How Your Web Search Habits Can Help Fight Global Poverty

What if you could help fund poverty programs in the developing world, just by searching the Internet? These days, sites like Australia-based ripple.org are harnessing the power of online advertising to allow our everyday web habits to help those in need. Sound too good to be true?

Here’s how it works. When you click on one of the four cause tabs on ripple.org — or whenever you use their search bar to peruse the Internet — you’re shown an advertisement that costs a fraction of a dollar to buy. 100% of that amount is then devoted to charities involved in the fight against global poverty. It’s simple. And the list of recipient charities is a powerhouse group — Oxfam, Oaktree Foundation, WaterAid and the Grameen Foundation are among the current beneficiaries.

Of course, social entrepreneurs in Australia aren’t the only ones getting in on the action. Sites like GoodSearch, which employs a similar concept but allows users to choose their desired charity, are popping up all across the Internet, too. Skeptics might wonder whether simply clicking a button or searching the net is straining the connection we have with the charities we give to, but I’d argue these tools bring in people who care but otherwise might not get involved.

From the way mobile technologies are making it easy for people in the developing world to tap into financial markets, health services and educational opportunities to the way the web is revolutionizing aid data, the Internet has increasingly left its footprint on how we’re addressing poverty around the globe. The intersection of technology with the boots-on-the-ground projects that are directed at alleviating poverty has been at the forefront of the chatter around the development community for some time now, and web tools like ripple.org are injecting some much-needed excitement into the giving game. At a time when nearly 1.5 billion people are online at any given point in the day — and in a period in which charitable giving in the U.S. is taking a hit — a little social innovation can go a long way.

(If you’ve got examples of other organizations that are following the online model of ripple or GoodSearch, leave them in the comments section below.)

Photo Credit: KCcad