Now that blogging is attracting so much interest - not only in popular culture but also in the nonprofit sector - I suppose that it's inevitable that I keep hearing about Blogathon 2005 as a fundraising project.  I skim a wide range of sites maintained by non-celebrity bloggers, and am fascinated to see that a number of them are preparing to participate.

The basic idea is very simple, according to the Blogathon web site:
During the Blogathon, people update their websites every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight. For this, they collect sponsorships. Pledges can be a flat donation, or a certain amount for every hour the blogger manages to stay awake.
This idea was developed in 2000, and the upcoming Blogathon on August 6th seems to be generating a fair amount of excitement.

I won't be raising money as a participant,* but I will be watching with interest to see whether Blogathons have a major role to play in online fundraising.




*  Why not?  Well...
...in an emergency, we all do what we need to do, but I don't really enjoy disrupting my sleep cycle in the way I'd have to in order to participate in the Blogathon.

...in the average 24 hours, I simply don't generate enough material to post an item every 30 minutes.  My life is either too boring or too exciting to publish online where anyone can read it.