New Social Action Platforms: PincGiving and MTDN

PincGiving enables you to donate to the charity of your choice right now. Choose the charity or organization you want to support and list the monetary amount you want to give. We have charities in Canada, United States, UK and Australia that accept donations in 14 currencies.

Fundraising Pledge Pages - PincGiving gives you the tools and resources to create a successful fundraising campaign online. Donors can create customized online fundraising pledge pages to collect funds with peer-to-peer fundraising for their cause or charity.

Giving Gateway - Charities can place a 'Donate Now' Button for online payment processing on their website and collect donations online. We offer preferable rates with top payment processors, secure transactions and charity tax receipting.

Gift Card - Pay-It-Forward Gift Card - The Pay-It-Forward Gift Card program enables companies to further their reach with charitable match giving programs. Let the recipient decide which charity to support with the dollars you give. The charity gift cards allow the individuals to make a donation to the causes that are important to them and their friends.

Grant Services - PincGiving researches, assesses and then writes winning grant proposals to secure funding for your cause. We know what is required and have access to thousands of potential funding sources and will find the ones that meet your objectives.

MDTN seems to have learned from the proven best practices of sites like KIVA and Donors Choose.

• As with Donors Choose, the giver can fund a specific project, called in this case a "Wish" by the nonprofit.
• As with KIVA, the giver gets feedback and a felt bond with particular recipient or group. The donor might purchase five soccer balls and get not only a thank you, but a video uploaded showing the balls being kicked about on a dusty field in Africa.
• The site also has a social networking platform for donors to have profiles, blog about their interests, and "befriend" other donors.
• The site is set up to touch the heart as well as the mind.

The business structure is that of a closely held forprofit. The business model, to be announced officially in 4-6 weeks, is as follows:

• Nonprofits can have 5 wishes posted for free
• Beyond that they have to pay for an upgraded membership.
• Businesses are encouraged to purchase an upgrade for a charity. Included in that package is something like 50 wishes, plus training on social network marketing via the site, and additional bandwith to upload videos and pictures.
• Business thereby get the chance to sponsor local grassroots organizations in the communities in which they do business. A sponsorship costing, say. $1,200 a year might enable the nonprofit to raise ten times that.

I asked about competition and critical mass.

• The site is unique given its celebrity overlay. Jessica Biel and her celebrity friends will attract some visitors and makes for a nice story.
• The emphasis, though, is on execution of proven best practices, rather than doing something totally new.
• The hope is to achieve critical mass through network marketing. Each donor and charity has its own network. The charities may upload videos that go viral. Participants can invite friends. Businesses that participate may also tout their participation to employees and customers.

Continue reading Phil Cubeta's review of MTDN >>