Helping Hands - The smartphone app that would allow users to donate $20 a month and then democratically decide which two charities receive all the funds each month. The app would also serve as a central hub where all charities can receive electronic donations.

The philosophy of this app is that it is better to concentrate a bunch of small donations into a few charities than to scatter them among all charities.

All this idea needs is for a leader with common sense to see it.

Helping Hands will create an involved community focused on supporting a variety of causes. It is direct democracy in action where everyone has an equal voice in deciding the winners. The government should create this app because it is the right thing to do. Please join us in bringing charity donation into the 21st century. 

 APP VOTING PROCESS

The two charities that win each month are comprised of one charity from the following categories: local/state and national. Each category receives a third of the funds (The Peace Corps would automatically receive the other third of the funds each month). Local charities in the same field and city are allowed to band together as one. Public schools, scholarships, and medical research count as charities. 

The Nomination Process - Users are given a series of matchups between four random charities of the same category. Users choose the winner of a matchup after watching a three minute video from each of the charities. Users can choose the winner of as many matchups as they want to for two weeks. The top eight charities from both categories with the most matchup wins among all users enter into a playoff tournament.

The Tournament - So there would be two monthly tournaments for local/state and national charities with eight charities in each tournament. A tournament matchup is between only two charities at a time with all users voting in each matchup. In addition to their three minute advertisement video, tournament charities will have the opportunity to provide another three minute debate video where they argue their cause over their opponent's. Tournament charities will have two days to produce their debate video for each tournament matchup.

National charity monthly winners will enter into an annual tournament, The Grand, with the prize being the sum total of all extra donations users provide in addition to their monthly fee. There will be prizes for the first, second, and third place finishers in The Grand.

If at the same location, 5 to 50 users have the option to form a group and view matchups together (like on a TV at a party) during the Nomination Process. Group users will each pick their own matchup winner, and then the most popular winning charity among the group receives all of the group's votes. Forming a group has three benefits. First, it allows users to pool their votes together and give them all to the matchup winner at once. Second, users will only be shown a limited amount of matchups where the random charities are all from the same city/state as the group. Third, it allows the group to choose a Star Charity which receives the group's votes without being in a matchup.