While many global citizens may feel helpless as they watch the news
and view the devastation, a new philanthropic vehicle is revving up and enabling anyone the opportunity to bring aid to those suffering in China. A brainchild of the Heifer Foundation, Hope Equity® enables individuals, groups or organizations to invest in the long-term sustainable giving to those suffering from the natural disaster in China or to countless other causes they support across the globe.
Dubbed the "Facebook of Charity", this new website utilizes social networking software to allow people to come together, share their stories, and help causes relating to hunger, poverty, and environmental conservation.
"The 7.9 earthquake in China has caused poverty and devastation on an epic scale that will take the Chinese people years to fully recover," said Greg Spradlin, Vice President of Hope Equity®. "Hope Equity® is rallying support for this and other causes around the world by pooling funds and resources to not only provide immediate relief, but to establish a vehicle for long-term sustainable gifts that continue provide aid even after the rubble has been cleared away."
With the look and feel of a traditional stock portfolio, Hope Equity® instead creates an online "portfolio of giving" to invest in Micro-Endowments™ that support ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. The website is currently undergoing a software upgrade slated to launch June 1, 2008. The site redesign will enable this philanthropic community to blog, receive RSS feeds, join other groups, contribute to other individuals' Micro-Endowments™, conduct research on various charities and causes and find fundraising tools to strengthen their "portfolios of giving".
Additionally, the work of Hope Equity® is supported by a separate endowment that allows gifts made through the website to remain intact. Whereas significant portions of donations given to other charitable non-profits goes to support the work of the organization, all funds contributed to Hope Equity®, remain intact and go to work towards the donor's designated cause(s).
