POCKETCHANGE: NEW SOFTWARE COMBINES ALTRUISM WITH CAPITALISM

Making money was never a mystery for Reyn Aubrey. The son of an entrepreneur and a freelance writer, he spent his high school years in Hawaii dabbling in several business ventures that brought in a nice income, at least for a 17-year-old, but also delivered a personal epiphany: Profit alone seemed like a boring pursuit.

Aubrey decided to think bigger, and he came up with an idea that melded capitalism and altruism into PocketChange, a company he envisions changing the world — as little as 25 cents at a time. The concept began with his observation that the traditional fundraising model hasn’t kept pace with internet technology. It’s broken.

Here’s how he proposes to fix it: Allow people to seize that online moment when they’re inspired to help address a problem, in real time as they read a news article or a social media post.

Provide them a means via a few clicks to send a modest donation — pocket change, literally, from 25 cents to $2 — to a choice of pre-vetted charities aligned with the mission suggested by the online content.

“People are genuinely good and actually want