FREE facing competition from charities:
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Charities Join UK Free Internet Bandwagon October 15, 1999
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Twenty charities climbed aboard Britain's bandwagon of free Internet service providers on Friday, hoping some of cyberspace's riches will come their way.
Organizations from The Salvation Army to the British Diabetic Association have joined forces to launch Care4free (www.care4free.net), which will offer users access to the Internet for only the cost of a local phone call.
Freeserve Plc. pioneered the no-fee model a year ago, revolutionising Internet access in Britain where relatively high telephone charges provide at least some guaranteed revenue for the providers, in deals with telecoms operators.
Three-quarters of all profits made by Care4free -- from call charges, advertising and e-commerce -- will go to the charities, who will each have their own homepage to which users they recruit will be directed.
The balance will be kept by site operator Fine Art Developments Plc., a mail-order group which has had half a century of business with charities, running their home-shopping catalogues.
"This is not just about raising money, but about helping build a charitable community on the Internet that does not exist at present," said Care4free Managing Director Bernard Kumeta.
Internet analysts say such community-based portals, or entry points to the Web, could benefit from offering advertisers and online retailers a group with many shared interests.
The 20 founder charities have a database of 12 million separate supporters -- a fifth of the British population.
More than a third of them have personal computers and Care4free said it needs some 150,000 to sign up to break even.
The charities have no equity in the project. They receive money once revenue starts to flow but face no penalties in the event of a loss.
Mailshots and full-page newspaper advertisements accompanied Friday's launch.
The typical charity supporter is upmarket, reads a quality broadsheet newspaper, devours books, enjoys gardening, frequent travel and is interested in financial products.
Care4free, which has done deals with booksellers, an online share trading service and other e-commerce outfits, says they will provide a choice user base. |
