Phone "App" Checks in for Charity
24 March 2010 at 4:30 pm
A new mobile phone app in the US lets users donate to charities just by visiting certain stores.
A new mobile phone application, designed for use in the US, lets users donate to charities just by visiting certain stores and without having to buy a product.
The CauseWorld mobile application rewards users for visiting participating stores with “karmas”– which can then be turned into real
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| The CauseWorld app on an iPhone |
money donations to Not for Profit organisations.
The free app, available on iPhones and Andriod phones in the US, recognises a users location via the phone’s GPS, and displays a list of stores nearby that participate in the program. To earn karmas, a user enters a participating store, and ‘checks-in’ on their phone – no purchasing is required.
Karmas can be donated through the app’s ‘CauseMall’ – an online store of charitable causes. The cash value of the karmas is transferred to the selected organisation. The dollar donations are made by the corporates that have agreed to take part.
Some of the actions in the CauseMall include:
- Offset Carbon via Carbonfund.org
- Provide Relief for Haiti through the Red Cross
- Care for an abused animal with American Humane
- Donate a book through Room to Read
- Plant a tree via American Forests
So far the funding for the ‘check-in’ part of the program has come from Citibank and Kraft Foods, providing $850,000 for donations. Soon users will be able to earn extra karmas by scanning product barcodes.
The app allows advertisers to turn their marketing dollars into charitable donations, and has proven successful getting people into particular stores. Advertisers hope that by getting people to look at a particular product, it will lead to increased sales.
The CauseWorld App is not yet available in Australia.
For more information, or to download the free app visit www.causeworld.com
