Ripple: Clicking To Help Create A Better World

Are you one to remain conscious of the welfare of your fellow humans? When you learn of geological or man-made crises, do you toss in a few of your own bills and coins to try to help set things straight? Perhaps you volunteer your physical and mental skills wherever you think you best benefit certain causes. If any of these in any way fit your description, you most likely fall into the Good Samaritan category. So, what if you want to expand on your resume, so to speak? What else can you do?

Well, if you’re a Web-savvy individual – as a reader of this publication, you certainly must be - you can start using Ripple.

Ripple is a non-profit website/service that allows visitors to activate small donations given by a number of sponsors to a select series of aid organizations. Currently, four populate Ripple’s homepage: WaterAid, Oxfam, OakTree, and Grameen Foundation. Donations are pledged by the site’s sponsors every time an advertisement of theirs is viewed; the same goes for searches done via a Google field present.

At the moment, Lastminute.com.au appears to be the sole sponsor and donor of the effort. Kudos to them, we say.

Ripple also allows bloggers and Facebook and MySpace members to add buttons to their profiles and pages for any select cause – be it the administration of water supplies, food, education, or financial loan – or add an all-in-one icon that allows visitors of one’s MySpace or Facebook page(s) or blog to support any one organization they choose or simply jump over to Ripple’s homepage to learn more about the project.

The intention behind Ripple is to attract a large mass of steady traffic to deliver the most possible funding to the various aid groups, which may in turn attract more sponsors, kickstarting a cycle in which profitable corporations give an increasing portion of their advertising budgets to social institutions whilst gaining an increasing amount of beneficial PR.

If you’re into helping others and wish to add to your supply of good karma, do visit Ripple and add your own steady stream of clicks to the cause. Keep in mind, Ripple promises to give 100% of revenue from sponsorship to its aid partners.