Giving by Clicking
by David Coffin
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It's clear that the new business model in town has to do with generating large amounts of web traffic to a popular website. But, now that same business model is bringing millions of visitors to online donation sites. More than 32 million Americans and of them 13 million children are hungry, according to America's Second Harvest. The premise is simple, bring people to the donation sites, get paid advertising, and give a portion to charity. This is what www.thehungersite.com and www.freerice.com have been doing. It's amazing what one click can do multiplied by millions of caring web surfers.
Computer programmer John Breen first created thehungersite in 1999 as an easy way to donate your click to feed the hungry. The site was a success and is now part of CharityUSA.com LLC, a for-profit company that raises money for non-profit causes. Thehungersite attracts 220,000 unique visitors each day. Overall, thehungersite has funded more than 38 million pounds of food. They donate 100% of their advertising revenue. A portion of the proceeds from product sales also goes towards donations. You may also click to help literacy, child health, breast cancer, animal rescue, and the rainforest. They also offer a daily email reminder to click. I've been using this site for years, I have it set as my default home page.
More recently, Breen launched www.freerice.com in October 2007. This site has gained viral popularity since its launch. Originally, the site was constructed as a learning application for his college-bound son, it has generated more than 20 billion donations of 20 grains of rice each. Featuring companies such as American Express, Gaiam, and Beauty.com. Donations are made through the UN World Food Program. When you play this word game you see a bowl of rice filling as you match words with similar words.
If your company is looking for a way to advertise and give to a charitable cause, then giving to a pay-per-click donation site may be the right choice. This kind of branding is a way for companies to show their positive attitude toward the less fortunate and target hard to reach market segments.