TechCrunch Crunchies Coverage: Biggest Social Impact

ABCey Events is super excited for tomorrow’s 2012 Crunchie Awards here in our beloved SF! For our final awards coverage, we wanted to spotlight the startups that are up for Biggest Social Impact, those that have contributed to some meaningful and significant social impact in our society.

1. Donors Choose – Donors Choose is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers post classroom project requests on the site, and one can give any amount to the project that most inspires. When a project reaches its funding goal, Donors Choose ship the materials to the school. In return, donors get photos of the project taking place, a letter from the teacher, and insight into how every dollar was spent. Give over $50 and you’ll also receive hand-written thank-yous from the students. This truly makes giving back an easy and fun task. After all, we’ve all been there when someone ate all the glue.

2. Indiegogo – Indiegogo is a crowdfunding platform where people who want to raise money can create fundraising campaigns to tell their story and get the word out. Indiegogo is also a place to discover what people all over the world are passionate about and how to get involved. IndieGoGo campaigns receive all the money they have been pledged, whether the initial funding goal was reached or not. IndieGoGo is available internationally.

3. Kickstarter – Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology.  They are particularly useful and great for finding and funding creative projects such as music albums or indie movies.  Every project creator sets their project’s funding goal and deadline. If people like the project, they can pledge money to make it happen. If the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal, all backers’ credit cards are charged when time expires. If the project falls short, no one is charged. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing.4. Kiva – Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. Loans funded through Kiva have a 98 percent repayment rate, so the money you lend to a small business owner is likely to come back to you. By connecting people through lending, Kiva has empowered small businesses and served as an important catalyst for positive change and job growth.

5. Reddit – Reddit is a source for what’s new and popular on the web. Users like you provide all of the content and decide, through voting, what’s good and what’s junk. Links that receive community approval bubble up towards #1, so the front page is constantly in motion and (hopefully) filled with fresh, interesting links.  This is far more effective and significant than when you “like” something on Facebook.  Interestingly, Mashable has a complete section devoted to “Reddit Facts” learned each week.

Which of these startups have made the most social impact on your life? Who did you vote for? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.