In China, NGOs remain in the developmental stage, with limited communication,fund-raising channels, and insufficient resources to gain public awareness. On the other side of the equation, the public likewise has limited access to NGO projects. Tencent’s 99 Charity Day introduced the Tencent Charity Platform to the Chinese netizens, with the objective to maximize the power of social platform to connect NGOs with potential donors, and shine a light on both donors and the charities.

We believe every individual has the power to make an impact in the internet era. When they share information about the charities of their interest, they spread the words about those projects. We wanted millions of Tencent’s users to all become ambassadors for the NGOs and their projects.

We listed over 2,000 NGO projects on the platform and encouraged WeChat users to choose those they were most interested in. We provided a “donate together” button to allow them to share the project with their friends and raise money for micro-funds via WeChat friendship accounts. To achieve their own pre-set fundraising goals, users posted information about projects and invited their friends to make donations.

The nature of social networks greatly increased the degree of trust in sponsored charity projects. Also, because most users share common interests with their social network friends, conversation on WeChat was more readily converted into action on the part of friends.