Ethical ad startup Good-Loop announced today it has donated £1 million to charities to date.

Linking companies such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, and H&M with homeless shelters, beach clean-ups and human rights campaigners, the ads being circulated via Good-Loop have positively impacted thousands of people over the past three-and-a-half years.

Despite a challenging period, the Edinburgh-based firm confirmed it is also on track to hit its funding target of £5 million donated to good causes by 2022.

Founded in 2016, Good-Loop converts ad money into free charity donations, helping to reward people who choose to watch an ad by donating 50% of the money that ad costs.

In 2018, Good-Loop won NBCUniversal’s annual startup innovation event ‘Spark Tank’ as well as the Nestle and Ad:tech’s ‘Next Big Thing’ award in 2017.

The startup describes its methods as a win-win for both brands and consumers, helping to raise money for good causes and delivering higher engagement for brands. Brands using Good-Loop also experience a 45% uplift in ad recall, meaning that advertisers’ spend is working harder for them.

Charities that have benefited from Good-Loop advertising include Street Games. In partnership with Coca-Cola, over £40,000 has been donated to help train football coaches and open up sports access to facilities in various communities.

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WWF has planted more than 25,000 trees with H&M while Surfers Against Sewage has carried out 250 beach clean-ups. Similarly, Centrepoint, in partnership with TOMS has provided 791 nights of safe accommodation for a young homeless person.

Amy Williams, CEO and co-founder of Good-Loop, commented: “Media spend typically represents 90% of global brands’ advertising budgets, equivalent to over £100bn each year.

“Imagine all the good that money could do if spent in a way that is not inadvertently funding online hate, for example, but actually adds positive impact in the world? Smashing our £1m target is proof that the notion of ‘good business – doing good’ is anything but imaginary.”