Venture:
Visit.org
Founder:
Michal Alter '13SIPA
Industry:
Travel and corporate social responsibility
Venture Type:
For-profit
What is the social or environmental issue being addressed?
There are thousands of small community-based sustainable tourism projects (where profits are shared within the community) and nonprofit organizations working to achieve a vast array of missions around the world. They struggle to fulfil their missions and activities because of insufficient funding and lack of visibility of their small scale, yet impactful work. At the same time, these organizations hold unique knowledge and local expertise about the most pressing social issues. One source of funding that these communities could benefit from is the $6 trillion travel industry, and another is global employee volunteer and Corporate Social Responsibility programs. However, they usually do not have access to it due to their lack of visibility and difficulty in achieving standard tourism practices. Even though there are rising numbers of young travelers and volunteers around the world who possess a thirst for local knowledge and off-the-beaten track experiences, it is difficult for them to find and connect with these communities and organizations.
Innovation:
Visit.org is corporate social responsibility technology with an activity-first approach. It is difficult for companies to build global employee volunteer programs, so they’ve built a marketplace for carefully curated social impact experiences offered by nonprofit and community-based organizations all around the world and paired them with the tools and data insights companies need to run a successful employee-driven giving back program.
Read More:
- The New York Incubator That Can’t Get Enough Israeli Tech
Haaretz
May 17, 2019 - Sustainable Travel Can Be Budget-Friendly
The New York Times
September 27, 2018 - Michal Alter of Visit.org—Good Will Traveling
Travel is Your Business
September 21, 2017 - Transgender Policy, Women in the Navy, and Travel for a Cause
NPR
June 24, 2016 - You Don't Have to be a 'Voluntourist' to Travel with a Cause
Mic.com
June 6, 2016 - Presentation at the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women 60
March 24, 2016 - The New 'Voluntourism': Low Commitment, High Impact
Fox News
December 16, 2015 - How to Plan Unforgettable Travels, through Local Nonprofits
Goodnet
July 22, 2015 - Meet the World in Person
Fast Company
June 12, 2015 - Travel that Feels Good Website Visit.Org Expands to Focus on Argentina Tours
about.com