Charity

Time to reinvent donations.

Stagnant

The method of donating to charity hasn’t changed a great deal since the days of the first telethon. The digital age has simply migrated the default mechanism of:

- have cause explained to you (generally en masse)
- decide whether to donate
- use one of a few standard donation methods

But with more and more causes battling for cash, we’re less likely to act. Our confusion only furthers the self-justification for not committing.

I’d like to see a frictionless, intelligent and generally more satisfying method of passing cash between the willing and the worthy.

Topic-based Donation

Imagine an app whereby you can simply select one or more key topics and the rest is taken care of?

For example, if you feel passionate about helping those suffering from addiction, you’d select that as a topic and add a location (home/abroad). You’d also specify a monthly amount that you’re comfortable donating.

On a monthly basis, the donation is then split between one or more appropriate causes and you’re notified accordingly.

Tangible Results

But rather than a simple notification which provides some kind of generic pat on the back, how about a few standard paragraphs which contextualise the donation?

If each charity could provide a line or two which states that a donation of £5 will achieve X and a donation of £10 will achieve Y, this could make for an interesting monthly read. Something worth looking out for and maybe even sharing.

I’m not saying we all demand more transparency before we part with our cash, but I do believe that a reduction in friction coupled with a sense of achievement once a month has to be a good thing.

If any developers fancy collaborating on this (for a good cause), do let me know…