Believe.in Blog

GlobalRichList.com relaunches after 10 years and Believe.in’s there to help!

After ten years and over 12 million visits since going live, GlobalRichList.com partners with Believe.in and relaunches today, coinciding with the publication of the 25th Annual Sunday Times Rich List. 

The original GlobalRichList.com

The original GlobalRichList.com, launched in 2003, was a direct response to the Sunday Times and Forbes Rich lists and aimed to challenge the ensuing view that the rest of us are poor.

Using global data and by asking visitors to simply enter in their annual salaries, GlobalRichList.com presented a different story, revealing, oft to great surprise, one’s true wealth relative to the 2 billion people that the World Bank estimated to live on less than $1.25 a day.

10 years on, The World Bank estimates that one billion people have now been lifted out of extreme poverty (i.e. are now living on more than $1.25 a day at 2005 prices), but there are still estimated to be over one billion people living on less.

The new GlobalRichList.com

For the new GlobalRichList.com, the biggest overhaul has gone into updating the data underpinning the site, including the introduction of live data delivered via the World Bank’s Data API. There is now also a ’wealth’ option, which takes into account property, savings and investments, instead of just pure income.

Once your details have been inputted, new animations make complex calculations intuitive and the general, aesthetic overhaul belies a design that now supports smartphones, tablets and desktop use.

And so, re-designed and built for the modern, social web and armed with brand new data, Globalrichlist.com relaunches to not just continue to remind us of our good fortune, but to work with Believe.in to raise money and awareness for the huge population of the world who struggle to make ends meet. 

With Believe.in, visitors will be able to quickly donate directly to Care International who help tackle the effects of wealth inequality in over 87 countries worldwide.

Believe.in launches 3rd party donation support

With this, we’re excited to announce the launch of our commitment to helping platforms accept donations quickly, elegantly and painlessly via Believe.in and we’re looking forward to bringing easier and better giving to platforms and products across the web.

Want to become a Believe.in partner?

We’re working with a number of partners at present, so please reach out to us to sign-up to our waiting list. 

Three weeks in the life of Believe.in

Three weeks ago we officially launched the Believe.in 100% promise and our upgraded, fee-less fundraising platform live from onstage at the Guardian Changing Media Summit.

Launching what had been under wraps for several months prior to a room full of journalists was an exciting, albeit nerve-wracking experience. It didn’t help that we were under strict direction to deliver our story in under 5 minutes flat and that the presentation was due to be live streamed to an audience of several thousand.

Of the three start-ups invited to speak, Matthias was asked by the BBC’s Tech Correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, to get up on stage and present first. Before we knew it and with an audible gulp later, we were on our way…

As with any good launch, our presentation coincided with a number of features in various popular tech and trade publications including Tech City News, The Next Web, Third Sector Magazine, Civil Society, Charity Digital News, .net magazine and Wired.co.uk. 

All fantastic and though we thought there might be some interest in Believe.in, we were, in all honesty, completely unprepared for and totally overwhelmed by the outpouring of interest, positive feedback and encouragement from individuals, companies and charities alike.

The three weeks since have seen us blow past all of our targets and with more fundraisers setup on Believe.in in under 5 days than we thought would get setup in the entire quarter, things are looking great.

We’ve also had hundreds of charities reach out to us and are proud to now be actively working alongside these to bring new creativity and upgraded technology to the sector. So, if you’re a charity and interested in using Believe.in, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!

We’ve also recently been invited to speak at TEDX Brixton and in Parliament on the subject of Growing Giving in the UK and are working with numerous partners on an exciting series of new initiatives (hint: something big might go down this week…). 

Of course, we’re still working double-time to roll out major improvements to Believe.in and value your feedback. Thank you to those countless supporters who’ve gone above and beyond to flag issues, or suggest better ways of doing things. You’ve been an invaluable help.

For those hungry for what’s next, you’ll be pleased to know that both  significant upgrades and bold new features are on the way. So sit tight - and we’ll get back to work! 

Live from the Guardian Changing Media Summit

We’ll be coming to you live from the Guardian Changing Meeting Summit at 2pm today for a brief 5 minute presentation on Believe.in and to announce some exciting news.

If you can’t be there in the flesh, never fear - you can watch our lightning-presentation live here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/mar/20/changing-media-summit-live

and should you have any particularly lovely things to say about us, feel free to tweet your support using the hashtags #cms2013 and #believein

See you at the event.

We’re a Nesta 2012 grant recipient!

In 2011 we caught wind of something significant about to happen over at Nesta, an independent charity at the forefront of investing in and increasing the innovation capacity of the UK.

Together with the Office of Civil Society, it was rumoured that Nesta was about to set aside £10m in a fund called the Innovation in Giving Fund, a vehicle committed expressly to the backing of ideas that had the potential to deliver a significant increase in the giving and exchange of time, assets, skills, resources and money in the UK.

With Believe.in at the very beginning of its journey, we thought we’d enquire as to our eligibility. But, as luck would have it, we missed the deadline to submit any such interest by 24 hours and it was without us that over 450 UK hopefuls rode forward into battle to introduce their ideas to a series of judging panels and wage war with the Nesta selection criteria. It was out of this large applicant pool that some 65 companies were shortlisted and of these, only 15 would emerge victorious, with Nesta’s blessing, support and funding to boot. 

Disappointed to have missed it, the same programme fired up again in 2012, only this time attracting double the applicants. Resolved to at least enter, we prepared a comprehensive submission outlining the problem, our solution and longer term vision and submitted this hoping we might hear back.

Several weeks later, we were pleased to learn that we had, in fact, made it through to a shortlist of 50! The next step, we were told, was to prepare for a schedule of live pitches, one-on-one discussions and other reviews. Though tough, we continued and several months later this ultimately culminated in one last final conversation where we were humbled to learn that we’d be joining the very short list of 2012 Nesta grant fund recipients! 

More than Nesta’s grant support, we welcome its stamp of acknowledgment - particularly in a space where both one’s credibility and viability are important in the early days.

On that note, it’s worth having a look at some of the other, colourful projects that the Innovation in Giving Fund thought were exciting and have backed. We’ll absolutely look forward to seeing what 2013 will attract in the way of ideas and to the impact of the classes that came before it. 

Thanks for reading.

The Believe.in Breakfast Club launch

There are few occasions in life when early winter morning alarm clock sirens are welcomed with open arms. Well, today was one of those rare occasions, because today saw the Believe.in team launch the Believe.in Breakfast Club, a quarterly gathering of great minds from the charity, startup and creative ecosystems.  

Set in The Book Club and to a backdrop of tea, coffee and various fruit cubes and pastries, over 25 members arrived brushing off the cold to meet new people, crack open some new thinking and learn from one another’s experiences in and outside of the third sector.

With Amnesty UK, the RNLI, Breast Cancer Campaign, VSO, The Big Issue Foundation, Teach First, The Fair Trade Foundation, All Hands Volunteers, Barnardo’s and Save The Children in attendance, our first Breakfast Club promised to be a rewarding exchange of thought.

Though informal, we attempted to follow a regimented 9.30-11.30am programme covering:

9.30-10.00 - A full introduction to the Believe.in team, company & ethos, our existing platform, product range and even a sneakpeek into our lab

10.00-10.15 - A presentation by Rockcorps’ CEO & Co-Founder, Stephen Greene, who inspired with stories from the frontier of youth engagement, outreach and volunteering

10.30-10.45 - And a presentation by Poke’s Founder and Partner, Nick Farnhill, who reminded us of the importance of storytelling, hacking and trial n’ error in the quest to drive positive change. Examples included Poke’s 100Project & Global Richlist

Following this, we took a short break for both a caffeine injection and to collect into four orderly groups in anticipation of the next agenda item, ‘The-30-minute-think-like-a-startup-mini-hack’. 

With four briefs prepared in advance (here’s one), attendees gathered into teams, reborn as creatives employed by large, even unusual brands.

2012 - Here’s what happened!

With 2013 long upon us and our brief, wonderful time away over the holidays already a distant memory in the wake of our work so far, we thought it’d be worth recapping what happened last year before looking to what’s ahead.

Suffice it to say that quite a lot went down, so we’ve compiled a short list of those pivotal moments that saw us go from an idea worked on for over a year in our spare time and outside of fulltime jobs, to an investor backed, 7 person startup based in the heart of Silicon Roundabout. 

While all of this is interesting to map out and examine in digest, it’s important to say that lists such as this not only leave much to the imagination, but make sound easy what were perhaps the hardest two years of our lives. What’s not accounted for in bullets is the support from friends, family and investors (now one and the same), the perseverance and hard work required, the many ups and downs and the sacrifices made.

It’s easy to think that things move fast when observed from the outside in, but when you’re on the inside looking out - nothing moves unless you make it so. With odds generally stacked against startups, it’s a miracle any companies exist. To that end, here an attempted, chronological  wrap-up of our existence thus far, for your perusal:

• May ‘11 - Believe.in is founded 
• November - Matthias moves to Istanbul for Poke
• December - Work somehow continues despite the distance, two time zones and fulltime jobs. Thank you, Skype.
• January ‘12 - Work slows, it becomes clear that we need some angel support to supercharge our progress. Nights and weekends just aren’t cutting it.
• February - Within a month, our close friends Scott & Damian introduce us to two seasoned angel investors, but a meeting isn’t scheduled until April. Exciting, but not ideal.
• March - Other interested angels waste our time, sap our energy and saddlebag us with false promises, or ludicrous termsheets. We hit a low, learn about focus and keep plugging away with our eyes kept on April.
• April - Matthias and Will meet in London. Meetings are planned with eBay and the angels introduced to us in February. A long day gives way to both a partnership with eBay’s MissionFish UK and our first bit of investment from two brilliant individuals! Will takes a day off a week from work to focus on Believe.in. We have our first great day in a year… 
• May - Development on Believe.in progresses now in earnest. The project spans 6 people across 3 different countries and time zones.
• June & July - Matthias returns to London and starts a new full time job. Believe.in opens up to pre-registrants.
• August - Preparations are made to bring our prototype to market and raise funding. One of our angel investors introduces us to Jonty Hurwitz, who not only pledges to invest, but chooses to lead our round. 
• September -  Investor day. 25 of the UK’s top investors gather to listen to our presentation. The interest barometer seems reasonable. One person falls asleep, a few people seem there for the wine, a handful look pensive and a tiny collective seem intrigued. This is good enough for Matthias - he resigns not knowing whether things’ll pan out. 
• October - Conversations continue, some pledges are made, but nothing is certain. Will also takes the plunge of faith and resigns. For the first time, Will and Matthias are fulltime at Believe.in.
• November - Matthias finds an office. Will and Matthias make their first hire and the team grows by one brave, creative soul. Money is about to run out, but Matthias and Will keep the faith and make another hire. Mike brings his A-Game and several long days and nights later we launch Believe.in to the world, closing out the Internet Week Europe Festival and hosting a heaving event with 600 people in attendance. 
• Rob, Believe.in’s third team member accepts an offer to join the team, bringing our headcount up to 5 and kicking our badass factor up a notch.
• December - Two further talented individuals surface if by magic, dialling up both our team size to 7 and the pressure to conclude our fundraising efforts. As the month unfolds, we successfully manage to close our fundraising round (more on this later). We also launch our first batch of improvements, finding our stride somewhere along the way and just in time for a few days of respite! 

Now that we’re back from holiday and with things finally aligned in such a way where we can confidently announce all systems go, one might say that the above is actually just the preface to the story that’s to come.

There’s a buzz in the studio, it feels good to be back -  maybe it’s because we like working here, as well as the challenge we face, or maybe it’s because we know deep down that Chapter 1 starts now and we’re the authors. Whatever the reason, we’ll keep our heads down and keep pushing. Oh, and by the way, we’re hiring if you fancy joining us!

Onwards and Happy (belated) New Year.

Big updates, powerful new features. It’s live day!

The time has come for us to go home and shave, shower and share a few precious, short moments with our loved ones. No, not because it’s that time of year where some families cuddle up in front of fires and eat that crazy cake that nobody likes, but because we’ve just finished an intensive period of design and build.

We’ve been camped out at HQ for the past few weeks busily working toward today, live day, where we flick the switch on some major new updates and features that should improve the overall experience and hint at the goodness that is on its way.

So, what’s new? Here’s what’s up:

A brand spanking new Global Navigation

We’ve re-designed and built a new, more responsive global navigation.

And with it come some new icons, most notably the unveiling of our intention to focus a huge amount of our efforts on what we’re calling Believe.in’s Apps for Good - more on this below. You’ll also note an improved Message & Notification icon, redubbed ‘Incoming,’ which works double-time to highlight both new notifications needing your attention and any unread messages waiting patiently for your response. We’ve also decided to move away from an open Search field in favor of a dedicated icon and cross-platform drop-down. Here’s why…

Search + Steroids

One thing we’re working especially hard to revolutionise is charity information. Collecting, processing, enriching, and giving back charity data to create the most comprehensive and accessible index of charity information that exists - that’s our dream. It’s hard work, but someone’s got to do it… It’s shocking no one has. We currently very loosely use the word ‘search’ to define this, but the way we think about this isn’t solely about information retrieval. Instead, it’s the journey from beginning to end, e.g. how to contextualise information both superficially and across personal variables, how to introduce popular vernacular into search & explore, how peripheral user generated tags might surface relevance and future associations and how this is subsequently browsed across, connected with and shared.

Good search is an art - and whilst we have some way to go, the first major improvement we’re happy to unveil today is a search engine that adds about 1 Billion horsepower to searching across the huge and beautiful subsets of data that we currently house. Have a play. (Visit the site and just start typing…!) 

Introducing Believe.in’s Apps for Good

Today we’ve also rolled out the Apps for Good environment and with it are exposing some early teasers for what you can expect to see launched in the coming new year.

Our fundraising app is as good as before and no matter if you’re running a marathon, or hosting a fundraiser dinner party, you’ll find that we’ve made raising money for the charities you care about painless, fast and beautiful.

On the go - Believe.in is now friendly for mobile users

And last but not least, with the responsive overhaul mentioned above, Believe.in is now more mobile friendly than before. Both Android and iOS devices are supported and we’d love for you to have a tinker and feedback. 

Come the new year we’ll work our way down to weekly live days, but for now, expect our next big push in early January. This’ll include a huge amount of improvements, all of which are currently being cooked up in the studio as we type.

Happy holidays from the Believe.in team! 

Believe.in launches on mobile

Last night we pushed a first mobile version of the Believe.in platform live! 

There are, as ever, still a few bugs to be ironed out, but this at least gets us away from having a non-experience for those folks coming to the site via tweets and Facebook.

While  Believe.in was originally designed to be responsive, we’ve had to apply some wizardry to various site elements to help these render better for mobile peeps and in truth, we’re secretly working away on creating a full mobile experience.

Stay tuned for more news on this and please shoot us any feedback you may have. We can’t get enough of it. 

The Believe.in launch party revisited

It has taken us far too long to settle down from the whirlwind that was our launch event and the opening up of the Believe.in Beta platform to the public - but here it is, better late than never, a recap of an evening that aimed to kickstart a modest digital movement for good.

Our cool, moustached demeanours masked what had been a month of nerve wracking planning, late night design & development sessions, juggling of some 700 RSVPs and the dressing of the fantastic Mother London venue space at our former home at 10 Redchurch Street.  

The evening promised to be all the more special given many of our dear friends and former colleagues from Poke planned to be in attendance. We also had the honor of crowning off the week long, +150 event strong Internet Week Europe festival - a five-day web-focused celebration of the Internet ranging from parties and meet-ups to executive breakfasts and conferences.

Once the doors flew open, we welcomed friends, family and a huge number of charities small and large alike, as well as government representatives, fellow digital natives & entrepreneurs,  app collaborators, investors and journalists - all of whom brought with them a buzz and curiosity that charged the atmosphere. Our friends from the 100 Project helped bring the space to life all the more by teaming up with PositiveBid to run a real-time, mobile powered art auction on the night, helping put young East London artists through a term at the Prince’s Drawing School.

It was once the first few drinks started to settle in that it came time for us to dust off our lapels, welcome and thank those who came and open our kimonos to reveal the Believe.in Beta platform for the first time in two years.

Before we jumped straight into it, we revealed the survey results that would inform both the charity we’d give the bar profits to and those charities that guests in attendance supported and believed in. 

Our results exposed a variety of preferences that were both exciting and expressive of how diverse those causes and missions are with which we empathise and associate with as people - and lend substance to the theory that this might perhaps express more about ourselves than most affiliations and expressions we disclose publicly.

We then moved swiftly on to introduce our story, the inspiration behind our work and those features that were ready to be made use of in Beta. We also shared our intentions going forward as a creative company, bringing to life the Apps for Good environment we will soon be rolling out and sharing those ideas that we hope can help bring on a step-change in how we affiliate with and become active for charity. With the full team in attendance, the platform going live thanks to a heroic effort by our developers and an audience full of friendly faces and minds, the atmosphere was one to remember.

A brief applause and quick gesture in the direction of the DJ helped throw the night back into a celebratory evening where we toasted those people in attendance to whom we owe our thanks, the past two years of ups and downs and of course, hopefully, what remains to come for Believe.in.

Believe.in @ The Friday Club

This Friday saw us joined by fellow London start-ups WeArePopUp, Planvine & Stylechi to kick-off the first ever Friday Club at The Book Club in Shoreditch.

The format was straightforward:

• Present to a room full of creative & digital industry heavyweights for no more than 5 minutes
• Navigate through a rapid fire, 5 minute Q&A session
• Stock up on caffeine and pastries
• Then dive back into 4 successive & intensive mentoring sessions

The collective what-if’s, why-nots, don’t-likes and high-fives that this produced were immensely valuable to us. With the Believe.in team having largely worked in this industry previously, it was interesting to find ourselves on the opposite side of the examining table for once - and to have feedback from multiple agency figureheads all at once within the space of an hour.

Discussions covered everything from core proposition and messaging, through to collaboration opportunities, test & iteration models, revenue sources and philosophical meanderings to do with human nature and behavioural trends. For now, though it’s back to the lab where we’ll pour ourselves a responsible beverage and examine the drawing board.

Thanks for reading.