Possibilities

So one of the problems with volunteer work is that we’re not taking advantage of all the great skills that are out there. I know maybe 1 person in 50 that does regular volunteer work — but that’s not due to a lack of desire, it’s because volunteers can’t volunteer doing what they’re best at.

Another problem today is that we’re relying on our government to deal with the problems of today, like climate change, sustainability, and community. We should be dealing with these issues ourselves — and if it were simple to get small grants to deal with these issues, I think we would all do it. I look around and don’t see any solar panels at the skyline — we should be taking initiative, and I believe many of us do.

So there’s a possible solution that can address both these issues, while fostering a closer knit community at the same time. Now where does the money come from? Commercial projects. Here’s an example:

Say me and some friends, we’re all web designers, and we volunteer to help install solar panels on the roof of the boys and girls club or something. Now, none of us have direct knowledge of solar, but we’re good at web design. Say Joe’s coffee shop needs a new web site and is willing to spend a couple grand on it. If we can create this site and channel those funds into this solar project, we can channel any of our skills into issues we care about.

The idea: create a social networking site through facebook and myspace, and bring together these groups of people together. Grant givers (or people who need work done), volunteers (people like you and me), and Grantees (anyone that has an idea and wants to execute it) and put it all together so that we are enacting change, rather than waiting for it to happen.

Just how much work is out there that can be converted to grant money? Take a look on craigslist, and look at all the etcetera jobs. These don’t have to be big projects, small projects work just as well. For instance, I just got a new couch, and need help moving my old couch out of my apartment. I would normally have to put this on craigslist for 30 dollars or so. If I could put this on a volunteer site, I’m sure I would have no problem finding volunteers to help me do it — and all of us would be happy that the money would go into a good cause.

This action in and of itself will foster community. Online communities work. Look at www.couchsurfing.com — an international website for having a couch to crash on? We can fund these projects with very little effort — this is the beauty of technology today, and we should be exploiting it.

This idea can also change the way corporations handle philanthropy. These days most corporations can only give money to the organizations that give back to the community. With this method, corporations (or small corporate teams) can work on individual community projects with people resources instead of dedicating funds. If you’ve ever worked a desk job, you know that there can be down time — if we can turn this down time into community work — imagine what we can do. I think corporations have difficulty getting visibility in communities, and this is a great way they can get involved.

So who benefits here? Sorry to say it, but everyone. We have a lot of skilled workers in America, and we have a lot of people that want to work on the issues of today. Businesses benefit cause they’re not spending any extra money — and they know the money is going to good use. Volunteers benefit, because they get to choose where the money goes, they feel happy they’ve given back, and most of all, THEY WILL GET THE TAX CREDIT. Incentive based volunteer work? Not too shabby. Grantees will gain the most obviously, but moreso than that, I think we will get a huge amount of grant appliers that would not have normally applied before. It takes a lot of time to apply for grants now, specifically ones that are $500. See if you can apply for a grant to replace the showerheads in your building with the water saving variety and see how far you get. With this model, WE CAN CHANGE THAT.

There are a lot of good people in our community, but right now a lot of it is going to waste, because people don’t know how to give. Some times we can’t give money, but we can always give our time and expertise. Help make this project happen, join the mailing list, and when voting begins (if we make it in), vote for our project. I think this is an important initiative and one we can all contribute towards.

Thanks for listening,
Daniel Hai

Thanks one gazillion to Hillary Lazar for help with this.

8. Your idea’s name:

Possibilities.org

10. What one sentence best describes your idea?

Through a social media website, volunteers and small businesses can connect to fund community-based initiatives.

11. Describe your idea in more depth.

Possibilities.org makes giving back to the community easy to do, and also modernizes how volunteer work is done today. By connecting potential volunteers to businesses, it increases the odds that vital initiatives will get resources needed to succeed. It also provides a self-sustaining, capital-generating system which directly channels money back into these projects and the community. Creating new methods of volunteer work will inspire more to do so, as well as empower volunteers by giving them the ability to channel funds to causes they believe in.

Capitalizing on the power of social media, Possibilities.org would function much like “rentacoder.com” – with an emphasis on community improvement. Businesses would place their projects on a central website, and potential volunteers will volunteer to provide assistance on those projects. Potential grantees will also visit the website to post grants, and upon completion of a project, volunteers will be able to channel the funds generated from those projects into the grants that they wish.

For instance:

The YMCA needs $1,000 to install solar panels on its roof
The local coffee house needs a new website and is willing to pay $1,000
Joe and Susie, both web designers, would like to volunteer, and are members of possibilities.org

Through possibilities.org, Joe and Susie would pledge 10 hours of work a-piece to complete a small website for the coffee house. They both decide to fund the solar panel project at the YMCA. The coffee house still gets its website completed while understanding that their money went directly back into the community.

Possibilities.org would also facilitate high transparency, allowing all parties to easily work together through forums and real-time messaging through all the processes from start to finish. It would take advantage of current social media traffic and user bases, such as Myspace and FaceBook.

12. What problem or issue does your idea address?

There is a growing awareness of the need to invest in our communities. The problem is, too often, creative community-based projects simply don’t have the resources – be it money or the expertise – to get these initiatives off the ground.

This is certainly not due to a lack of interest in volunteering or philanthropy. Modern volunteer work has not yet fully capitalized on our population, because volunteers cannot fully use their greatest skills. We can tap into a huge resource of freelancers, 9-5ers, and other skills by asking businesses to divert their projects to these skilled workers for the community’s gain. This in turn will fund community grants, that in the end, will benefit the businesses as well. The businesses will not have to spend any extra money.

Possibilities.org provides a solution to this problem by helping projects to acquire the necessary resources, while enabling volunteers to easily supply their expertise where they’re most needed.

13. If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the most and how?

The Bigger Picture:

Whether it’s by helping to provide tech support to an independent bookstore or facilitating the donation of healthy snacks to an afterschool program or raising money for a homeless shelter in need of more beds – Possibilities.org has the power to benefit communities around the world.

The Immediate Impact:

Possibilities.org directly benefits small projects or “grantees” as well as volunteers and businesses looking to give back to their communities.

1) Small community-based projects are more likely to acquire gain visibility and the resources they need.
2) Volunteers are better able to put their expertise and skills to good use, deciding exactly how to allocate their volunteer work.
3) Smaller businesses can ensure that their contributions go directly into the community, while seeing returns on their investments.
4) Larger businesses can choose to engage in traditional philanthropy or participate in programs where employees volunteer for projects.

14. What are the initial steps required to get this idea off the ground?

In order to get Possibilities.org up and running, a creation of an on-line application and community through such social media websites such as Facebook and MySpace will need to be created.

To maximize its reach, however, in-depth research is needed into current trends in philanthropy and volunteering. User interface considerations for volunteers, businesses and grantees will have to be streamlined and perfected. In addition, although the site will eventually be self-sustaining, it will also require extensive marketing and outreach to recruit the grantors, grantees and volunteers at the outset. There may also be legal ramifications the go along with establishing a social media site that will have to be addressed as they come up.

15. Describe the optimal outcome should your idea be selected and successfully implemented. How would you measure it?

Ideally, Possibilities.org will grow to become one of the primary on-line resources for both small community-projects in need of support and individuals or businesses hoping to make contribute their time and resources to vital initiatives.

Like LinkedIn, Idealist, Facebook, and MySpace, it will become self-sustaining, and in time, generate millions of dollars in capital that can be invested directly into our communities – making social media not only a way to connect with others around the world, but a way to help create a better one.