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:
- We were able to make a shortlist of 3 good reliable humanitarian causes we would love to develop for.
- 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:
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.
