How one company is using e-commerce tech to help save lives
I’ve had the opportunity to cover countless startups, the latest innovations, and the newest technologies that help make our lives simpler and better. The internet holds an unlimited amount of data, information and web pages that we use for our personal benefit, but how often is it that we use the amazing ability that we have to connect globally online to do good for others and help make their lives simpler and better?
With these technological advances, the world has become a global village. You can connect with loved ones overseas so easily through Skype or Facetime and chat and message at no cost. It’s almost as if there is no physical distance between you.
One new non-profit startup, 3 Million Club, is tapping into this notion, and merging two sectors that historically don’t converge that much: the charity sphere and the tech sector. By doing so, 3 Million Club is making it so easy to do good through the clicks or taps of your fingertips.
By using the efficiency and utility of e-commerce, 3 Million Club is shaking up traditional methods of charity. People are reluctant to use outdated methods of donating because it can feel like donating money into a bottomless, unaccountable pit. Many people don’t know that most of the money donated is lost due to program costs like rent, travel, salaries, etc. By using 3 Million Club, users can literally track where their money is going and to whom.
The platform makes saving a life as simple as buying a gift online, just like they would on Amazon, for example. Donors (buyers) purchase lifesaving items such as ready-to-use therapeutic foods online and receive a tracking number just like they would when purchasing on Amazon. This tracking number allows buyers to view the product’s journey, from where it was manufactured, who it was distributed by, and even receive a photo of the person it helped. The organization will also be adding other items such as emergency medication, special cooking equipment, and mosquito nets in the near future.
This ‘Impact Tracking’ keeps givers informed of the impact of the items they purchased, so it also keeps them better connected to the cause. The ease and efficiency of e-commerce applied to the charity world also increases the chance of donors buying again and therefore saving even more lives.
Asking why people are more inclined to donate lifesaving items, CEO Chamutal Afek-Eitam said that “People want to do good in ways that fit with how they live their lives. Millennials are questioning the traditional models of charity, and feel less inclined to help those in need when they don’t know where their money is going, or to whom.”
By changing the way aid is being done, and with technology constantly penetrating every aspect of our lives deeper and deeper, we can only hope that we will be hearing a lot more from 3 Million Club. The company has certainly taken on a huge challenge and there is a lot of work to be done there, but the organization claims to have already helped save the lives of over 2000 children under the age of five. This is an example that we can all do a little more good in our lives, especially with technology making it so simple for us.