At thirteen23, we like coming up with ways to advance the experiences we care about. Recently, we took a close look at online charitable giving from a donor’s perspective. We surveyed a variety of non-profits and identified our top areas for improvement:
- All organizations present information differently. There’s no standard way to determine the goals of an organization or the progress toward those goals. How do we decide which organizations to help when it’s not easy to compare?
- Most organizations offer general donation opportunities, but it’s often difficult to find specific ways to help and to track progress. Are there volunteer opportunities? Petitions to sign? How do we find out where our donation went and what its effect was?
- We want to be connected to our friends and the causes we support. How do we stay up-to-date with our favorite organizations and share opportunities to help with our friends?
Our concept is a comprehensive platform for philanthropy: a single site for users to find causes with tangible goals, see all of their efforts and donations together, and easily interact with the organizations they back.
Make it Easy to Take Action
When we give we’re often not exactly sure how our donation will be used. What if we were able to fund clear-cut projects with tangible goals? When we’re working together toward a concrete goal, we feel like part of the solution.
We imagine organizations creating projects that tell potential donors exactly how they can help. Each project is shown as a card that summarizes key information, including the type of donation needed (i.e. time, money, etc.) and progress. Users can search projects by location, organization name, or area of focus to find the perfect way to contribute.
Simplify Research and Increase Transparency
Donors want to support transparent and trustworthy organizations. Currently ratings — such as Charity Navigator or GuideStar — are separate from non-profits' sites. What if users could compare the effectiveness of charitable organizations and immediately take action based on the results?
On our concept site, all organizations' information would be presented in a consistent and standardized way. A summary grade would give high-level information, but users interested in more in-depth research would be able to click to access more detailed information.
Create a Giving Community
Social media is central to how people connect. What if we could bring our friends with us when we give and make new friends with the organizations we help? What if non-profits could easily get in touch with the people most likely to participate in their projects?
By integrating a social network into this platform, we hope to encourage peer-inspired fundraising as users see who their network supports and are able to rally support for the projects that are important to them. When we give together, we can celebrate successes together.
Conclusion
We had a lot of fun coming up with this platform concept, and we feel pretty excited about the opportunities it would give to potential donors. When we feel connected to the causes we believe in and can see our impact, we feel inspired to help. If you work in the non-profit space or have feedback about our concept, we’d love to hear from you.
Credits
Although all of the examples here were created for this concept, many were inspired by real projects and organizations. All images used under Creative Commons license.
Project inspiration and photo credits: Afghan Institute of Learning, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ian Britton, Sodanie Chea, Children’s Defense Fund, Gideon Chilton, Department for International Development, Djigiarov, Equality Now, Global Classroom Project, Global Fund for Women, Sierra Club, UN Photo/Albert González Farran, UN Photo/Martine Perret, UNFPA, Unicef: Schools for Africa, United Nations, United Nations: MINUSMA, US Army Africa