Ribon Develops a New Way of Giving
Changing the Brazilian donation culture
I type the words “love it” faster than I can process. I have Instagram open on my desktop, and I switch from a direct message to another every ten seconds or so. I reply, “love it,” “thank you for your support,” and “we are in this together” to, at least, 20 different messages a day, almost always followed by a green heart emoji.
Every day, I open an app that allows me to donate to NGOs. Every day, it greets me with the picture of a mother holding her son. And every day it brings some positive news.
The app is called “Ribon,” and it is a Brazilian app that encourages people to donate to NGOs with different causes without spending any money.
Free donation apps are an incentive for people to include helping others in their day-to-day lives. “Charity Miles,” an app that donates money to your chosen charity for each mile you walk or bike, and “Give 2 Charity,” an app where the time you spend on your phone is converted to money to be donated to charities, are a few examples of this new “donation culture.”
Like the “Charity Miles,” “Give 2 Charity,” Ribon provides people with ways of donating to causes in need even if they don’t have the financial means to do so.
Donations are possible because partners of the app buy advertising space by sponsoring positive stories that users get to read when accessing the app.
Stories vary from “International Women Film Festival Highlights Indigenous Production” to “The Funniest 2020 Animal Pictures According to The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.” With every story you read, you receive 100 ribons — the money in the app you use to donate to NGOs. Causes you can donate to also differ, ranging from a day of medication, to helping teach children how to write and read.
Ribon was created in 2016 by three university students from Brasília, Brazil’s capital. Rafael, João, and Carlos met while working together at “Movimento Empresa Júnior,” a club in university that allows students to apply what they learn in class to micro and small businesses.
Ribon has become part of my daily life. It became a habit to open it, read a good story and donate to a cause that I like. According to Moriah Rickli, Ribon’s Content Producer, the app is designed to to make people feel good — and it starts with its name.
“It’s the union of two good words. “Ri” comes from “rir” [which means laugh in Portuguese] and “bon” comes from “bom” [which translates to good]. So, whether you like it or not, it’s a name that brings you good things.”
Rickli has been working at Ribon for about a year and a half, and he says that one thing that motivates him to work is that the app helps other people and social causes.
“It’s a big incentive to work with a cause that you believe in, it makes a lot of difference in your work.”
Due to the pandemic, I decided to volunteer with Ribon. I approached the organization, had a quick meeting, and started helping by answering their Instagram Direct Messages (DM) in the same week.
I have been doing so for about three months. I get the chance to talk to different people every day. I get to thank strangers for engaging with the app and donating to causes. I get to send them nice words, green heart emojis, and smiley faces. But more than that, I get to listen to them.
The app receives positive messages from users, which are called “Ribonitos,” every single day. There is always someone thanking the organization for letting them donate without spending money. There are always older users tagging Ribon’s account on Instagram stories filled with emojis. There are always younger users saying how much they would like to work with the company.
The app has a campaign that, when you finish a donation to a cause, you can share an image about that cause on Instagram and tag the organization to receive more ribons and be able to donate more. By now, I am already familiar with some faces that tag Ribon on posts every day.
John* donates daily to a cause that gives food to people in need. Mari* usually donates to a cause that offers underprivileged people exams that diagnose breast cancer. And Gustavo* varies the causes he donates to, but always includes a song that relates to the cause in their Instagram story.
According to Luíza Brito, Customer Success expert at Ribon, users of the app are very vocal about the things they like, and the things they do not like, which allows the organization to constantly improve.
“We improve and expand the app because the Ribonitos talk about Ribon. It gives me a lot of joy and hope to see so many people showing that they believe in a better world with us, that they are sharing the app, and the best part is that we get to create this community that shares our idea, that will compliment the app, but that will also say “oh I didn’t like this thing you guys did with the app,” or “I think you can improve this aspect of donating.” It’s nice that we have both sides because they are important and due to that, we get to create a better platform.”
I have talked to Ribonitos via Instagram DM’s that were facing issues with the app or providing feedback about some settings, and I have never encountered anyone being rude.
Bia* sent Ribon’s Instagram a message because she could not access the app on her phone anymore. There was an error and every time she opened the app, it closed automatically. Her DM was filled with nice words and compliments to the Ribon team, and, even though she was reporting an error, she said she understood and that there was no rush to get things fixed since she assumed the team was probably very busy.
By volunteering, I learned that users are understanding when it comes to Ribon. They seem to genuinely care about their contributions and seem to be thankful for the opportunity to donate without spending their own money.
For me, the process of donating through Ribon is a pretty process. It is pretty because it allows people from all different backgrounds to donate to others every day, without the need to have extra money to do so.
For Rafael Rodeiro, CEO and Co-Founder of Ribon, the organization is something beautiful, but it still has a long way to go.
“To me, [Ribon] is something very pretty. Not only because of what it does but also because of how it’s being structured and managed. But it isn’t as pretty as it could be. It is like a sunflower field that is not ready to bloom yet, and that has snow on top of it. That is how I see Ribon today.”
“The end goal is to have Ribon to be like a sunflower field that is filled with gorgeous flowers. [..] So we can even divide the world as “before Ribon” and “after Ribon.”
My life trajectory can be divided into “before Ribon” and “after Ribon,” and I can say I am happier with the second one.
Rodeiro also mentioned the organization is working on expanding to outside Brazil by the end of the year. Right now, the app is only offered in Portuguese, but they plan on adding more languages soon.
This will allow for more users, more donations, and possibly, more partners. This is something Brito mentioned is also a goal for Ribon.
“Our biggest objective is to amplify the culture of donating. And to do so in Brazil, and in the world.”
“There are people out there that want to make a difference. People that want to write, and tell, other, better, stories.”
I send a thank you message to a user via Instagram, followed by a green heart emoji. Ribon’s Instagram inbox is empty, but I know it won’t stay like this for long. Tomorrow there will be more comments, more Instagram mentions, more support messages. Just like any other day.
I finish my day by closing my laptop, feeling good about my choice to believe in a better world alongside Ribon. Feeling good about the promising sunflower field I am fortunate to help. A field that is slowly blooming, slowly growing, slowly helping others. But that is already life-changing.
- Names have been changed due to privacy.
Sofia Paura is a fourth-year student at St. Thomas University double majoring in Journalism and Communications and Public Policy. She has been in love with words since she was five years old, and her parents recall she used to cry because she did not know how to read. Paura is originally from São Paulo, Brazil, but considers herself lucky, as she has many “second homes” — she studies in Fredericton, New Brunswick, lives in Jupiter, Florida, and visits Brazil as often as she can. A traveler at heart, she enjoys visiting new places and meeting new people. This story was written for the the course, The Power of Narrative.
