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Fiona Stewart

"E-charity: The Dot Compassion Revolution"

The Age

January 7, 2001

If "greed is good" was the mantra of the '80s, then "get rich quick" must be its new-economy sister. At least, that is what a new generation of entrepreneurs thought they were setting out to do.

Back then, it was dot-coms, not dot-bombs, that were talked about. But when NASDAQ crashed nine months ago, all this changed, and it was not only investor confidence that took a beating.

As the dot-com concept became synonymous with greed and arrogance, the very credibility of new technologies and new media looked similarly shaky, confirming the suspicions of many.

Staffed mostly by people under 40, such dot-com enterprises were written off as devoid of social conscience and as contributing little to the social good.

But, with Y2K becoming a distant memory, I for one believe it is time to bring dot-commers in from the cold. For there is another side to the new economy, and it is one that should satisfy even the most Marxist of old (and young) lefties.

Known in America as venture philanthropy, there is now an emerging breed of new-economy business that is taking old-economy social injustices as their mission. And there is much that Australia can learn from the models being devised in the United States and Europe. Most importantly, perhaps, it is the melding of venture capital and dot-com business models with old-economy philanthropy that looks set to create something new - something very Gen Y.

New technology is enabling a new generation - the Wired Generation - to contribute to a "civil society".

Try as the Prime Minister might to instil social responsibility in young people via antiquated work-for-the-dole programs, it is the "disruptive technology" of the Internet that is most likely to enable young people to develop social-justice projects.

And, if the US situation is any guide, there will be many ways for this revolution to take effect.

For example, this Christmas in the US there was a veritable explosion in "charity malls" such as iGive.com. Funded by advertising, every online purchase made via these portals saw a percentage go to a good cause.

Robert Grosshandler, founder and CEO of iGive.com, says business is booming, with more than US$800,000 in donations so far. "We are striving to take advantage of the favorable cost margins of e-business to enable online consumers to do good while they shop. Our growing membership and the thousands of cheques we've written show that it's working, and that is good news for anyone interested in supporting charitable giving."

At DonateTo.com, the philanthropy is more direct. A for-profit start-up business that has been operating since last July, DontateTo.com offers web users the chance to donate directly to one of 600,000 registered not-for-profit organisations.

Beyond these models are altogether new ways of living out social justice aspirations. For example, at EchoingGreen.com - named after the William Blake poem - venture capital is used to provide seed funding for "innovative public service projects".

At the British site FutureForests.com, web users can purchase and have planted as many trees as their carbon calculator demands (the carbon calculator being an online device that calculates how much carbon dioxide you produce).

Then there are dot-coms such as LearnNow, which is the New York-based education start-up of 31-year-old entrepreneur Gene Wade.The aim of LearnNow is to equip kids from poor New York neighborhoods with the skills necessary for the new economy (for example, IT literacy and Net savvy).

The aim is to use the Net to enable traditionally disadvantaged young people to become new-economy players. And, with goals like these, it is easy to see the lure of the Net where young people are concerned.

Thus, while e-business - making money - might be fun, knowing you are doing it in a way that helps others might just make you guilt-free as well. And it will help you answer those tricky questions not only about what you're taking, but what you're giving back.