A few months ago, I wrote about my desire to micro-invest in businesses starting on the 30th anniversary of my first open heart surgery. Well, I ended up having a pacemaker implanted on November 10th (yes I'm 32 and a cyborg lol) so that didn't go as planned on November 8th. Instead, I decided to invest in me this month. Although, I did give to a couple of small businesses in October :).
I thought long and hard about my next venture. I've worked in education (former special education teacher), nonprofit (people with disabilities), volunteered with veteran service organizations and helped startups. I decided that it was time to start my own for-profit social enterprise. The thinking didn't start in November. It started last year on a visit to Michigan, my home state. I was devastated to see empty storefronts. Later, Borders, my favorite local bookstore (I grew up in Ann Arbor), closed. I wanted to do something, but couldn't decide what or how. In November, after the pacemaker implant, I decided to go for it.
I asked a web developer for help, asked a friend for more help and while recuperating, did market research. I had to learn how to incorporate in Michigan while living in California. I engaged a great Michigan-based writer to help with articles that I'd need written. In January, my new venture will debut. Wish me luck!
I'm not giving up on my promise for micro-philanthropy. I'll still give and document my $30/month. Now I'm going to spread what I'm doing even further.
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Mini-Donations-The big don't
I was all gung-ho about this site until I read the fine print. A nonprofit that donates to other nonprofits? Woohoo? Right? NO. In order to get their platform off the ground, they were willing to sell email addresses and contact information to investors. When that plan didn't work, they decided to become a nonprofit. How do I know this? They posted it on their blog. Instead, I'm spending my time on SwipeGood. I'm also writing a "Shame On You" about the Austin Community Foundation. They should know that approving an organization that was willing to sell off donor info to the highest bidders may not have been a wise choice...especially if said organization posts that on their site. Who knows..minidonations may take off...but not with my purchases and hopefully not with yours.
The full text of the article:
"Recently, Ambassador Sada Cumber and I had an incredibly engaging and thought-provoking conversation. In the course of our discussion, we developed an intriguing fundraising approach.
First of all, if you don’t know it already, MiniDonations is not your “typical” non-profit. Its purposefully designed around making money and self-sufficiency with a heart for pure altruism. It’s a disservice to organizations like us – and there are several – to label them “non-profit” or “not-for-profit.” I’d much rather we rally around a different term: “Social Benefit Organization” (SBO). But that’s another conversation…
As you may know, equity is typically exchanged when a for-profit raises capital. That equity may later convert into dividends or be worth cash in IPO or M&A events. Of course, non-profits are forbidden from giving equity away.
One of our founding principles involved sharing a portion of our profits with members of the MiniDonations Social Network. For the sake of explanation, imagine a 50-50 split where 50% goes to MiniDonations’ Endowment and 50% distributed amongst our Social Networking Community.
To attract large, early-stage donors, we simply need to tweak our “profit sharing” strategy a bit and employ an Endowment/Donor Community/Change Agent (or “Seed” Donor) split of, say, 50/40/10.
Turning a $100,000 profit would mean $50,000 would go into our endowment, $40,000 into the MiniDonations Social Network (as thanks to our Donor Community) and $10,000 among our Change Agents (as thanks for their “seed stage” donations). In all cases, profits allocated to the Donor Community and Change Agents would be deposited into their respective MiniDonations Donor Accounts. By keeping community profit sharing within MiniDonations, we comply with IRS regulations and, more importantly, encourage continued use of our giving management tools and social networking environment.
“Change Agents” would equally share the total profits allocated to their level. For example:
I love this idea because it marries the profit sharing aspect of the for-profit world into ours. However, the ultimate beneficiaries are not investors but charities. Our success allows our donation community to give even more to their favorite causes: think “Pay it Forward.” This could not only get philanthropists, foundations and corporations excited when funding us but might also appeal an unlikely crew as well: VCs and Angel Investors."
That didn't sound bad until the response by the CEO to someone's comment was:
"ramileo 06. Feb, 2010 at 1:03 pm #
The full text of the article:
"Recently, Ambassador Sada Cumber and I had an incredibly engaging and thought-provoking conversation. In the course of our discussion, we developed an intriguing fundraising approach.
First of all, if you don’t know it already, MiniDonations is not your “typical” non-profit. Its purposefully designed around making money and self-sufficiency with a heart for pure altruism. It’s a disservice to organizations like us – and there are several – to label them “non-profit” or “not-for-profit.” I’d much rather we rally around a different term: “Social Benefit Organization” (SBO). But that’s another conversation…
As you may know, equity is typically exchanged when a for-profit raises capital. That equity may later convert into dividends or be worth cash in IPO or M&A events. Of course, non-profits are forbidden from giving equity away.
One of our founding principles involved sharing a portion of our profits with members of the MiniDonations Social Network. For the sake of explanation, imagine a 50-50 split where 50% goes to MiniDonations’ Endowment and 50% distributed amongst our Social Networking Community.
To attract large, early-stage donors, we simply need to tweak our “profit sharing” strategy a bit and employ an Endowment/Donor Community/Change Agent (or “Seed” Donor) split of, say, 50/40/10.
Turning a $100,000 profit would mean $50,000 would go into our endowment, $40,000 into the MiniDonations Social Network (as thanks to our Donor Community) and $10,000 among our Change Agents (as thanks for their “seed stage” donations). In all cases, profits allocated to the Donor Community and Change Agents would be deposited into their respective MiniDonations Donor Accounts. By keeping community profit sharing within MiniDonations, we comply with IRS regulations and, more importantly, encourage continued use of our giving management tools and social networking environment.
“Change Agents” would equally share the total profits allocated to their level. For example:
| Donation Level | Amount | Profit Share |
| Founding Change Agent | $250,000 | 4% |
| Platinum Change Agent | $100,000 | 3% |
| Gold Change Agent | $50,000 | 2% |
| Bronze Change Agent | $25,000 | 1% |
I love this idea because it marries the profit sharing aspect of the for-profit world into ours. However, the ultimate beneficiaries are not investors but charities. Our success allows our donation community to give even more to their favorite causes: think “Pay it Forward.” This could not only get philanthropists, foundations and corporations excited when funding us but might also appeal an unlikely crew as well: VCs and Angel Investors."
That didn't sound bad until the response by the CEO to someone's comment was:
"ramileo 06. Feb, 2010 at 1:03 pm #
Sparked.com--microvolunteering at its best
Sparked.com asks a few basic questions: What's your favorite cause and in what areas can you help? You're then sent to project pages of nonprofits that have specific questions. A hospital in one of the M states needed help with getting people to interact on their Facebook page. They weren't asking for "likes" and you don't have to "like" them to see the page. Those who answered gave constructive criticism with 5 star advice. Another organization asked for people to peruse their blog and give them feedback (on sparked.com) about their posting, layout, etc. Who doesn't like 5 minute volunteering or an open API?
Monday, March 14, 2011
My Impact
Why do I love my impact? Let me count the ways:
1. I can log my volunteer hours
2. I can log my donations
3. I can log what I did while volunteering
4. I can ask others to help a worthy nonprofit
5. It got a shout out from Create the Good.
Did I mention that it just surpassed 600 members? It's small and growing. That means that for nonprofits, one can get found easier. It's also pretty easy to place a nonprofit on the site.
1. I can log my volunteer hours
2. I can log my donations
3. I can log what I did while volunteering
4. I can ask others to help a worthy nonprofit
5. It got a shout out from Create the Good.
Did I mention that it just surpassed 600 members? It's small and growing. That means that for nonprofits, one can get found easier. It's also pretty easy to place a nonprofit on the site.
Salesforce Foundation
The Salesforce Foundation gives away 1% of the products, time and money of Salesforce. What is Salesforce? It's open source and allows businesses to manage contacts. Nonprofits can manage mailing lists, donor contact lists, grant lists, track funding and so much more. If you aren't chosen to receive Salesforce for free, as a nonprofit you can continuously renew your 30 day trial for free (don't say it). It more than rivals Constant Contact and has great support.
Twibbon
There's something about a social enterprise that features causes on Twitter and Facebook that makes my heart smile. Twibbon allows individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations raise awareness for causes that are close to them. The Twibbon weaves together a community of people using social media. You can also raise awareness about political issues, brands, entertainment, etc. There are 5 categories from which users can choose. I like that I can upload an image for my Twibbon or use one from Google (you have to try it out). I can also edit the campaign and for $99 I can customize it. For as low as $19.99, I can get it featured to where 15,000 people will see it (they have packages). If I were using this site for a nonprofit, a customized campaign may be worth it, but I'd probably use Salesforce Foundation's software to let current supporters know to support us here too.
One Percent Foundation
Ever wanted to be a philanthropist but didn't have millions of dollars? Here's your chance. One Percent Foundation is a giving circle. Members pledge 1% of their salary each month and the money then goes to nonprofits of the group's choice. Don't know what 1% is of your monthly salary? Don't worry. They have a calculator to help you. Someone who makes $40,000/year will give less than $40/month (perhaps they take into account taxes?). For March Madness, they got creative and are having a Tourney Contest. A $10 pledge lets you nominate a nonprofit and enter their tourney. The tourney winners receive the ability to donate the pot to the nonprofit(s) of their choice. Hurry...You have until March 17th to enter!
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First of all, our foundation will have no problem meeting the 5% requirement. The vast majority of money sitting in our foundation will be from donors like you and me. That money is intended to be given away to non-profits every quarter.
Regarding the for-profit/non-profit/hybrid model, we’ve gone down these routes already. As a for-profit, the most significant roadblock we faced was our integration partners’ perception that we were competition.
Essentially, by partnering with us, they were agreeing to send us their most precious asset – their customer – with whom we could do whatever we pleased (i.e. route them to other competitors, send them targeted e-mails, etc.). Initial discussions with integration partners went nowhere. Yet, the moment we converted MiniDonations into a non-profit, their adversity to us changed. They were no longer afraid of us. Our conversion conveyed the message, “We are a truly altruistic organization” without us uttering a single word. Discussions became fruitful and centered around social good and partnerships to create new, vast revenue stream for non-profits.
Restructuring ourselves as a non-profit also meant we didn’t have to answer to investors. While we will always answer to anyone funding us and must meet and exceed our goals with them, the reason for our existence is not monetary ROI to our investors, but social change ROI.
Requiring to return profits to our investors would have meant our “social organization” could become selfish. We had enough stressors executing our mission much less worrying about returning significant gains to investors.
That’s not to say that, as a Social Benefit Organization (non-profit), we wouldn’t be in similar shoes. Yet, those who support our mission will know that their investment in us will help keep operations afloat and allow people’s donations to continue flowing to community chosen charities."