Charity monitoring organization BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) recently launched the blockchain-based GiveSafely.io donation platform. The solution aims to provide a safe way to donate and ensure the money reaches the charity while preserving data privacy. Participating charities include Save the Children and Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.
The WGA is an offshoot of the U.S. non profit Better Business Bureau (BBB). BBB WGA helps donors make informed decisions by producing reports on about 1,300 national charities. The organization evaluates charities based on the 20 BBB Standards for Charitable Accountability, following which the charities receive accreditation from the BBB WGA.
GiveSafely.io lists BBB Accredited Charities, which the users can give to using PayPal or cryptocurrency. The platform aims to attract young and technologically proficient donors, which also happen to be a demographic that is more inclined towards charitable donations. It is also running a token-based rewards system for donors who wish to share their personal information.
Called TrustTokens, the digital assets are rewarded based on the donation amount and the personal information donors choose to share. These TrustTokens can then be exchanged for online experiences and other gifts. This includes offers like healthy cooking tips or discussions and sessions on the work of a charity.
“This platform will provide new forms of engagement with Millennials and Generation Z which we believe are critical audiences for the future growth of philanthropy,” said Art Taylor, CEO of BBB Wise Giving Alliance.
Currently listed charities on the platform include: Save the Children, Easterseals, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Population Media Center, RedRover, Wild Animal Sanctuary, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, and World Emergency Relief.
On the technology side, GiveSafely.io is built on the Ardor blockchain, the platform from Jelurida. One of the benefits of using blockchain is that GiveSafely does not have access to any donor data, and it ensures donations go directly to the charity.
Last year, ConsenSys and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said they were developing a blockchain-based charity platform called Impactio. UNICEF has launched a cryptocurrency fund to receive, hold, and distribute donations in digital assets.
Meanwhile, in China, Alibaba Group has launched the ‘Charities on the Chain’ platform to track donations and their impact efficiently.
