HopeMob.org

HopeMob.org is a not for profit crowdfunding site that raises money for direct aid to worthy causes. It was co-founded by Shaun King and Chad Kellough in 2012. People with specific needs apply to the site and are vetted. The vetting includes asking for references, conducting interviews, and researching on social media. Support is then given to approved projects to help them present a compelling case. Funds are then raised and used to purchase the specific items people need, such as a medical procedure. Money is not given directly to those raising funds. As of May 2013, HopeMob had funded over 100 campaigns ranging in size from $400 for a medical procedure to $100,000 for victims of Hurricane Sandy.[1]

Model

HopeMob relies on about 10,000 “volunteer ambassadors” (as of March 2013) in over 40 countries to provide support to the persons and organizations seeking to raise support for a specific need. The volunteers write stories, take pictures, promote causes on social media and otherwise volunteer time to help a campaign.[2]

History

HopeMob initially raised funds to build their platform in January 2012 on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. Their campaign raised about $125,000[3] and was actively backed by Oprah Winfrey[4] The site was launched in April 2012. The initial site featured one cause at a time and sought to bring the energy of a flash mob to the fund raising process. It charged a fee as a percentage of funds raised to cover its costs.

In December 2012, the site relaunched as a not-for-profit. Money was provided to the site by donors to cover the site's expenses. They could therefore provide 100% of the funds raised in the crowdfunding campaigns to support the projects. The site also opened up to running multiple campaigns at the same time since the one-at-a-time approach did not work. Validation of a campaign was made optional so that campaigns could select whether or not they wanted to be validated.[5]

Co-founder Shaun King had left the organization in 2014 to pursue other projects.[6]

Criticism

According to Shaun King, HopeMob has been criticized by people who raised money but never received the funds. His answer is that HopeMob has paid out for every story that raised money. The funds raised were designated to a particular end and could not be used as the fund raisers pleased. On 6-7 occasions this made fund raisers angry, but nonetheless, King asserts that the goods and services that the funds were raised for were provided to the fund raisers.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rebecca Grant, “HopeMob founder's latest project uses celebrity influence for social good”, Venture Beat, 2 May 2013
  2. ↑ Melissa Barnhart, “HopeMob: Revolutionizing Charity Giving With Online Crowd Funding”, Christian Post, 8 March 2013
  3. ↑ Kent Bernhard Jr., “Preach and testify! HopeMob combines charity, crowdfunding”, Upstart Business Journal, 1 May 2013
  4. ↑ Amy Shearn, “Choreopgraphed Hope, Brought to You by HopeMob”, LifeLift – The Oprah Blog, 15 February, 2012
  5. ↑ Josh Ong, “HopeMob, the ‘Kickstarter for causes’, relaunches as a no-fee fundraising platform open to all”, TNW News, 8 December 2012
  6. 1 2 Shaun King, “Refusing to be Held Captive by Your Past :: My Crazy Life in Love, Leadership, and Business :: The Definitive Guide to Nearly Every Success & Failure I’ve Ever Had”, 100lifegoals.com, 27 December 2014

External links

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