# Online right of reply for brands to raise funds for charity

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/06/29/online-right-reply-brands-raise-funds-charity/
- Published: 2010-06-29T12:52:10+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

![](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/files/images/news/pownum_20100629.gif)

I am fascinated by different models for businesses generating income online and 
charities fundraising online. So I was pleased to discover what looks like a new
addition to the business models that attempt to use social media and networking 
tools.

Pownum.com (“There’s power in numbers”) is a site that lets people rate an organisation.“
Whether its sheer frustration or absolute delight, wouldn’t it be good to let such
organisations know how you feel?” it offers. And yes, by ‘organisation’ it does 
mean that it will allow people to rate charities too.

But Pownum.com is also planning to raise funds for charities. And here is its model:

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

1. People sign up and start rating organisations.

2. Organisations will see value in these ratings.

3. Organisations that care will subscribe to the Right Of Reply, which costs £5,000
a year.

4. We will donate half of this – £2,500 – to charity.

It’s not a completely new model of course. It mixes elements of affiliate marketing
to drive traffic volumes which are important for a start-up, with a dash of corporate
social responsibility. It is in charities’ interests for them to drive visitors 
to the site: the more registered users and the more ratings made, the more likely
companies are to pay attention to the site and want to pay for the right of reply.

There’s also an element of a supplier directory advertising: if your company isn’t
listed, maybe its competitors will be. But it’s more than that: all kinds of organisations
will probably get featured on the site, either positively or negatively. It’s the
right of reply that matters, and whether the organisation thinks it is worth paying
to exercise it.

It’s an interesting approach to social media and corporate reputation management.
Can one site attract enough traffic over anything but a short period? Or will companies
focus their reputation management activities over a wider array of sites, including
the many where they don’t need to pay?

If the site is successful, then charities will share in that success.

[How will the money be distributed?](http://blog.pownum.com/2010/06/people-power-rules-on-how-you-decide.html)
Site users will help to create a shortlist of five charities and then they can vote
for the charity you feel should receive the donation. The donations to charity will
be made at the end of each month and will be split proportionally to the percentage
of votes cast. Even better – the more active users are in rating organisations, 
the more weight their vote has in the charity vote. So, as with much social media,
charities might well find themselves helped by influencers and activists.

www.pownum.com

 * **[Getting Bloggers to help tell your fundraising and campaigning stories](https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/07/06/getting-bloggers-help-tell-your-fundraising-and-campaigning-stories/)**(
   6 July 2010)
 * **[#BeGoodBeSocial](https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/10/28/begoodbesocial/)** (
   28 October 2010)
 * **[Does asking all your social media contacts for donations actually work?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/02/10/does-asking-all-your-social-media-contacts-donations-actually-work/)**(
   10 February 2011)