February 13, 2003 by Joanna Pearlstein
OVER the years, Eileen Mullin has given her money to Habitat for Humanity and her time to an animal shelter and the Salvation Army. But last month Ms. Mullin, a computer instructor in Rego Park, Queens, tried a new form of charity: she sent $20 to Kimberly Smith, a mother of five in Watauga, Tex., whom she had never met.
Through her Web site, savekimberly.com, Ms. Smith solicits donations toward a down payment on a house.
Ms. Mullin said she liked to donate to organizations that make her feel as though she can see her contribution improve the quality of people's lives. But in this case, her motivation was more personal.
''I'd gone through much agita in closing on my new house last summer,'' she said. ''Her site also detailed problems she was having with her teeth, and I've had similar agonies. So I felt I could relate to her particular set of problems in some ways.''
Ever since Karyn Bosnak, a television producer with an unquenchable desire for fancy footwear, started a Web site last June to solicit donations to pay off her credit card debt, such ''e-panhandling'' sites have grown like compounded interest on a Visa balance. Michel Huang of Cerritos, Calif., has used her site to collect more than $3,300 to pay for breast augmentation surgery.
But so far, Ms. Smith, who says her family is $25,731 in debt, has raised just $36 to finance her new house.
''It's nice to know there are people out there who really do care,'' said Ms. Smith, who is trying to put her finances in order after a divorce and remarriage.
Like Ms. Bosnak's creation, www.savekaryn.com, these sites offer long and sometimes well-written accounts of their owners' plights: tales of marital difficulties, tuition expenses, medical problems, the trials of being a single parent or, in Ms. Huang's case, being smaller-breasted. Contributions are usually sent through eBay's PayPal service, other electronic payment methods or regular mail. In addition to their life stories, cyber-beggars often publish updates on their funds' progress as well as personal diaries.
To some extent, the sites have drawn traffic through networking, with one referring potential donors to others. Ms. Smith of savekimberly.com said she had advertised her site by joining Web rings, groups of similar sites that link to one another. Since Ms. Bosnak eliminated her debt last November, she now uses her site to promote other cyber-beggars, and many compete to become beneficiaries of her fame and site traffic. The category has also grown to such proportions that it is now indexed: the CyberBeg.com directory links to more than 200 e-panhandling Web sites, and Yahoo and Google offer smaller lists.
In this age of identity theft and hacking contests, of course, there is little to prevent someone from inventing a moving story and publishing it online. It is hard to know if any of the 200-plus sites listed by Cyberbeg.com are fake, but e-panhandlers are often willing to go far to prove their sincerity. Penny Hawkins, whose Internet site, www.helpmeleavemyhusband.com, has collected more than $2,000 to pay for her nursing education and divorce, published her school report card as evidence of her legitimacy. Ms. Huang provides photos of what she considers her imperfect chest. In some cases, cyber-beggars offer proof by having donors send money directly to their creditors.
Ms. Mullin said she was convinced by Ms. Smith's site because Ms. Smith included unobscured photographs of herself (many cyber-panhandlers do not show their faces at their sites) and because it was easy to find Ms. Smith's address and telephone number. She also relied on her urban survival instincts: ''I think I used a cyber-version of the instant judging that New Yorkers put into play every time they see a panhandler on the subway,'' she said.
E-panhandlers usually record the amount they have raised from ''nice people''; savekellie.com, run by Kellie Cudaback of Omaha, admonishes, ''Remember! Be a good deed doer!!''
What that translates to, said Douglas Thomas, an associate professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, is, ''If you want to be a nice person, you will donate.'' Mr. Thomas, who specializes in cultural studies of technology, said the trend taps into the idea of the American dream, since e-panhandlers are usually skilled enough to construct basic Web sites. ''They're sort of asking to be rewarded because either they've come up with a good idea, or clearly they are disadvantaged even though they have some kind of talent; they can write fairly well, they can tell stories that evoke a sympathetic response,'' he said.
Donors say they give money because they relate to a cyber-beggar's plight, want to extend their regular charitable giving or can simply spare the cash.
One of Ms. Huang's larger gifts, $1,200, came from a telephone refurbisher in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The donor, who did not want to be identified in print lest his contribution upset his elderly mother, said he gave so generously because he knew, as a veteran of many a public-radio pledge drive, that reaching a halfway point in fund-raising helps persuade others to pitch in.
''Given her present shape,'' he said, ''there was no question her request was sincere.''
In some cases, it is a specific detail of an e-panhandler's story that resonates. Allan Nestor, a telecommunications technician in Vancouver, Wash., said he gave $50 to Ms. Hawkins to help her leave her husband because he felt connected to her.
''Penny is an Army spouse, and I am retired Army,'' Mr. Nestor said. ''I understand how tight things can be in a military situation, especially money-wise.'' He said he was also motivated by Ms. Hawkins's pursuit of a nursing degree, since there is a shortage of nurses in the region. (Both he and Ms. Hawkins live in Washington State.)
At times, the donor may also be an e-panhandler. Cyber-beggars often use the phrase ''pay it forward'' to describe why they have donated to other e-panhandlers. ''I've donated out of pity for people, to be part of a trend, and to use their guestbook as a forum for my own e-panhandling site,'' Zachary Bartels, a Michigan seminary student whose site asks for financial help with his religious education, said by e-mail.
For some, a donation is part of regular charitable giving, even though the recipients are not registered charities and the gifts are therefore not tax-deductible. Steve Donohue, a systems analyst and a Boy Scout volunteer in Allen Park, Mich., has given less than $100 to such sites. In December, he established Savemesites.com, which offers e-panhandlers tips for selling banner advertisements and getting listed in search engines.
''In the end, a few dollars won't make a big difference in the quality of my life, but it could be a big deal for the person getting it,'' Mr. Donohue said.
The boom in these sites is unlikely to crowd out traditional charities, said Wendy Cukier, a professor of information technology management at Ryerson University in Toronto. ''I'm not one of the people who sees this as a huge tidal wave that's going to divert funds from other kinds of fundraising,'' Ms. Cukier said. ''I see it more as a reflection of a certain level of cynicism and disengagement that's characteristic of society today and, particularly, young people.''
Ms. Cukier and Mr. Thomas of the Annenberg School suggested that donating money to strangers online was less emotionally taxing than donating to nonprofit groups or people on the street.
''I think that some people simply can't cope with the specter of needing a cure for cancer, feeding the starving, and clothing and housing the poor,'' Ms. Cukier said. With e-panhandling sites, Mr. Thomas said, ''We're looking at someone who more directly could be us, so there is this moment of identification.''
Indeed, Sabrina LeCompte, an office technician in Sacramento, said she found causes like feeding orphans or rescuing animals overwhelming. ''They're just so huge, and I feel like I want to save them all, and I know that I can't,'' she said. ''Donating just a tiny amount doesn't make me feel like I really contributed. I'd rather just save the heartache.''
Few cyber-beggars have been as successful as Ms. Bosnak, who raised more than $13,000 and eliminated her debt. But some donors are happy to contribute even if it does not balance the supplicant's books.
Lynn Ross of Denver is not sure the dollar she gave to Bob Colladay of Hutchinson, Kan., helped toward his goals (he has raised $26 in his bid to ''start crawling out of debt'' and possibly open a community dinner theater, his site says).
''A romantic part of me would really like the sites to be something that works,'' Ms. Ross said. ''I like that my dollar, with a lot of other people's dollars, could add up and help someone. I'm not sure that it actually works for most people, though. I have the feeling that my dollar really didn't do Bob much good. Oh well, at least he knows someone out here is rooting for him.''