A new social media platform, GoPoolit, aims to offer a new income stream for charities.
Launching on December 15, and in contrast to the usual stories surrounding the medium, the new platform is proclaiming itself to be the world’s first “social media for good”.
Branches of Greenpeace, Habitat for Humanity, and SOS Children’s Villages, are among those which have reportedly signed up to a social media format which encourages favoured posts to be recognised by tiny charitable donations.
Here’s how it works; GoPoolit members post on the platform in time-honoured traditional fashion – commenting on the minutiae of their lives, sharing photos of particularly adorable cats, and so forth – with the posts able to be shared across all their usual networks.
The difference is that the user will add a nominated charity to their post. In turn, rather than ‘liking’ the submission, followers will have the chance to ‘pool’ between one and 10 pence to the post. The more viral the post, the more the pocket-sized donations to the good cause, and the potential for serious sums to be raised.
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“Imagine if every post you ever made on Facebook or Twitter could be monetised into micro-donations for a cause you care deeply about,” said Matt Turner, director of communications for GoPoolit.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit charities hard. As early as June, it was reported that one in ten were facing bankruptcy by the end of the year, even as the need for charitable help rose sharply.
With conventional methods of fundraising either faltering or simply not possible, many are hoping that GoPoolit can make up at least some of the shortfall; more than 50 charities – including Play Action International, Advantage Africa and Carers Worldwide – have been contacting an aggregate four million donors in the last few weeks, urging them to use the platform.
“GoPoolit has the potential to revolutionise our digital lives,” added Turner. “We’re focusing on micro-donations as we believe that the power is in the pocket change, and that sometimes the smallest gestures can collectively have the biggest impact.”