Bitcoin Forum

I've opt to have this particular thread here, in Off-topic, for not to overshadow the main Bitcoin100 thread in Bitcoin Discussion (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52543.0).

The purpose of this thread is to have a place for the community to suggest which charitable organizations they desire to see Bitcoin100 first approach into accepting Bitcoin as a donation option on their respective websites.

Not only would it be nice to see your favorite charity mentioned, but why, coupled with your assessment of the potential for them to be swayed into accepting our unique proposal. Although the more detail the better, just supplying a name of a charitable organization, one close to your heart, would more than suffice.

Each candidate mentioned will all be duly considered, listed below, and possibly exported to the OP of the main Bitcoin100 thread.

I now welcome your suggestions.

~Bruno~

---

As suggest by Meni, I've linked GoodWell's 10 most top-rated charities:

• Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) (http://www.againstmalaria.com)
• Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk)
• GiveDirectly (http://www.givedirectly.org)
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) (http://www.poverty-action.org)
• Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) (http://www.kipp.org)
• Nyaya Health (http://www.nyayahealth.org)
• Pratham (http://www.pratham.org)
• Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF) (http://www.sef.co.za)
• VillageReach (http://villagereach.org)
• Nurse-Family Partnership (http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org)

yeah, i was going to ask, right in the middle of the other thread, about this.

Any particular conditions that organizations have to meet before being proposed... ?

That's a fair question and concern. Instead of having myself trying to outline what's approbriate, at this time, I'll give the community a shot at it. But, off the cuff, not considering an organization either too small or too large, should lead us down the correct path.

Any of the charities recommended (http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities) by http://givewell.org/ would be good.

As per Meni's suggestion, I've updated the OP linking the ten top-rated charities on GiveWell. Take a look at the rest of the charities mentioned on GoodWell (http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities), and see if there's one you favor.

Of my three choices:

www.givedirectly.org

Pro: May push Bitcoin into a country where transferring money internationally is problematic, i.e. pretty much exactly what Bitcoin was designed to do. Might help establish a working Kenyan shilling <-> Bitcoin exchange.
Con: May be difficult for the charity to exchange Bitcoin for local Kenyan currency.

www.againstmalaria.com

Pro: International donations, seems fairly simple and direct type of charity, connections with (exposure to) lots of other high-profile organizations and charities
Con: Rather complicated and convoluted donation page. The Bitcoin option may not even be noticed by others.


www.nyayahealth.org

Pro: $300 can do A LOT in that part of the country. Simple, easy donation page.
Con: ??? Don't know enough yet.

And the discussion begins! Since you took the time to do a little research and offer up an opinion(s), I took the time to read the pros and cons and see if there's something overlooked. Lo and behold, this: http://www.againstmalaria.com/mobile/DonateSimple.aspx

From a convoluted donation page http://www.againstmalaria.com/Money.aspx to a simpler one utilized by smart phones. Now what was that figure on the percentage of smart phone users tapping the internet? Taxing my memory, it's a comfortable x% and growing exponentially yearly.

I like this about Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) (http://www.againstmalaria.com/findoutmore.aspx):


With http://www.givedirectly.org/, the following could be changed to 0%:


Nice and clean donation page here: http://www.nyayahealth.org/donate/

Back to this one and addressing the con aspect:


After quickly reading this page http://www.givedirectly.org/howitworks.php I envision the village shop agents figuring out the BTC to their Shilling dilemma. Although currently problematic, Kenyans have proved to be rather resourceful in times of crises. I'm pretty sure that in some Kenyan hut there's a young fellow working on this now with the help of his Nigerian cousin via one of those $100 Apple computers.

But, moreover, remember that even most well run charities have an administration staff and office of sorts, and no matter how admirable they are, funds are still needed to run and maintain those said expenses, no matter how minuscule. Therefore, it's the main governing body that has control of the donations before the funneling process begins. And I'm sure those folks would enjoy a nice cup of coffee purchased from BitBrew (http://bitbrew.net) via the use of Bitcoin donations while reviewing and hashing out that funneling process.

After reading that last paragraph I was thinking of how this is such a nice closed loop we have here with Bitcoin. Donate them, then get them back. Whereas a bank doles out dollars and hopes they don't come back so that they can create more debt. I hope this analogy made sense, or I have scrambled all the information I've viewed from those videos linked from this forum. Surely, by now, with close to 2,000 posts, I should have my head wrapped around this Bitcoin vs Banks thing, opposed to just knowing where Pattaya is located on a map and that a coffee table could be a piece of fine art.

~Bruno~

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/162000_23906288031_1183453_n.jpg

http://norml.org/join-norml/tax-deductible-norml-foundation

Pro: Will probably actually end up liking Bitcoin and spreading true awareness among people that would appreciate and use the currency. 

Con: Maybe not a charitable cause under most peoples definition.

Pro: Nice and clean donation page: https://simplecheckout.authorize.net/payment/CatalogPayment.aspx

Con: What the hell you've been smokin'? Seriously! You have enough for everybody? The next thing you'll probably suggest is something called 'Tapestry Road'.

(nice site, but probably not appropriate for Bitcoin100)

Was watching Letterman tonight and Matt Damon talked about the charity he founded called http://water.org

I looked it up and it looks like a great idea/charity to me.

I also think it is about the right size and having a celeb on board would not hurt.

Hell, I love NORML. Working to reform draconian drug laws and cut down on the world's largest prison population. Nothin' wrong with that.

And +1 on Water.org.

Here are some suggestions:

Humanitarian Relief Fund, run by Church of Jesus Christ LDS. http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/funds/humanitarian-general-fund.html (http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/funds/humanitarian-general-fund.html) Helps when disaters happen around the globe.

Perpetual Education Fund http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/perpetual-education-fund/ (http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/perpetual-education-fund/) Helps people in poorer countries get education.

http://www.cancer.ca/

Two for Norml so far!

I was just thinking of that when I saw this bumped to the top. Then I read your post. I only have one question. Is "Off Topic" or "Project Developement" the best location for this thread? I understand that Admin. has finally say, but was hoping for a little latitude with this project. I recon either would work, but hoping for the best exposure. I would offer a bribe, but I read what happened to Atlas.  :-X

That said, let the merge begin.

~Bruno~

If Archive.org can get support, why not Norml?  Noticed no mention in the other thread  :'(

If there are votes for causes, should there be votes against causes? 

I know if religious people are willing to accept marijuana users, I would be willing to donate to any cause for the promotion of Bitcoin, but if there are others that have reservations because of personal issues with an organization, or what defines a charitable organization, I would like to exercise that right too, as I do not want any of my Bitcoin to go toward any groups that have strong affiliations with a God or religion of any kind, especially if it is in the name of the organization.

Not sure what you've been smokin', but I put it on the list 2 days ago.  :-* (or was it later?) Please accept my apology for the delay, BP. I was hoping it would slip your mind Not sure what made me not put it up earlier. One thing's for sure--I'm headin' to bed now. I feel like I just rewrote War and Peach in the other thread. Only 8-9 hours for a simple 4 paragraph rewrite! For all you kids reading this and thinking about dropping out of school, tell me where you live so that I can knock some sense into you. English Rules! (Interesting. Imagine the High School Jocks wearing Tees with that phrase on it--Cool, eh!)

~Bruno~

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp229/chickpeaax/gifs/lies.gif

I was posting the above, then I re check, I see the edit and norml was listed, but there was no way I wasn't going to not use that gif, not now not then not ever.  Double negatives.

I am not optimistic about the majority voting this as a cause to donate for, but I can hope people would look past their personal ideals and remember they are in this for the promotion of Bitcoin, and I have no doubts I could easily argue why Norml not only deserves it more than most any of the other charities listed so far, with a big point imo, is the user base fact.  This is peanut butter and jelly here. 

If you go down the list of charities suggested so far, ask yourself "Would Against Malaria Foundation use Bitcoin?"    who knows and who cares.   Exactly.   Where when you see Norml, it's probably the only organization that would not only take Bitcoin, but possibly take it upon themselves to educate their donators on Bitcoin, something I cannot see all other sites doing, at most putting up their 'We Accept Bitcoins' png

More Bitcoin users means more Bitcoin users can donate.  Again, check the lists of charities people, is there another one listed that will truly promote Bitcoin on top of actually changing the world itself, which in turn effects ever other charity listed :)

Sorry to dump this working somebody else, but could somebody please do a search for India charity school kids and research some of the charities?
Downside to India is there's a lot of corruption and scamming there. Upside to this idea is giving kids schooling is secular, and something that would be supported by both rabid socialists and extremist objectivists. It's just a good idea in general. The benefit to bitcoin is publicity if the charity is fairly well known, and education about bitcoin in India, where it is sorely needed due to PayPal pulling out of India last spring, making it hard for people to send money there.

I'm closing this thread and migrating all the relative posts over to the new thread in Project Developmet: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=55398.0

~Bruno~