Will This Idea Spark Your Juices?
Written by Michael on December 19, 2007 – 12:22 pm -
If your dream job involves running something online, you’re going to love this one.
I enjoy running across things that are just so simply beautiful and that make me stand back and say, “Wow, I wish I would have thought of that!”
So, it’s with fun and pleasure that today I bring you news of FreeRice – an organization that combines getting smarter with doing good.
Get smarter.
Do good.
You learn vocabulary words in a game format . . . and, for every word you get right, FreeRice donates 20 grains of rice to people throughout the developing world, via the UN.
FreeRice has two goals:
Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free. (The FreeRice group uses the money it generates from online advertising to fund the rice purchases.)
So, whether you’re a school kid looking to learn more or the top dog at a multinational business, you know that improving your vocabulary can improve your life. It’s a great investment in yourself.
And, as the FreeRicers themselves say: “Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide.”
So far the outfit has donated several billion grains of rice.
And, what an incredible business idea that combines two very different things — learning and donating — in one place. Give you any ideas for your own dream job?
Check ‘er out, a really cool idea. And a Top 5er at that!
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Posted in Ideas, Top5er |
December 19th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Michael:
What an ingeniuous idea! Brilliant. Once I got started, I was hooked. No wonder those secretaries at boring board meetings confessed to playing with this game! I saw a testimony or something to that effect.
Brilliant indeed! Thanks for sharing.
December 19th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Thanks for your comments, Stephen. I simply love this idea on so many levels.
From a “business standpoint,” I think it’s phenomenal. You take something that’s boring by nature for most people (learning vocabulary words) and you put it in a game format tied to doing good, and wow! You’ve really got something.
Hope you’ll spread the word about this really clever idea.
And, there are tons of for-profit ways you could use something like this. For example, you could have the exact same game and award coupons or discounts or whatever to the top five scores of the week, or to anyone who attains a level 30.
As you said, Stephen, this baby is brilliant!
DM Werner
December 20th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
We have just created a similar program for one of our clients that provides resourses to the disability community while saving energy, greening the planet and saving users money every week.
All it takes is a cause, a village and a idea that benefits all concerned
OWEN DOONAN
CEO
THE-Group
Virtual management, IT & mentor consultants to Entrepreneurs, Professionals and Executives with disabilities. Advocates for virtual access to public meetings and home based employment for the homebound and people with severe limiting disabilities.
Statutory Member, Massachusetts State Rehabilitation Council.
Chairman,Massachusetts State Rehabilitation Council’s Consumer Satisfaction Committee
Chairman, Massachusetts Statewide Task force on Home Based and Self Employment for people with disabilities
Member, AT [Assistive Technology] Act Advisory Council
Founding member Massachusetts Statewide Task force on Acquired Brain Injury [ABI] & Traumatic Brain Injury [TBI].
Member Easter Seals - MRC Assistive Technology Loan Review Committee
E-mail: mentor-one@usa.net
December 20th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
This is terrific! Yesterday I played for quite some time. I think I’ll donate rice daily
December 26th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
This is an awesome website!!
Thank you for sharing.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Okay, I give up…I’ve been trying to add a Free Rice banner to my blog and it’s not working! Tried contacting them to no avail. How the heck did you do it? Obviously, I am one of those people who needs specific instructions (where on my computer do I save the file?)…much to my chagrin.
Thanks for your help, Michael.
Cheryl K.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Not sure how your blogging software works, but try this:
1. On my blog, right click on the Free Rice graphic and select copy.
2. Then, create a post at your blog.
3. Then select Paste and the last thing you copied (the Free Rice Graphic, unless you’ve been copying in the interim) will be pasted into your post.
Lemme know if that works.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Nope - didn’t work. However, I finally did just copy the banner and pasted the link below it. I tested it and it works just fine. Not as fancy-schmancy but it’s better’n nothing.
Thanks, though - maybe Blogger isn’t as sophisticated as Wordpreneur