Groupon for Good?

It’s hard to ignore Groupon.  First, there are the daily emails and Android App Notifications beckoning me to join the crowd in partaking in the day’s “great deal nearby”.  Second, the Internet is a buzz with the news that the Chicago-based startup reportedly just turned down a cool $6 billion offer from Internet giant Google (Mashable, Bloomberg).  Its easy to understand the appeal.  The “crowd sourcing” deal-of-the-day provider boasts nearly 7 million users- and counting- in 300 markets and 35 countries.  Just two years old, Groupon is reported to bring in $500 milion in yearly revenue, a number that according to Kara Swisher over at AllThingsD could be 4 times as great, totaling $2 billion a year.  The sputtering, yet still consumption-driven U.S. economy has got everyone from Mainstreet to Manhattan into the coupon-cutting craze.  Even with the creation of competitors and copycats (including LivingSocial.com which just scored $175 million from Amazon) its pretty clear that Groupon has got something going on.

Now, I love a great deal on hot shows and hip shoes as much as the next girl, but bless my bleeding heart, I can’t help but wonder—can Groupon’s dazzling star power be harnessed for good? 

Just a bit of investigation yields that yes, great minds DO think alike. Only a month ago, Groupon announced a new project, G-Team for “Groupon followers who want to do good, have fun, and make a real impact can now join forces through G-Team campaigns”.  Sounds cool, right?  But is Groupon just the latest web giant to make a half-hearted attempt to grow a social conscience?  It appears that the company, led by co-founders Andrew Mason, Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, may have been distracted making millions, plotting IPOs and telling Google to get lost, however, their true roots lie in creating a platform for social change.  It turns out, before there was Groupon, there was The Point.  Founded by Mason in November 2007, The Point is “a revolutionary way for individuals to combine their influence and make things happen they can't achieve alone”. The power of the collective action, and the premise that everything has a “Tipping Point,” is in essence what has driven Groupon’s success. 

According to Groupon, “after a desert vision quest where we invoked our ancestral spirits, we are repossessed with The Point’s powers”.   So now, we have the G-Team. 

What is unique about the G-Team, unlike eBay Giving Works or Living Social Charities, which automatically provide a portion of proceeds from certain sales to charity, the G-Team has a twist.  Only operating in Chicago for the time-being, the G-Team helps local organizations create a campaign page on The Point and connects them with a Groupon merchant. The campaign is promoted along with the merchant’s daily deal to Groupon’s subscribers.  The very local feel of the program has the potential to create meaningful relationships between local companies, consumers, and community groups.  However, reminiscent of Kickstarter, the unique “all-or-nothing funding” site where startup projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands, the G-Team’s campaigns will only be supported if enough people pledge the cause, pushing them over the “tipping point”. 

Will it work?  Time will tell.  I predict that G-Team could be great resource for local organizations looking to increase their online exposure among their target audience (Community Blood Banks, Humane Societies, etc).  With 7 million Groupon users, the project is bound to receive some support.  However, the local-nature of the program limits the pace at which it can be scaled globally, so it might be some time before there is any true measure of social change.  The second drawback is that by the very nature of its foundation in The Point, G-Team requires active support from Groupon subscribers, and with a multitude of online campaigning platforms, including Kickstarter, Pepsi Refresh, MTV’s Do Something, and Jumo the new brainchild of Facebook founder and Obama-Pusher Chris Hughes, The Point faces some stiff competition for clicks from those who care. 

So, can Groupon be harnessed for good?  The G-Team is a great start for local causes.  However, with $2 billion in anticipated revenue, perhaps Groupon could afford to compliment it with a more universal giving program.