From the Lacoste crocodile to Charlie the Tuna, countless brands around the globe use animals and plants to personify and represent them. After years of profiting from those species' images, such companies and organizations can now help preserve and protect them through a new French effort called Save Your Logo.

Nearly one-quarter of the world's mammal species are threatened or extinct, as are roughly one-third of its amphibians and one in seven of its birds, according to the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) Red List of 2008. Launched last fall, the Save Your Logo program lets companies and organizations that use the images of such species donate to the Endowment Fund for Biodiversity to help protect them. Each organization can donate up to EUR 1.5 million over three years to the fund, which is held by the World Bank, according to French press agency AFP; the World Bank will reportedly add up to 33 percent. Also behind the effort are the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the IUCN. Companies without plants or animals in their logos can participate as well by supporting 'unclaimed' species, Save Your Logo says. Either way, funds received from the private sector are distributed to organizations that specialize in biodiversity and local conservation projects, with part used to finance the creation of an Emergency Fund for the conservation of lesser-known species on the IUCN Red List. Organizations that participate can enjoy a tax cut of up to 60 percent of their donation, limited to 0.5 percent of turnover, according to the Save Your Logo site.

Tax benefits aside, of course, the effort will not only help endangered plants and animals, but also promises to add that much-sought-after sparkle of genuine corporate generosity to the images of those who participate. Lacoste and French insurer MAAF—which uses a dolphin in its logo—have already jumped on board. Jaguar, Puma, Peugot, Geico, Exxon, Taco Bell and countless others... what about you?

Website: www.saveyourlogo.org
Contact: www.saveyourlogo.org/en/contact

Spotted by: David Licona

Over the past few weeks, thousands of Twitter users tinted their profile pictures green to show support for protesters in Iran. In a similar vein, UK-based Lovebox encourages charity-minded social network users to replace their current profile picture with one of its digital Lovebox icons and then make a donation to the charity it represents.

A different charity is selected for support each month, represented by an icon of a different colour, making it the digital equivalent of silicone 'awareness' bracelets/wristbands. The green Lovebox, for example, supports WWF-UK, while the pink one signals support for Cancer Research UK. As the site explains, "social networks and the internet help us share information quickly. Lovebox is a simple but effective way for you to show your support for charities." Recently Lovebox also launched #charitytuesday, a Twitter-based effort to mobilize supporters one day each week.

Will Lovebox icons become as ubiquitous as awareness bracelets? Time will tell. Meanwhile, it's an interesting experiment in using the power of social networks and the viral effects they can create—both for commercial or for nonprofit purposes. (Related: Users choose ads for their social web pages — One-stop-shop for creating viral promotions.)

Website: www.lovebox.org.uk
Contact: info@lovebox.org.uk

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Cell phones may have changed the way people communicate in the developed world, but in developing countries they're going far beyond simple communication to bring new opportunities to areas that sorely need them. Case in point: FrontlineSMS:Medic, a new initiative to improve health care in poor, rural villages.

Due to a global shortage of some 4.4 million healthcare professionals, as estimated by the World Health Organization, many rural health centers in poor regions depend largely on community health workers who travel among clinics and villages. Such health workers typically record patient interactions on paper and then bring those records to a central clinic for further instruction. Many travel on foot, however, and—because they serve such large areas—often don't get back to the clinic more than once a month. The result: some patients remain untreated for far too long.

Launched in February, FrontlineSMS:Medic aims to improve matters using FrontlineSMS, a free, open-source software program that enables large-scale, two-way text messaging using only a laptop, a GSM modem and cell phones. Working with donations collected through Hope Phones, the initiative places a laptop running FrontlineSMS in a central clinic and then distributes cell phones to community health workers. Workers are trained in sending text messages to hospital staff to request drug dosing information or treatment instruction, for example, or provide status updates on a particular patient. Modified camera phones, meanwhile, can be used to analyze blood and sputum samples and perform critical diagnostics for conditions including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In a recent, 6-month pilot test of the system at a hospital in Malawi, 150 patients received emergency care, community health workers saved 1,000 hours of travel time—allowing them to visit more patients—the number of people being treated for tuberculosis doubled, and the hospital saved USD 3,500 worth of fuel, freeing up funds to purchase more medication. Operating the system, meanwhile, requires an investment of just USD 500, according to an article in the Guardian.

Since the Malawi pilot, California-based FrontlineSMS:Medic has launched numerous other projects throughout Africa and beyond through partnerships with global health organizations. High-tech, health care and socially focused entrepreneurs: one to get involved in? (Related: Microfinancing and mentoring via mobile phones — Quick tasks via SMS for phone users in the developing world.)

Website: medic.frontlinesms.com
Contact: info@medic.frontlinesms.com

By taking out a mortgage with ING, Dutch borrowers can now help families in Bangladesh and India build homes of their own. Through its new Huis voor een huis (Home for a home) program, ING's clients are given the option of donating EUR 300 when they sign for their mortgage, an amount the bank doubles to EUR 600.

To maximize the impact of those donations, ING has partnered with Dutch non-profit Wereldfoundation. Instead of simply handing out the money, the foundation provides microfinancing; borrowers who have previously taken out a business loan and have shown that they're financially responsible, are eligible for a home loan. As the microloans are paid back, the money can be made available to more borrowers, with the goal of helping entire villages build new homes.

At a time when banks are seen as epicenters of avarice and incompetence, it's a well-considered approach to being generous. For many more examples of branded benevolence, check out trendwatching.com's Generation G briefing. (Related: Buy one house, give one free — Matching program doubles Kiva loans — Shoes for good.)

Website: www.ing.nl/huisvooreenhuis

We've already written about a few microfinancing platforms focused on the developing world, including Kiva and C4-World. Next up is Mobile Movement, a Canadian initiative we just learned about that works via mobile phone.

Few young social entrepreneurs in the developing world have computers, so Mobile Movement provides mobile phones and training to foster both micro-funding and professional advice via SMS, MMS and email. Through a collaboration with UN-HABITAT, Microsoft Research India and the Vancouver-based Environmental Youth Alliance—with funding from the MacArthur Foundation—Mobile Movement's first prototype project is currently under way in Kenya, where it is working with 15 youth groups from the slums and low-income neighbourhoods of Nairobi that are part of UN-HABITAT's Urban Entrepreneurship Program. One such group aims to open a tailoring school for at-risk youth, for example; another hopes to build an urban agriculture project. Last fall the groups were given mobile phones and trained in their use, allowing them to begin taking photos and sending emails and texts soon afterwards. Thanks to Mobile Movement's storytelling website and videos, several groups began to secure funding for their projects earlier this year, and a creative business partnership was formed between a bone-craft collective in the Kibera slum and a New York City jewelry designer.

Potential donors of funds or advice begin by reviewing the groups' project descriptions online. When they find one that interests them, they can write a comment on the group's page, and it will be sent directly to the youth group's phone. The group will respond via text message or email, and Mobile Movement will notify the donor that the youth group has responded. From there donors can offer creative business ideas or mentoring as well as microfinancing loans and community grants, sent via PayPal or CanadaGives. The Environmental Youth Alliance and UN-HABITAT manage and administer funds raised; 90 percent of proceeds go directly to the youth, while 10 percent is reserved to administer the fund and maintain the website.

Ultimately, Mobile Movement hopes to get companies to use its platform as a way to personalize their employee charitable donations programs. For the next phases of its test project, it seeks technological, management and marketing experts to help improve its current system. Later this year it hopes to expand to additional East African cities, followed by a broad public launch in early 2010. More information can be found on NetSquared; one to join up with, participate in, or be inspired by!

Website: www.mobilemovement.tv
Contact: team@mobilemovement.tv

Spotted by: Darren Roberts