It began with the idea of walking across the Great Wall to fundraise for charity, and it grew into an online tool anyone could use for philanthropy. Seniors Jackson Froliklong and Matt Cynamon, along with a friend, launched an innovative web site, www.BeExtraordinary.org, that allows users to raise funds for charities by posting challenges. "One of the really positive things is that it's easy for people to donate and collect funds," Cynamon says. The site was designed "to create a platform that was engaging and use tools our generation is comfortable with," adds Froliklong.
Students' challenges have ranged from a winter swim in Lake Michigan to community service in Latin America — each for a charity. "You're showing this cause is so important to you that it provides an incentive to give," notes Cynamon.
The students' business plan for the web site won a top prize in a Northwestern entrepreneurship contest in 2007. In the following 18 months, the students pursued the long process of getting coding done so the site would work properly. "It was difficult, but it improved our resourcefulness," Cynamon says.Partially, the concept grew out of a course taught by SESP professor Dan Lewis about civic engagement. "We wanted to build a technology … to combine technological skills and turn toward a charitable focus," explains Cynamon. "With our other partner [David Balkind] we created a space where everyone could do something challenging for charity."
Social policy course work has influenced the endeavor in other ways. "Social Policy keeps you grounded, brings you back home and makes you focus on the important things in life," says Cynamon, a social policy major along with Froliklong. "That's one of the attitudes we bring into the company. … The private sector needs to take a larger role in addressing social issues."
From a company's point of view, "philanthropy is greater than advertising. Companies can frame themselves as socially responsible entities," Froliklong asserts. He notes that among consumers ages 16-30, 89 percent said they would change brands based on social responsibility.
Currently only the Northwestern community uses BeExtraordinary.org, but in the fall the students will market the site across the country. One of their top pitches is that "data suggests an online component increases results 42 percent," Froliklong emphasizes. "Using our tools you can reach out to significantly more people and raise more funds. … There's no more time-efficient way."
Photo: Seniors Matt Cynamon and Jackson Froliklong
Last Modified: 4/5/10