Technology Enables Transparency in Charities
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Technology Enables Transparency in Charities

FROM A COLOSSUS OF THE WEB TO A LITTLE STARTUP: ANDREA MENE''S ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA


Everything started from a newspaper article, which was a prelude to a major scandal embroiling Irish charities, which, in essence, underscored the low transparency of the non-profit sector. From there, Andrea Mené, manager of Google's marketing solutions team in Dublin and treasurer of the local chapter of the Bocconi Alumni Association (BAA), decided together with friends Giorgio Amoruso and Davide Barbieri to found a startup based the following business idea: through technology, help charities present themselves and make themselves transparent to donors and beneficiaries. This is how Altruism was born.

➜ Okay, you read about scandal, but how did you arrive at your idea?
From a principle that I learned at Google: solving society’s major problems through technology. We saw that the industry had a big problem of transparency and trust and we decided to engage ourselves and do something about it. We felt persuaded we had the resources to do it and we did it.

➜ How does Altruism work?
It is a non-profit initiative that brings digital technology to the world of charities. We provide a platform to make more effective the communication of goals, results and financial data, and to make operations more efficient. For example, building a web site or doing online fundraising. The platform allows you to cut donation costs from 30% to 1% (compared to 7% of other online platforms, since we do not charge fees).

➜ How do you support the project?
At first, through self-financing, but now we also have the support of Unicredit Bank Ireland and Growing Capital and, for marketing, we benefit from Google Ad Grant. They know that there is no economic return, but they do it because they know it has a social impact. Today we collaborate with 70 charities and for the first half of 2017 we have enabled fundraising for over €100,000.

âžœ Altruism is Andrea Mené’s creature. But Andrea Mené has a job at Google.
I have been in sales and marketing for seven years, after my first job experience in Budapest at Alenis, a coffee company. I was working there and simultaneously studying at Bocconi, where I graduated with a CEMS Degree in International Management in 2009. I was travelling back to Italy to do my finals, basically.

➜ When did you join Google?
In 2010, after six interviews on the phone and in person.

➜ Do you have an anecdote to relate?
I believe that, among other things, they were struck by the fact that in Budapest I hosted about a hundred people from around the world for free, to let them discover the city.

âžœ You are also a member of Dublin’s BAA chapter. What are the activities of the group about?
The mostly focus on events about networking and leadership, such as the most recent one with managing director of Unicredit Bank Ireland Massimiliano Sinagra, and the upcoming one on fintech and the banking industry. And let’s not forget our annual get-together to watch the Ireland vs. Italy rugby match of the Six Nations tournament.
 
 

by Andrea Celauro
Translated by Alex Foti


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