Ripple was a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
click-to-donate internet site and search engine which passed 100% of its revenue to other charities.
[Lia Timson]
Search to end poverty
''The Age'', May 29, 2007. Retrieved on October 9, 2007. Launched on May 4, 2007, they generated revenue through
sponsorship
Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...
and advertisements. Ripple.org was named #23 in
BRW Top 100 web 2.0 sites of 2008.
The co-founders of Ripple were Jehan Ratnatunga, Matthew Tilleard, Mack Nevill and
Simon Griffiths
Simon Griffiths (born 15 January 1973) is an English professional golfer who played on the Asian Tour 2006–2017 and was runner-up at the 2007 Hana Bank Vietnam Masters and the 2008 Volvo China Open. In 2024, he joined the European Senior Tour ...
, a graduate from Melbourne University.
As of March 2017 Ripple.org only contains a link to
WaterAid Australia.
Features
The Ripple web site generated revenue through clicking and search.
A user could click to choose a preferred form of charity, bringing up an
advertisement
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
from a sponsor. The sponsor paid Ripple every time an advertisement is viewed, Ripple assigns the sponsor payment to the charity of the web user's choice.
Users could use the in-built search engine, powered by
Google Co-op. Each search generated advertising revenue.
Ripple also had an interface through online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. Users were able to add applets that function in the same way as the Ripple web site to their profiles and display how philanthropic they are via a 'contributions' count.
Impact
Ripple supported the
WaterAid Australia,
Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...
,
Oaktree Foundation
Oaktree is an Australian-based, non-government organisation that specialises in international youth development. Their purpose is to lead, demand and create a more just world. Founded in 2003, the organisation is run by young people aged 16 to 2 ...
, and the
Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, also known as "GFUSA", is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that uses digital technology and data to understand very poor people, in detail, and offer them†...
. In 2008, Matthew Tilleard expressed the goal of adding a "carbon charity" and including up to ten charities on the site.
[David Adams]
Saving the world one click at a time
''The Age'', April 3, 2008. Retrieved on April 7, 2008. Although the
affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a marketing arrangement in which Affiliate (commerce), affiliates receive a wiktionary:commission, commission for each visit, signup or sale they generate for a merchant. This arrangement allows businesses to Outsourcing, ...
and search interface techniques are not new, donating all proceeds to charity is rare, according to Lia Timson writing in ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
''.
See also
*
Freerice
Freerice, originally FreeRice, is a website-based application that allows players to donate rice to families in Developing country, developing countries by playing a multiple-choice quiz game. For every question a user answers correctly, 10 grain ...
*
The Hunger Site
The Hunger Site is the original click-to-donate site created in 1999 that gets sponsorship from advertisers in return for delivering users who will see their advertisements. The Hunger site encourages visitors to click a button on the site, on ...
*
The Rainforest Site
The Rainforest Site is a " click-to-donate" website, launched in May 2000, that uses ad-based revenue to conserve land in Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay and other locations worldwide. In addition, a portion of funding goes to preserve old-growt ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Click-to-donate sites
Organizations established in 2007
Defunct websites