Darryl from Brandflakes wrote a really compelling post a few weeks ago about blogs, other social networks, and the new class of friendship they have unearthed. Admittedly, some of us here used to be sceptical of platforms like Twitter and Facebook that seemed to de-personalize relationships. Darryl pointed out that although you may never come face to face with these people, they've become part of your daily life and are, in a way, friends.

He told a story about a woman battling breast cancer, Susan, whose blog about her struggle was read by hundreds of people she never met. On the day of her surgery her web friends blogged about her and bore pictures of frozen peas in their avatars for support. (You can read the about the symbolism here.) The message became viral and more and more people started carrying peas.

This story got me thinking about how nonprofits could thrive from social networks, so I did some investigating. Apparently people are using applications that allow you to post badges or widgets on your blog, or Facebook pages, that can direct your friends/viewers to an area where they can donate to the cause you’re representing. Why not also use graphics in your avatar and link directly to the cause?

So maybe a key here to online/viral fundraising is simply to make yourself visible. Encourage the people of your success stories, or those that draw on your heartstrings, to share experiences online, start a blog, or simply start sporting a symbolic avatar. We'll be looking into ideas like these further and how they can grow online fundraising.

If you have a success story of using one of these applications, or how social networks have impacted your life and/or career -- leave a comment! We'd love to hear.