John Pratt: Co-Founder, Fundable.org

Fundable.org is an exciting new fundraising model that that lets groups of people pool money in "group actions" for whatever goal or purpose they like. Similar to an online auction, a group action has its own page, describing how much money will be collected and what the money will do. The site accepts credit card pledges through Paypal, and no payments are accepted unless 100% of the target pledge amount has been raised. This policy ensures that the money will only be used if the project is successfully completed. Current project examples include "Jim's Birthday Present," server space to start a new business, fundraising for tsunami burn victims, help fund a short film, provide meals to malnourished children in Malawi, and help save dogs scheduled for euthanasia in Los Angeles. As you can see, the kinds of projects are all over the place, from purely self-serving to purely altruistic. What the site does is help bring together like-minded individuals in an online collaborative environment to make dream projects come to life. Recently, we spoke to Fundable's co-founder John Pratt who started the website with his partner Louis Helm.

Where did the idea for Fundable come from -- what problem were you trying to solve?

Initially, we wanted to develop a system that was, by coincidence, similar to Motorola's iRadio (think satellite radio, but with cell phones). In short, we were trying to find a way for independent radio content to be funded by groups of people. Fundable's model emerged in the process and we decided it was worth pursuing instead of the original project.

What are the most popular and successful kinds of projects on Fundable.org?

It varies, though successful ones share a lot in common. The more thought, planning, and effort put into a project by its organizer, the more likely it will succeed. This seems obvious, but some people forget that we aren't exactly like eBay -- you can't just throw a project on our site and expect it to meet its goal. The most notable project was one organized by citizens of Lakeview, a neighborhood in New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. They raised $9,000 for a political advertisement in a week using small donations, which is impressive.

Which kinds of projects do you think can have the biggest impact on the world?

The purpose of Fundable is to provide a means for groups of individuals to pool money without much effort. If we can do this successfully, we're sure that projects can make an impact on their local level. We aim high, but we also understand that it's not feasible to orchestrate an impact on the world as a whole. Those sorts of changes emerge in a complex way, on their own.

Where do you see the company in 5 years?

Part of Google! Kidding. Right now we're looking to build our online reputation and see how far we can take this fundraising model.

What difficulties have you had to overcome in bringing Fundable.org to market?

Since we don't have an advertising budget, people usually hear about us through word of mouth (or interviews). Constructing the site was difficult, but promotion has been our primary concern lately.

What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

It's great when people understand the site and it works for them. When someone says that they couldn't have accomplished their project in any other way, that is truly satisfying.

Where do you guys turn for inspiration and to "refuel?"

To relax, I prefer the gym. My partner Louis is training for a marathon and meditates twice a week.

Who are some of the most inspiring people you're working with now?

We don't work with people in a collaborative sense, exactly. We're mostly self-serve: groups or individuals visit our site, set up a page, collect pledges for some purpose, and we turn the pledges into money for them. Lately we've seen a lot of projects in which people are raising money for themselves or another person. But the projects we like to see the most are those in which groups are splitting costs or buying products in bulk. This, we think, is when the site is most powerful.

What dream for the world would you like to see achieved in our lifetime?

Less exploitation from globalization.

(Interview by CThings Editor, Paul Horne)