6 ms·

Ask HN: Best startups related to non-profits/charities?

7 points by thetylerhayes 16y ago

When you think of startups in the non-profit/charity space, what comes to mind? (The startups themselves do not have to be non-profits or charities.)

jamesteow 16y ago
http://www.causes.com http://www.causes.com
tgriesser 16y ago
http://www.kiva.org http://www.kiva.org Edit: This is a cool video where the founder talks about how he considers zynga to be their biggest rival. http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/13/kiva-ceo-on-the-next-5-years-and-why-zynga-is-their-biggest-rival-tctv/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/13/kiva-ceo-on-the-next-5-year...
- thetylerhayes 16y ago
  That is a great video, thank you. What he talks about is the basic, age-old problem of attention: how do we get it? Historically, different groups of people have tried to solve the problem of attention together given their status quo; right now, I feel like those people are mostly in marketing and business/product strategy. The problem can't be "solved" in the traditional sense, but I'm glad to see companies like Kiva are actually doing something to address it in their industry (in addition to just thinking, which is what it seems most non-profits are doing), as attention-winning/holding concerns all non-profits.
- ryanteo 16y ago
  In that vein, another microfinance institute I can think of is http://wokai.org http://wokai.org They focus on MFI projects in China. A Singaporean startup called give.sg has been getting a lot of local press recently. It allows people to create fund-raising campaigns easily for their causes, while they take a small percentage of donations for processing fees. http://give.sg http://give.sg
skowmunk 16y ago
got a thought I had to unload: What if there were a site where non-profit orgs, non-government orgs or charity orgs can post 'jobs' (unpaid) on a website and people can volunteer themselves to particular jobs? I believe there are sites for it. But, how about points being given for each job actually done? What if people can compete for max points in a time? and the winner gets a prize from a company which wants to 'encourage' good stuff for their own marketing purposes or whatever? (the prize gotta be a 'bonus' not the main attraction, otherwise it may not fly in the long run, hmm.. or who knows) Would that result in more people doing more volunteering stuff? A platform like facebook can easily implement such stuff, probably. and get some 'good' rub off too
neuromancer2600 16y ago
Embrace (http://www.embraceglobal.org http://www.embraceglobal.org), d.light (http://www.dlightdesign.com http://www.dlightdesign.com), and nuru (http://www.nuruinternational.org http://www.nuruinternational.org) are the first that come to my mind.
- thetylerhayes 16y ago
  Hadn't heard of any of those. They all look strong. Thanks for sharing. Nuru reminds me of Acumen Fund; I could see them partnering well together.
katpoteri 16y ago
http://www.toms.com http://www.toms.com and to some extent http://www.source4style.com http://www.source4style.com
anemitz 16y ago
Shameless self-promotion: http://swipegood.com/blippy http://swipegood.com/blippy :) Turn your blippy account into a fund raising machine. Every time you make a purchase and review it on Blippy we round it up to the nearest dollar and allow you to give it to your favoriate charity. We just launched the blippy integration and would love any feedback!

7 points by thetylerhayes 16y ago

When you think of startups in the non-profit/charity space, what comes to mind? (The startups themselves do not have to be non-profits or charities.)

jamesteow 16y ago

http://www.causes.com http://www.causes.com

tgriesser 16y ago

http://www.kiva.org http://www.kiva.org Edit: This is a cool video where the founder talks about how he considers zynga to be their biggest rival. http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/13/kiva-ceo-on-the-next-5-years-and-why-zynga-is-their-biggest-rival-tctv/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/13/kiva-ceo-on-the-next-5-year...

thetylerhayes 16y ago
That is a great video, thank you. What he talks about is the basic, age-old problem of attention: how do we get it? Historically, different groups of people have tried to solve the problem of attention together given their status quo; right now, I feel like those people are mostly in marketing and business/product strategy. The problem can't be "solved" in the traditional sense, but I'm glad to see companies like Kiva are actually doing something to address it in their industry (in addition to just thinking, which is what it seems most non-profits are doing), as attention-winning/holding concerns all non-profits.
ryanteo 16y ago
In that vein, another microfinance institute I can think of is http://wokai.org http://wokai.org They focus on MFI projects in China. A Singaporean startup called give.sg has been getting a lot of local press recently. It allows people to create fund-raising campaigns easily for their causes, while they take a small percentage of donations for processing fees. http://give.sg http://give.sg

skowmunk 16y ago

got a thought I had to unload: What if there were a site where non-profit orgs, non-government orgs or charity orgs can post 'jobs' (unpaid) on a website and people can volunteer themselves to particular jobs? I believe there are sites for it. But, how about points being given for each job actually done? What if people can compete for max points in a time? and the winner gets a prize from a company which wants to 'encourage' good stuff for their own marketing purposes or whatever? (the prize gotta be a 'bonus' not the main attraction, otherwise it may not fly in the long run, hmm.. or who knows) Would that result in more people doing more volunteering stuff? A platform like facebook can easily implement such stuff, probably. and get some 'good' rub off too

neuromancer2600 16y ago

Embrace (http://www.embraceglobal.org http://www.embraceglobal.org), d.light (http://www.dlightdesign.com http://www.dlightdesign.com), and nuru (http://www.nuruinternational.org http://www.nuruinternational.org) are the first that come to my mind.

thetylerhayes 16y ago
Hadn't heard of any of those. They all look strong. Thanks for sharing. Nuru reminds me of Acumen Fund; I could see them partnering well together.

katpoteri 16y ago

http://www.toms.com http://www.toms.com and to some extent http://www.source4style.com http://www.source4style.com

anemitz 16y ago

Shameless self-promotion: http://swipegood.com/blippy http://swipegood.com/blippy :) Turn your blippy account into a fund raising machine. Every time you make a purchase and review it on Blippy we round it up to the nearest dollar and allow you to give it to your favoriate charity. We just launched the blippy integration and would love any feedback!