The Effectiveness of Celebrity Spokespeople in Social Fundraising

Ashton Kutcher, Kanye West and other big-name celebrities don’t do as much good for charity on Twitter, Facebook or other social networks as less-famous people, a new study finds. Actors, comics, singers and bloggers with deep personal ties to causes and potential donors raise far more money for charities.

The report, released this week by the consulting firm Zoetica Media and PayPal, the online donations portal, studied six major online fundraising campaigns.