Here’s a nifty new idea to raise money while helping companies retain a healthier workforce: Corporations pledge a donation for every pound their employees shed.
That, in a way, is the idea World Vision will pilot later this year with several partners. The NGO plans to invest the donations into nutrition programs in Asia, and those companies — well, they may just benefit from a healthier, happier staff.
The pilot is built around a mobile application that allows users to track calorie intake — and companies to respond with donations.
The tool is designed to raise funds to address malnutrition and obesity across the Asia-Pacific region (and perhaps elsewhere, if it’s found successful). It is an innovative way to mobilize private sector resources using technology, a core theme on Tuesday, June 10, at the first Devex Partnerships Forum in Manila.
The app will be tested this October in Malaysia. It’s part of One Goal, a campaign World Vision launched last year with the Asian Football Confederation and others to leverage the power of football for social good. The English Premier League, for instance, has 850 million fans in Asia-Pacific, Christy Davis, World Vision’s director of public engagement for the region, noted Tuesday during her presentation at the Devex forum.
"We want to tap that fan base," she said.
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About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.