RYOT And CrowdRise Announce Partnership And #STARTARYOT Challenge

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the new social news platform RYOT and leading fundraising site, CrowdRise, announce an official partnership. To launch the collaboration, RYOT is giving away $200,000 for a CrowdRise Challenge called #STARTARYOT. RYOT and CrowdRise are inviting non-profits and the public to join the five-week fundraising initiative. Through September 24th, RYOT will give $200,000 in donations to non-profits and give donors the opportunity to win 10 VIP, on-stage tickets to the 2013 Global Citizen Festival – a free ticketed concert on the Great Lawn of Central Park, NYC.

Throughout the Challenge, RYOT will direct their readers to #STARTARYOT to raise funds for non-profits on CrowdRise, illustrating the power of incentivized, content-driven social action.  The #STARTARYOT Challenge is open to all 501c3s in good standing.

The organization that raises the most money during the 5-week Challenge will win $75,000; 2^nd place wins $50,000; 3^rd place will win $25,000. Each week, RYOT will give donors the chance to win two all-access VIP tickets to the 2013 Global Citizen Festival with performances by Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and John Mayer. RYOT will also award an additional $10,000 to one participating non-profit each week during the Challenge.

"CrowdRise is the foremost crowd-funding resource for non-profits and we're thrilled to partner with them on #STARTARYOT," said Bryn Mooser and David Darg, Co-Founders of RYOT. "We started RYOT to fundamentally change the way young people get their news and to contextualize the amazing work of organizations around the world."

"We're so psyched for the RYOT Challenge. RYOT is a game changer. Their energy and relentless pursuit to drive impact in a fun and notable way is perfect for CrowdRise and all the awesome charities that embrace a more modern way to raise money and awareness for their important and incredible causes," said CrowdRise Co-founder and CEO Robert Wolfe.

"RYOT is the first news site that connects every story to an action. It lets you know what's going on in the world and what you can do about it. I believe RYOT is the future of news because to create quantifiable change in the world, we must radically change the concept of news for young people and empower them to become activated individuals. We're extremely pumped to #STARTARYOT on CrowdRise and raise a ton of money for great non-profits," said actor Ian Somerhalder, who is participating in #STARTARYOT on behalf of The Sierra Club Foundation.

Find out more about #STARTARYOT, join the Challenge and support non-profits that inspire you:
www.crowdrise.com/startaryot.

About RYOT:

RYOT is a new social news platform that connects each news story with opportunities to engage with a cause or organization and take action. Created by David Darg and Bryn Mooser in partnership with Sophia Bush and Ian Somerhalder, RYOT aims to change the way people consume news by providing opportunities to engage with a cause and take action for each story.  RYOT aggregates news to enable the public to find out about what's going on in the world and what they can do to take a stand for positive change.  For more information on RYOT, please visit www.ryot.org and follow the Challenge on http://www.ryot.org/startaryot.

About CrowdRise:

CrowdRise is a crowd-funding platform for people and organizations to raise support for charitable causes. CrowdRise's core principles are that people have unprecedented power to use the power of networks to leverage their personal capacity and that raising money for charity and giving back should be fun. CrowdRise's custom-built platform and game theory, as well as the company's proven record of designing innovative crowd-funding strategies, provide individual fundraisers, charities, and events with powerful tools to raise the most money for their causes and share compelling philanthropic stories with their personal networks. The site lets anyone turn their friends into an active base of donors for any cause and lets any organization, company, or event unlock untapped leverage out of their existing platform.

CrowdRise topped Mashable's list of "Most Innovative Crowdfunding Platforms" and was named a "Top 25 Best Global Philanthropist" by Barron's. CrowdRise was founded by actor and activist Edward Norton, producer Shauna Robertson, and the founders of Moosejaw, Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe. Thousands of charitable organizations, events, celebrities, and everyday donors have made CrowdRise their philanthropic base for giving back.

SOURCE RYOT