Not bad, but what's the catch? Well, I don't think it's a catch, but another way members can earn credits is by taking surveys and playing trivia games. Everywun could do a much better job of explaining how everything works on the website, but, as far as I can tell, this information is sold. This might be a turn-off for some, but there are a few things to consider. First of all, participation in these point-earning activities is optional. Second, information is never tied to an individual and is only used in the aggregate, so there should be no privacy concerns. Third, although Everywun is structured as a for-profit entity, it donates 70% of its revenues (even before expenses) to charity. And not all of this information is used by businesses for private profit. I just completed a survey that will help a cancer-related organization revamp its name to better reflect the impact it makes–and I earned 500 Everywun credits, enough to buy two meals for people or to plant five trees.

Founder Dan Jacobs created the organization after overcoming a battle with a life-threatening illness and realizing that he had no option but to work to improve the world; I'm comfortable that the good intentions are there.

But whether the impact is there is another question. To be sure, Everywun has, as of today, coordinated the donation of 6,499 trees, 76 malaria nets, 1,948 meals for children, 4,594 meals for animals, and 546 books for children. Or rather, it has coordinated the donation of the equivalent of those items: there is no discussion of this on the website, but it's entirely possible that the donated funds are not earmarked for these specific uses. The website does not reveal what these contributions amount to in dollars.

Everywun has an ambitious mission of giving "every person in the world…fun, easy, and cost-free tools to make their lives, others' lives, and the world better." For the moment, I'm skeptical that it can achieve this level of scale and impact, or even whether such a broad goal can be supported with this model.

But then again, someone once said in response to critiques of microfinance guru Mohammad Yunus, "I like what he's doing a lot more than what you are not doing."

In other words, it's good that someone is at least trying new models. Time will tell which ones will have great impact and which ones will not. Progress will only come, as it always has, at the expense of many attempts.

In any case, Everywun is another way for one to give without "giving away." And, as I saw in my experience with Kiva, there's nothing like participation to learn what it's about. Click on the badge below to see for yourself and post a comment to let us know what you think!

Note: I'm not sure how long this will last, but, in a tweet yesterday, Everywun extended an invitation to earn 500 extra credits by entering "#NCVS" (for National Conference on Volunteering and Service) when registering.