Donate to Charity with Google’s One Today App
Google Inc. is doing its bit for charity, and asking you to do your part as well. Google has just launched a new app – One Today, that lets you donate $1 every day to a charitable cause.
Google for Charity
Google.org is the Google’s non-profit organization subsidiary that deals with charitable causes. One Today in a way, is its offering. Currently limited to the US, and accessible only by an invite-only feature, there’s no information out yet on when this app will open up to other countries and users.
Currently the app only allows donations to non-profit organizations working with Google.org. This can be a relief to many users – in a way, this is a guarantee that your donation will be used in the right away, with the right organizations.
Google has a long-standing commitment to supporting nonprofits and to do doing good. One Today makes fundraising easy for nonprofits, it also makes giving simple and fun for users. – One Today’s FAQ
One Today seems well designed, with the same interface theme matching most of Google’s other apps, like Currents. It showcases a new non-profit organization every day to the user, offering you the option to donate if you wish to. Over time, the app learns your interests and begins to show you projects that you are more likely to donate to.
The donations are tax deductible, and are charged directly to the payment option tied to the user’s Google Wallet account. Google however, collects a 1.9 percent fee on your donations.
Currently, your donation is limited to $1 per day. If you want to give more to a cause, you have the option of inviting friends over social networks to donate as well, and then catch up with their donations.
The app leads charity in a new direction – one where small amounts like $1, along with daily donations and social integration can actually end up raising substantial funds for a cause. More people are likely to give $1 rather than bigger amounts. Doing that every day, and getting your social circle to do it as well, can go a long way in getting non-profit organizations their funds.
With Google screening these foundations before making them available on the app, you know your donation will be meaningfully spent.
The One Today app can be downloaded from the Play Store here. But since you’ll need an invite to begin using it, you may apply for an invite here.