ATLANTA, GA USA – February 2, 2010 – Here is my big idea* for a new social media internet platform for large-scale transformational change to help raise money for nonprofits.

[This proposed GREAT! idea needs best-in-class large corporations to collaborate on building and marketing this new social media internet platform.]

GREAT! Big Idea

YouCanCountOn.Us** is an online marketplace for people to volunteer their services in exchange for 100% of the payment – for these services – going directly to the volunteers’ nonprofits of their choice.

Tactics (“Search By” and “Sort” Tactics with some examples)

• Service – Select Photographer within x miles of Zip Code to see price and nonprofit to receive $$$

• Location – Select x miles of Zip Code to see all services available and sort by service, price or nonprofit [Plus, mobile location app]

• Nonprofit – Select [specific nonprofit] to see services and prices to benefit this nonprofit

• Wish List – Select “Wish List” within x miles of y for service you would like and payment offered

• Gift Registry – Register your gift list of services or search a friend’s Gift Registry

• Virtual Services – examples include: design, writing and programming

• Community (“Walled Garden”) – such as a school, church or Nonprofit (with ID/Password) [Implement via Causes Facebook app]

• Price of Service – show all services and sort by price

Features

• Wish List – notification alerts when a “wish list” service is added x miles from Zip Code

• Friend-Get-A-Friend – email notification to buy your service to benefit nonprofit

• Let’s Split It – 50/50 feature: 50% of donation to volunteer’s nonprofit and 50% to buyer’s nonprofit

• Nonprofit Tools – to encourage their volunteers and donors to offer services

Examples of Benefits to a Credit Card Company to Fund and Champion This Idea

•   Increase base, share of wallet and usage of [credit card]

•   Add value to [credit card] membership through exclusive [credit card] benefit

• Differentiate [credit card] from other credit cards

•   Increase transaction size and increase feel good factor towards [credit card] membership

•   Generate income for nonprofits in America (Phase 1) and across the Globe (Phase 2)

•   Generate social and traditional media coverage for [credit card]

• Build on the success of [credit card] Pro-Social initiatives

Potential Strategic Alliances

•   a major online auction site to provide the online market place, including “Buy Now” and auction pricing

•   a major online market place for services to offer virtual services

•   a major online service provider to enable easy payment solution to 1,500,000+ nonprofits [501c3]

•   a major video hosting service to provide online video clips to promote services offered

Marketing

•   Launch includes 50-market launch with a local media partner to help reach critical mass quickly (listings and viewers of listings): “You Can Count On Us: Atlanta! Go to (example): YouCanCountOn.Us/Atlanta**

•   Nonprofits add a youcancounton.us link to their home page that links to a “walled garden” community of services offered that exclusively benefit their nonprofit.

Backstory

In 2008, private giving to nonprofits in the U.S. was down 6%, reports The Wall Street Journal (2/1/10).

“In April [2010], world leaders and philanthropists will meet at Oxford University in London for former eBay President Jeff Skoll’s annual forum on social entrepreneurship,” reports The Wall Street Journal (2/1/10). “This year’s title: Catalyzing Collaboration for Large-Scale Change.”

“The once-booming nonprofit sector is in the midst of a shakeout, leaving many Americans without services and culling weak groups [nonprofits] from the strong. Hit by a drop in donations and government funding in the wake of  a deep recession, nonprofits – from arts councils to food banks – are undergoing a painful restructuring, including mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, cutbacks and closings,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “The nonprofit sector includes everything from universities to hospitals, arts councils to homeless shelters. While all categories [of nonprofits] are suffering, human service organizations – which account for nearly one-third of public charities – may be hurting the most. Private donations to these groups fell 12.7% in 2008, while demand for such services was booming.”

May I Get Your Help?

While this idea can be implemented organically by a non-profit (e.g. a school fund raiser) without the proposed social media internet platform, the creation of this new social media platform will enable all nonprofits to easily “plug in” to leveraging their stakeholders: donors, volunteers and Clients.

Perhaps you can get this idea in front of one or more of the people or organizations quoted in The Wall Street Journal (2/1/10) Beyond The Bubble: America’s New Economy column authored by Shelly Banjo and S. Mitra Kalita (with help from Robert A. Guth) headlined: Mergers, Closings Plague Charities:

1.      Diane Aviv, chief executive of Independent Sector, a coalition of 600 nonprofits

2.      Giving USA Foundation (tracks charitable contributions)

3.      American Red Cross

4.      Catholic Relief Services

5.      Business Civic Leadership Center (nonprofit arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

6.      UNICEF

7.      United Way

8.      Paul C. Light, professor at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service

9.      Tim Delaney, chief Executive of the National Council of Nonprofits

10.   Elizabeth Boris, director of the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy

11.   Jerry Hirsch, entrepreneur that started The Lodestar Foundation

12.   Lois Savage, president of The Lodestar Foundation

13.   Former eBay President Jeff Skoll’s annual forum at Oxford University for social entrepreneurship. This year’s title: “Catalyzing Collaboration for Large-Scale Change”

14.   Girl Scouts of America

15.   Peter Goldberg, president and CEO of the Alliance for Children & Families

16.   Big Brothers Big Sisters

17.   Boys & Girls Clubs of America

18.   Causes Founder Joe Green

*If you think this is a big idea, please give the link to this idea to your friends or colleagues at: American Express; VISA; MasterCard; PayPal, eBay; Amazon; YouTube; justgive.org; guru.com; United Way; The Coca-Cola Company; McDonald’s Corporation; philanthropists and nonprofits (that have relationships with these companies). Short URL to this idea: http://j.mp/99E3kQ. This blog post is about putting a big idea “out there” to find its audience: attract interest, discussion and action. You may be one degree away from a friend or colleague that can turn this idea into action: helping charities across the globe. Thank you for your help!

**Website name reserved as a placeholder; not implemented

Short URL For This That’s GREAT! Article

• http://j.mp/GREATnpIDEA