Technology meets Charity

Technology is changing how our world works – from how we communicate, to how we consume news, to how we entertain ourselves – and now, even how we do charity.

The Feathers Project, a start-up non-profit organization that’s based in New York, USA and Muntinlupa City, Philippines is trying to modernize the way people do charity by using technology in doing charity.

Volunteers of Feathers

“Feathers” uses a web conference technology (think “Skype” or “FaceTime”) to connect their beneficiaries to their donors – this web conferencing platform allows the beneficiary and donor to virtually meet and be able to learn more about each other – allowing natural human connection to occur during the process.

David West, founder of Feathers Project, got inspired to use the same technology he is using in his for-profit businesses when he created Feathers. He said that, “For years I searched for a cause that could engage my employees in a meaningful way. My search came to an end one night while staying with a Filipino family in extreme financial pain. It occurred to me that it would be possible to give affluent families in other countries a glimpse of what I was experiencing by using web conferencing technologies that are almost free today. One cannot be exposed to such conditions at some level without wanting to help.”

Image of a Feathers Ceremony. It's a virtual or in-person meeting with your sponsored family that allows you and your family to learn more about them and their situation.

These days, sponsorship of a less-fortunate person or a family that they have neither met nor talked to is the norm. Usually, there’s very little to no actual physical interaction that happens between the donor and the sponsor throughout the sponsorship, and this tends to make the sponsorship experience less meaningful. With Feathers, sponsors and beneficiaries are now connected virtually –

“Feathers Project gave me the opportunity to interact with my beneficiary family. I was able to personally witness how poverty has impacted them and their environment thanks to the virtual Ceremony,” said Andrea Lostaunau, a Feathers Project donor from the US.A beneficiary family of Feathers whose been receiving financial asistance for 18 months.

As of June, Feathers is already helping 60 families, and this number is growing each week. Donations given to the sponsored families are given to them 100% – without overhead and transaction fees. This is made possible by corporation donations of Buy-It-Forward companies, Civicom and TeamSpan.

Do you want to experience the techy way of doing charity? Connect with Feathers by visiting their website at www.feathersproject.org.

The Feathers Project accepts referrals of the “poorest of the poor” families that you may know who need help. They accept donations, too.  Feathers is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID Number: 47-5431677) in the United States, and a registered non-stock, non-profit corporation in the Philippines.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *