For-profit charity Give Locally seeks to transform giving
"You going to do the cartwheel or the handspring?"
At 81, Andrew Young II still delights in the accomplishments of the kids at the Atlanta YMCA bearing his family's name. The man who began his career in public service by the side of Martin Luther King Jr. remains committed to lifting the lives of those in his community.
"We've got to find a way to see to it that the best and the brightest regardless of race, creed, class or color - have the opportunity to be the best they can be," said Young.
Now his son, Andrew the third, is getting into the family business of helping others. Not as an activist or an elected official, but as an entrepreneur and CEO of the for-profit charity givelocally.net.
I pointed out to Young III that people might have a problem with the notion of a for-profit charity.
"Yeah. I'm OK with that," he responded. "I think that's where charity is headed. Kids these days want to feel accountability and transparency for how they spend their money."
Young and Give Locally founder Brad Newman are out to prove that for-profit charity can make the most sense.
"We are a charity in the true sense of the word, but we are not a 501c(3)," said Newman. "So we are revolutionizing, in our view, the world of helping others in a philanthropic manner."
Using the crowd-funding model that has proved successful through online sites like Kickstarter, Give Locally lists the names and stories of families looking to overcome a financial hardship.
"They say your life can change in an instant and it can happen. It's true," said Give Locally recipient Trudy Perkins.
That instant for the Perkins family was when son James underwent surgery for a brain tumor and came out cognitively impaired.
"I had to quit my job on the spot," said Perkins. "Every day was hours and hours of therapy and doctor's appointments."
Nine years of full-time care and lost wages eventually took its toll on finances, and though her husband Mike works two jobs, the money doesn't always add up to meet monthly expenses.
Give locally does not offer recipients cash, but makes payments directly to creditors.
"We pay rent, medical bills, tuition. And there is no limit to who we can help or how we can help them," said Newman.
Perkins said it "is very humbling that people would look and read these ads and out of the goodness of their heart help someone in need."
Give Locally takes 18 cents from every dollar, but has yet to make a profit. Neither Young nor Newman earns a salary, but say their online venture has helped thousands; enough to inspire Andrew Young II about the power of social media.
"It does what the church used to do. It does what the school used to do. It does what the town hall used to do. All of that is now rolled into social media," he said.
Andrew Young III said the company is "changing the way people give."
"Americans are tired on relying on charity and government for help," he said. "And we're helping one another one family at a time, through the Internet."
