@HopeMob

@HopeMob is a not for profit crowdfunding site that raises money for direct aid to worthy causes. It was co-founded by Shaun King and Chad Kellough in 2012. People with specific needs apply to the site and are vetted. The vetting includes asking for references, conducting interviews, and researching on social media. Support is then given to approved projects to help them present a compelling case. Funds are then raised and used to purchase the specific items people need, such as a medical procedure; money is not given directly to those raising funds.

Model

HopeMob was designed to be a crowdfunding platform meant to unite people and give hope to the others.[1] The idea was to connect the ones in need with a group that had the assets to help them.[2] Every user was able to submit a story about who a person in need, which then had to go through a verification process.[3] Afterwards, they were put up for a vote by the site's community. Each vote required giving points that were given by doing certain actions (signing up, donating, using social media),[4] and the revenue was supposed to help the HopeMob's operations. The story that had the majority of votes was featured on the front page.[5] The @HopeMob Advisory Board selects four campaigns to feature each funding cycle and funds from monthly donors are dispersed accordingly.[6]

History

HopeMob.org initially raised funds to build their platform in January 2012 on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. Their campaign raised about $125,000[7] and was actively backed by Oprah Winfrey[8] The site was launched in April 2012. The initial site featured one cause at a time and charged a fee as a percentage of funds raised to cover its costs.

In December 2012, the site relaunched as a not-for-profit. Money was provided to the site by donors to cover the site's expenses, allowing the site to provide 100% of the funds raised in the crowdfunding campaigns to support the projects. The site also opened up to running multiple campaigns at the same time.[9]

Co-founder Shaun King left the organization in 2014 to pursue other projects.[10]

After King departed HopeMob.org in 2014, the HopeMob Advisory Board asked Pure Charity to step in and help transition current initiatives into completed initiatives, as well as to envision a larger work for HopeMob and its future. HopeMob was rebranded @HopeMob and was brought under the leadership of Leroy Barber, co-founder of the Voices Project.[11] Under Barber, @HopeMob took on a completely new advisory board and mission, becoming the world's first crowdfunding site devoted exclusively to supporting leaders and communities of color in dismantling the consequences of systemic racism and injustice.[6]

Criticism

According to Shaun King, HopeMob has been criticized by people who raised money but never received the funds. HopeMob claims that it has paid out for every story that raised money.[10]

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References
  1. Crosby, Caitlin (April 10, 2012). "HopeMob: Giving Hope to Those in Need". HuffPost. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  2. Gammon, Katharine (December 10, 2012). "A New Platform For Real Charity Online". Fast Company. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  3. Barnhart, Melissa (March 8, 2013). "HopeMob: Revolutionizing Charity Giving With Online Crowd Funding". The Christian Post. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  4. Freeman, Kate (January 5, 2012). "HopeMob Charity Website Is the Reddit of Giving". Mashable. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  5. Banister, Cyan (July 27, 2012). "Finding Inspiration In The Aurora Tragedy, By Helping Victims Through HopeMob". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  6. "How @HopeMob Works". Archived from the original on 2017-03-05. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  7. "Kent Bernhard Jr., "Preach and testify! HopeMob combines charity, crowdfunding", Upstart Business Journal, 1 May 2013". Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  8. Amy Shearn, “Choreopgraphed Hope, Brought to You by HopeMob”, LifeLift – The Oprah Blog, 15 February, 2012
  9. Ong, Josh (December 8, 2012). "HopeMob Relaunches as a No-Fee Charitable Fundraising Platform". The Next Web. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  10. Shaun King, “Refusing to be Held Captive by Your Past :: My Crazy Life in Love, Leadership, and Business :: The Definitive Guide to Nearly Every Success & Failure I’ve Ever Had”, 100lifegoals.com, 27 December 2014 Archived 9 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Pure Charity powers a new future for @HopeMob". Archived from the original on 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
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