Help begins with a click

When you make a purchase through the CharityMonk app, invented by the Kochi-based IT professional Stephen Sebastian, a percentage goes directly to an NGO

Photos: From left: Stephen Sebastian, Shyam Unnikrishnan and Sibin Joseph 

By Shevlin Sebastian  

IT professional Stephen Sebastian was working as an assistant manager in a firm at Chennai. On weekends, he was keen to spend it in a meaningful way. When he was studying in Kochi, he would do some charity work. But in Chennai, he did not know what to do. 

He fell into a reflective mood. Over a couple of weekends, an idea formed in his head. It was about an app. He put his plan into motion with the help of his friends Sibin Joseph and Shyam Unnikrishnan. The app is called CharityMonk. There is also a web site. Now back in Kochi, Stephen, along with the others did the incubation at the Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology at Kalady.  

This is how it works. You download the app, and register a name -- say it is Jimmy Mathew. When Jimmy buys anything from a major retailer like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong, Swiggy, or Big Basket, among others, a percentage of the payment is sent to an NGO, which is selected by Jimmy. So, while Jimmy plays the full price, of, say, Rs 1000 for a pair of jeans, a retailer like Amazon will give away 2 to 3 percent to CharityMonk. “They are doing charity on Jimmy’s behalf,” says Stephen. 

When asked the benefit for a giant like Amazon, Stephen says, “Amazon gets regular business from Charity Monk. Apart from that, they would also like to contribute to charity.” 

The percentage cuts that CharityMonk receives vary from product to product. So, for electronics, the cut is between 2 to 3 percent. “Fashion is between 5 and 15 per cent,” says Stephen. “Grocery is from 1 to 2 per cent. In the travel industry, there is a flat rate. If a ticket is booked, we will get Rs 100. But we have separate tie-ups with Qatar Airlines and Emirates. They give around 1 to 2 per cent. So, if you buy tickets worth Rs 2 lakh, Charity Monk will get Rs 4000.” So far, they have also tied up with 400 stores and the money will go to 19 NGOs. 

Some of the NGOs include the National Youth Foundation, All Kerala Blood Donors Association, SAFE India, and the Environics Trust. 

On an average, the actual money which is transferred is in the range of Rs 15 to Rs 800. “Each user has a dashboard where he or she can monitor the amount of money that has gone to their favourite NGO,” says Stephen. 

When he was doing research, Stephen realised that the bigger NGOs, thanks to their marketing budgets were getting a major share of donor money. So, he decided to focus on the smaller ones. “They desperately need the money to survive,” says Stephen. (Incidentally, there are 32 lakh NGOs registered in India). 

Meanwhile, CharityMonk users are happy. Says Anjani Nagaraju, a Vijayawada-based entrepreneur: “In this era of e-commerce, we shop for no reason but CharityMonk allows us to make this compulsive buying worthwhile by enabling us to contribute to a charity without paying any extra money.” 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi)