Five Chinese Americans just launched Givology.org, a new nonprofit platform that allows donors to make small gifts that can be pooled to support education grants and infrastructure projects like schools and libraries. They are partnering with local organizations to provide the necessary projects and information of the children that need the scholarship funds. The group started in China but is already looking into partnerships in Iran, Ecuador, Vietnam and India.
Person to person giving is not new - it was made popular by Kiva.org. This new twist of allowing donors to choose which child to support in a easy-to-use platform takes scholarship funding to a whole new level. The concept brings three words to my mind - immediate, tangible and transparent.
Vistors to the site will see pictures of the students and the amounts that are still needed to fund their education. Letters from the students are posted on the site and donors can donate any amount - even $5. Givelogy's homepage posts updated reports of their weekly and total impact. For example, at the time of this post, the weekly impact was $175 in 5 donations to 4 students. 7 new donors registered. The total impact is $1,070 in 51 donations to 19 students. 55 total donors registered.
See also: New site gives donors more control in giving
Photo courtesy of Givelogy; an autobiography of a student
- Dien Yuen
