On their birthdays, Facebook users receive well-wishes from about 24% of their friends list. In June 2014, Brazilian start-up Máquina do Bem started taking advantage of this by allowing Facebook friends to give a donation to charity as a gift.
From Just Giving Facebook updates to wearing H&M’s Conscious Collection, public displays of philanthropy have become a symbol of status. But does it really matter that these new do-gooders are motivated only by people seeing them do good if the outcome is still positive?
It's become the norm to simply send a Facebook message on a friend’s birthday. Budweiser is hoping to add a more personal touch by trialing a campaign that lets members of the social network gift a Bud on their friends’ birthdays.
There are over a million different charities in the world, and picking the one that’s right for you is tough, particularly as new charity registrations are up 16% year on year. Dollar a Day aims to solve this confusion by helping people discover and support new charities.
Lying in his hospital bed, terminally ill teenager Stephen Sutton shared a photo on Facebook for his final week. A week later, he is still alive and has raised over £3 million for charity, showing the powerful effect of telling a personal story through social media.