Bitcoin 100: Developed Specifically for Non-Profits

[BadBear]

I like you, you seem like a good guy from your other posts, but this whole thread is out of character.  So I mean no offense to you personally.  I am surprised I'm the only one to say anything.

It's not like we'll be telling them to do  such and such or else no money from our group.

Is that not what you are proposing?

[meanig]

Sounds like extortion to me.  Seriously guys?  You are going to tell a charity "I'll donate but only if you take it in bitcoin"?

You make it sound worse than it is. They want money and we want to donate to charity AND make people aware of bitcoin. Its win-win for both parties. Also consider not everyone has a credit/debit card or lives near a bank so bitcoin might be their only option for online donations.

I'll pledge 1 BTC.

[BadBear]

Not sure how I am making it sound worse than it is, when it's pretty bad to begin with.  I think peoples eagerness to get bitcoin wider acceptance is clouding their judgement. 

[nmat]

I like you, you seem like a good guy from your other posts, but this whole thread is out of character.  So I mean no offense to you personally.  I am surprised I'm the only one to say anything.

I don't disagree with you. And I will eventually donate to an organization that accepts bicoin, but I don't want to be in the Bitcon100.

I think that this process should follow a more natural evolution. We should wait a few more months (maybe a year) to distance ourselves from the June media hype and to prove that Bitcoin is here to stay - the software will be more mature by then and hopefully the price will be a little more stable... Getting legislation from a few countries would also help. After that, charities and other sites will end up accepting Bitcoin naturally, without much need for propaganda from the members here.

[BTCurious]

I'll take a radical stance, which is not the stance of most people here:

I don't really donate to charity. I do this to promote bitcoin. Nevertheless, that's one bitcoin extra per charity which they otherwise wouldn't see.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

The OP has been updated up to this post. I wish to thank all those who have pledged to date, with apologies for not thanking each, individually.

I took the liberty, damnek, to add you to the list, although you didn't formally pledge but considered this an awesome idea. Please PM me if I erred in judgement.

Now, to address some of the comments, questions, concerns, etc.

I think that this is one of the best recent promotional ideas for Bitcoin that I have read on this forum.

Put me down for at least 5 BTC.

Regards,

Ian Knowles.

The idea has been spinning around in my head for the past several days, and felt like it was about time to get off the pot and get it implemented.

I think this is an awesome idea!
Wouldn't it be possible to make a Bitcoin contract that requires a number of people to agree on donating the held coins?
That would also make an awesome showcase of future Bitcoin use.

I don't think a contract will be necessary. This thread could easily act as a contract with the OP showing the number(ed) of pledges. Let me know if this reply doesn't address your concern.

I really like the idea, but I'm not very rich.

Pledging 1 BTC, but will probably pull out after a couple of tens of organizations.

Edit: I propose that a buffer is made, on which we all put 1x the pledged amount. Then we can write to all organizations, and the one who accepts it gets the buffer immediately, after which we fill up the address again.

I would also like to mention that Roger Ver (MemoryDealers) has been an excellent spokesperson, and has spent a decent amount of his own money advertising Bitcoin, so if Gavin doesn't feel like this, I would have no problem with MemoryDealers hosting it.

Edit: Cheers for pledging 100 yourself, Gage! That's amazing!

I'm going to reply backwards for this post.

At today's exchange rate, 100 BTC equates to only $250 USD. Small change, but remember, it'll be spread out over time. Possibly only 1-2 (or 3 to 4) BTC per week.

As stated in the OP, Gavin was just a suggestion. I would trust Roger with all my personal information. If he wants to hold the coin address and act as the ambassador for this endeavor, all he has to do is state so on this thread and it's done. I don't think anybody here would have an objection to that.

As far as the buffer is concerned, I believed that I at least implied that being the case in the OP. If this doesn't address your request, I'm sure this detail will work its way out as more people pledge and we approach the 100 pledged mark, and beyond.

i pledge 1 BTC (more later, when i get rich, I swear!!!)

this is a great idea, but I don't think Gavin will have the time / desire to be the front man for this. Someone who is respected in the community and who volunteers to this should be doing it - Gavins time is more important working on the client anyway, rather than doing the marketing, which is not his specialty. MD would be a better option I think, if he's got the time/desire.

I do agree with your sentiment. My brain is not up to speed with only a 5 hour nap. MD is?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I like you, you seem like a good guy from your other posts, but this whole thread is out of character.  So I mean no offense to you personally.  I am surprised I'm the only one to say anything.

It's not like we'll be telling them to do  such and such or else no money from our group.

Is that not what you are proposing?

That's why I was requesting somebody else to try to explain how this would not be considered extortion. On the surface, you are correct as to what it looks like, but...

We'll get some clarity on this issue, I'm sure.

Thank you for your kind words, BadBear, about me. I think you know that this is isn't some type of money grab on my part because I won't be in control of any funds. Just wanted to make that clear for what it's worth.

[Littleshop]

5 btc pledge here

[BTCurious]

I really like the idea, but I'm not very rich.

Pledging 1 BTC, but will probably pull out after a couple of tens of organizations.

Edit: I propose that a buffer is made, on which we all put 1x the pledged amount. Then we can write to all organizations, and the one who accepts it gets the buffer immediately, after which we fill up the address again.

I would also like to mention that Roger Ver (MemoryDealers) has been an excellent spokesperson, and has spent a decent amount of his own money advertising Bitcoin, so if Gavin doesn't feel like this, I would have no problem with MemoryDealers hosting it.

Edit: Cheers for pledging 100 yourself, Gage! That's amazing!

I'm going to reply backwards for this post.

At today's exchange rate, 100 BTC equates to only $250 USD. Small change, but remember, it'll be spread out over time. Possibly only 1-2 (or 3 to 4) BTC per week.

As stated in the OP, Gavin was just a suggestion. I would trust Roger with all my personal information. If he wants to hold the coin address and act as the ambassador for this endeavor, all he has to do is state so on this thread and it's done. I don't think anybody here would have an objection to that.

As far as the buffer is concerned, I believed that I at least implied that being the case in the OP. If this doesn't address your request, I'm sure this detail will work its way out as more people pledge and we approach the 100 pledged mark, and beyond.

i pledge 1 BTC (more later, when i get rich, I swear!!!)

this is a great idea, but I don't think Gavin will have the time / desire to be the front man for this. Someone who is respected in the community and who volunteers to this should be doing it - Gavins time is more important working on the client anyway, rather than doing the marketing, which is not his specialty. MD would be a better option I think, if he's got the time/desire.

I do agree with your sentiment. My brain is not up to speed with only a 5 hour nap. MD is?

Backwards replying is all the rage.

MD = MemoryDealers, i.e., Roger.

The buffer: I mean you could build up a buffer without it being for a specific organization. If we put in 100 BTC in total without specifying which organization it's for, then we could mail both Wikipedia and Pacific help fund X at the same time. If one of them then still says "Thanks but no thanks", then we could send the money to the other guys. Being able to mail multiple organizations would speed up acceptance, parallelizing instead of doing them serially. But in retrospect my idea is not very workable, I think, so feel free to ignore it.

-

Oh, I figured it meant 100 BTC per organization
If we have to specify that, then I would be 1 BTC per organization, up to a few tens of BTC.

[zhoutong]

I will donate 10 BTC for each organization, up to 500 BTC.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

5 btc pledge here

Thank you, Littleshop. Updated

I'll take a radical stance, which is not the stance of most people here:

I don't really donate to charity. I do this to promote bitcoin. Nevertheless, that's one bitcoin extra per charity which they otherwise wouldn't see.

Same here.

I like you, you seem like a good guy from your other posts, but this whole thread is out of character.  So I mean no offense to you personally.  I am surprised I'm the only one to say anything.

I don't disagree with you. And I will eventually donate to an organization that accepts bicoin, but I don't want to be in the Bitcon100.

I think that this process should follow a more natural evolution. We should wait a few more months (maybe a year) to distance ourselves from the June media hype and to prove that Bitcoin is here to stay - the software will be more mature by then and hopefully the price will be a little more stable... Getting legislation from a few countries would also help. After that, charities and other sites will end up accepting Bitcoin naturally, without much need for propaganda from the members here.

No problem, what-so-ever, nmat. I truly appreciate you weighing on the matter. I do feel that June is far enough behind else, and it's not like this idea is going to be in full swing come tomorrow. This idea is still in its infancy, and should mature as Bitcoin reaches adulthood--in internet years.

Not sure how I am making it sound worse than it is, when it's pretty bad to begin with.  I think peoples eagerness to get bitcoin wider acceptance is clouding their judgement.  

With each news article and interviews, Bitcoin enjoys a wider acceptance.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I will donate 10 BTC for each organization, up to 500 BTC.

Thank you kindly, zhoutong, for your generous pledge. Updated!

Backwards replying is all the rage.

MD = MemoryDealers, i.e., Roger.

The buffer: I mean you could build up a buffer without it being for a specific organization. If we put in 100 BTC in total without specifying which organization it's for, then we could mail both Wikipedia and Pacific help fund X at the same time. If one of them then still says "Thanks but no thanks", then we could send the money to the other guys. Being able to mail multiple organizations would speed up acceptance, parallelizing instead of doing them serially. But in retrospect my idea is not very workable, I think, so feel free to ignore it.

Oh, I figured it meant 100 BTC per organization
If we have to specify that, then I would be 1 BTC per organization, up to a few tens of BTC.

Stupid me! I've used MD several times on this board, but when you used it, it eluded me.

I need to head out to Chicago today to deliver a load of barn wood. I'll be back late this afternoon to fully address the rest of this quote, along with updating the OP and addressing any other issues related to the Bitcoin100.

Thank you, again, to all those who've pledged to date.

Bruno

[BadBear]

That's why I was requesting somebody else to try to explain how this would not be considered extortion. On the surface, you are correct as to what it looks like, but...

We'll get some clarity on this issue, I'm sure.

Thank you for your kind words, BadBear, about me. I think you know that this is isn't some type of money grab on my part because I won't be in control of any funds. Just wanted to make that clear for what it's worth.

Thought never even crossed my mind, and I'm positive you do have the best of intentions.  I'll try not to shit up the thread too much but hopefully someone can elaborate better on how this could be seen in a good light.  I'd just hate for more bad publicity to come out. 

[DeathAndTaxes]

Not sure how I am making it sound worse than it is, when it's pretty bad to begin with.  I think peoples eagerness to get bitcoin wider acceptance is clouding their judgement. 

BadBear do you enjoy trolling?

I can't speak for others but for me it is more like I (others) have a limited amount of money to donate.  Some charities accept BTC, some don't.  If you accept BTC you have greater chance of getting funds from me. 

Nothing different than a charity accepting CC.  I don't write checks, and I don't like to give cash (no IRS record) so if a charity doesn't accept credit cards I am going to donate to a charity that does.   10 years ago that was more of an issue but today virtually every charity accepts credit cards.  Maybe in 10 years almost every charity will accept Bitcoins.

If that is evil well I guess I am evil.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Great idea.  I will pledge 1 BTC.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

Is it even a question? Of course I pledge 10 BTC per organization

However, I reserve the right to deny any organization, especially the smaller ones I dont know enough about.

[dancupid]

I'm happy to pledge (assuming I agree with the goals of the charity - a few international ones would be nice. I'm not sure that health care (Mayo clinic) is a charitable matter for most western countries other than the US - I'm happy to support them outside the US in Africa/Asia - the richest country in the world ought to be able to provide health care to it's own people) .
Not all of us are Americans, and I'm not sure I want to help American politicians deal with their own failings via charity -

EDIT though the same could be said of African politicians - people are suffering because of the failings of politicians everywhere - so I change my mind. Any charity will do.

[Technomage]

It is true that not all charities are equal. I pledged 1 BTC but I will probably donate more to organizations that I find especially interesting.

[Meni Rosenfeld]

I pledge 1 BTC per organization, until further notice.

But if I'm allowed to be a bit of a spoilsport, I think we need to be realistic with respect to the success prospects of this initiative. 100 BTC is not a lot for the organizations that matter, and Bitcoin comes with legal and publicity baggage that they will be mindful of. If they need any convincing at all to accept bitcoins, a mere 100 BTC will not be what convinces them.

It's even worse if the funds aren't collected in advance. When the time comes to pay up you don't know who will have forgotten about the whole thing, who doesn't get the memo, who has run out of coins and who simply refuses to honor their pledge. And the organization will be less eager to go along if they're not assured the money is all accounted for.

Maybe we can learn a few things from the DOSBox pledge which was sort of similar but on a much smaller scale. That was essentially a one-man crew with a hobby project and without any real legal obligation, and the persuasion process was far from "100 BTC you say? Of course I'll accept bitcoins now!".

[BadBear]

Not sure how I am making it sound worse than it is, when it's pretty bad to begin with.  I think peoples eagerness to get bitcoin wider acceptance is clouding their judgement. 

BadBear do you enjoy trolling?

I can't speak for others but for me it is more like I (others) have a limited amount of money to donate.  Some charities accept BTC, some don't.  If you accept BTC you have greater chance of getting funds from me. 

Nothing different than a charity accepting CC.  I don't write checks, and I don't like to give cash (no IRS record) so if a charity doesn't accept credit cards I am going to donate to a charity that does.   10 years ago that was more of an issue but today virtually every charity accepts credit cards.  Maybe in 10 years almost every charity will accept Bitcoins.

If that is evil well I guess I am evil.

Sorry, having a different opinion than you doesn't qualify me as a troll, but you did at least respond with something so I'll give you that.

I have nothing against charities accepting bitcoins, it would be nice, I don't want anyone else knowing what charities I donate to so it's very convenient.  What I have a problem with is this specific presentation.  I certainly wouldn't stand in front of the salvation army guys and say I've got money here but only if you use "this" currency.  

And I never said you or anyone else was evil, I try not to judge people (not that I'm innocent).