Over one million facebook users have voted for small and local charities in a programme from US bank Chase, with the 100 organisations garnering the most support receiving $25,000 grants.
Chase launched its crowdsourcing initiative last month, with facebook users able to choose from more than 500,000 non-profits bidding for a slice of a $5 million pie.
The first round of the programme saw 501(c)(3) non-profits with an operating budget of $10 million or less working in education, healthcare, housing, the environment, combating hunger, arts and culture, human services and animal welfare voted for by facebook users.
Thousands of local charities created their own grassroots campaigns to encourage supporters to get out the vote, using e-mail campaigns, appearances on the local evening news, facebook status updates and Wall posts.
The 100 most popular organisations have now been chosen, with each receiving $25,000. They can now submit a million dollar grant proposal to facebook users. A second round of voting then begins in January, with the winner receiving $1 million and five runners up getting $100,000 each.
Kim Davis, president, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, says: "We were pleased to see the level of enthusiasm and support that Round One generated. Interestingly, only two of the 100 organisations overlapped with our existing giving portfolio, which confirmed our early view that this method of giving would indeed complement our traditional giving, while sparking innovation."