When Dan Morrison saw a woman in India hauling water for miles, he decided to do something about it reports Reuters. He committed to spending $5000 to build a well.
That philanthropic effort turned into Citizen Effect, a website Morrison launched last year to help others complete similar projects.
“I went home, wrote a Christmas card – a holiday card to friends and family – and immediately started getting $500 dollar checks,” said Morrison, 37, whose well project provided water for Vachharajpur, a small village in Gujarat. “They trusted me and it passed right through to the community.”
Citizen Effect to date has provided more than $203,000 in total donations and completed nearly 60 projects, including funding for water tanks in India, kitchen equipment in Peru, and a women’s center in Zambia. The site is promoting more than 100 active causes, including some closer to home, such as efforts to aid those communities affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill.
“With our model, you become the marketing, promotional and fundraising machine,” said Morrison, whose non-profit venture has received close to $500,000 in funding. “We want to reach that 1 to 3 percent of the population that wants to do more, that wants to get the project done.”
Photo by Kashif Mardani