By Andrés Uribe, Expedition PR
We are all familiar with brands that have used apps to help promote and support their various products. Heineken, Domino’s Pizza, Zippo Lighter, and Toys “R” Us are just a few examples of brands that are active in releasing mobile apps that complement their offerings. Well this marketing strategy isn’t limited to for profit companies. Charities are making a splash in the mobile marketing scene in a big way with apps that encourage you to do good and assist you in making a positive impact on the world. Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Charity Miles. This one is for those of you who like to walk or bike for exercise. Once you sign up for Charity Miles, choose a cause to support and start exercising. Charity Miles’ sponsors have pledged to donate $0.25 for every mile you run and $0.10 for every mile you bike, as monitored by the app through your smartphone’s GPS.
2. UNICEF Tap Project. The UNICEF Tap Project challenges you to go without using your phone for as long as you can, in exchange for providing children with drinking water. The program is aimed at driving awareness to this global problem by having you give something up that’s a big part of your daily life, your smartphone. Due to the success of this program, UNICEF recently changed the challenge from 1 min=1 day worth of water to 10 min=1 day’s water needs.
3. One Today. Have a dollar and not sure what to do with it? Download One Today and change the world, one dollar at a time. One Today is an app by Google that suggest daily a different charity for users to donate a dollar to. One Today features sharing capabilities that allow you to tell your friends about your newly discovered charity as well as monitor which one of your friends donate based off your recommendation, strengthening your overall impact to the charity.
4. The World Bank’s Poverty & Inequality DataFinder. One of the largest obstacles standing in the way of donating to people in need is a lack of knowledge of those who need the help. Although this app doesn’t facilitate direct donations into a charity, it does help educate you on who might be in need of charitable contributions. Perhaps after a few minutes on this app, you’ll become inspired to seek out a charity and donate to a cause..or at least you’ll better understand the extreme poverty that’s prevalent throughout the world today.
I hope you enjoy these apps. If there’s one out there that you really like, please feel free to share it in the comment section.