Building a social giving app—advice needed!

I am exploring building an app that publishes the impact of individuals donations and harnesses the virality of social media to encourage more people to give more to effective charities.

Who am I?

I have some experience starting software businesses, apps and web apps. I have had a mild interest in EA for a number of years, but am not aware of all of the developments in the space. I have started giving more seriously only recently. This is my LinkedIn profile if anyone wants to connect.

What features would the app have?

  1. The app tracks past donations, and projects the amount of money that you will give over your lifetime based on recurring donations.

  2. It calculates the expected impact you have had already and will have over your lifetime, in quantifiable terms depending on the charity that you give to.

  3. There will be a leader board (think Strava) of different people’s donations, and this can be viewed in various different ways (e.g. total given, total projected over lifetime to be given, total impact had, total impact projected over lifetime) and across different populations (e.g. amongst a giver’s friends, local area, global population. It will also sum donations and impact across populations.

  4. Givers will be nudged regularly (following every gift) to share the fact that they are donating across their social media and other channels.

  5. Sharing on social media can show an excerpt from the leader board to intrigue friends or potential new givers, and instil pride and ownership in those who are already giving.

  6. The app provides content to educate givers on the benefits of giving and how impactful it can be if the right causes are chosen.

Why might this be a good idea?

  1. Encouraging people to feel proud and promote the fact that they are giving may draw in more givers.

  2. Turning giving into a gamified social activity will increase engagement (maintain recurring gifts for longer) and retention (decrease value drift).

  3. Being able to view and quantify current and future donations and impact gives a sense of ownership reminds people how much good they are doing which is good for their own self worth.

  4. Givers feel accountable to their friends to keep making a positive impact.

Questions:

  1. Are EA considering building any of the above or have they tried to already?

  2. In particular, why does EA not encourage givers to share the fact that they have donated on social media?

  3. Are there any reasons that this app won’t work or be useful?