IBM and Global Citizen, a movement of engaged citizens using their voice to end extreme poverty by 2030, are today announcing a new initiative that uses blockchain technology to bring back trust and transparency to charitable giving.
Figures from the Charities Aid Foundation’s (CAF) latest UK Giving report found that the public donated £9.7 billion in 2016, with 61 percent indicating that they had given money to charitable causes. [1]
Yet, while 50 percent of Brits found charities trustworthy in 2016, separate research from the same year showed that public trust with charities had fallen since 2014. Data from the Charity Commission for England and Wales highlighted that trust in charities had dropped from 6.7 out of 10 in 2014 to 5.7 in 2016. The fall in the trust rating was attributed to ‘critical media coverage of charity practices, distrust about how charities spend donations, and a lack of knowledge among the public about where their donations go,’ said the report.[2]
Notably, while the public still have a lot of faith in charities and the work they do, which is vital to societies, it shows that the public’s generosity can’t be taken for granted.
This is why IBM and Global Citizen are announcing their ‘Challenge Accepted: Blockchain for Good’ initiative via IBM’s Blockchain Platform. IBM’s platform is already being used to impact society in areas such as trade finance, sales, supply chain, and food safety.[3][4][5][6]
Simon Moss, co-founder of Global Citizen, said that this is:
“…a partnership to ultimately understand how blockchain could best increase commitments towards funding humanitarian issues like extreme poverty and global health to help build a more impactful donor population.”
Inspired by the United Nations #Envision2030
