Dwolla has just announced and launched Reddit Donate, a new initiative to get the Reddit community donating to non-profits (don’t worry; if you’re not a Redditor, you can still donate). Both Reddit and Stripe are on board, as are the following 12 non-profits:
- Computers for Youth
- Charity: Water
- Donors Choose
- F Cancer
- Girls Who Code
- Goods for Good
- Hach NY
- iMentor
- Kiva
- Pencils of Promise
- She’s the First
- United Way New York City
So, how does it work? If you’re a moderator of an individual subreddit, you have to create a campaign with a corresponding donation button embedded into your sidepanel. Buttons can only be made for the above certified non-profits (this is a growing list, more are on the way). A moderator can then switch out a campaign, add more, or remove it entirely.
If you’re a potential donor, all you have to do is click a donation button on a given subreddit and choose how much money you wish to contribute. All payments go directly to the non-profits.
In short, Dwolla is managing the whole operation, Reddit is the main source of promotion, and Stripe is processing the donations. Here’s the site’s tagline: “No gimmicks, no tricks, just buttons.”
So, what’s the goal? Dwolla, which is running this as a “passion project” (read: marketing move), explains:
The fact is simple, nonprofits are getting smarter, technologies are getting better, and funds are going exponentially farther than they have in the past. Heck, $25,000 can now build entire schools. Pennies are no longer fractions of a dollar, but multipliers for real change. We hope Dwolla can help with that.
The site’s success will of course depend on how the Reddit community reacts to its launch. You can find Reddit Donate on Reddit and Twitter.
Image Credit: stock.xchng
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