Before the recent announcement that Google, through Google Play, will now begin to allow Android users make charitable donations to nonprofits (which is a welcome feature & you can read article here), I had always had this idea about the possibility of using Google Maps to reach out to nonprofits by way of making donations direct to these organisations straight from within Google Maps.
Overall, the idea is that you search for a nonprofit on Google Maps, which will tell you where it is located, what they are about, reviews by users, view pictures and recently send messages to them from their profiles. In addition to all of these features, imagine you are able to see a feature that allows you to donate directly to these nonprofit organisations, by using users current payment details in Google Play.
In order for nonprofits to qualify for this feature to be added to their profiles in Google Maps, verification partners (identified by Google in each country) would go through the process of ensuring that these organisations are legit, which lends credence to the work they do and engenders a higher sense of confidence in making a donation. Once verification has been concluded, then these organisations will be asked to register on Google My Business (a process the verification partners can assist with and which will also ensure that they are fully integrated in the Google ecosystem). In addition to verification partners, there could also be payment partners, whose platforms will ensure that donations made via Google Maps will get to the nonprofits in question (within the respective countries where the nonprofits reside).
With this feature, Google Maps not only becomes a tool with which we all use of finding places around the globe, but it becomes a global platform that can significantly change the cause and meaning of giving back or getting involved in nonprofit activities, as it would enable a wider reach of meeting the needs of those who need help. But more importantly, it will lend legitimacy to many nonprofit initiatives that are struggling to make a difference in the world.
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