CHASE ADAM, a Peace Corps volunteer, was bumping along a road near the Panama-Costa Rica border when a woman boarded his bus. Clutching her son鈥檚 medical records, she asked each passenger for a small donation to help fund his treatment, which she couldn鈥檛 afford. To Adam鈥檚 surprise, nearly every passenger donated.
The woman was essentially crowdfunding her son鈥檚 treatment, Adam realised, but she was restricted to asking only those around her for help. What if there was a way to expand that approach by tapping into the global community?
Inspired, Adam co-founded , a non-profit organisation named after the town where the woman boarded the bus. He describes it as 鈥淜ickstarter for healthcare around the world鈥� as it uses crowdfunding to pay for treatments for those in need, identified by hospitals that work with Watsi.
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Since launching in 2012, Watsi has funded healthcare for nearly 3000 people in 19 countries. Earlier this month, it launched the Universal Fund, a recurring monthly donation system that distributes funds to those who need it most. So far, nearly 700 donors have signed up.
Watsi isn鈥檛 the only non-profit modelling itself on technology start-ups rather than traditional charities. enables backers to fund US school projects; allows you to lend small amounts of money to individuals in developing countries and Omakase handpicks charities for donors to support each month.
鈥淲e鈥檙e different to traditional non-profits that have long cycles of grants and projects, and feedback that happens over years rather than days or weeks,鈥� says Shivani Garg Patel, co-founder of , which raises funds to support individual doctors in developing countries, especially those who are treating women and children.
After raising more than $1 million from Silicon Valley philanthropists to get Watsi off the ground, the team behind the project is now supported by optional tips from the site鈥檚 users, which account for 8 per cent of all donations. Samahope donors can also give part of the sum to the organisation, which keeps the site going alongside funds from foundations and businesses.
Whether these approaches will be sustainable or more effective than traditional non-profits remains to be seen. 鈥淭here鈥檚 almost a cult of innovation here,鈥� says Lucy Bernholz at the Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. 鈥淪o even if something is working and has been around for a long time, the zeitgeist is almost 鈥業f it works, break it鈥�.鈥�
The crowdfunding model is best suited to charity work that delivers an instant reward, she says 鈥� a patient healed, a life saved 鈥� rather than projects tackling things like poverty and inequality, or ones that require scientific research, which may take years to come to fruition. 鈥淭he downside is that we start loving things that allow us to check off boxes and give us instant gratification,鈥� Bernholz says. 鈥淔inding long-term support for structural changes is the bigger question.鈥�
Grace Garey, Watsi鈥檚 co-founder, acknowledges that crowdfunding isn鈥檛 the only business model for charities. 鈥淏ut I do think that every non-profit will have to fall in line with this idea that technology is making the world smaller,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 just want to know where their money goes 鈥� they expect to meet the people on the other end.鈥�
聯People don鈥檛 just want to know where their money goes 鈥� they expect to meet the people who benefit聰
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭ime to donate direct鈥�
