Catholic blogger, author and friend to Word on Fire Brandon Vogt launched his Africa eBooks Project to assist seminarians in Cameroon less than one month ago. In that short time, it has more than quadrupled its fundraising goal, teaching him a little something about the power of social media, as well as the cause it assisted. Vogt took time to answer some of our questions and update us on the success of his campaign.
It was a shot in the dark, a risk, an experiement.
Use New Media to boost the New Evangelization? Mix the digital with the divine? Help a group of priests a half a world away spread the Word?
Oh, yes.
Brandon Vogt managed to do all that, and do it in record time.
Last month, Vogt launched the Africa eBook Project, a new media fundraising “experiment” to furnish seminarians in Cameroon with a CD full of Catholic content to assist them in their vocation. Vogt set a goal to raise $4,000—enough to get each of the country's 2,000 priests-in-training a CD.
And boy, did he accomplish it.
“I had no idea we’d do it in nine hours,” Vogt said in a telephone interview of his staggeringly fast fundraising. “That’s ludicrous!”...