Pledge 1% Boston Member SpotLight - Shareity

January 22, 2018

Ben Hill is the founder of Shareity, and a member of Pledge 1% Boston. Shareity is a platform that monetizes selfie challenges for good causes. Individual selfie-takers, sponsors and charities are united through Shareity to spread awareness and raise money for causes of all kinds—hunger, disaster relief, medical research and more. Ben says, “Everyone is here for a purpose and one of the most important accomplishments is the positive impact one has had in this world before you leave.” Shareity provides a way for individuals to contribute to that positive impact even if they don’t have much money to give away, by joining a community supporting a cause and donating their social influence. Sponsors eager to reach this demographic pay for that with donations to their causes.  

Hill became a Pledge 1% member early on in his business’s life because he thinks that incorporating giving into company models is great for two reasons:

1) “You align with the new giving generation: millennials. Millennials are big on personal branding and alignment with causes, and it is the target demographic of most companies.”

2) “It’s really about social responsibility. Companies are just as much part of this world as the rest of us so they should act like it. I’m not totally convinced most companies don’t do it for just the first reason but the second reason is why they should do it.”

Ben says, “We can have a huge long-term impact on this world by just sharing. For the first time in history we have the technological advances that make this possible. In the end it’s not about what kind of car you drove, the house you lived in or the money in your bank; it’s about making the world a better place for generations to come. One person cannot change the world alone. It’s the collective masses of people sharing their ‘social currency’ with causes that will find cures to diseases, rebuild countries and end world hunger.”