A new way to give

• By Megan Kashner
• 16 Jan 2013

Who are Benevolent?

Over 62 million Americans are living below the poverty line and another 46 million live in low-income households. Social worker Megan Kashner was sick of seeing well-meaning, broad-brush programs from churches, governments and foundations aimed at effecting mass change come and go – while individuals still remained without quantifiable help. So she decided to create a solution. “I woke up one day in February of 2011 with the simplest of ideas… If thousands of American adults faced singular, one-time challenges and if people like you and I find ourselves increasingly looking to make our giving more personal and direct, then why shouldn’t I build a way for low-income adults to tell their stories of striving and challenge, with dignity and determination, and invite people in to become a part of their success? We could transform the way we give and get support when it matters most.”

An innovative way to give

As a non-profit, Benevolent transforms traditional philanthropy into a new, energized personal relationship between donor and recipient. How? An innovative, scalable digital platform that uses a crowd-giving model to provide a validated, secure means to address gaps in the safety net - one person at a time. With Benevolent, the individual is key. “We partner with local community nonprofits that have those crucial personal relationships with the individuals in need, and can therefore validate that the need is real and critical.” Megan says. “We offer a tool that just a few years ago technologically was not possible. And we’re making a difference.”

Feedback urgently required!

Alongside the obvious challenge of the idea, Megan faced a new one – user experience. “Because Benevolent's concept is new and unique, there is a learning curve associated with educating nonprofits on how to participate,” She explains “But although the new process seemed straightforward to us, it was not so easy for our nonprofits validators and individuals with needs. And our success is dependent on the ability of individuals, nonprofits and donors to easily navigate and participate on our website.

So how did they fix the problem? By listening to the opinion of everyone involved in the process – from all angles. “We have worked closely with nonprofits and individuals, software user experience experts, and anyone else willing to give an opinion to revamp this process for the better. The ability for our nonprofit partners and there clients to enter needs easily on our website is critical to our success. We ultimately committed our community engagement team for an entire quarter to solely work on the development of a nonprofit website portal created to succinctly provide this education.

Want to know more? Visit Benevolent - and be inspired!

Written on:

16 Jan 2013

Categories:

Internet Ideas, Not for Profit