Beth Schmidt Is Helping Underprivileged Students Find Supporters with Wishbone
New crowdfunding sites seem to pop up every day since Kickstarter blew up on the tech scene. Most sites focus on one particular industry or type of project that can benefit from the now-popular model. Almost all of these sites are very capitalistic in nature, looking for backers to support businesses or commercial music, writing, and art. There is nothing wrong with helping entrepreneurs or artists chase their dreams, but cool person in tech Beth Schmidt believes there’s another group who could benefit greatly from this concept—poor and underprivileged youth. Beth Schmidt is the founder and executive director of the non-profit Internet company Wishbone. Wishbone finds promising young people who do not have the resources to pay for the education that would allow them to chase their goals. Schmidt’s company then provides them a space on the Internet where backers can crowdfund their education. Rather than use the crowdfunding model to invest in single projects or startup business, Schmidt wants people to invest in a proven resource for society’s future—smart, young students.
When Schmidt’s charity finds a student who needs funding for an education program or for school in general, the company puts a profile of that person on their site. Each profile lists details about the student and what they want to study. Some students want funding for an education in social science so they can chase their dream of being a lawyer while others may want to learn computer science for career paths in IT support or computer repair. In any case, potential supporters donate whatever amount they want and receive updates directly from each student as a campaign progresses.
There are definite advantages to Schmidt’s donation model with Wishbone. An aspect of non-profit organizations that people often complain about is lack of transparency. Many people want to know how charities use the money they donate. With Wishbone, each supporter knows that their donation specifically goes to funding a specific student’s education. With direct updates and messages from the child a user chooses to support, they can even see the direct results of their help. However, benefactors who have trouble deciding on a specific student to help can donate to a general fund. In these cases, Wishbone will choose what student receives the donation.
Before founding Wishbone, Schmidt worked for the Teach for America program. The organization placed her in south central Los Angeles, where she taught high school. After two years, Schmidt decided that she could do more for students by founding an organization of her own, which produced Wishbone in 2010.
About RESCUECOM:
RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.
For More Information, Contact:
David Milman
CEO
david@rescuecom.com
1-315-882-1100