Sure, you could just donate money to charity. But what’s in it for you, besides the warm feeling of knowing that for once you’re at least not making the planet worse? With new site Raise5, you can get that feeling PLUS have someone tweak your resume, draw your hair, write you a message in alphabet pasta, remind you of good bits from The Simpsons, or dance in a bear suit. (That one was actually a limited-time Valentine’s offer by one of Raise5’s founders, but you can leave a message if you’re still interested.)
Raise5 is modeled on Fiverr, the original site where people can offer weird services for $5 — which is probably why the sample bear suit dance is choreographed to “Party Rock Anthem,” the favorite song of Fiverr’s breakout star Dancing Dror.
But Fiverr only lets you exchange money for goods and services. With Raise5, you get the goods and services AND the money goes to a good cause — clean water, medical care, wildlife preservation. Of the $5 you donate, $4 goes to the cause — the remaining dollar is split among Raise5’s various overhead costs. The person who writes your pasta message gets nada, but that’s traditionally how charity works — a person or animal in need gets assistance, and you get warm fuzzies and a tax writeoff. So if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of getting the warm fuzzies AND a rad hair portrait, you can always just sign up to donate your skills instead.
