I have built a website to enable users to passively raise donations for groups like AnimalsTaiwan and Forumosa, etc.
In short the goal was to create a website where users can select a group they would like to donate to and then if they begin their online shopping from the site the group can earn the affiliate commission.
A very simple but obvious example is Skype, many expats in Taiwan are using Skype to call home, and by routing the purchase of SkypeOut minutes via this site 5% of the sale value can be given as a donation. SkypeIn earns 10% of the sale value.
This does not cost the user anything except maybe a little time. It is also not intended to ask users to spend any more money than they would normally be spending, but rather take advantage of the opportunity for receiving the commission. As this type of donating is passive in so much as you don’t spend any of your own money, I am hoping participation will be quite high.
The site is still under construction, but I am interested in getting some people using the system so I can iron out any problems. I will continue to add more advertisers on a daily basis as I get accepted to their affiliate progams, I will also later add a section where commissions can be earned through non-purchase activities like completing forms, answering surveys, surfing, clicking links, etc.
Now my disclaimer, my interest in this website is part educational and part financial. The entire website (html, images, scripts, database) is written by myself, it’s a challenge and a hobby. My hope is in time to earn some benefit from this site (if it pays for its own hosting great), that said any groups that are enrolled into the system during the start-up phase I will always continue to pass on 100% of the commissions earned.
[quote=“Edgar Allen”]Ah yes, right at the top…did you just add that? I’m sure I looked for it.
[/quote]
It was in the thread title all along, but yes i did add it to the top of the OP just in case.
No should be no cross border issues, especially for donors. If you look at the details page for any advert it will detail if it is region specific (there’s a little flag or a globe) there are also restrictions posted, for example Real Rhapsody only accepts application from US postal address and needs to be complete from a US IP range.
Since announcing the site I noticed no user accounts had been created.
This got me thinking, are people weary of creating accounts online and giving limited personal information (email address)? If so I can also enable the system to work anonymously and just let users select the group once when they first visit the site, this way there is no need to create an account.
It also raises the question most who donate, do you want any recognition or would you prefer to donate anonymously ? in a way this same question is also being asked in this thread [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/forumosa-personal-donor-icon-no-more-pineapples-or-crabs/27471/1 Donor Icon[/url]
I initially thought by listing users and their donations this would keep the system transparent as the user would see their donation and the transfer of funds to the specified group. Also by ranking users it would drive them to use the site more to get a better ranking.
Sorry I looked at the site but didn’t sign up as I only have access to a work laptop at present. I have bookmarked the site though and fully intend to use it when I get off may fat lazy behind and buy a new laptop for personal use.
Thats wonderful. We should all put something back in the community.However small.
Why dont you try linking with some of the other popular used expat sites?
Is this still operational? I just made a link to it from the AnimalsTaiwan donations page. Will if work properly if people follow that link and sign up?
Thanks for the link from AnimalsTaiwan. Yes it is still operational, although I have not been adding many new affiliate links lately as there was never a lot of interest from others.
Each of my own £10 purchases of SkypeOut minutes are still pledging a whopping USD1.38 to AT, and we are getting very close to the USD10 mark :roflmao: at which point the funds will be transferred to AT.
With christmas approaching I will take some time and add some more useful affiliates…
::SuftToDonate::
If you are planning a trip in the near future, why not compare prices of flights and hotels at www.kayak.com, they search over 120 different websites to provide you a concise list of the best deals available.
If you visit kayak via www.groupdonate.com each time you link from their site to one of the search results you will donate between $0.20 ~ $0.30 to your favorite group. No purchase required.
I’m proud to say today the first donation from Groupdonate was made to AnimalsTaiwan. Thanks for the support, here’s hoping there will be many more in the future.
Connel
NB: If you visit at the moment the quick group selection menu is not functioning correctly, I recently shifted hosts. Expect this to be working again before the weekend.
I need to topup my Skype account so I thought I’d do it through this site, I filled in my account details, but when I pressed submit, it just went back a blank form. It didn’t seem to let me create an account. Is it broken, or is there something I might have filled in wrong ?
UPDATE: It seems be ok now, I’ve created an account. I’ll try topping it up tomorrow.
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]I need to topup my Skype account so I thought I’d do it through this site, I filled in my account details, but when I pressed submit, it just went back a blank form. It didn’t seem to let me create an account. Is it broken, or is there something I might have filled in wrong ?
UPDATE: It seems be ok now, I’ve created an account. I’ll try topping it up tomorrow.[/quote]
Glad to hear it’s working, my host decided to migrate my server and all my scripts stopped working… been messing around for a couple days getting it all back together .
:bravo: 
