Michael and Xochi Birch
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Bebo
FUNDING AREAS: Global development (WASH), criminal justice, other
OVERVIEW: Michael Birch and his wife, Xochi, have strongly supported charity:water. They also launched Batter Powered, the philanthropic arm of a social club called The Battery, though which members support nonprofits within a rotating set of themes.
BACKGROUND: Michael Birch is a British computer programmer and entrepreneur who has launched more than half a dozen tech startups over the last 15 years, including Bebo and BirthdayAlarm. His most successful company, Bebo, was the 6th largest website in England at the time of its sale to AOL, which netted Birch $595 million for their 70% stake. Birch and his wife now run several different companies, including the startup incubator Monkey Inferno. They live in San Francisco.
ISSUES:
WATER: Birch and Xochi are major supporters of charity:water, an organization dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in the developing world. They started supporting the organization in 2008 and helped raise millions through their networks. Birch also leveraged Monkey Inferno, the peer-to-peer fundraising tool he developed to create Water Forward, a social media project to raise awareness of the water crisis and give millions of people the ability to let their friends know, donate and help solve the water crisis.
BATTERY POWERED: In 2013, Birch and Xochi opened a private members club called the Battery and launched a philanthropy program called Battery Powered which has awarded over $11 million to nonprofits. Funding has supported various causes based on three annual themes. Past themes have included criminal justice reform, child nutrition and gun violence prevention.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Birches to continue to find innovative ways to support their broad range of philanthropic interests.
LINK:
Twitter: @mickbirch
