Warren Buffett Would Love This Startup

As one of the most dedicated philanthropists in finance,

CEO Warren Buffett is giving the bulk of his wealth to charity.

He

, forming the Giving Pledge with Bill and Melinda Gates. "Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks (Berkshire Hathaway stock certificates) on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99% can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others," Buffett

in his pledge. Not everyone has a billion dollars to give, however. Many individuals may only be able to donate a few dollars to help a charitable cause. Others only have their time to give and may call upon the help of others for financial support.

, a new crowdfunding incubator, is fully dedicated to assisting philanthropists of all sizes. "Every dollar to philanthropy is a good dollar," Liz Kulik, co-founder of ProHatch, told Benzinga. "With philanthropy, every dollar funds. Regardless of what your goal is, when you get that donation, it goes to the philanthropy [project]." Kulik said that ProHatch is part of the next generation of crowdfunding sites, often known as

. While philanthropy is a big part of ProHatch, the site also allows individuals to post, promote and get funding for personal and professional projects. "We saw this as an ecosystem, not a niche," said Kulik. "That's our approach. "When we looked at crowdfunding, we said, 'Okay, crowdfunding is donation, reward, equity and lending.' Right now what we do is -- we're in the donation and rewards phase, collecting and vetting projects to launch. We're very active in that right now." ProHatch will also provide equity and lending to its users, but not until the JOBS Act rules go into effect. In the meantime, Kulik is dedicated to promoting the site's Phase-to-Raise system. "Projects may have a 90-day life, but they break down into 30-day funding cycles and campaigning cycles, so they break down into phases," Kulik explained. "Those phases have to align with what you're campaigning for. You're validating your costs for what you say in your campaign. "We also have post-funding milestones. If you're successful in your campaign and you get rewarded, you have pre-scheduled milestone reports that align with the execution of your plan. That then brings in the elements of execution for the whole funding. Phases build credibility. It's all to increase [your project]." Despite any advantages that ProHatch may offer to those looking to crowdfund a project, Kulik is fully aware of the challenges that are ahead. "All of the second-generation [crowdfunding sites] have that same problem," she said. "How are you going to get market share and how are you going to gain projects?" For the time being, ProHatch is focused on being "very vocal" in the crowdfunding community. "Our first incubator was very well received," said Kulik. "Our next incubator is for women entrepreneurs. We're making direct communication because that is something that is lacking in crowdfunding. "Those are the kinds of things we're doing. We think because we're doing donation and reward that we have a competitive advantage over those who have to wait for equity and lending."