What VolunCharity Is Building
The initial VolunCharity app will be an open source mobile and web app:
- Connecting volunteers/donors and nonprofits with each other with fun, motivational features.
This approach is known as “gamification”, which just means “making non-game apps more like games, thereby making them fun and habit-forming”.
People will like volunteering and donating even more if they get points and other rewards for doing so. They will therefore volunteer and donate more, and these activities will become habits.
As more and more people do this over time, the total amount of charity (volunteering, donating and other giving) will increase.
- Providing an interface for non-profits to track and report volunteer hours and effort, to be scheduled, approved and managed, which can also be exported for official purposes.
Examples:
A. People on probation have to show their probation officer proof that they completed a required number of volunteer hours, which can be verified through the app.
B. Students volunteering have to report to their teachers their volunteer hours which can be done through the app.
C. Employee volunteer programs can track and manage individual employee volunteer projects and hours via the app.
The VolunCharity app will enable simple, verified reports that include volunteer supervisor approval, and a rating of the volunteer’s performance. Volunteers will also be able to socially share their volunteer experiences via existing social media channels.
- Offering the immediacy of in-app donation will inspire motivated donors to give right then and there.
Nonprofits will be able to offer inspirational content in their profile or campaign details that will motivate donors to take action at that moment.
An in-app donation system will also make it easier for donors who don’t want to leave the VolunCharity app and go to a separate app or website, just to give a donation to the nonprofit that is inspiring them right now.
And, of course, we will be adding and modifying features as we go, based on user and organizational input.
Finally, please note that the features and apps described in item # 1 above are our MVP (Minimum Viable Product), with items #2 and #3 planned for later iterations, with full platform features to be announced as we proceed.