The Seattle Times profiles two Microsoft veterans who are starting nonprofit groups that aim to connect a new generation of philanthropists with people in need via mobile and online technology.

Scott Oki, a retired Microsoft executive, co-founded SeeYourImpact, a micro-charity site that uses mobile-phone photos and videos to show donors the impact of their funds in the field. Microsoft Research program manager Adnan Mahmud and his wife, Nadia Khawaja, have created Jolkona, a nonprofit group that allows donors to give small, targeted gifts and use online tools to monitor their impact.

“If [donors] can actually see the impact of a $17 gift on a human life somewhere around the world, I believe that will open up the floodgates of hundreds of millions of micro-donors impacting the hundreds of millions of needy people around the world,” Mr. Oki said.