What Goes Around, Comes Around: Sampa Aims to Increase Cash By Giving It Away

Charities are reporting that the economic climate has led to a sharp decline in donations this holiday season. In response, one social networking startup has introduced a "karma" system of automated charitable contributions. The program, which was announced today, is designed to boost company revenues by giving some of those same revenues away on its customers' behalf.

Redmond, WA (PRWEB) December 11, 2008 -- Charities are reporting that the economic climate has led to a sharp decline in donations this holiday season. In response, one social networking startup has introduced a "karma" system of automated charitable contributions. The program, which was announced today, is designed to boost company revenues by giving some of those same revenues away on its customers' behalf.

Sampa is a service that lets people share stories and photos with close friends and family on secure, private websites. The karma system works when users engage in activities like adding new content, inviting new visitors, or even updating the look of their websites. When a certain activity threshold is reached, Sampa will donate 10% of that site's revenue for the month to a charity the user chooses.

"When a person shares more often with their close circle on a Sampa site, the visitors of that site tend to return much more frequently," said Paul Gross, Sampa's CEO. "That helps our business grow, and now we can complete the virtuous cycle by making a contribution to a charity that the site owner wants us to support."

The Sampa service lets anyone create their own safe, private place on the web. Users have created over 130,000 Sampa sites to share stories, photos, videos and life milestones -- with the assurance that only invited people will have access.

Approved charities to date include the American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Humane Society of the United States, Hydrocephalus Association, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, UNICEF, and Unitus. Details of the karma program are at www.sampa.com/karma.

About Sampa:
Based in Redmond, Washington, Sampa Corporation lets you create a personal private place online to share stories and pictures, plan events and communicate with your closest friends and family. The service can be accessed free of charge at www.sampa.com.

Sampa is a trademark of Sampa Corporation. All other trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

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