This week I spent an hour of my time on a site called FreeRice.com. In that hour, I donated 730 grains of rice to hunger-stricken areas in underdeveloped countries after answering 73 multiple-choice vocabulary questions correctly.
FreeRice is the brainchild of John Breen, founder of Poverty.com and TheHungerSite.com. The concept here is ridiculously simple:
- You answer multiple choice questions that test your vocabulary
- Advertisers pay FreeRice to place ads on the web pages alongside the questions
- The advertisers’ money pays for the rice
- The more questions you answer—and the more ads you eyeball—the more rice you’re able donate
Unlike most other charities, you don’t have to spend any money in order to help alleviate hunger. All you need is your brilliant vocabulary. (more…)
Yesterday, Irina blogged about the launch of MicroPlace, an eBay-owned site that allows individuals to invest in microfinance institutions.
Today, we list other companies and organizations, both for-profit and non, that fit into the growing category of what we call Microfunding. They all help individuals like you participate, and they share a commitment to similar principles:
- They don’t require that donors or lenders have a ton of money
- They operate almost entirely through simple web sites
- They let you pick (or at least help pick) the individuals who benefit from your money
Here’s a rundown of six places to put your money to work, none of which require more than 100 bucks: (more…)
Last week, eBay launched MicroPlace—a site for individuals who want to invest in microfinance institutions, which make small loans to shopkeepers and others in developing nations.
MicroPlace is built around the “teach a man to fish” philosophy, rather than the “give a man a fish” approach of charities where you simply give your money away to the needy.
Here’s how it works:
1) You go to Microplace’s web site and pick a microfinance organization – not an individual borrower in a specific region
2) You invest a minimum of $100 in the organization
3) That organization pools money (from you and others) and then lends it to local borrowers. It decides on its own what interest rate to charge the borrowers.
4) The institution collects all loan payments from the borrowers. Once it does, you get a return on your original investment
This type of investment won’t make you rich—the interest rates you can earn currently range from 1.5% to 3%. MicroPlace is likely to appeal to those who can’t afford huge charitable contributions but would like to make an investment that’s also altruistic.
We spent a few hours evaluating the MicroPlace site this week. Our findings after the break.
(more…)
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