YouTube for charities
After winning Oprah's Big Give, entrepreneur Stephen Paletta is planning his next venture: Virtual-Volunteer.tv.
(Fortune Small Business) -- Stephen Paletta had just won financing for a $10 million construction project in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and his plans. He took this as a sign that after running two successful companies, he should try something new: philanthropy.
Paletta spent a couple of years building schools in Rwanda, and in April his entrepreneurial skills helped him win Oprah's Big Give, an ABC-TV show in which contestants vie to help the needy. His prize: $500,000 to give away, $500,000 to keep. Paletta, 44, is now investing in philanthropic innovations, including a website, stephenanderic.org, that uses video diaries to show donors' money at work.
A more ambitious project is VirtualVolunteer.tv, which Paletta envisions as a "YouTube for philanthropy" using streaming video. The June live launch will follow Katrina victims into their newly readied homes in Pearlington, Miss. - renovations completed courtesy of a $100,000 donation from Big Giver Paletta. 
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