Online Philanthropy: How to Donate to People and Projects in Need
By 2012 ProInspire Fellow Nick Hamlin
This week we're kicking off our 5 Days of Giving series on the blog with the goal of
helping each and every one of you with your goals to change the world, in both big and small ways.
Perhaps the biggest hallmark of the Web 2.0 movement is the advent of social computing. Need a new bike? Find someone on Craigslist in your neighborhood selling one within your budget. Wondering where to find the best banh mi food truck? Check the reviews on Yelp, then see if they’ve posted their current location on Twitter (when you find them, make sure to check in on Foursquare). With today’s internet, you can even crowdsource your cancer treatment.
But what if you just want to do some good this holiday season? Online philanthropic platforms make it easy to find exactly the cause for you and connect with other donors and beneficiaries around the world. Here are some of the best:
GlobalGiving
GlobalGiving is the original online platform for crowdsourced giving. Founded in 2002 by Dennis Whittle and Mari Kuraishi (both formerly of the World Bank), GlobalGiving was conceived as “the eBay of philanthropy”, and is built around the concept that good ideas can come from anyone at anytime. As donors contribute to any of the thousands of projects featured on the site, the marketplace causes the most engaging and effective initiatives to rise to the top. Finding and giving to your cause is simple, fast, and efficient, and it’s my favorite way to bring sports and health education to young soccer players, provide job training for Afghan girls, or even help a rat prevent land mine deaths. (Full disclosure: I work for Globalgiving.)
Kiva
Kiva takes a different but no less powerful approach to online community-driven social good. Instead of making contributions to projects like on Globalgiving, Kiva’s users chip in to make small loans to individuals. Microfinance, though contraversial, has been one of the most promising tools to combat global poverty since its inception by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, and Kiva is an excellent way to join in. Kiva works with hundreds of partner microfinance institutions working directly in the developing communities to disburse and administer your loans. The best part? When your loan is repaid (99% of them are) you can re-loan it to another deserving entrepreneur.
DonorsChoose
The online giving platform of choice for the likes of Oprah and Stephen Colbert, DonorsChoose helps “donors choose” a public school classroom to support. Teachers can post requests for anything they need, from “pencils for poetry to microscopes for mitochondria”. Once you contribute, no matter how much or how little, you receive a photo of the project, a cost report explaining how each dollar was spent, and a thank-you from the teacher.
No matter what sort of project, business, school, or other great cause you’re excited about, you’ll be able to connect and contribute through an online philanthropic community.
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Nick Hamlin is a 2012 ProInspire Fellow serving in Washington, DC with Global Giving, a non-profit that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world to make a high impact.