Microphilanthropy is to traditional charity what dual core processors are to single-core processors

An interesting comment popped up after my “manifesto for microphilanthropy” post. In it, it was suggested that micropayment was important for microphilanthropy. I disagree, and here’s why (this is a reblog of my reply:)

Pure commoditisation - which ultimately, is what needs micropayment - is almost the exact opposite of microphilanthropy! It leads to donation requests getting so micro as to make the donation they ask for so small that potential donors can’t be bothered to do it - it’s too much effort to get your wallet out, type in the card details, etc (hence the need for micropayment systems to get over this transaction barrier).

Microphilanthropy is not (in my eyes) the act of commoditising charity into tiny, massmarketed, micropayment experiences (i.e. micro-donations by millions of people) - it’s about fostering a Long Tail in our new hyperconnected world. The micro relates more to the size of the niche - specific families, specific stories - than to the size of the donation. Micro-donation is an alternative model for charity more suited to the existing, highly institutionalised model of philanthropy (but could be very important/useful to it, so also requires discussion)

There’s no reason why average donations can’t stay relatively upscale in microphilanthropy - it’s based around the creation/display of hyper-personal, very niche charitable actions, thus it finds unusually devoted people (and because it’s highly personal, it should be of high value to people, hence the large donations), and it finds enough of them to put together a group just large enough to make the world move in that tiny niche. Before the internet, it was too hard to find those people, so charities had to stick to mass-appeal issues, staying very general. Since everyone is different, millions of niches get worked on, all in parallel. Microphilanthropy is a hyper-parallelised model of charity - its a similar boost that you get from a dual-core processor (parallel computing) versus single-core.

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Manifesto for Microphilanthropy

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Jim Simpson 2 weeks ago 1 point
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MIcrophilanthropy...it's here. We have a web based site called iCareCard.org that is makes incremental, transactional contributions to the charity of your choice every time you use our "charitable" Visa debit card. Beta is done and now we're going after charitable organizations who can sponsor or benefit or both by signing on with us. We'll pay the sponsor one cent or three cents (depending upon how/what amount the debit card is used). The charity (must be a 501 c 3) benefits by receiving 2 cents every time the card is used.

By joining with a sponsor/charity and recruiting groups, either associations, employee groups (the card can also be a payroll card) or donor groups who receive the card only have to "attach" it to their existing checking account. Once that step is done, the card becomes a "pocket billboard" for the sponsor & charity and many other feature benefits abound. The card holder receives interest on his outstanding balance, gets 3 cents off of each gallon of gasoline purchased, is allowed to issue cards to family members, children, etc., can change his choice of charities that benefit and can use the card for cash at ATMs, set maximum daily amounts wherever he wants, or to make purchases anywhere Visa is accepted.

Since it's not a credit card, there is no credit app or qualifying, but since the banking networks can't determine whether a Visa debit card is a credit or checking card, can be used as a credit card when the card holder needs to make an online or offline credit card purchase.

Sponsors can offer multiple charitable choices or just one...whatever they choose. Supermarkets, employers, charities, associations, fraternal groups, colleges and even high schools can issue the card to raise funds. The catch is, as we hinted, is that the card holder is not making the contributions, iCareCard does! So, for those marginal groups way "down the tail" who have little (and shrinking) disposable income, or who may not be the best demographic profile for a charitable request, just getting this card into their hands creates an income stream that is ongoing, incremental and transactional.

This card is the egalitarian card because the revenues aren't based upon who you are or how much you make, but how often you purchase gasoline, groceries, medications or conduct business. The transaction count determines donor value, not their economic standing. So, marginal income earners who leave work on Friday now can use the iCareCard (credited with their weekly paycheck) to pick up a pizza, stop for milk and diapers and passively put a dime into their chosen charity while saving 30 cents on their gas fill up.

Any interest? Call me, Jim Simpson at 216-409-6004 or email me at jim@jmz.net and I'll send you the paperwork!

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