Altruism will find an even broader and more comfortable home in the digital world in 2014, which will fuel giving and meaningful, focused acts of charity across the globe. Here are some sites that will be leading the charge:
GoFundMe.com creates crowdfunding sites for individuals, groups and organizations to raise money for medical issues, education costs and other personal needs. Since its founding in 2010, it has helped raise $160 million from 1.4 million donors to benefit over 350,000 needs.
Kiva.org, a leading microfinance lender, leverages the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions to allow individuals to lend as little as $25 to create opportunity around the world. Since Kiva was founded in 2005, more than 1 million lenders have contributed $519 million in loans that have changed lives in 73 countries. The loans have a 99 percent repayment rate.
GiveForward.com has helped raise $80.5 million to cover the medical expenses of individuals through crowdfunding.
YouCaring.com is a free service that helps create personal sites to crowdsource “the causes people care about.”