Pledge-driven community site designed to build support through collective action.
Founded: 2005
Status: Nonprofit
Processing Fee: NA
Website: http://www.pledgebank.org
In their words:
What is PledgeBank for?
PledgeBank is a site to help people get things done, especially things that require several people. We think that the world needs such a service: lots of good things don't happen because there aren't enough organised people to do them.
Can you give me some examples?
Sure. 'I will start recycling if 100 people in my town will do the same'; 'I will organise my child's school play if 3 other parents will help'; 'I will build a useful website if 1000 people promise to contribute to it'.
How does it work?
PledgeBank allows users to set up pledges and then encourages other people to sign up to them. A pledge is a statement of the form 'I will do something, if a certain number of people will help me do it'. The creator of the pledge then publicises their pledge and encourages people to sign up. Two outcomes are possible – either the pledge fails to get enough subscribers before it expires (in which case, we contact everyone and tell them 'better luck next time'), or, the better possibility, the pledge attracts enough people that they are all sent a message saying 'Well done—now get going!'
What can I ask people to pledge?
Pretty much anything which isn't illegal, and which doesn't incite people to commit illegal actions. Anything too obscene might also be taken down—this is a family friendly site!
How can you be sure people will bother to carry out the pledge?
We can't; PledgeBank is based on a psychological bet. We believe that if a person possesses a slight desire to do something, and then we help connect them to a bunch of people who also want to do the same thing, then that first person is much more likely to act. We have some success stories for a variety of pledges from the site, and we have also surveyed many of the money-based pledges that have succeeded, and found that payment rates vary from 50% to well over 150%, with three-quarters of people paying being typical.
