The Web 2.0 world is a great environment for connecting people and causes in ways that until recently were unimaginable. One example of an excellent peer-to-peer philanthropy platform in www.globalgiving.com.
The mission of Washington, DC-based GlobalGiving is to sustain a “marketplace for good” that connects donors directly to the causes they care most about. Since its launch in 2002, GlobalGiving has helped thousands of donors give over $11 million to approximately 1,000 projects worldwide.
Theodore Malloch, an advisor to GlobalGiving, recounted to me several stories (which are also included in his upcoming book titled Generous Giving) of individual giving that were enabled through GlobalGving.
Malloch described the story of Paula Diley, Durham, NC, who was raised to be a “giver.” She comes from a family of nine and learned how to share at an early age. Through her siblings, she saw the importance of celebrating with others when they are blessed. Diley set out a goal to give to all one hundred and ninety four nations of the world.
Diley maintains a running list of all the countries of the world and crosses each one off as she is able to give. So far, she is up to 69 projects in 67 nations! Diley also makes sure to support a variety of different projects, from play pumps in one country to healthcare issues, water quality, education, schools, economic development and aids awareness.
One of Diley’s giving inspirations is Muhammad Yunus, an economist from Bangladesh and the founder of Grameen Bank [ www.grameen-info.org ]. Yunus is a Nobel Peace Prize winner known for his work in micro-credit loans. Yunnus started with a small amount of his own money, and it spread to so many people. After Diley read Yunnus’ book “Banker to the Poor” she realized that although she only has a small amount to give, combined with others, needs can be met all over the world. Today’s web facilitates the process of aggregated giving.
Malloch also recounts the story of John Burg and Heather Haines, Washington, DC, who instead of asking for traditional wedding gift items like a blender or toaster, decided to register on GlobalGiving. This couple believes that have been so fortunate that it made sense to be able to give back.” Haines explained. “In the spirit of giving, we wanted to be able to give our guests another option.” The couple is excited about a project in India, the destination of their honeymoon. In addition to putting the India project on their registry, they are making a contribution of their own in honor of their guests.
Malloch also cites the example of Timothy Campbell, New Delhi, India, who is a habitual GlobalGiving gift card buyer. GlobalGiving allows people to make a charitable gift to somebody while allowing them to choose the cause, and perhaps find a new project or organization in need. Campbell’s family has always enjoyed the tradition of giving each other donations as well as gifts. He says, “I have recently begun to feel that it is more important to a lot of people I know to be able to support a cause they believe in rather than to receive a physical gift.”
A final example highlighted by Malloch is Nicole Shampaine, Washington, DC, who also uses GlobalGiving gift cards. Shampaine likes the idea of giving recipients the option to choose the project they would like to support, instead of picking something for them. GlobalGiving has something for everyone with projects ranging from environmental issues to bringing poor girls out of poverty through soccer.
The various examples that Malloch cites with respect to the GlobalGiving platform illustrate how giving has changed in today’s world. Individuals through GlobalGiving are empowered to engage in widespread peer-to-peer giving. Givers are typically more motivated when they see the impact of their gifts; web sites can facilitate this process of giving.
Vancouver's TinyMassive and Seattle-based WidgetBucks both offer flash ad-widgets that display products from partner sites. Both algorithmically suggest products based on your site's content. Theoretically, presenting an actual product for sale that looks slightly less than an ad will increase click-throughs.
Network: Both ad networks are "walled" and require approval to join. WidgetBucks major partners include Amazon, eBay, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and Yahoo Shopping. TinyMassive's only major partner seems to be Amazon.com, with a few other smaller partners. But hey, what _doesn't_ Amazon carry?
Attractiveness/Customizability: WidgetBucks' widgets come in 15 different skins ranging from minimalist to tacky, and available in 6 common ad sizes. TinyMassive has 5 sizes, but only 1 skin. It is, however, nice and minimalist and should integrate well with most sites, unless you have a dark background. TinyMassive's widgets have user voting controls to increase engagement.
Money: Both say that their CPC rates depend on "your site's traffic and content". Amusingly, both sites promise the same potential of over $6 eCPM. Your milage may vary greatly, of course. TinyMassive offers CPC + 10% commission on items sold, minimum balance: $10. WidgetBucks has no comission, works on CPC and/or CPM, and requires a minimum balance of $50 for payout. Interestingly, WidgetBucks does CPC for only the US, Canada and UK. Any other country seems to be judged as too spammy and runs on CPM. Both send payments 45 days after the end of the month.
For the moment, TinyMassive seems to offer a better deal, whereas WidgetBucks rates have been lowered over time. The effectiveness of these widgets depends on the audience of your site, and how product-oriented your content is. Any good publisher will try test different ad networks, but I think the magical "$6 CPM" is a dream on either of these networks. Better returns than AdSense... maybe.
TinyMassive.com is a unique comparison shopping engine (CSE) in the making. Created by merchants, TinyMassive has developed patent pending tools... [more]
WidgetBucks features pay-per-click shopping widgets that help our customers make money fast. They instantly display the most popular products based... [more]
The VC Forum has a pretty simple mission - connect innovative technology companies with smart sources of capital. And they're looking for BC companies to join them for their upcoming roadtrip to Seattle on December 4th.
A group of VCs from Silicon Valley, Seattle & Vancouver will join together to discuss technology deals and the latest industry trends. The VC Forum has been in existence since 2001 and has annual events in Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Raleigh/Durham, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Vancouver.
The upcoming Seattle roadtrip includes the following events:
Eight of the ten showcase presentation spots are filled which leaves two open and event organizers are eager to fill the roster. The BC Ministry of Technology, Trade & Economic Development are picking up the $500 presenter fee, so this event shouldn't cost startups anything to attend. Interested? Contact info@vcforum.org asap.
Amazon Web Services' second annual startup challenge awarded top spot to Boulder, CO-based Yieldex, a service which helps online publishers manage premium ad inventory and optimize campaign allocation. CEO Tom Shields said that he had no idea "what kind of capacity we were going to need" when Yieldex started, but AWS has allowed them to scale tremendously well. The win comes as "a great validation of our fantastic technical team," he says.
Seven finalists presented their companies in Seattle to a group of Amazon execs and VCs. As first prize winner, Yieldex walks away (on a cloud... har har) with $50,000 cash and $50,000 to use on Amazon web services. The company may also take some comfort in knowing that last year's winner Ooyala secured $8.5 million in its second round of funding shortly after winning the honour.
The other finalists included Encoding.com, Knewton, MedCommons, Sonian, Pixily, and Zephyr.
Yieldex was founded in 2007 by industry veterans from Matchlogic and NetGravity to address publishers' growing needs for accurate forecasting of... [more]
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