3rdWhale iPhone app first to donate profits
The coolest green iPhone app just got cooler with an interface upgrade and built-in charitable donations.
Thu, Jun 25 2009 at 5:56 PM EST
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Image: 3rd Whale Despite the fact that Apple has the most sophisticated ecommerce platform in the world, the company unfortunately can't seem to figure out a way to let iPhone app creators donate part of their proceeds to a charitable cause.
But that's not stopping Boyd Cohen of 3rdWhale. This week, his uber-cool app for green living just got a major upgrade, and it will be the first app to dedicate a portion of its earnings to environmental nonprofits chosen by users.
3rdWhale's goal is to "mobilize the green revolution" and the new $1.99 app offers an enhanced "browsing wheel" that lets you find a variety of green businesses by type and proximity -- walking, biking, driving distance -- as well as user ratings and green tips by Creative Citizen.
I spoke with Boyd yesterday, and he said he was surprised when he received a call from iTunes saying that they do not allow any statements in the app description indicating charitable contributions. 3rdWhale had to take down its statement, but they have pledged to give $.25 for every download to five environmental nonprofits.
Two have been selected-- EarthShare and Natural Capital Solutions. Three more slots are open, and you can submit your suggestions on the 3rdWhale Facebook page.
You can download the app on iTunes.
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Comments
Timonie
07/13/2009 18:05 PM
Thanks for covering 3rd Whale's great application and the very welcome donation support. I am volunteering at WiserEarth http://www.wiserearth.org and we just leaned that we will be one of the nonprofits supported by this application.
The competition is a great example of clicking to support causes, and it certainly got our team activated to call for support from our environmental and social
Nick Couldry
06/29/2009 04:29 AM
I work in non-profit marketing and I see some fantastic opportunities for charities to raise money with their own apps - seems daft that apple won't allow this - after all they wouldn't refuse to sell the next 'Live Aid' single... or would they?
Robin Perkins
06/26/2009 11:52 AM
We're so excited to be a part of this, and we send our thanks to all the good people at 3rd Whale for their pioneering spirit. So excellent to be part of something that helps people to be green in their daily life and also helps to support EarthShare's mission to engage individuals and organizations in creating a healthy and sustainable environment. Let us know what you think: info@earthshare.org
BelugaBoyd
06/25/2009 19:58 PM
Karl, thanks for profiling this initiative. Our hope is to encourage other app developers to follow suit and to join 1% for the Planet (as we have just done). Just think about it, more than 1 billion downloads in the app store so far. If just 10% of those were paid apps and the developers agreed to even donate just 1 cent per download instead of 25 cents, that would be $1 million donated so far to environmental NGOs. And what if we could get Apple, Google, RIM, etc. to agree that for any.... More
Jtown
06/25/2009 19:32 PM
Great story, and a fantastic app.
