The Ruckus Society, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, provides environmental and human rights organizers with tactical and strategic tools for conducting direct action, media activism, and "culture jamming." Drawing upon a vast network of organizations and communities, The Ruckus Society works behind the scenes, fostering an effective movement through collaborations and knowledge sharing. Perhaps the heart of their work are the "Action Camps," which bring together thousands of activists and volunteer staff each year from around the world to learn the ropes, both literally and figuratively.
When Ruckus Training Director Mojgone Azemun saw the "Personality Identification Playing Cards" produced by the U.S. 
Department of Defense, in April 2003, in the wake of the of the Iraqi invasion, she recognized the brilliant opportunity for some good, old-fashioned "culture jamming" - taking an aspect of pop culture and spinning it. Azemun notes, "When the government put out their deck of 'war' cards, I thought, not only is that one of the scariest things I had heard about - a deck of playing cards about war - but about our chance to run with something. Here we had a hot commodity: a souvenir of the war. Along the lines of culture jamming, we have to not only take advantage of the media frenzy, but to convey the idea of war cards is wrong. So, our "War Profiteer" cards became a play on itself; our deck represents what we don't believe in: a game based on a vendetta against people."
As a result of Azemun's foresight, quick action, and the mobilization of a team of various organizations and individuals, The War Profiteers (http://www.warprofiteers.com/) came into being. Launched in May 2003, it became one of the most successful online fundraising campaigns in Ruckus Society's history, generating close to $85,000 in donations, in addition to reaching new supporters and expanding their network even further. Using Groundspring.org's DonateNow tool, Ruckus Society was able to seamlessly integrate the War Profiteer campaign into their online donation page, making it one of the premiums of supporting the organization (along with their growing roster of branded products, from hooded sweatshirts to mugs).
The Ruckus Society's campaign has proven to be a case study in how a small nonprofit organization can draw upon their unique personality, creativity, and network of relationships to fundraise effectively. The concept began as a collaborative process from the beginning. Recalls Azemun, "It seemed too big a task at the time, but I started to get excited about it. Right around that time, I ran into Inno Nagara, a designer with the Design Action Collective at a demonstration against Chevron's profiteering from the war. I suggested he think about the project. A couple of days later, he called me. Another person, Pratap Chatterjee (who now works with Corporate Watch) had approached him as well about doing a similar card project. We all sat down together: Pratap had a small team from The Hesperian Foundation, and I brought in some folks from Ruckus, and we started to map it all out. It launched in a hyper-speed timeline, to make sure the window of opportunity didn't close."
The project team decided that Ruckus Society would be the portal for ordering the cards. Says Azemun, "We were using Groundspring, and thought this would be the perfect vehicle to process the orders. We had no intention to sell the cards for a profit, but rather be a fundraiser for the movement and our work. Once we launched, we had almost 12,000 orders in one day. We were totally slammed. We are a small nonprofit, not a distribution house. So, we have been in a learning mode, to make every aspect of the project work."
The cards generated a considerable media buzz; soon people were coming to the Ruckus Society website from around the world. One day a major news website in Germany posted about the cards, and there were ten thousand hits from Germany within 24 hours. When a website in Alabama posted a notice about the cards, there was a huge swell of hits from the southern region of the United States - a demographic Ruckus has had minimal contact with. They are thrilled with the results. Says Azemun, "Having this campaign created a whole new pool of people that are aware of our work, and respect our work, and want to see what we do next. It was a good way to educate and conduct outreach to those who we may not be reaching with our traditional modes."
Perhaps the biggest promoter of the cards was accomplished through a partnership with the radio program Democracy Now! at Pacifica Radio. Ruckus forged a deal with Democracy Now! and offered the cards as a premium during their fund drive. Local Bay Area bookstores, publishing houses, and affinity organizations have also distributed the cards.
Says Development Director Audrey Driver, "It is surely the most successful campaign we've had in terms of outreach. Most of the donations are coming from folks that have never heard of Ruckus before, and this is far more valuable than the actual money that is coming in. Prior to this, our online donations have been minimal. For example, last year we received about $7,000 in online donations." To date, Ruckus has printed approximately 25,000 decks, and there are plans to print more due to the overwhelming response.
On lessons learned about launching a campaign of this magnitude, Azemun recounts, "The bottleneck was the staffing. The Groundspring technology could process all of the orders just fine! Our biggest problem was order fulfillment, and also the production process." She continues, "Playing cards are actually very labor intensive, and they have to conform to a very specific set of criteria; that is, they have to look and feel like a real deck of cards. Also, playing cards are generally produced with very toxic materials. Therefore, the printer we went with originally was a small, family-owned company that uses natural dyes and paper processes. But when they went to print up the cards, they had to take them to a bindery to cut them. Each bindery would accept the job, and then realize the political content and reject the job. After going through a few binderies in the Midwest, the printers had to travel to the west coast and find a bindery that would not reject the job. It was a long, arduous process to get the cards produced."
However, despite the hard work, there is no doubt on its efficacy. Says Azemun, "We think using multimedia tools, such 
as the playing cards, are great ways to get messaging out to people who might not regularly be in the activist circles. The key is coming up with an idea that people feel affinity for."
She adds, "In a bad economy, having creative campaigns like this is a wonderful way for nonprofits to stay afloat; the best way to get funding alive is to go to new people, new donors, small donors - people who have a few dollars to give, rather than thousands. It's a good way of diversifying your funding base."
Perhaps like many small to medium size nonprofits, Ruckus has tended to focus on individual funding, targeting high donors and personal connections. As the economy makes it more difficult to fundraise in this way, more organizations are turning away from reliance from "the one millionaire" towards a more diverse fundraising approach, to include foundations as well as smaller donors, events, and membership revenue. Says Development Director Audrey Driver, "We don't fall into an easy category for funders, so we have to approach foundations and donors with a specific program or a project. We are a networking organization, bringing people with skills together."
On the level of collaboration that went into the success of the card campaign, Driver says, "It's a natural thing for us to turn to another organization and ask 'how can we help each other out?' We realize press is important. We teach people about conducting high profile actions, and the cards are just another "action" - a way to draw attention to the lies that get thrown around this country... As a result, more people know about Ruckus than before, and that is what we care about. About 85% are coming to our site to donate, and they are often new visitors."
Azemun adds, "Using our website and our ability to process donations with DonateNow was the perfect way to call attention to the information we are trying to get out. The website provides a way of extending the life of the cards, but also allows us to be flexible and fluid, as opposed to brochures and other static forms of outreach and communications."
