Welcome at "The case of idonaid.org"

Mid 2009 four Belgian software developers saw a chance to offer charity organizations an alternative way of fundraising. To accomplish this they founded the non-profit organization "iDonAid".

Its mission:

Facilitating the fundraising efforts of humanitarian organizations

This resulted in the iDonAid system and the first fully developed App called "Damien" which was rejected by Apple mid November 2009.

The purpose of this blog is to illustrate the making of and explain why Apple should reconsider banning charity apps from making full use of the iTunes AppStore.

1. Analysis: the problem with e-donations
2. From opportunity to idea
3. Concept: the iDonAid system
4. Getting cleared: the precondition for selling the idea
5. "Damien": the first iDonAid App
6. The rejection
7. How Apple could change its charity application policy

From opportunity to idea

Worldwide mobile internet is on the rise. The booming market of smart phones and mobile computing creates new opportunities for charities. Even in countries with very low internet penetration, mobile internet coverage is about to explode. Up to this date these opportunities have been underused that's why we stepped in with iDonAid.

The iDonAid idea is simple:

Making a donation to a humanitarian organization should be as easy as downloading as song!

Our source of inspiration was the iPhone and iTunes Store. The iTunes Music store and later App store has changed our digital habits. Legal downloading has become a habit. The key success of iTunes is based on the power of small money transactions (99 cent for a song!). Surprisingly this concept of small money transactions has made a the App Store a success story and quite a few developers rich. iTunes is also a trusted worldwide money transaction system. Millions of people have an iTunes account. There are millions of iPhones and iPod touch users worldwide so

basically millions of people have a trusted, activated and ready to use mobile payment system in their pockets today!

So why not flip the game and use iTunes to fund non-profit organizations? The iDonAid system was born…

CONCEPT: the iDonAid system

We at iDonaid designed a fully customizable mobile App that enables humanitarian organizations to publish fully customized charity Apps. These apps act as a viral promotion tool as well as a unique donation channel. Our service includes design and publishing as well as social network integration.

INNOVATION

• iDonAid taps into a massive pool of potential donors that hasn't been explored so far: the millions of iPhone and iPod Touch users worldwide
• Very low entrance level!
• iDonAid Apps focus on small money donations
• Ease of use: By making iTunes take care of the money transactions the security and usability of the system is guaranteed
• “Viral” promotion: To spread the word and create involvement iDonAid plugs into the world of online social networks. iDonAid apps integration with email, blogs, Facebook, Twitter,… By buying an iDonAid App you not only donate but also become a fundraiser!

AWARENESS

iDonAid is a lot more than just "an easy way to donate money".

It's all about creating involvement.

It's all about informing people about these great organizations and projects that need your help and attention. iDonAid provides you with easy and powerful tools to "spread the word" and raise money for the humanitarian organizations of your choice.

INFORMATION CHANNEL

What happens with my money?

that's one of the most imminent questions you have as a donor.

With iDonAid, the humanitarian organizations now can open up a direct information channel and provide the feedback their donors are entitled to. You as a donor now have a tool to follow up if your money is well spend.

Getting cleared: precondition for selling the idea

In order to develop our plans we needed a legal structure.

We choose for a "VZW" which is the structure of a non-profit organization according to Belgian law.

Next task was to make a shortlist of charities we would approach to join our system. We made use of donorinfo.be which is a Belgian charity watchdog.

This collaboration worked in 2 directions:

1. We were able to make a shortlist of 3 good reliable humanitarian causes we would love to develop for.
2. Donorinfo supported our new approach and introduced us to these charities.

We were very aware of Apple's objections to charity apps. It is very difficult for Apple to check whether the funds that are collected with a charity App actually would go to the charity and not end up in the pockets of shady individuals. The iDonaid system tackled this problem by offering the NGO's the opportunity to publish Apps in their own name. This way it is 100% clear that the profits of the published Apps directly flow to bank account of the NGO you buy a charity App from.

We started approaching the charities on our shortlist and were armed with following presentation:

iDonaid

View more presentations from iDonAid.

We were very happy with the positive response 2 out of 3 approached charities wanted to step into our program.

One of our main worries was that the costs involved in publishing on the App store (30% of the proceeds go to Apple) would be a major argument against our system.

Although the cost was considered too high, the arguments of addressing a totally new public in a viral marketing strategy were decisive.

Eventually it was the Damien Foundation that agreed to start jointly developing the very first iDonAid App. The Damien foundation really appealed to us because of its cause: fighting leprosy and tuberculosis worldwide, but also because its patron father Damien - officially Saint Damien by now - whose legacy is iconic and still very much alive.

Our development team started working pro bono… building a dream.