Nov
6
Angry Redskins fans have found a new medium for their protest besides the typical tweets and blogs: Kapipal.
If it looks like a nonsense word, that’s because it is. A mix of “capital” (not like the nation’s capital, but like venture capital) and “pal.” So I can only presume it is pronounced “KAP-i-PAL,” not “kuh-pip-ul,” as I have been pronouncing/butchering it.
But however you say it, on the free fundraising Web site, you can create a “Kapipal,” setting a name for your cause, a goal amount, and a time period to reach it, and then people can donate money to you online directly to your PayPal account. Each “Kapipal” has its own site with a graph to track the money that has been received, a reminder of the number of days left to contribute, and a space for the user or “Kapipalist” to put up a note and for contributors to the cause can leave comments back. It even comes with an inspiring slogan, “Raise Money for Your Dreams.” (Apparently, this is for those ambitious Skins fans whose dreams have not yet been crushed.)
Many of the fundraising efforts are private, so the user sends the URL to those they want to ask for donations (their “pals,” presumably). They can also be made public, allowing the site to be visible on search engines so you can spread your cause. Using the public option, Skins fans are trying to use the site to fund their protesting efforts.
But despite the burgeoning online presence of the Burgundy Revolution, Kapipal has not been very successful so far for Redskins revolutionaries. The quest for 2,000 balloons has not been up for long, but only $36 of the $300 total have been raised with four days to go. “Sell OUR Team Danny Boy” could be a success, with $1,471 raised as of Friday and two weeks left to donate, but that is still 17.8 percent of their $8,250 goal.
Part of the problem is that the “Kapipalist” must generate interest and support on their own; Kapipal is really just a tool. But “Sell Our Team Danny Boy has Twitter and Facebook presences and has received significant local play, including on Fox local news, and still is significantly short of its desired total. Those who might support the causes could be reluctant to donate through an unfamiliar Web site, no matter how legitimate it looks. And you also cannot verify the identities behind the fundraising efforts, which could make people even more skeptical. The site also is not geared toward large projects such as “Sell OUR Team Danny Boy” — just more than $62,000 has been raised on the site overall.
Fans, too, might just be hesitant to give money to these causes, instead turning toward other methods of dissent. For example, asking the Redskins nation to save their money with boycotts of the team and Snyder instead of giving it to certain causes seems to be the best bet for would-be organizers; a Fan Card pledging to boycott has received more than 26,000 page views on ExtremeSkins.com.
“Sell OUR Team Danny Boy” began their drive for donations on Kapipal a little over two weeks ago in an attempt to purchase 10 ads addressing owner Dan Syder to run on the outside of D.C. Metro buses as well as a $500 donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. And “2k ‘Boycott Snyder’ Balloons for the Denver Game” is pretty self-explanatory; the “Kapipalist” behind it wants to sneak in 2,000 deflated “Boycott Snyder” balloons into the Redskins game on Nov. 15.
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