The odds are pretty solid that if you pick someone up around last call at a bar, no one will be making a donation to an impoverished orphanage in Africa.

Bars make their money in Miller Lite wishes and Jager bomb dreams, not charitable giving. Matchmaking, no matter how brief, is just a bonus.

But the heart, as much as it can be fickle (or clouded by cocktails), can also be kind. If love and compassion for others reside somewhere in the same place, then maybe WeClick stands a chance.

A Portland-based speed-dating service, WeClick is hoping to combine those two impulses in the hopes of finding the best of the best. After all, if someone has an interest in society's well-being, they might make for a suitable coffee date.

Starting with the first WeClick event on July 8, the company will donate a portion of the proceeds to groups doing charitable work in the United States and abroad.

They're calling it "ethical speed dating," and it's possible they're breaking new ground.

But hey, the world's always going to need fixing, and somewhere, someone will always need to be fixed up. So maybe it could work.

"You have the ability to create income and say from the beginning, 'This is who we are, we're not just here to receive, we're here to help people,'" said WeClick CEO April LaFrance. "You have a chance to create positive social change around the globe."

The concept of speed dating is no longer a new or, at least some may say, strange one. Singles mingle at a track meet's pace in hopes of finding a soul mate, or at least a short-term improvement.

In the case of WeClick, the potential lovebirds pay $15 to enter and meet each other in five-minute intervals, keeping tabs on potential dates with scorecards.

When the meet is over, WeClick gathers the cards, tallies the matches and sends e-mails with contact information for possible love connections.

Creating an ethical speed-dating agency was a special kind of mash-up for LaFrance and her husband, Josh, who is the liaison to the charities WeClick supports.

"The idea came from the discouragement among the singles in Portland," she said.

They are not cupids by trade. They own a construction business, Heritage Fine Homes, and April is a licensed nurse. But like any couple with a single friend, the urge to play yenta was strong. They scouted speed-dating nights and found it all comes down to good people, good conversation and a safe atmosphere.

But for a couple that has volunteered their time helping others in impoverished villages in places such as Haiti and Costa Rica, there was a desire to go one step farther.

LaFrance said they realized they could help people meet each other while helping others meet basic needs. With more businesses trying to find a balance between profit and conscience, it just made sense, she said.

"That's just part of the fabric of who Josh and I are as a couple," she said. "We care about doing what we can to make the world a better place."

Corny? Maybe. But if that's the case, then there's a lot of businesses jumping on the corn train. Think of carbon offsets, recycled packaging materials and organic foods.

"I think a lot of small companies have demonstrated models that giving back to the community really endears consumers," said Steve Darnley, head of Tugboat Creative, a Portland marketing agency that works with socially responsible businesses.

But just because a business wants to have a positive impact on society does not mean it comes cheap, he said. Investing in social causes or environmental efforts is a big game, and if you have a small bank account, that can make it difficult.

"You have to do it because you really want to do it and you think it's the right thing to do," Darnley said.

But start-up businesses also realize the public is more concerned about the world and people are embracing companies...