Too busy to volunteer? Contribute while you browse

BENGALURU: You've always cared for social causes and have also volunteered at various NGOs, maybe even made small monetary contributions to a few of them. You feel you can do more, but don't know exactly how? For a start, how about by just surfing the internet?

You can now make contributions to NGOs working for issues you care about by just being online, thanks to a web browser extension made by three Bengalureans. They have founded an organisation called Flutur that ‘builds products (mobile and web) that convert your otherwise wasted hours into real donations.’
All you need to do is download the web extension called Flutur New Tab on Google Chrome.

The extension replaces one's tab page with one designed by Flutur, complete with photos and customizable themes that contain 'tiny ads.' Every time a user opens a new tab page, Flutur raises a small amount of money through ads. The money raised is then accumulated, and at the end of the week, users can donate to a cause they care about.

"Presently, we have tied up with four NGOs that work towards building sustainable water management systems in arid regions,  education, conserving solar energy and menstrual hygiene. We plan to tie up with more such organisations soon," says Joel Koshy, co-founder of Flutur. The other founders are Rahul Mallapur and Mallika Khullar.  

The team has given an illustration of how much users can contribute for the time you remain online with Flutur New Tab. It claims that being online for seven hours a day is equivalent to planting a tree or feeding a child. Joel explains, "So the calculation of one tree in seven hours is an approximate number based on a benchmark that we used from other NGOs working in the area, where the cost for planting a tree is approximately `5 to `15 per tree. This approximation is to give a person a real world connect to know how much impact he/she can have by doing so little."

He adds that if a user spends around seven hours browsing the internet, with Flutur chrome extension installed, then every user will approximately be able to generate around `5-`15 per week. "This range of revenue is only because the ad service providers release funds to our account based on the user's location and certain other parameters," says Joel.

The three were working in different roles for a start-up where they met.  A common bond among them was their passion for social causes. "When we were working for this start-up, we barely had time to volunteer. To solve the problem of people like us who are unable to spare time to volunteer, we built a tech product that automates the process of fund generation," adds Joel.