Cardano Community Fundraiser

Hello all!
Recently the community has come together to participate in a petition that has over 4000 signers, when I look at the number I begin to wonder what else can those 4000 people accomplish together? How can they change the world? What difference could they make that could make an impact on someone that needs it?

So I want to follow up on this thread Who wants to start a collection for Cardano Community to donate to Breast Cancer Research? Month of October - #22 by rickymac @rickymac started this with good intentions and I feel like it should move forward.I think this community has more than enough people to work together on a good cause and I think we will gain much by coming together to do it in the spirit of Cardano.

@Risus76 has a good idea

I personally am not dead set on fundraising for the ACS but it is a good cause and we could move in that direction, I would like to hear idea’s from everyone else about a charity that we could raise funds for, it could be any local charity that someone is familiar with or it could be a global charity.

I propose we organize community members to take lead on this endeavor and hopefully someone with experience in raising funds for such a cause will step forward.

There are 2 positions that we need to fill, 1 Project Coordinator 2.Treasurer
Because of the nature of handling funds I believe that these people need to disclose their true identity and also be voted into position by the community, if you know someone that you could nominate for either position please do so, if you would be willing to volunteer your time on the project please do not hesitate to do so.

The 2 positions are important as this movement should not be restricted to the forum here and we cannot guarantee that any charity will set up a wallet to receive our contribution

The Project coordinator will be responsible for communications between community participants across several platforms available now to the Cardano community and also in identifying qualifying charities to accept our gift and ensuring the community is in agreement to support such charity or good cause.

The Treasurer will be responsible for ensuring that there is a secure wallet to receive funds and that the funds reach the destination the community decides to contribute to, this could possibly entail converting it to fiat and sending the charity a check.

I know the community is more than capable to come together on a fundraiser for a good cause and and I look forward to working with everyone on this project.

If anyone has any ideas on the path forward on this please join the discussion.

.

6 Likes

Great use case of Ada, hope we can write a smart contract on it.

3 Likes

Great idea and good intent and I’m supportive, however if you would like this to be an on-going formalised Not for Profit organisation there will be some legalities required to set it up.
Which country would be best to have the organisation registered in?
Applicable regulations
Requirements to ensure tax exemption
Develop a constitution or charter
Vision and mission statement
Develop membership
Formal process of nomination and election of office bearers …

All of these are feasible, so I’d suggest start with the cause, the mission, and ask members what particular cause we would like to support, obtain ideas and hold a vote.
There are many options, however we can also consider not only raising funds for a particular cause, but alternatively look at what skills we can bring to the table, what can we collectively create or do to provide assistance for a particular cause.

5 Likes

I whole heartedly support this idea @anon20038177 and this thread is an excellent opportunity to allow leaders and volunteers to chime in, and for people with expertise in the field of fundraising to provide advice, and @Sally brings up some really good points that will require some discussion.

3 Likes

I don’t really understand why it does need an intrmediate to do donations. I can handle my own donations very well without an additional organisation in between. So what’s the additional benefit? Some advertisement for Cardano?

Interesting, i am not opposed to this moving into something that is on-going and positive and set up within the guidelines you have listed although it would be up to everyone else thru a vote if this is an approach they would like to build on, I have little to no experience in coordinating a fund raiser although I have participated in many in my life time for several different causes, lacking the experience is why I am asking for the community to get involved if they are willing and capable to coordinate on such a project.

My initial thoughts on this subject simply were to come together as a community to contribute toward a cause that we could be proud of as a community, we find someone to lead the coordination (could this be you @Sally?) and someone to trust to disburse the ADA raised as a lump sum to an organization, I think if a small percentage of the community were to donate small amounts then we could make some change in this world for the better, even if it be a small one.

Thanx @rickymac any and all support for this idea is appreciated, you did have a suggestion for what cause we should raise funds for that inspired this post, are you still for raising funds for breast cancer research?

2 Likes

@Herr_Rossi The only additional benefit will be proof that the community can come together and work together to do something good, we can leave the advertising to Emurgo and IOHK for when they are ready.

The reason I personally would like to do this:
I once was actively interested in being involved in recycling and initially started out by making a post to craigslist.org (in the U.S.) that I was willing to help others recycle their old electronics, the only response I got from the posting was from a student of the University of Utah who informed me that the University was hosting a recycle program on Earth day where people could drop off their old electronics for environmentally safe disposal and they needed volunteers, at the time it appeared that alone I was unable to work on something that I was passionate about and so I decided to go to the University on Earth day to volunteer my time, what I learned that day was the benefit of a network of people that share a common goal,(the University and its students had worked together to set this up and advertise it) the larger the number of people involved the more success they will see, I spent all that day assisting others unload their vehicles of Computers, Monitors, TV’s, Stereo’s, VCR’s and loading them into boxes to be hauled away, there was little time to take a break all day as there was a line of vehicles waiting to be unloaded, at the end of the day myself and the other volunteers were completely exhausted, we left knowing we had done a small amount of good for the environment, now years later I reflect back on that experience and am proud to have been a part of it, imo this is much like that experience of mine, the larger the network involved in actively pursuing to make a change in the world the more positive the results will be.
I am personally an active promoter of the use of cryptocurrency, and i think there is no better use for it than to do some good.
I am going to pledge 1000 ADA to a community supported fundraising initiative for a good cause, if we can build a network of volunteers to support this project then I have no doubt in my mind that the final amount will be much greater than that.

2 Likes

I appretiate very much your initiative, just my experience is quite the opposite. I did some work in some organisations but was mostly depressed by the amount of overhead. So I changed to do directly what I think is right. There are some organisations I like and they get some monthly money. And I try to live my life according to my convictions. Especially I don’t think that we can go on plundering our planet. Today my house is heated for the most part by solar energy, I stopped using planes for private travel, I use my bike for going to work (37km one-way) and my car (which I see as a kind of luxury) takes 3l/100km (about 80mpg), a number our car facturers are not able to achieve any more today. I get more positive feedback for just doing personally what I think is right than before for working organised towards the same goal.
I don’t say at all that there should not be a common charity project and if it’s going to happen I will have an eye on it and maybe support it too. I just want to state that there are so many opportunities for everyone to change the world for the better in the direct surrounding that noone needs to wait for such a project.
Something I think is very important: Stay away from politics with that project!

I do my best to steer clear of the organizations that have a high overhead unless they can measure their success and it outweighs their overhead cost’s, my hope is this first project will be completely done by volunteer work with no overhead.

Thank you for your words , your last line is also very wise advice!

It is voting season here in the U.S. so I am constantly reminded of politics and the possibility of division it can create, so I am 100% with you on this.

1 Like

Someone to lead the coordination?
I am happy to help,but I strongly believe in following due process and the community electing leaders.

1 Like

I am completely behind the community electing leaders, if you are willing to lead the coordination you could nominate yourself to be voted into the position. :slightly_smiling_face:

The division is a good topic of discussion and one opportunity we have!
Not simply within one country, but we currently have members from over 65 nations. How many ways can we break down barriers and unite people across the world? Not necessarily by raising funds, but by doing small things for others and sharing or posting these to advertise the cause.
I also like your environmental and recycling ideas, micro-plastics are a serious concern in the ocean right now.
We can also look at the beliefs and values of the Cardano teams, to provide equal financial and asset opportunities for all people, assisting third world countries. Maybe we can align a cause with the Cardano values?
But I am only one opinion, what does everyone think?
Maybe start by creating a separate post to attract the 4,000+ voters, to test the field? “What is one small thing you can do to improve mankind / humanity / world peace / the environment …” And get members to post a photo or a short story.
See if it takes off.

2 Likes

Some things seem so obvious when they’re pointed out to you, you just can’t understand why you didn’t see it before.

Here’s something IMO very closely aligned to Cardano values: Kiva. It is extremely easy to set up a team of lenders all of whose contributions are credited to the team. IMO we should definitely do this in addition to whatever other charity activities we get into.

Edit: OK, I’m just going ahead and creating the Cardano Community lending team on Kiva, I’ll start a new topic on it later.

3 Likes

Brilliant! Is this legitimate? I’ll have a look.
I wonder if they’d be interested in using the Cardano platform later and ADA for cross boarder payments?

1 Like

I’ve used them for years. They occasionally get criticised for charging high interest rates but this seems to be inevitable when making unsecured loans in such circumstances. (And it’s the local agencies that set the terms.)

2 Likes

After having signed up to kiva the only thing I wish they did is to group the money together, I havent made a loan yet, but really its just personal actions, its a great platform for sure.

2 Likes

Hi @rickymac and @anon20038177. Any update on the progress yet? Would like to hear more about this great initiative!

1 Like

@Andy_Hendrikx no update yet, I am trying to get an idea of how many people are interested in this kind of promotional and charitable activity.

@Andy_Hendrikx The kiva Cardano Community project that @RobJF started seems to be a good development in the right direction. Cardano Community Kiva lending team
and I am happy to see that a small number of the community is willing to participate.

tbh though after attempting to bring the community together over a week ago for a good cause to spend ada on a good cause and then going through twitter post’s, facebook, reddit, telegram I find i really do not have the stomach to fight through the intense Hodl first approach that the majority seems to hold onto concerning ada, most seem to be holding onto this absolutely amazing idea that the future developments coming through the updates to the protocol warrant not spending ada anywhere for anything, and it makes me sick thinking this might be the future of Cardano and I really begin to wonder why I should commit myself to such a toxic environment for charity work, and its all just a little crazy thinking cause by design imo the platform developers will always be working toward the next big update and there is no good reason for humanity to just pause, yet that was the idea I took away from the last week -we all just need to pause and wait cause its coming - but if I need to explain in depth the benefit of a community coming together to do good for someone then something is just wrong and it makes it too complicated for me, anyhow to limit my personal disappointment I have decided to revisit this at a later date and in the meantime will support the kiva cardano group when i have a chance to dig in and understand it completely.

3 Likes