Value Added: The Nonprofit Entrepreneur

The goal of the contests varies, but typically involves amassing the most donations of a certain size or encouraging people to register at a specific site.

To win, Beale contacts old friends from Georgetown and elsewhere, asking them to become captains and contact other friends. The viral network is just like political bundling, where every person you contact in turn contacts five others, and they contact five others, et cetera. To beat the big colleges at the contests, Beale timed his big push for the Christmas break, when students were home relaxing. He asked for money on a YouTube commercial he made featuring his three-year-old nephew.