The Million Dollar Donation

“Discovering and researching causes that we believe in has been the driving force behind this website’s creation.” Eric McLeod

September 19, 2012

The donation of a million dollars is not an aspiration many people strive to attain. Brian Licata, Eric McLeod, and Michal Godlewski are a group of recent college graduates with ambitions aimed towards accomplishing just that. In their quest to make a positive impact, The Million Dollar Donation offers businesses and individuals on the web a unique advertising opportunity by providing the tools necessary to advance a product, brand and/or public image at an accelerated pace. Where will you be when The Million Dollar Donation Team leaves their permanent digital footprint?

Snail mail, magazines, and newspapers were once the logical way to access a large population. That was yesterday. In today’s society, ongoing advancements in technology have made these options inferior. Blogs, journals, online newspapers, social media platforms, and email, etc. make the click of a button a more attractive media outlet. The online advertising industry continues to expand at an alarming rate,experts report that of all advertising expenditures in the U.S., the online advertising market accounted for $15 billion last year and is expected to grow to about $20 billion by the end of this year, ultimately rising to $30 billion by 2016.

In the search for efficient ad space, many have resorted to industry leading companies and search engines including Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter. These search engine strategies offer pay-per-click (PPC) auctions/subscription plans that can be complex and expensive. Marketing experts have reported that they've seen business client’s average monthly budgets ranging from $50 to $500,000 and sometimes more.

In the hopes of accessing the right target audience, a large majority of people and businesses enter into PPC plans using ‘keywords’/‘key phrases’. They engage in bidding wars for their chance to display advertisements that compliment featured resource links. In 2007, it was reported that keywords like "Student Loans," "Mesothelioma," or "Tax Attorney" were known to cost advertisers in excess of $20.00 per click. "While this is an admirable approach, these advertisements are expensive, subtle, and secondary," says Licata, Project Creator.

Debuting today, The Million Dollar Donation is a website project with the ultimate goal of supporting charities, spreading awareness, and, as the name suggests, donating one million dollars.

At The Million Dollar Donation, advertisements are the featured and primary content. Whether people are visiting to find a product or service, voting for a charity, or checking out what the fuss is about, interactive functionality including Tags, Coordinates, and a Display Box provide a simple and robust set of tools that makes accessing advertisers’ websites intuitive, fast, and seamless.

Half of what is made will be donated, quarterly, to nine different charitable organizations. Visitors can vote for their favorite charity to enhance its support. “Discovering and researching causes that we believe in has been the driving force behind this website’s creation. Supporting the causes that these organizations stand for have provided us with inspiration to meet our goal,” McLeod, Marketing and PR Specialist, explains.

Using a results-driven marketing approach, The Million Dollar Donation tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) that include Traffic Sources/Referrals, Organic Search Results, Non-Branded Search, and Target Keyword Rankings to create data intelligence reports used to increase new and returning visitors.

The Million Dollar Donation offers people and businesses a one-time, flat rate purchase for online advertising space that will remain published for a minimum of 5 years, and potentially beyond. “No contracts are necessary; no personal information is kept. There are no recurring costs, no refinancing budgets, and no necessity to upkeep…It’s hassle free,” Licata explains.

Purchasing 4 "blocks" worth of ad space would equate to $6.67/month over a 5 year span. Moreover, an objective is to keep the website domain online for as long as possible, with hopes of having The Million Dollar Donation an achievement noted in future blogs, magazines, and journals, etc.

Become a part of the revolution at http://www.TheMillionDollarDonation.com, and vote for your favorite charity today!