UK-based Blockchain philanthropy platform Alice has announced a pilot scheme for Blockchain-based charity funding.
The platform, which uses smart contracts to pay donations to charities proving they have met specific goals, is currently testing the concept with a London homelessness support organization St Mungo’s.
Alice says that Blockchain technology is badly needed in an area suffering from a decline in “trust” from donors, who are unable to know how their contributions are spent.
“The charity sector is currently going through a crisis of public trust. We want to address that by helping trailblazing organizations like St Mungo’s, who are committed to transparency, to raise more funds for the amazing work they do,” CEO Raphaël Mazet said in a press release Thursday.
Blockchain implementation works by holding funds paid to charities on Alice’s database until they demonstrate they are achieving their stated goals.
In so doing, smart contracts enable “fully auditable” performance data which “is secure and extremely difficult to falsify or hack,” the release claims.
“This pilot gives us more flexibility than usual commissioned services do,” St Mungo’s executive director of fundraising Rebecca Sycamore commented.
“...We’re very pleased to help pilot this innovative funding platform, working with Alice and partners in Westminster and the Greater London Authority.”
Cryptocurrency’s involvement in the charity sector is nothing new. Yet in the past it has remained a comparatively simple affair in the form of donations, ostensibly with the promise of reduced wastage by bypassing banks and money transfer operators.