First ever social charity network created in Russia

25.03.2015, Moscow

The first ever social network for charity has been established in Russia whereby users can donate money to charitable causes by using their own photographs and “likes”. Users of this network have so far raised 48,000 dollars for charities such as “The Line of Life”, “Live”, “I’m here”, Society of Stroke Patients’ Relatives (SSPR), WWF and the Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation.

The social network is called Mainpeople.com and has been created by Ovanes Pogosyan, a well-known Russian internet entrepreneur. It has been further developed by charity workers whose daily responsibilities involve providing professional help to those in need. A previous trial of the social network run over a 2-month period raised more than 30,000 dollars, and has since increased to its present figure.

Mainpeople is the easiest and most convenient way for people to give to charity, ensuring that time spent on social networks can bring positive benefits to the world in which we live. “We believe that you don’t have to be rich or famous to do good. By so doing, you don’t have to burden yourself with other people’s problems, nor delve too deeply into the very heart of their individual circumstances as there are professional people who do that sort of thing for a living. We can help people in their daily lives, e.g. by posting a photograph of a regular journey, or discussing traffic congestion in our cities”, write those involved in running the social network site.

As well as the charities listed above, the Mainpeople mobile app helps raise money for other foundations including “Retirement in St. Petersburg”, “Peace Planet”, the hospice charity “Faith”, “Healthy Heritage” and the “Bela Children”.

The social network works on Instagram principles. You can share your photographs, thoughts and exchange opinions but only for charity purposes. When posting a photo online, you donate 1 dollar to the charity of your choice. If others like your photo, they let you know by clicking the “I’m with you” button, which, in turn, adds another dollar towards your chosen charity. You can click any number of times to increase the amount being raised.

“It’s thanks to projects such as this that charity has entered into our consciousness and become an integral part of our daily lives. Who knows, there may soon come a time when everyone on the planet is using Mainpeople rather than Facebook”, according to SSPR, who’ve received nearly 4,000 dollars in donations through the network.

The ad agency “Stereotactic Moscow” has created an advertisement for Mainpeople. In it, half a dozen people are standing on a dock, talking and watching while a man is struggling in the water and make no effort to save him (the moral being that if you saw someone drowning on social media, would you try and save them?). “Social networks enable people to talk to one another while we’re giving them the opportunity to act. Every post on Mainpeople provides real support for charities”, the ad says.

The Mainpeople mobile app can be downloaded via the website listed below.

Author: Yulia Vyatkina

http://www.asi.org.ru/news/mainpeople-pervaya-blagotvoritelnaya-sotsialnaya-set-v-mire/