Buying a Car? A house? Starting up a business? Need money for college? I could go on but whatever the reason is, you’re in a situation where you need a loan. You’re looking for a bank to lend you a helping hand and in exchange you will pay them back (in installments) the full amount, plus interest.

Seems like a pretty normal situation.

However, what if that bank was you? What if poor students and entrepreneurs from across the world told you why they needed a loan, how it would help them and were willing to pay you back (with interest)?

Seems like an interesting concept?

Well, that’s exactly what Kiva.org is – a crowd-sourced micro-lending website/platform service that allows individuals (like you and I) to lend money to extremely low income students and entrepreneurs across the globe.

Crowd-sourced micro-lending?

This is the source of how Kiva operates and it’s basically a group of people contributing Read more…

Ripple (verb) – to cause small waves.

A ripple effect is often used to describe a situation where an effect from an initial state can be followed outwards incrementally. These effects can be either negative or positive and occur quite frequently in society and yes, the Internet. But let’s switch it up for a few seconds – We use search engines (like Google) to look for things on the web (news, entertainment, products, information, etc.).

Alright, so imagine combining the two and creating a search engine that creates a positive and socially conscious ripple effect.

Well on May 4th 2007, 4 friends from Australia (Jehan Ratnatunga, Simon Griffiths, Matt Tilleard and Mack Nevill) did just that.

Together they decided to use Google’s built in search engine (Google Co-op) to build a non-profit website that harnesses the power of the Internet, leverages affiliate advertising to generate revenue, and use that money to help people, instead of Read more…

A few months ago whilst catching up on the latest social media news I came across the “Social Good Summit” – an annual conference hosted by Mashable, 92nd Street Y, and the United Nations Foundation aimed at bringing together technologists, thought leaders and passionate activists to unlock the potential of new media and technology to make the world a better place.

Why not?

Since I was heading back to North America for a few months, and seeing that Ted Turner, Lance Armstrong and Doug Ulman were going to be amongst some of the notable speakers, I thought to myself, “Why not grab a couple of tickets and use this as a reason to visit New York?”.

Afterall, it’s an opportunity to connect with some amazing people and organizations involved in social good.

At first I thought it was just going to be a small event, however as the weeks rolled by more and more Read more…

Sports have always been an important part of my life.

Whether it’s basketball, baseball, tennis, football, swimming, running or soccer, I’ve always been involved in sports in some aspect or the other.

Playing sports has kept me fit and out of trouble. It’s taught me individual (strength, perseverance) & team (interpersonal, collaboration) skills.

Most importantly, sports have taught me responsibility.

My actions (big or small), always have an impact on myself, teammates and the game. By being accountable, it’s forced me to always strive to become better.

Better World

Nike is a brand that’s synonymous with sports.

Seek high performance in any sport, and you’ll find a Nike product that is specifically designed to help you do better.

In recent years however, Nike has opened up its “better” focus towards positively impacting society, and the environment.

Earlier this year, Nike launched its corporate responsibility micro-site “Nike: Better World” with one mission: Make the world better through sport.

Start of by Read more…

This story begins with Jacqueline Novogratz’s favourite blue sweater…

Jacqueline Novogratz: Founder of Acumen Fund

And so this amazing tale inspired Jacqueline’s ambitious venture into social good with her creation of Acumen Fund: an organization dedicated to investing in social entrepreneurs and enterprises focused on providing critical goods to the world’s poor.

Investing Patient Capital in Social Entrepreneurs

By using the idea of patient capital (where investors are willing to make a financial investment in a business with no expectation of turning a quick profit) and investing this into people trying to solve vital problems for the poor in their region, this essentially creates a system that combines both businesses (whose bottom line is profit) and philanthropy (a focus on creating a positive impact on society), ultimately breaking the cycle of poverty.

Since a social entrepreneur’s model is based on not one but three bottom lines – People (society), Planet (the environment) & Profit Read more…

Education for most people around the world is not free.

It actually costs money – and a lot of it.

I’m not going to delve into the numbers too much (as they vary according to country and grade level), however picture this for a moment…

The cost of raising a child alone (form birth to age 17) is approximately $182,857.

17% of that is child education = $31,085.69. If education costs money, it becomes an expense – and essentially schools become a business, and a business’ responsibility is to cater to the bottom line – profit.

Education = Expense
Schools = Business
Education = Profit

In today’s consolidating economy, people are getting paid less to do more, yet the cost of education continues to rise at an average rate of 6% annually.

If a parent’s income suffers in any way, they’re forced to make a very tough decision – one that may force them to pull their child out Read more…

First, check out these 3 socially conscious upstarts

Half United: a clothing company fighting global hunger. Every time you purchase a HALF product, you feed a child in need.

More than Me, Inc. funds the education of girls in Liberia by selling laptop covers, which are made by local Liberian women.

Sweet Notions: Up-cycle’s and sells fashion accessories, channeling the profits into organizing design camps for vulnerable women.

Now, what do all three of these organizations have in common?

If you answered, “They’re all business ideas that are trying to make the world a better place, need some help (money) starting up, and are using 33Needs to do so”, then you are absolutely right.

What exactly is 33Needs?

By definition, 33needs is a web application that connects the entrepreneurs solving our world’s biggest needs to micro-investments.

Sounds like an ambitious mantra, and a crowd-sourcing concept that we might have heard before Read more…

How many of you have tried raising money for a worthy cause and found it very difficult?

Personally, I’m trying to do so at the moment, and am finding it challenging, especially online.

Raising awareness seems easy enough, but having people actually donate… well that’s another story.

It would certainly be nice to have a place where all my friends can get involved, be able to contribute directly to my initiative and receiving a further incentive for doing so.

This would not only keep them motivated, but it would make raising money a lot more fun – so much so that everyone else would actually want to get involved.

Enter Crowdrise…

Crowdrise started as a dry run when brothers Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe (creators of online outdoor apparel store Moosejaw), along with (film producer) Shauna Robertson, teamed up with (actor /philanthropist) Edward Norton and his organization (Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust) to create a web-based Read more…