Fact Check

Five for Fighting - Autism Speaks

Does a web site allocate money to autism research and other charities for every video viewed?

Published Jan. 15, 2008

Claim:

Claim:   A web site allocates money to autism research and other charities for every video viewed.


Status:   True.

Examples:   [Collected via e-mail, December 2007]




I strongly urge you to watch the touching music video below. In doing so,

not only will you help to fund autism research, but you may just learn something. The 4 minutes it takes to view the video could have monumental and everlasting effects in the lives of 1000s of children! Go ahead, do your good deed for the day.

The band, Five for Fighting, is generously donating $0.40 to Autism Speaks for *each time* this video is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.

If link does not work, copy and paste.

https://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214



Origins:   In conjunction with the release of the song "What Kind of World Do You Want" by the pop group Five for Fighting, that band's lead singer, John Ondrasik, launched a new web site in February 2007 as part of a fundraising effort for various charities. On that web site, whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com, users are invited to upload and view videos describing how to make the world a better place. For each video viewed, funds are allocated to charitable organizations, including the following:

Initially money was raised when site visitors clicked on sponsor messages that were attached to the end of uploaded videos. Now, however, contributors (both businesses and individuals) donate money up front which is either earmarked for a specific charity or offered as a general donation. A portion of those monies is then allocated to one or more of the listed charities each time a video is viewed, according the procedure outlined on the site's "How This Works" page:



For charity specific donations, whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com will pay $1.00 per view of the designated charity's videos until the number of viewings equals the amount donated less .04 per view. The .04 expense is Revver.com's .03/view webhosting charge and California Community Foundation's (CCF) 1% administrative expense. OVER 95% of money donated goes directly to the chosen charity!

For general donations, whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com will again distribute OVER 90% of money donated to the selected charities. This is determined primarily by the amount of views per charity and available funds. The 10% expense will include Revver.com's .03/view webhosting cost, CCF's 1% administrative expense and site maintenance.


Last updated:   15 January 2008


David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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