(CNN) -- The singer Gil Scott Heron once declared that "the revolution will not be televised."



Em Hall, the "D.C. Goodwill Fashionista," transformed Goodwill's  image with a witty blog.



It is, however, going online.



Social activism is being transformed by the Web. Some of the most creative forms of protest and philanthropy are taking place online.



Activists are conducting demonstrations on YouTube, holding virtual fundraisers and using social network sites like Facebook to change the world -- one mouse-click at a time.



These cyber-pioneers include a nonprofit group that uses animated 3-D characters to protest the global shortage of drinking water; a Web company that allows ordinary people to create their own personalized charity; and a Goodwill blogger who reshaped the thrift store's image so thoroughly she was invited to New York Fashion Week.



Ted Hart, co-author of "People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities," says the Web has already become a crucial source for nonprofit fundraising. Americans donated $550 million online in 2001, but that number grew to $10.4 billion in 2007, he says.



"It's a new world for a lot of nonprofit organizations," Hart says. "No longer is it good enough to say give us some money. The rules have changed."



Yet some people warn that this new world offers people an excuse to engage in "drive-by activism," superficial forms of cyber-activism that require little commitment.



"The Internet makes it very easy for people to jump in and out of social activism," says Matthew Hale, assistant professor at Seton Hall University's Center for Public Service. "If all the activism is online, it is easier to quit than going to meetings every week."



Real change: online or in-person?



Yet the Web makes it easier for a nonprofit group to reach more people than a meeting ever could, one nonprofit group says.



WaterPartners International is a U.S.-based nonprofit group that created a global campaign to create safe drinking water. Another company may have flown a spokesperson to an impoverished village and hired a film crew to promote their campaign. But WaterPartners says it saved money and time by putting its campaign online -- through animated, virtual characters built from actual people, says Nicole Wickenhauser, a company spokesperson.



Daily Web traffic doubled to WaterPartners' Web site during the campaign and the campaign attracted support from around the globe, Wickenhauser says.



"Real change is most often accomplished by committed individuals working together for a cause they feel passionately about," Wickenhauser says. "Whether they work together virtually or in person is less important."



Web-based activism not only enlarges the reach of social activists, it empowers ordinary people, its advocates say.



In another time, a person had to find a charity to give their time and money to. Now they can create their own charity through Web sites like "YourCause.com."



YourCause.com has been described as a MySpace for do-gooders. The new site allows a person to do everything a charity traditionally does -- raise money and awareness and recruit support -- all from a Web page designed especially for their needs.



Matthew Combs, the site's co-founder, says his site designs Web pages and vets charities for people who don't have the time or expertise to do it themselves.



"It's for people like the 73-year-old woman from New Jersey who created her own page to help out with a rare genetic defect she's suffering from," Combs says. "There's not a lot of 73-year-olds on MySpace. How do we make it easy as possible for them, but credible?"



Social network sites like MySpace are also throwing their support behind Web activists. MySpace has an "Impact" page that connects users with political and charitable causes. YouTube recently launched a "Nonprofits and Activism" channel.



'The reaction was priceless'



One of the most audacious forms of Web-based activism comes courtesy of Em Hall, also known
What are activists doing? What did Web unleash?
are conducting demonstrations on YouTube, holding virtual fundraisers and using social network sites like Facebook to change the world Social activism is being
question: What are activists doing?, answer: are conducting demonstrations on YouTube, holding virtual fundraisers and using social network sites like Facebook to change the world | question: What did Web unleash?, answer: Social activism is being