GivingDaily.com

Have you ever wondered what Ebay, Facebook or Twitter looked like before they were widely adopted and successful? (OK, we know what Twitter looks like) As part of a new blog post idea, I wanted to take a look at new ‘up and coming sites’ that put unique twist on the web. These could be sites that innovate with new technology, inspire us to help others, or are just really frickin cool.

GivingDaily.com is a site that gives 70% of its advertising revenue to a non-profit organization of your choice. This is a somewhat similar idea to the “Im making a difference” program from MSN Messenger.

I had a chance to catch up with Matt Asaro of GivingDaily.com:

What is GivingDaily.com?

GivingDaily.com provides a vehicle for non-profit organizations to raise money from people using the internet.  The site has been designed to provide typical home page content, i.e. web search, news, weather, shopping, etc. As a for profit company, our goal is to be profitable, although the fact that we will be helping organizations raise money makes it even more rewarding.

How does it work?

Non-profit organizations register with the site and promote it to their members and supporters.  As their members and supporters use the site, we generate revenue from contextual advertisements and shopping commissions.  We then pay 70% of these revenues back to the non-profit organizations quarterly.  

What inspired you to create GivingDaily.com?

The idea behind GivingDaily.com spawned from our desire to collaborate on a web based business, initially throwing a couple of pages together with some affiliate links.  Recognizing that there were competing sites providing basic search and shopping based incentives to non-profits, we determined that creating a site with more depth and content, such as news and weather information, would be a core differentiator.  

Cool idea Matt, and good luck with your venture! Please feel free to post feedback to Matt in your comments below.

If you or anyone else you know of has an ‘Elegant Site’ idea, drop a line to jarod at elegantcode.