Unilever Foundation creates charitable giving Facebook Timeline app
Howard Lake | 25 June 2012 | News
The Unilever Foundation has created Waterworks™, a Facebook Timeline application, that will help provide safe clean drinking water to communities in need around the world.
Developed in partnership with Facebook, Betapond and Population Services International (PSI), the app is designed to connect Facebook users around the world with real individuals and communities in need. After connecting the Waterworks app to their Facebook Timeline, people will be able to connect with a PSI-trained ‘Waterworker’ and choose a small daily donation, from as little as 10 cents (in Euros or US dollars). These donations will support the communities that are in need.
Keith Weed, Unilever’s Chief Marketing Officer, explains that the company has committed to providing safe drinking water to 500 million people by 2020 through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
He said: “On Facebook, nearly a billion people take small actions every day, they connect to the individuals and organisations that matter most to them and they discover new things through their friends. We want to leverage the power of the social graph and the ripple effects that each person’s actions can create, to inspire and enrol many more to make a difference”.
Each Waterworker, all of whom are women, will be given a mobile phone, preloaded with a custom Waterworks J2ME application that will allow her to take photos and record stories. She will share these updates with her supporters on Facebook, demonstrating how their funds are making an impact in her community.
Joanna Shields, VP and Managing Director, EMEA at Facebook, said: “Through Waterworks, the Unilever Foundation is showing that the right combination
of people and technology can lead to social solutions that effectively combat some of the largest and most difficult challenges we face.”
www.joinWaterworks.com
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.