Every year, donors donate billions of dollars to charities, but the donation process remains obsolete and troublesome. Founders Dan Ebragon and Ron Levy believe there is an easy way to donate, leading to the creation of Bono, a platform designed to promote a more modern, streamlined approach.
The platform (named after the phrase “pro bono” rather than a singer of the same name) focuses on selecting users based on causes they care about, such as the climate crisis, LGBTQ+ rights, and ending animal suffering. Users set up monthly plans starting at $5 a month, and Bono automatically distributes funds to all selected charities.
The company announced its official launch on Monday, coinciding with a $1.6 million pre-seeded funding round.
This new capital will be used to enhance the user experience, including AI-driven chatbots that match donors with the right charity. The feature is currently in the pilot phase and is expected to be made public by September.
Bono’s concept came from eblagon, a call he received from a telemarketer soliciting donations to charities he claimed to have previously contributed.
“On the one hand, I felt good about my donation and they reminded me of my contributions, but on the other hand, I didn’t remember the charity or how it affected it,” Eblagon told TechCrunch. “It took me the path of wanting to build a modern platform that confuses old ways to give. I knew that details of things like impact and interest would be based on old donation records that were not effective.”
To attract users and guide them to information, Bono provides weekly impact reports, detailing how and where donations make a difference. For example, it shows how many meals and mental health sessions a donation paid. There is also a mobile app (available on iOS and Android devices) to check the impact each year.
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Another way Bono modernizes his experience is to form a partnership with content creators to raise awareness and pay for their efforts.
There are three types of Bono models. Flat cooking campaigns where influencers are paid in advance to promote. Affiliate-style revenue sharing. Creators make money based on performance. And the donated fees allowed creators to donate a share of revenue to the reasons they were promoted.
Some may view these arrangements as ethical gray areas. However, according to Eblagon, “most creators” prefer the third option and choose to contribute revenue to the reasons they care about.
He said, “It’s not just about promoting another product, it’s about putting up what they believe while showing a deeper side of their personality.”
Currently, Bono has over 12 creator partnerships.
Bono soft-launched in December to meet demand from donors who want to support victims affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. Since then, Bono has expanded its reach from just 100 charities to all 1.5 million charities in the United States, with an average donation of around $20 a month. Some donors donate more than $1,000 a month.
All nonprofits featured on Bono are registered in the US and must meet certain criteria. The company says websites such as Charity Navigator and Guidestar require a rating of over 8.5. The presence of strong social media is also important.
The funding round was led by Growression.Fund, with participation from several angel investors, senior executives from major executives such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Intuit, and X/Twitter.