As the Obama campaign learned before the 2008 Presidential elections, piles of money can be made by asking a large number of people to make small donations, sometimes multiple times apiece. That's a concept that should be—but usually isn't—utilized by charities and nonprofits. Usually they ask for a commitment of $20, $50, $100, or more, and sometimes, that $20 is just enough to hold people back from giving to a good cause.
Donation size is just one of the many issues people encounter when giving to charities. Do you have the time to research every cause and figure out which one is a best use of your funds? Some people do, but most of us don't. What about vetting every one to make sure their tax returns are on the up and up? And forget trying to go through fundraiser sites, many of which keep a cut of donations for themselves to cover various costs.
Those are all things that a new site called Philanthroper hopes to address. Launched by Mark Wilson (Gizmodo editor by day, philanthropist by night), the site takes the idea behind Groupon and crosses it with micro-donations, all while carefully selecting the deserving causes and vetting them for legitimacy. The goal is to offer a daily charity pick—six per week, with Saturday and Sunday sharing one—with a donation amount of just $1 per person for 24 hours until the next charity is featured.
For example, Philanthroper has chosen Computer Aid International (CAI) as its launch charity. CAI refurbishes computers for global redistribution in places that need them. "It's a group that not only tackles the problem of e-waste, but does so in a way that then tackles a problem of computer shortages in developing countries," Wilson told Ars. "Put differently, they can build an 80-computer lab for about $6,400—including the delivery costs."
So, if 6,400 people donate $1 apiece today, CAI will be able to build a computer lab in a place of need. If people donate more than that, CAI can do even more.
"For the most part, we're interested in nonprofits that make $1 million or less in revenue a year who are doing something really exceptional—bringing tangible change," Wilson said. "We look at their 990s (tax returns), read whatever information is out there and actually talk to these groups to really understand their mission from their perspective."
What kind of cut do Mark and gang want out of your $1 charitable donations? Almost none (the bank account processor takes one percent, which Wilson describes as an "industry low"). In fact, when users make a donation, the money is transferred directly from your account straight to the nonprofit's bank account. The site supports itself with ads so that only your eyeballs, and not your charitable gifts, are paying to keep things going.
"We're fine with putting a banner on our page, especially since it means we're not leeching off the charity of donors," Wilson said. "There are sites that lift up to 25 percent of donations before they reach a charity. The best in the business? They're still siphoning 3-5 percent in transaction fees, and they have minimum donations of $10 or $25."
Once the site gets rolling, Wilson expects charities to make pitches in order to be featured on Philanthroper. With today's launch, the site is hard at work at filling out its second week of "deals," and Wilson says the team has been very picky.
"We could reach a point—maybe not on day one or even year one—but we could feasibly reach a point where we were raising a million dollars a day. And I tried to think of anything that I could do in my life or career that could make nearly this large of an impact on the world. I couldn't think of anything else," Wilson said. "My wife gave me the thumbs up, and I had to go for it."
So, whaddya say Ars readers? We managed to raise $17,000 in reader donations for our Child's Play drive in December, but at only $1 per reader, I'll bet we can collectively raise just as much for CAI, or even more for the other causes that will be featured on Philanthroper in the coming weeks.
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