Ireland has been particularly hard-hit by the current economic recession, spurring initiatives like the recent iQ Prize, whereby Dublin internet consultancy iQ Content awarded EUR 10,000 to a promising young Irish startup as a way to help kick-start the country's recovery. Proving once again that there are few things as contagious as a good idea, Outvesting has now launched a similar effort, only this time it's a grassroots one that's using a crowdfunding approach via Twitter.

Outvesting aims to give EUR 5,000 with no strings attached to an Irish startup. To make that possible, it's using Twitter to invite interested participants to contribute EUR 50 each towards the effort. Once EUR 5,000 has been raised—last week it was already up to EUR 4,500—Outvesting will announce how startups can apply. Those who donate to the fund, meanwhile, will get more than just good karma in return—they'll also get the chance to vote on which startup wins the money.

There's no arguing with corporate donations like iQ Content's, but those tend to be limited in number; crowdfunding approaches, on the other hand, are virtually limitless in what they can achieve. Combine the power of the crowds with the reach of Twitter, and there's no telling how far an effort can go. One to replicate in a recession-weary community near you...? (Related: Free Chinese lessons for the Irish — Crowdsourcing economic solutions for Ireland.)

Website: www.outvesting.org
Contact: twitter.com/outvesting — johnkeyes@gmail.com

Spotted by: AJ O'Flaherty

Earlier this year we covered txteagle, a service that aims to fight unemployment in the developing world by enabling mobile phone subscribers there to complete quick jobs via SMS. Operating on much the same principle, Samasource is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that connects workers in the developing world with computer-based tasks.

Samasource has partnered with 18 locally owned small businesses, nonprofit training centers and rural data centers in Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana and Pakistan. Such service partners are first carefully screened, both for social and economic impact and for their ability to deliver good work. Next, Samasource provides those organizations with free business training, using live sample projects, web-based tools and site visits. Then, Samasource markets the services of its partners to paying clients around the world for tasks such as data entry and digitization, web development, image and site moderation, application testing, video and audio services, project management, research assistance, virtual assistance and tasks via Amazon's Mechanical Turk.

So far, clients including Benetech, GoodGuide and Stanford University Library have provided USD 160,000 in paying projects for more than 500 individuals, with the effect of raising the average income of those people from less than USD 75 per month to USD 300 or more. Through a partnership with CARE International, meanwhile, Samasource is training workers at a refugee camp in Kenya with the help of an iPhone application—codeveloped with CrowdFlower—that lets volunteers in the developed world verify their work. Samasource itself, meanwhile, covers its operating costs by charging its clients a modest service fee.

Samasource seeks both clients in need of computer-based help and volunteers to verify refugees' accuracy via the iPhone application. It's also exploring the possibility of bringing its services to disadvantaged regions of the U.S. in fields such as quality assurance, web design and geographic information systems. One to partner with or hire for help with your next computer-based project...? (Related: Solar-powered cellphone kiosks for Ugandan women.)

Website: www.samasource.com
Contact: info@samasource.org

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Despite the best efforts of companies like Disney and Sage Hospitality to reward those who donate their time to charity, the fact remains that volunteerism in the US has declined by 27 percent since 2001, according to app developer Catalista. Hoping to combat that trend, the San Francisco company has created mobile apps for Android and iPhone that make it easy for potential volunteers to find opportunities across the country.

Users begin by downloading the free Catalista application onto their mobile phone--versions are available for both the Android-based T-Mobile G1 and myTouch and Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. The application uses All for Good's open API to connect users with more than 200,000 real-time, local opportunities across the US, offering them numerous chances to give back that day, weekend or month in an effort taking place nearby. Catalista also lets users invite their friends on Facebook to join them in a volunteer effort; in addition, it provides a way for users to track their cumulative impact and rate their volunteering experience once they've done a good deed.

Even beyond the mobile access to volunteer opportunity listings, what seems especially compelling about Catalista is the possibility that it could facilitate spontaneous, ad-hoc volunteering, whereby people with a few hours of unscheduled time on their hands can find and participate in local opportunities that they might not have been able to plan for otherwise. One to partner with or emulate for would-be volunteers in the rest of the world...?

Website: www.catalista.net
Contact: catalina@catalista.net

Spotted by: Brian Somers

According to research carried out by SHE — Sustainable Health Enterprises, around 50 days of school or work are missed by girls and women who don't have access to sanitary pads, or can't afford them. Mud, bark and rags are often used instead of mass-produced pads; alternatives that are mostly ineffective, unhygienic and possibly dangerous, especially when combined with lack of clean water.

SHE is a social enterprise set up to tackle these problems. Its first franchise was launched in Rwanda earlier this year, and is operated by women who manufacture and distribute low-cost sanitary pads. The pads are made of locally-sourced raw materials such as banana fiber, which stimulates the local economy and keeps costs down. To help future ventures get off the ground, microfinance loans will be offered to women starting up new branches. Training in business skills, health and hygiene will also be available.

Convinced that donations aren't a long-term solution, SHE is applying market-based strategies to social and health problems. Using franchising makes sense: the model can be replicated wherever there's a need, meaning it can spread quickly and help more people faster, while allowing franchisees to become financially self-sufficient. (Related: P&G helps schoolgirls in Kenya.)

Website: www.sheinnovates.com
Contact: www.sheinnovates.com/contact.html

Spotted by: Petz Scholtus

While consumer pressure is managing to push some businesses towards social responsibility, competition will favour those companies that can leverage good deeds to increase their bottom line. That means reliable, unbiased good news has to reach consumers, and eventually influence their purchase decisions. Denver-based Tuggl aims to facilitate just that, by bringing consumers and nonprofits together to rate and review businesses so that companies who display a commitment to both the community and their customers get the recognition they deserve.

Tuggl lets customers rate companies according to service, price and quality, while nonprofits can score their for-profit supporters on donations, pro bono behaviour and volunteering. Tuggl then calculates an overall score for the business, which affects its placement in the rankings when people use the site to search for a local service. Recognizing consumers' need for personally relevant reviews, users can sign on to the site through Facebook and see how their friends rate local businesses. Tuggl is leading by example: when users join the site, they select their chosen social cause. Then, according to how active the user is on the site (reviewing, inviting friends etc.), Tuggl will reward the user with a badge of honour and donate money to their chosen cause—up to USD 500 per person.

The site further aids nonprofits by enabling them to track how much their positive reviews benefit their benefactors, making it easier for charities to present their side of the bargain to other potential corporate donors. It's this kind of concrete return-on-investment data that Tuggl hopes will prove to companies that "doing good can be good for business". Currently, the site is focusing on the Denver/Boulder area—where 130 local charities have already recognized over 1,300 local businesses—although listing is open to businesses and nonprofits in other places. (Related: Crowd clout meets eco persuasion — The Goodness 500.)

Website: www.tuggl.com
Contact: info@tuggl.com

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann