Microgiving

Microgiving is the charitable donation of small increments of money from a single donor to a specific recipient. Microgiving can be enabled through an online auction model or using a distributed network, similar to the P2P model used in file sharing. The term was first popularized by a foundation called MicroGiving.com that was founded and funded by businessman and philanthropist, John Ferber as a means for online participation in direct charitable giving. This donor-to-recipient model provided an alternative to the traditional model of donor-to-organization.
Microgiving campaigns have now been extended to other charitable organizations on Twitter, notably the Salvation Army [http://twitter.com/tsaredkettle @tsaredkettle] and Google's Lunar X-Prize program [http://twitter.com/glxp @glxp]. The model also is being adopted as a means of directly donating to bloggers by their audiences. Videoblogger and citizen journalist Steve Garfield, for instance, has received donations through TipJoy.
MicroGiving
In the MicroGiving model, a philanthropic marketplace similar to Ebay is used where buyers and sellers are termed Donors and Recipients. People in need, charities and fundraisers can post a request or project on the site, and Donors can browse the community, choose from thousands of different projects and causes and donate any amount to the recipient of their choice via PayPal.
According to its website, the MicroGiving model is based upon the notion that donating to individuals in need of assistance would trigger a “feel good” sensation in donors and recipients. MicroGiving.com was created to provide an organized community for social responsibility. It is the stated mission of the organization to provide, facilitate and empower individual charitable donation by enabling members to pick, choose and give directly to anyone in need, no matter how much they have to give.
MicroGiving.com directly connects donors to recipients. Donors have the freedom to specify exactly where and to whom donations go. To use the service, both donors and recipients must join the community and create personal profiles. Recipients then may customize their profiles to share what is needed and provide supporting information for the specified cause. Donors can browse through recipients and choose profiles to donate to. Recipients then receive the donations directly through Paypal and can provide updates and feedback.

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