For all the billions of dollars created here, Silicon Valley is remarkably stingy when it comes to giving. I first wrote about this when I moved here in the great Web 1.0 Internet bubble. Back then, as companies went public all around us, one-third of households earning $100,000 or more gave $1,000 or less to charity—roughly half what the rest of the U.S. gave per dollar earned. And those were the fat times.
I don’t have comparable data to back it up, but anecdotally it seems the Web 2.0 generation is doing a better job at giving. Or at least Bebo founder Michael Birch is.
Birch has spent the last six months working with a team of two other people to build a social giving site for the popular organization, Charity:Water. It launched its beta site today, and with just a Tweet announcing it nearly 400 members have already raised some $3,000.
Charity:Water’s accountability and simplicity of purpose has made it a popular charity in New York, Hollywood and increasingly the Valley. Here’s the value proposition: One-out-of-six-people on the planet doesn’t have access to clean drinking water. $5,000 buys an African village a well. Every dime you donate, goes to these wells. You can even watch the wells being tapped for the first time via Web video. The non-profit is turning three in a few weeks, and it’s raised more than $10 million over that time—much of it in $20 increments from a base of some 60,000 donors. It was Obama-fundraising-math before that was invented. As a result some 700,000 people in the world now have access to clean drinking water.
It was all started three years ago when Scott Harrison, reformed bad boy and Charity:Water founder, asked people to come to a huge New York party for his September birthday and donate $20 at the door instead of giving him a gift. He raised $15,000 and built six wells in Uganda. (They were cheaper than the wells Charity:Water usually builds because three were shallow wells and three were rehabs of existing wells.) Like any great accidental entrepreneur, Harrison knew he was on to something.
In addition to all kinds of creative fund raising, detailed in the video below, the following year, Harrison opened his birthday to everyone via the Web, asking them to donate $32 dollars, since it was his 32 birthday. That year, he raised $59,000 and other September birthday babies brought the total to $150,000, which went to wells in Kenya. Not bad, but they had to HTML hand-code each participant’s site. Pretty laborious work for a small non-profit.
The next year he got more September babies to “give up” their birthdays, and a company called InspEnv.com built them a site, but it wasn’t hugely social or scalable. Still 800 people “gave up” their birthdays and raised some $965,000 dollars to bring some 50,000 people clean water in Ethiopia.
But Harrison knew that the value of a lot of micro-giving campaigns like Kiva and the popular Facebook application, Causes, is rooted in the ability to make small donations super-easy to solicit and to make via existing online social graphs. He was trying to figure out sites that knew when a huge number of people’s birthdays were and after MySpace and Facebook, he came across Bebo. Early last year, he cold-emailed Bebo founder Michael Birch to ask if he’d be willing to send a note out to his September born users and Birch wrote back that it was “a bad time.” It was actually a great time for Birch—he was selling the company to AOL for $850 million.
Once the deal was done, Birch called Harrison and suggested he build him a site that could help people born in any month instantly “give up their birthdays” for Charity:Water’s mission. It was fitting since Birch’s next project was his pre-Bebo project, a site called Birthday Alarm. Nine months later, Harrison is about to turn 34, Charity:Water is turning three, and Birch has finished the site. For a free project, it’s a pretty nice looking site.
The recession makes this perfect timing. If you’re panicked about money and job loss, giving up your birthday is an easy way to give to those less-fortunate without having to spend a dime yourself. My husband has a September birthday and has already signed up. I plan to sign up for my birthday in December. You can create your own campaign in a matter of moments and with a few clicks, share it via all your existing social networks.
I’m sure the coders who were up until 4 a.m. last night will have mixed feelings about this, but this is one time I really want to see TechCrunch users break a beta site.
[Photo credit: Scott Harrison]
The story of charity: water – The 2009 September Campaign Trailer from charity: water on Vimeo.
Oh my god, the idea of charity water is really good. I going to check and support the project in the next days too over my blog. PRO charity. PRO Michael.
Seriously makes me wonder why we do so much for other countries, when right here at home, millions suffer everyday.
We have homeless families, we have children without health care, we have children who are abused, we have schools that are suffering and so much, much, more going on in our own country.
Yet we still pat ourselves on the back every time we raise money for hunger, clean drinking water and hospitals in other countries.
That is like, turning your back on your own child and feeding the child across the street instead.
The American across the street wouldn’t appreciate your help.
Or why not help both of them? How would that be?
Sorry my friend…. but you are A “stupid”.
Thinking like that is just like thinking… “well im AN american, so I dont care if the rest of the world blows up…. as long as US doesnt.”
Well my friend, Im sorry to tell you but US needs the rest of the world as much as the rest of the world needs US…. for food, techs, oil, etc. Except from water and air…. most of US resources come from abroad…. even some “brains” the Valley.
You have not seen the suffering in other country. It is beyond your imagination
I have and I can tell you that there are places in Florida, o even in California that compare.
But it is a tough call. While I believe that we need to take care of ourselves before we can take care of anybody else, and charity starts at home, it is also hard to ignore what goes on outside of the US’ borders.
Kudos to them for doing something about it. Charity directed anywhere where is positive is good no matter how you slice it and dice it.
That is exactly why the rest of the Hungry, Thirsty world HATES Americans…. We have everything… We do not suffer…People in this country have no IDEA what suffering is… I’m proud of where i’m from but when my children won’t eat the beans and rice i give them I will make them give it to the child across the street to learn humility and generosity…
Good point I am an “American” but I think the issue here is that Scott saw an opportunity to make an immediate difference to people in dire need over an extended period of time. With his program one $20 donation can give one person clean drinking water for 20 years. Thats impact. Thats a message that isn’t being replicated by other US charities, at least none that I know off the top of my head. Other charities focusing on peoples needs here at home need to take a closer look at the 100% model. If I knew that all of my donation would be buying one kid a new school desk in Louisiana I’d be more inclined to lean that way. CW is just doing a better job of spreading a message about a problem and has found a solution thats easier for people to get behind.
who wants to bet that @iamanAmerican above donates nothing but anonymous complaints
97% of all donations in the US are domestic. We’re the richest country in the world, yet give so little to other countries.
I heard Scott speak at an event in London about 2 years ago – he story is impressive, and he’s an inspiring guy on a pretty clear mission.
Charity:Water is a great example of a charity learning loads from other sectors – and in this case “web 2″ and marketing in general.
Good luck to them!
Social entrepreneurship will revolutionize the world.
Hi,
One of the most offensive and patronising ideas of the 90’s tech-bubble was when the condescending attitude to African charity was combined with technologically-illiterate western politicians of all hues wetting themselves over giving the poor cheap computers before the actual necessities of water, food, shelter, health, electricity, communication and transport infrastructure.
It’s the small and simple things that provide the better return, wider leverage; just as bill gates and scott harrison are doing, not having a top-down and heavy-handed colonial (or bureaucratic) approach, but being agile and efficient.
And I would happily be interested in getting directly involved with Charity:water.
However, I do worry that water for africans might become the cause-celebre, with so many from Reuters being a supporter of one to Matt Damon, from wateraid to 1well and a host of others that will work uncoordinated and with over-lap. Also, what’s with the google adwords spend by Charity:Water?
Finally, while I wouldn’t want to provide scepticism about anyones motives, and Michael Birch is certainly a respected brit-tech. the fact that this coverage and the larger effort involves the privately-owned and completely For-Profit Birthday:Alarm does unfortunately remind me of those annual charity events broadcast on tv where every pop-group and dodgy business tries to ingratiate itself and piggy-back on a good cause (and its air-time), but is just cynical PR!
Yours kindly,
Shakir Razak
Hey Shakir
Just jumping in – zero Google adwords spend for charity: water, Google gave us a grant through their non-profit program.
We’d love to get you involved as well!
Scott Harrison
charity: water
Great work Scott. I just signed up. The giving up a birthday idea is awesome.
trying to think up a funny way to bring up http://www.tech...ct-to-the-test/ (”let them drink aquafina!”), but it falls flat. Not having drinking water isn’t exactly something to joke about.
This is a great idea. We’ll find other ways to promote this in the future as well.
Yes, I think the idea is successful too.
Why do not others have come before it.
Love charity: water. Bravo Harrison & Birch!
Given the profit margins and unique abilities of companies here in Silicon Valley, it seems their philanthropy isn’t as great in comparison to retailers. For example, Children’s Miracle Network doesn’t really have a tech company on its list of sponsors, but has many fantastic retailers. We’re hoping to change that.
$5000 dollars a well. He raises $15,000 on his birthday. He uses that money to buy six wells. Yeah, I’m going to go ahead and not believe what you’re saying here.
hey benji
the $5k a well is an average across more than 1,000 charity: water projects in 16 countries.
(see http://www.char...ts/projects.htm )
The first birthday night that raised $15,000 – funded 6 wells in a refugee camp called Bobi in Northern Uganda. Three were inexpensive new shallow wells, and 3 were rehabilitations at less than $1,000 a pop.
Benji: I do volunteer work for Charity Water and not all of the wells cost the same amount. This is a very transparent charity and you are welcome to volunteer any time. Once you do you will see that ihis is one of the best charities out there.
Hold on. Why do you call it ‘giving up’ your birthday? ‘Giving up’ makes it sound like you’re making some sort of sacrifice. It’s *giving* your birthday to something far, far more exciting and rewarding than some presents that you didn’t choose. It’s a small thing, but important.
Nice work Sarah for writing about this and to Mike for openly supporting and promoting it. Not to turn TC into a social causes site but it would be cool to promote some local worthy causes as well. You’ve got a big microphone so use it well!
I cannot say enough about Scott Harrison, Viktoria Alexeeva and the whole charity: water team. I am particularly inspired by Michael Birch’s commitment to charity: water. I know first hand, this is someone who has not only put their money where their mouth is, but also found a way to use their skills and talent to invest in something positive.
After working with charity: water on Twestival back in February, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there is not a more forward thinking, creative or transparent nonprofit out there. They are a cause that had the balls to say, ‘we’d LOVE to do this’ after I explained the outline of Twestival in an email only weeks before it kicked off on Twitter. They are also a cause that shows you through video and GPS coordinates exactly where your money is going. (see: http://www.char...r.org/twestival)
The new site is fantastic and I hope it will only bring people closer to their donations and realize the enormous impact that even $20 can have. I have seen first hand in Ethiopia the kind of impact charity: water projects have on a community.
Thank you Michael, Sarah and TechCrunch for sharing this story.
Ummm….Didn’t Birch spend $50 million on his house in San Francisco? He is lionized for coding a website for free and not giving any money? Has he given any money to Charity:Water as well? If not, why not? He could have paid a couple out of work coders to build the site and created some jobs as well.
Yeah, Yeah, I know. What he did is cool. But he should have done much much more. Ok. Bye. Bye.
Ummmster, what are you saying? That people should only give to charity if they meet *your* criteria for generosity? Is there a formal committee we can apply to, or is it just what you decide?
Ummster, how unfortunate that you would focus your energy on scheming up such baseless and negative commentary on such a wonderful project
Micheal hired 2-3 engineers to help him with this project. He is also one charitywater’s largest donors.
Hey Ummster.
Actually, in addition to helping with the website, Michael Birch has been the single largest individual donor to the the organization, and has actually paid to employ the engineers working on the project.
In addition, the team at BirthdayAlarm bought servers to host the site for free, and have been supporting the launch.
True charity here, I’m afraid.
Scott Harrison
charity: water
Scott,
Thanks for the update! I was hoping that was the case.
-Single Largest Donor: Check
-Paid for servers: Check
-Employed more engineers: Check
The article wasn’t clear on that. Good to hear! Go Birch!
Congrats Scott, very inspiring!
While you built 6 wells with your birthday donations, other spend theirs on political campaign (http://www.tech...britney-spears/). Two different way of life…
This project looks amazing. However, I was wondering how it differs from the UNICEF’s Tap Project. It raises money for clean, drinking water in developing countries as well. Why isn’t there an active collaboration between the two philanthropic projects?
Hey Joy
We just had the Tap Project team in our offices a few weeks ago. We are supportive of their work, and I believe they of ours as well!
Scott
Scott,
I am very happy to hear that the two projects complement each other. I helped raise money for the Tap Project this year. The collegiate organization on Penn State’s campus that I am involved with is very interested in keeping up our philanthropic drives around providing access to clean, drinking water in developing nations.
Joy
It is nice to see people doing good.
I’m sorry to pour cold water on this, but this tendency to giving handouts is both demeaning to Africans and literally a waste of money.
Nobody ever became rich from handouts. If Silicon Valley millionaires really want to end poverty in Africa, building wells won’t do it. Investment will do it.
Instead of spending $150,000 on a few wells that nobody owns and will be decrepit in a year, why not use the same amount to seed 10 African entrepreneurial ventures?
Those 10 businesses will create jobs, contribute to the economy, train future entrepreneurs and actually end at least a few peoples’ proverty by giving them capital.
So how about a mini Slicon Valley in Africa? Giving handouts may make you feel good, but it does nothing for poverty. Give a man a fish….
http://www.amusis.com
Seriously, look at these people -starved of food and water, uneducated, lacking medicide. How can they contribute to startups and valleys and stuff like that?
They’re in need of basic things that human beings hardly survive without and this project and many others are trying to provide that.
What you’re suggesting will only make the rich get richer, poor get poorer my friend.
Karolis, have you been to Africa? The entrepreneurial zeal is amazing, because there’s no social welfare. What people lack is capital.
Giving them handouts will feed them for a day. Giving them capital will feed them and their children for life.
Granted, you don’t expect to incubate the next Intel in an African village. But microfinance has shown that small lending to poor villagers helps them build sustainable businesses. Similarly, micro venturing can buld local economies.
Silicon Valley millionaires know a thing about venture capital. So instead of giving handouts or building wells, why not give capital to that village entrepreneur who will employ ten other people?
Doesn’t matter that he’s not making software. One village entrepreneur discovered a way to freeze milk from village cows for transportation to industrial ice cream producers in the city. He was financed by a micro-VC.
This condesending image of Africa as poor wretches with their hands outstretched has to go. Investment, NOT aid can end poverty.
http://www.amusis.com
The premise of your argument might make sense, but you’ve completely missed the point. Micro-lending and such do help provide individuals with the capital to create more capital and so it’s often better than donations, which can be wasted.
HOWEVER, this is not a pure donation. They’re not shipping gallons of Aquafina (see Mike’s comment) over the Atlantic. They’re building wells, which are a form of infrastructure. It is damn near impossible for these people to make any use of capital if they’re dying of sicknesses. All Birch and Charity:Water are doing is helping provide African nations with the same public goods you and I can expect from their government.
In general, I agree with your principles: we should invest in the 3rd world and spark capitalism and investment rather than donations and hand-outs. But 1) your antagonizing method of preaching is counter-productive and 2) donating to provide the 3rd world with “public goods” such as water and roads is hardly a waste of money. If anything, we should build those assets prior to providing micro-investments to Africans.
Michael Birch is one-of-a-kind.
Claps!
$23 gives one person water for life. GiveUgandaWater.org
Ian, no one can claim that their org can provide anyone water for life- it is disingenuous to your donors and self serving at best. International work in developing and war torn countries has far too many variables to make such a claim.
Charity: water gets the best bang for the buck out there for the rural projects they do. They have won and maintain their cred by keeping claims realistic, timelines factual, and their process transparent.
Big Props to Birch and Harrison for their great work!
“…one-third of households earning $100,000…” In Silicon Valley, that is not exactly a lot of money.
People who earn $100,000 in other parts of the country are actually wealthier, based on buying power.
Great looking site and love what Scott is doing…
He, along w/ Blake from TOMSSHOES and many others are pushing the envelope around entrepreneurship + social component.
@Jeff- I completely agree. Businesses should serve as the impetus of expanding human welfare in marginalized communities.
We’re covering that movement at SocialEarth.
Bravo.
Enough–Thanks to those in support of any kind of help ,besides a ‘handout’.What i can tell you is that a majority of these people do not want any money from IMF etc given to their gov. cause its wasted.
“whats the point in micro-finance”some one wrote “if are dying”-that is true. Water is a gift of Life – you help more than you can ever imagine.
Keep up the good work.
See what a 20yr American “Kid” did- http://cfk.unc.edu/
Disclaimer– Born in Kenya
Oops-Disclosure not disclamer
My organization is trying something similar in that people give a different kind of gift, a better gift that allows the giftee to choose what kind of sustainable community development poverty eradication projects they are interested in. This can include water projects and even microcredit but it runs the breadth of ways to strengthen a community and help these people find their own way out of poverty.
We believe this is an easy way to get developed world dollars to the developing world. It is open transparent and trustworthy. Do you realize that 1 trillion dollars are spent in North America alone on christmas presents. Even if you gave up 5% of your shopping budget that is alot of water wells, microcredit projects and education programs for people in the developing world to empower them to find their way to a more promsing future.