In The Media Main

RealityCharity: Giving with a Click
“We’ve all heard of MySpace and Facebook as tools to reconnect with old friends and share pictures and stories. But imagine a site with all the capabilities of those social networking sites, that helped people in need. Tonight’s cover story looks at a Baltimore entrepreneur who is working to make charity a reality for people and organizations all over the world.”

Social-networking phenomenon makes it easy for donors to promote their favorite causes online
“Before signing up with the site, a woman with Parkinson’s disease tried to raise money for research the old-fashioned way — by talking to friends, says Alexander Blass, the founder of Reality Charity. The result: $100 in donations for a 2006 walk in New York City. The following year, she posted an appeal on Reality Charity — and raised $1,650 from 25 people. Much of the money came from people she knew but hadn’t seen in 20 years, according to a posting on the site’s Donor Wall. She could only surmise that friends had kept passing her appeal around until it reached those she’d lost touch with.”

Social-networking phenomenon makes it easy for donors to promote their favorite causes online
When people hear about you and your business, what’s the question you hear most?
“‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ And I say, ‘Well, somebody had to.’ … There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing your idea go from sketches on a piece of paper to living, breathing things. Especially when it positively impacts other people.”

Was that something you felt was missing in what you were doing before?
“I didn’t want to wait until I was 65 and had saved up some cash to decide it was time to make a difference.”

If you rewrote the lyrics to “My Favorite Things,” what would you include?
“This may sound hard to believe, but I am just as happy, if not happier, in a remote village without electricity in Laos as I am at an event at the Waldorf. I love to feel alive. I don’t know how else to put it. I love that sense of wonderment that sometimes we only have as a child, where you just go “wow.” I love that feeling. “I will never, ever forget this moment.” Those collections of experiences definitely – without a doubt – have motivated me to do what I do today.”

Alexander Blass is named one of the top 50 most influential people in the entire state of Maryland — and the youngest on the list at only 33 — alongside distinguished individuals including Maryland’s Governor, the presidents of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, famed Hollywood filmmaker John Waters, and CEOs of multi billion-dollar corporations such as Constellation Energy and the founder of the Discovery Channel.

Alexander Blass returned to his native USA wanting to do well while at the same time creating something of value to society and has since garnered numerous awards for founding RealityCharity, a global online charitable giving and philanthropy community, dubbed by the US press “the eBay of giving”.

The evolution of the Internet has been full of surprises – surprises that have sometimes resulted in radical changes in the commercial landscape, such as the arrival of Amazon, eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), YouTube Inc., and Skype Ltd.
Could one of the next big surprises turn out to be linked to developing countries?

Alexander Alexander Blass is named one of the Top 40 CEOs under the age of 40.

Alexander
Alexander Blass is named the winner of the WebAward for Outstanding Achievement, an international competition, for inventing RealityCharity, the world’s first person-to-person giving platform and philanthropy community.

Featured in the magazine’s cover story, Alexander Blass is honored with the prestigious Top Innovator of the Year Award for “revolutionizing charitable giving,” beating out hundreds of CEOs, scientists, and other distinguished individuals in a variety of fields, many years his senior.

“[Blass] has created a donating platform for those who needs are all but overshadowed by harrowing tragedies that make headlines.”

“Alexander Blass wants you to give, and he’s found a new way for you to do it… he is on the front end of a trend that is changing the way charitable donations are made.”

“As the site approaches it first anniversary, founder Alexander Blass said 1,200 [fundraising] campaigns have been started, exceeding his first year goal of 1,000. ‘It’s been an extraordinary response,’ Blass said. ‘We’re really just very moved by the response from the global community. It’s just a testament to how people are excited about giving.”

“Ken and Kristie Sigler have sold cookbooks and football tickets to raise $16,000 for an adoption. For the final $8,700, they are appealing directly to strangers ? through a new online clearinghouse that bypasses traditional charities … Donors from around the world can browse listings by type or location, search by keyword or click on a direct link passed along by a relative or friend. They can respond with a credit card or eBay Inc.?s PayPal payment service, with any transaction fees deducted and disclosed. Recipients must live in one of about 50 countries served by PayPal … ‘We feel that by offering a central place where people in need and potential donors can meet each other, we are growing the philanthropic pie,’ [Blass] said.”

WEB ENTREPRENEURS HAVE AN EYE ON SOCIAL NEED, NOT PERSONAL GREED
“Silicon Valley hasn’t always been known for its largesse. Sharing the wealth with the less fortunate usually means issuing more stock options to employees. And the Web 2.0 generation, with its YouTube and Twitter mania, has gotten a particularly bad rap for self-obsession and indulgence. But social activism is rising among entrepreneurs who are using ambition, creativity and daring to fuse their personal values and career goals.”

New Mom Fighting Cancer Featured on Philanthropic Website
“…it was their story on a new Web site called RealityCharity.com that prompted dozens of people around the world to contribute more than $20,000 in less than a month to help pay the family’s medical bills. The Web site, which launched in April, combines social networking with instantaneous giving in a new model of e-philanthropy. Essentially, it’s ‘six degrees of separation’ meets ‘pay it forward’ generosity.”

The Philanthropist’s Toolkit
“RealityCharity.com often called “the eBay of giving” provides a direct link between you and charitable causes. People and organizations in approximately fifty countries can sign up and solicit donations directly.”

“I’ve run across the most interesting young man, and he’s come up with something really great, and he is the Innovator of the Year. If people want to be generous, to donate money to different causes, this eliminates the middleman. This is a great idea because it is person-to-person. If you have ever used ebay you are familiar with how this works. You have come up with a way here, through the Internet, where people who are moved by the spirit of helping others can do it with knowing that the money they contribute is going to that charity and won’t get caught up in a long long path of cost. I know that once you get huge bureaucracies involved, what starts out as a dollar comes out as pennies on the other end. This particular way, it really just puts the money right where you want it to go. That’s what’s so great about it.”

CLICK HERE TO PLAY TOM MARR RADIO INTERVIEW.

“Charities know how difficult it is to raise funds for themselves, but when you are individual in need of a helping hand financially, the job can be even tougher. Well a new website is aiming to change all that and it’s called RealityCharity.com.”

CLICK HERE TO PLAY IRISH RADIO INTERVIEW.

“It looks like you are doing some pretty incredible work here.”

CLICK HERE TO PLAY CBS RADIO INTERVIEW.

“Ladies and gentleman, there are very few things I get excited about, but I am very excited about this!”
CLICK HERE TO PLAY WBAL INTERVIEW.