Investing in Me

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. 

Clean tech incubator

LA CleanTech is throwing an office warming party on July 28th. What makes this incubator different? It is a partnership between a nonprofit and the department of water and power. Eco friendly companies only. To RSVP, send an email to RSVP@centralcityeast.org by July 25th. To learn more, visit http://laincubator.org.

Is the government really closed?

Normally I stick to posts about tools available from corporations.  However, after attending SLS11, I had to write a "real" blog post because I became extremely irked.  See, all these students and their professors at a college in DC kept going on about how the government is closed and it needs to be open.  Then it got into there being only one "real" news site.  So, here's my rant: What ever happened to teaching students to seek out information?  Are we really in an age where everyone must be spoonfed information in order for the information to exist?  The government is open to a large extent.  The data that we see everywhere comes from government funded research and agencies.  When we look at nutrition labels, calorie counters, cool apps that tell us how much pesticides are in our food, where do people think the data came from?  The company didn't spend years researching and collecting it.  It didn't appear out of thin air.  It came from a government website download that's available to EVERYONE.  That's how the Congressional Budget Office gets materials (bills are available online via the feds). See, there's a super site...a FEDERAL .gov site...that gives the information.  Seek and ye shall find.  Want data about food?  USDA has it.  Data about meds, FDA has it, pesticides?  USDA or EPA.  The files are in pdf, doc, rtf, xml, csv, and other files (including pretty cool widgets).  Want a hard copy? Generally, they'll mail it to you.  This infogeek has boxes of materials courtesy of our tax dollars regarding health and wellness (an interest of mine).  I've got so many documents full of html links that I had to upload them to scribd. 

There are a lot of citizen journalism sites out there.  I like patch.com.  There are other ones out there too.  More and more are sprouting up thanks to the Knight Foundation.  Who?  See...that's the problem.  People don't seek.  The Knight Foundation is a grant making foundation that gives money to projects that promote citizen journalism through use of technology.  It didn't pop up after the Egypt uprising.  It's been around for YEARS and YEARS (since 1950 to be exact).

Branchout: Search your friends' contacts to find a job/customers

This is a great tool for jobseekers and those looking to network. It roots through your friends' information to find out company names and associations.  Most jobs are given through referrals.  BranchOut lets hiring managers and business owners see who to headhunt from friends/contacts and we get to see what companies we wish to join via our friend network.  My favorite part?  The job listings.

Freecycle---the originator

Freecycle: How Do I love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways:

1. Free
2. Local
3. Free
4. Where else can I get a free stove, groupon that expires tonight (since I didn't have a stove), cell phone charger, lemon tree, clothes, books, DVD, carpeting, AND scissors?
5.  Can be used within my worksite so I can give and get items from co-workers
6. I'm going green
7. You're finally outta Yahoo! Groups
8. I can get stuff for my favorite nonprofit or school's classroom
9. You kick people out for trying to sell and warn us from posting our newly acquired goodies on Ebay (shame on those who do!)
10. Did I mention free?
11. You're always looking for moderators (newly acquired job skill)

Swap, Have Fun and Save the Environment

Any site that's helped reduce our carbon footprint by 10.7 million pounds is great in my book.  Swap.com lets people hold swaps online and hold them offline too.  You can swap for yourself, for your school or for your favorite cause.  They have an iPhone app coming soon (this Android user will have to wait). Each swap is $0.50 to $1.00 plus the cost of shipping if handled online (price includes delivery confirmation). I can't fault them for that because they deserve to make money.  It's a social enterprise built on a great idea. Heck, they even give advice on how to swap safely.  I'm a fan of their Swap4Schools program, where school employees can create classroom wishlists.

SwapTreasures: Barter, Trade, Swap

I love a site that runs a contest and Swap Treasures runs a $25 monthly giveaway.  Don't scoff...it's half a tank of gas! Register for free, gain access to the items and services you want.  It's a fairly new site and so I'm giving it time to grow before I make a final decision. Downside: they don't give as much information up front as other sites.

U-Exchange: Sway just about anything

You can search for items around the world using U-Exchange. They're up front about spotlight advertising by businesses, which is a plus in my book.  It helps keep the site free. I like that my email isn't available and that we have to use verification codes to post/send email.  People have pretty neat items they want to get rid of and I don't have to pay to browse listings (window shop before you ask for items). People even trade services. 

Swap Mamas

I love the idea behind Swap Mamas: give/swap your children's items and save money.  It's also green:).  I'm not a fan of the giver paying shipping, even though I understand it makes everything totally free.  They have a great online community that can be taken offline too. Plus, I give props to anyone who was laid off that creates something that does good for others.

Profounder: Help raising and managing investors

They're on tour!  I've always wanted to say that about a company.  Profounder helps startups by creating a pitch, offering investment terms, inviting investors, creating a funding page, informing investors of quarterly reports, etc.  How's it different from Kickstarter and IndieGoGo? Investors are just that.  They own a part of the company and aren't giving money in exchange for swag.

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:

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 #

Great feedback! Thanks!
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."

CauseCast

CauseCast helps nonprofits market online via platforms and apps.  The nonprofits are vetted through their CauseCast (nonprofit) site.  Through the nonprofit site, one can look for volunteer opportunites and ways to donate.  Nonprofits that are willing to give financial information (990s) can apply to join.  CauseCast has a partnership with HuffingtonPost. PS...they're hiring and looking for interns in Culver City, CA.

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. 

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. 

Love Drop

Help Attack!  Love Drop...who comes up with the names?  I love it.  Love Drop helps people in need.  Each month they highlight someone in need.  You'll see a YouTube video and paragraph description.  Plus for the people who can't afford it, paying $1/month ($12/year) to help people in need is pretty nice.  As a blogger, I can't wait to help them spread the word (and the help).  Seriously, bloggers: click on blogs.  Once a month blog about someone in need.  You can give a gift (besides money) to recipients once or monthly.  They also need help "on the street" if you've ever wanted to be a Santa Ninja (my phrasing, not theirs) then volunteer to help. 

Help Attack!

This online fundraising site was just named as a Top 12 Site on Mashable.  I love it.  I can make a small pledge and make a donation.  All I have to do is tweet or post on Facebook.  The number of posts are counted and the amount I owe is charged to my credit card.  I'm a lazy donor.  I admit it.  I don't like having to remember to donate or to keep making purchases. If I can do what I normally do and make a difference, then I'm happy.  Plus, how can you not like a site called Help Attack!?  Money raised goes to nonprofits and to people in need.