I interviewed Greg McHale yesterday. good2gether is a fairly novel concept in that it tries to marry newspaper web sites with nonprofits by providing context-sensitive links to nonprofits from related news stories. So if you’re reading about homelessness, a special section would open up that would point to different nonprofits that deal with homelessness in the area that that newspaper serves you are located while you are reading the story..
I came away from the interview thinking that good2gether should at least be tried by nonprofits. After all, it’s free traffic and free to join. As you listen to the podcast, listen closely around 16:15 as it discusses the only “fee” that a nonprofit would encounter should a nonprofit decide to put up their own sponsorship links using their good2gether links. I don’t think this is much of a problem for most nonprofits and indeed, it should make nonprofits consider their sponsorships more strategically.
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UPDATE (5/2/2008): It turns out that good2gether will serve you with links based on your guessed-at correct location.
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Allan, great interview. Thanks for digging in to this. I like the concept. In a sense it takes Google’s AdSense idea and is syndicating nonprofit content based on context.
The one downside seems to be connecting anything to newspapers given that newspapers are probably the least healthy of all mainstream media.
Listening to this part about the business model again… The newspaper sells sponsorships around the nonprofit content and good2gether gets a cut of the sponsorship. Right?
Would it be OK if Exxon Mobile was sponsoring the local environmental group? Sure, the newspaper can do whatever it wants. But is that OK with the nonprofit? Maybe, because it is not the nonprofit selling the sponsorship. But this is the one place where I could imagine certain orgs being worried about, it appearing that major corporations were sponsoring them and using their good name, when in fact they were considered “bad actors.”
WDYT?
I think you and I share similar views. I do wish that it wasn’t newspaper websites that good2gether was targeting since newspapers have been decimated by Google Adsense but there are still a good number of page views there for now.
As for Exxon sponsoring Greenpeace, sure, that’s bound to happen. However, it’s a minor issue, I’m sure they’ll have business logic to block that out just like they do with Google Adsense where you can block your ad from appearing on competitive sites or vice versa.
Clearly, good2gether, like any startup, will evolve their business model. I can already think of what they ought to look like a year from now…
Allan – thanks for taking the time to cover good2gether.
To both Michael & Allan – though newspapers as a whole have been hard hit they still have the largest local internet presence – by far. Over 40% of active internet users in the US go to newspaper web sites. It’s easily the most desirable local internet asset for nonprofits to leverage. And our connect2cause feature will directly connect local nonprofits with news stories – read about Burma or social injustice and find local nonprofits that are working on the issue.
It’s also important to remember that the newspaper is only the start of the distribution model – we’ll have Do Good Channels at the web sites of colleges and universities, civic & social organizations, TV & radio stations, and beyond. The nonprofit enters and managers their information once and it’s available at all of the Do Good Channels.
On newspaper sponsorship and brands that might ‘conflict’ with nonprofit aims. I’ve found nonprofits to be fairly pragmatic – there’s a generic understanding that the sponsorship doesn’t really imply a direct connection and nonprofits see the asset as something they’d like to leverage. Moving forward there’ll be opportunities to opt-in and out based upon the sponsor of a Do Good Channel.