year, is part of a long list of corporate programs that crowdsource charity funding decisions. With less funds to go around, the idea of competing in a popular vote can seem like a great opportunity for small organizations.

Keenan Wellar, executive staff co-leader of LiveWorkPlay, understands the appeal.

“A lot of agencies are struggling with funding sources,” Wellar says. “It’s a tough time if you’re a highly donor-based agency. It’s pretty attractive when you see someone getting $100,000.”

LiveWorkPlay, an Ottawa-based organization that supports people with intellectual disabilities, has raised money three times through Telus’ Fundchange, a platform for posting projects and raising funds that are matched by Telus. Last year, despite reservations, Wellar posted a proposal for a housing project on the Aviva Community Fund. The organization’s campaign for votes didn’t last long, however. LiveWorkPlay dropped out early after concluding that winning wasn’t a realistic option.

Wellar says he quickly realized his reservations were well-founded.

The challenge of positive change

Wellar questions whether online popularity contests are the best way to achieve positive social change within a community.

The problem, Wellar says, is that many contests give little thought to how the funded projects fit into the bigger picture. While Wellar’s organization promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities, another organization seeking to build a segregated recreational centre could technically also be funded, despite their opposite approaches to the issue.

Awarding funding based on popular vote ignores best practices and work that may have already been done in the community, he says.

“How purposeful is this, giving out a million dollars to short-term projects without taking into account the work that’s already been done, the work that needs to be done in the future, and that kind of thing?”

Wellar is also concerned by the short-term nature of the proposed projects. The Aviva Community Fund’s eligibility requirements say all proposals should be put into action by December of next year.

“Anyone who’s been in the nonprofit sector for a while, my god we’re tired of doing short-term projects,” Wellar says. “[These competitions] are not for ongoing things, and that’s all we do at LiveWorkPlay is ongoing things. We’re invested in people’s lives.”

Wellar isn’t alone in his concerns.

Beth Kanter, an American nonprofit and social media expert and the co-author of The Networked Nonprofit, won a total of $100,000 in funding for her own charity (The Sharing Foundation) through two online funding contests: Yahoo for Good and America’s Giving Challenge. Even so, she has been a vocal critic of more recent contests.

According to Kanter, Yahoo for Good and America’s Giving Contest “were designed with a theory of change in mind, because they were going to help nonprofits build capacity,” Kanter says. “When they did theirs, they gave a lot of tips, capacity-building, a lot of help with the nonprofits and they created voting structures where there was a lot of win-win. Because even if (charities) didn’t win the big money they got better skills and they built their audience.”

Yet many charities are drawn by the allure of new money, she says.

When Kanter was feeding fish in a coy pond with her children, she was struck by an analogy.

“All of a sudden, all these fish came and converged on the little bit of food that was there. The nonprofits are like the fish, because the big corporations are throwing a little bit of money out.”

Contest controversy

That “little bit of food” corporations are throwing out isn’t enough, critics argue.

In a Huffington Post article in September, Jack Ucciferri argued that JP Morgan Chase’s Community Giving Contest was little more than buying public credibility.

“And what is Chase getting for the crumbs they’re throwing in the direction of our favorite nonprofits?” Ucciferri wrote. “Well, they are essentially buying brand value from the one sector that still has much credibility at all with the general public. They have created a dynamic by which small and mid-sized organizations are proactively sending out tweets, Facebook messages and emails to their supporters branded by Chase. Smart.”

The contests have real marketing potential. In 2010, Pepsi traded its Super Bowl ad spot for the Pepsi Refresh Project.

Critics refer to using a cause for corporate benefits as cause marketing and cause washing.

Aviva says its Community Fund is about giving back to the communities in which the company works.

“Brokers are involved in and often champions of local causes in their community, and the Aviva Community Fund competition is simply another way to harness this support and help the communities where we live and work,” Aviva states on its contest website.

Media coverage of these contests has not, however, been entirely positive. JP Morgan Chase stirred up controversy when it disqualified pro-life and pro-marijuana organizations from their contest in 2009.

There have also been many accusations of online cheating. Last year, Invisible Children won the Chase Community Giving contest’s top prize of $1 million. Invisible Children then accused the Isha Foundation, in second place, of voter fraud due to suspicious voter names created during the last few hours of the contest.

Kanter has followed the controversies closely.

“We know that corporate greed is being replaced by generosity and we know there is potential synergy between financial performance and attention to community and social needs,” Kanter wrote on her blog. “But it can’t be a pure marketing strategy – there needs to be some theory of change.”

The important question is whether these contests benefit nonprofits, Kanter says.

A winning perspective

But for small organizations, these online contests can be a great way to get things done.

Kelly Meissner started Kate’s Kause two years ago when her young daughter was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome, a neurogenetic disorder that causes developmental delays.

After winning the Keg’s Thanks a Million Grant last year, Meissner felt inspired to try to raise win funds for an accessible playground through the Aviva Community Fund.

Meissner, a part-time high school teacher in Elmira, Ontario, worked with the teachers and students at her school to give her campaign momentum.

“A lot of teachers felt that we were teaching the kids something about life that wasn’t academic. That resilience matters and what do you do in the face of adversity and how do you handle things when life gets a little hard. They really liked the message we were delivering, so they really helped facilitate that.”

Some students took the campaign into their own hands, including one student created a poster with a QR code and a simple statement: I dare you. The students who accessed the QR code with their cellphones were directed to Kate’s Kause page on the Aviva Community Fund website.

“I think watching that happen really sent me a message and made us know that the project mattered, accessibility mattered, and inclusion mattered,” Meissner says. “At that point it felt so good that I wouldn’t have even cared if they didn’t chose us, because I really knew that we had a huge support group and that people were learning about important life things because of this little cause from Elmira.”

Kate’s Kause won $60,000.

Meissner now helps other organizations prepare their campaigns.

“(Aviva has) really thought this through, and it’s a really genius idea from their perspective because they do get their name out there really well. It’s probably way less money than they’d spend on advertising to get their name out there,” she says.

“They really care about the community aspect. They really care that it’s something that will make a difference for a large group of community members, because they know there’s lots of these small organizations out there that are trying to do stuff but can’t find the funding. They want to help them.”

She believes all organizations are capable of winning.

“The first thing you feel is that it’s way too intimidating and you can’t be successful. And that’s just not what our experience was. If you’ve got the right idea and you’ve got the right project and you can communicate that well, it’ll happen.”

Considerations before jumping in

Kanter says all organizations should think carefully about each online funding contest before they sign up.

“Is this going to give long-term results?” she asks. “And if it’s a corporate prize, is it good for your brand to be associated with this? Do I get access to the names of the donors?”

“Be strategic about it. Don’t just go for the money. You need to engage before people start to open their hearts and wallets.”

Heather Yundt is a freelance radio and print journalist based in Ottawa. She can be reached at hyundt@gmail.com or on Twitter @hyundt.

Photos (from top) via iStock.com. All photos used with permission.

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