My idea is to launch a website called charitiesconnect.com. Charities Connect (or CC as it will so hiply be called) will be a "social networking" style website for charities and businesses. The goal of the website will be to connect charities and charities, charities that need sponsors to businesses, and businesses that want to sponsor charities to charities. There are websites like this out there, but Charities Connect will be different because we will not only connect charities to businesses, but help promote them. We'll give them access to big businesses as well as notifty them when an opportunity arises to promote/get their charity involved in a major event. Similar to a normal social networking site, there will be an "open dialogue" atmosphere, and we will encourage charities to connect with other charities in their area. Even better, not just charities and businesses can make a profile! We will also have a section for volunteer work, and those kind of organizations connect and promote themselves as well.
Obviously, the best way to promote a social networking site is through other sources of social networking. I can promote my website through Twitter by easily finding charities and businesses to connect to. Because twitter allows you to so easily connect with people with similar interests, contacting future users of charitiesconnect.com will be a piece of cake. If we have a powerful presence on Twitter, charities and businesses will know we will use that power to help them achieve their goals.
We could also have a CC twitter account, letting not only charities and companies, but anyone who cares to follow us know about what local charity events are taking place in their area, or where they can go to donate to causes they care about. Since our website is all about connection, we will stay connected using Twitter, and other popular forms of social media.
I have a friend of mine that works in the not for profit sector and i think that an application like this would be really beneficial for a lot of organizations out there. Most of these organizations are understaffed and resource constrained more than their for profit counterparts. The fact that this application would be bringing together potential funders and the organizations would help to reduce the burden of seeking gifts and grants. Great idea. Are you currently in this space?
ReplyDeleteIf you mean, "am I currently thinking of working for nonprofits," then I don't know! I've been trying to think of a way that combines Newhouse and iSchool (since I'm currently enrolled in both) and something like this certainly does.
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea. I think that there needs to be a platform out there for nonprofits and charities. Social networking sites now like Facebook make it hard for nonprofits and businesses to connect to people because it's more directed toward individuals. I was actually just at a meeting yesterday with nonprofit representatives and one mentioned that someone needed to create a platform for nonprofit organizations and charities. It'd be great if organizations could promote themselves, give information, interact with the public, and also receive donations in the same spot. You should look into comm.UNITY's social media team in Newhouse (that's what I'm on and this idea could help people like them).
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really great idea. Charities can put themselves out there to communicate with businesses and others, to gain sponsorship to help those in need. Businesses can communicate with charities to help their image and goals. Also, other people can look up charities if they have a calling or need to help out those in need.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a fantastic idea! A lot of new charities struggle to take off and by having "Charities Connect," they'll be able to connect to other businesses and nonprofits to promote what their charity is all about. I also love that volunteers are able to connect on CC as well, because as an avid volunteer myself, I think it'd be a great outlet for volunteers to find new charities to volunteer with and maybe turn that into an eventual career with that charity. I also think that you have a solid business plan, especially using social media like Twitter to promote CC - that's definitely a great way to get your site out there. Great job!
ReplyDelete- Christina
This is a great idea ! I was working with one of the clubs on campus ( actually mentioned above called comm.UNITY) and one of our projects is to teach non profits about social media. While there, all the representatives agreed that somebody needed to a create a social platform for non profit organizations! This way they can get the word out about different charity events and make it easier for people to learn about worthy causes !
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty fantastic concept, not something I would have ever thought of. I think that this could really work wonders in the non-profit sector, especially if you looked into collaborating with websites like Kickstarter, or even developed your own proprietary method of social fundraising. The social constructs of the internet have been involved in some pretty amazing humanitarian efforts throughout the past decade or so, it would be great to have a place like this so that you can really understand where your donations are going and where else they might best be spent.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, I especially like the part in which volunteers can be involved too, that would definitely help spread the word about charities and about helping out as well as reach out to those who just want to help. I definitely feel as though using other forms of social media like Facebook and Twitter would greatly help in getting your feet off the ground in this type of project.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of charity connect. I can really see this coming together in the future. Nowadays there are a lot of commercial about charities but thanks to your website it would be a place where all charities would connect and i would be easier for users to find.
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