Mashable reveals roadmap for Beworthwhile charity platform devised at The Drum's Do It Day
Mashable is planning the full launch of a platfrom that matches charities with people based on skills, available time and location, a concept that was developed at The Drum's Do It Day event earlier this year.
Be Worthwhile
Called Beworthwhile, the publisher is aiming to have the platfrom ready for beta testing in January and has already lined up a number of commercial partners ahead of a planned nationwide roll out in April.
Mashable brought to life its aim of helping charities make the most of volunteer time by launching the website Beworthwhile.me where people with skills can be matched with charities. At Do It Day, attendees worked on the concept, website (powered by IBM), logo design, brand guidelines and clearly defining the position.
At the time, Ben Maher, Mashable executive director EMEA, was committed to taking it to the next level. Updating The Drum on how the project has evolved since the Do It Day launch, Maher said in the first two weeks it received over 50 submissions from people offering skills as well as declarations of interest from charities.
"It's really encouraging that people even endorse the concept," he said.
The strategy to drive awareness has seen it target large companies. Potential partners include BT and suggest that instead of an annual "away day" they bring their staff together to work with a charity. They can offer their skills across a multitude of areas, including marketing and advertising as well as web design, accounting and IT help.
To boost registered volunteers, it's also eyeing an integration with LinkendIn where people who help charities through the platfrom will be rewarded with a certification on their profile page.
Maher's ambition is that by 2016 there will be over one million "days" available for people to volunteer for in the UK and by 2017 it plans to export the concept internationally and allow people to volunteer to help organisations abroad.