Ideas

This sounds very much like a pyramid scheme.

Yes it is a pyramid, but God is at the top and no one takes anything in between, save for operational costs.

A pyramid scheme is structured in such a way that people go get 3 people, who get 3 people, and as the pyramid goes down the get a little piece of the dollar with the ultimate profit going to the top. In our case, we feel like it is a great model only nobody gets a piece and the top is a humanitarian project thatwould benefit tens of thousans of people if it is successful. No underlying motives here but to make a difference.
There is a signicant difference in multi-level marketing(Network Marketing) and pyramids. In the MLM model in order to be legal they have to offer a product or service which is worth (retail) the price it collects. Then the MLM company shares the profits with its members down to a certain level. These are legal and some people make good money in this, but usually only 10% and those who are at the top. Just thought I'd share that with you because it is a common concern.

This is interesting concept.
I think the tracking part is very important.
Maybe you can have a module like that of ChipIn that lets you promote in other websites while at the same time lets you know how much fund the downline have contributed?

How about adding a bit of social networking (I hope the phrase is not overused already :D) features?

And yes, this interests me for that non-profit that I am starting too :)

Absolutely to social networking...

Like I said any of my friends would join "for me". And they would probably get 3-5 people to join as well. However the problem is the further away from the source (of passion) you get the harder the sell. That is where social networking with voting capabilities would come in handy. CH is my favorite site now and it has a lot of the community type features that I desire for House of eXodus.

I like your idea of a module like chipin. Really what I'd like House of eXodus to be is a community whose membership dues pay for the large projects, but also connect people to other causes and projects which are affiliated membership. Holding a standard for a type of social responsibility for all members.

I would love to chat with you more and see how we could mesh our ideas. I welcome all others with similar types of desires to chip in as well.

I think this is a great idea. Rather than setting up your own charity, you could simply build this tool and provide it to existing charities to use since it provides a great means of viral marketing their cause. That is, rather than splitting your time between building the tool and creating a charity that can do good things, spend your time building the tool to help the existing charities that already exist. You could always start your own later, but I think you need to focus on one or the other.

Well my idea for the start-up is to identify an existing charity/cause with both short term and long term needs, and while we are working on the infrastruture we'll act as a pass through. The vital part of this is the charity we select has to have practical and measurable results which they can share with us on a regular basis. The accountability structure is also key. We want to have a financially transparent organization so it is important that we are able to track how the money is spent. I agree with your assesment that it would be good for an existing charity, most charities do not focus on large scale goals. This would work well for an existing micro-credit institution, but there are some needs that I don't believe that those institutions fill.
One of the causes we are looking to support is an orphanage in Uganda. They have over 200 kids and they are steadily growing and have both short term (blankets, clothes, books, food, etc.) and long term (new dorms, plowing equipment, trucks, irrigation systems, and guns-j/k). This project can let us start small while our focus is on an infrastructure for growth, and as we grow we can fulfill their long term needs and shift into larger projects which will have a broader impact.
Anyone familiar with building social networking sites?

You can use http://www.ning.com/ to check out social networking.
Tommy

(or to build your own)
T

God may be at the top, but all it takes is one corrupt person...

I'm a little concerned that the recipient of the money is a little too broadly defined. There may be people out there who want the money to go to Uganda, some may want it to go to South America, or the latest disaster relief, or American inner city kids... I like the idea, but I'm worried that if there is a leaning towards a particular charity or charities that provide assistance to particular groups, you may lose interest from people who want their money to go to *another* charity or group. Perhaps, there could be separate "areas of donation", where the user could define what kind of charities they want x percentage of their money to go to. This may make it more complex, but it may also help in total usage. Just a thought.

Nickonomics 101- definitely understood... However our membership dues are going to be $5.00 a month and the projects that we take on would be voted on by our members. In my plan I have it spelled out how once our membership reaches a certain level, we can take on domestic projects. However, the dollar goes further in extreme poverty stricken (those making less than $2 a day) than it would in any area domestically. That said, I believe that it is important to contribute and change things in our own backyard. In addition to that, we would allow our members to lobby for other causes (publicly) and rally for support for their favorite charity. The main thing is that are dues aren't supposed to be felt by the member and are not supposed to divert any funds from other charities. It is away to have people unite against a cause using very small donations and that unity will start to build numbers that could make a dramatic difference.

I really like this, and I'd support you setting it up as a Christian organisation. I think I've missed the significance of the name though...

I agree that the tracking of downline members is a really important feature.

My instinct, like yours, says to support infrastructure projects that make a lasting difference rather than simple aid. Perhaps you could market it as a $5 investment into the future of another country/people?

If the recipient of the money turns out to be a very contentious issue, or if you decide after a while that you want to spread the money around a little more widely, perhaps you could consider giving active members some say/a vote based on their total (including downline) earnings?

Thanks for your comment Philip... I definitely believe that the more members we have the more opinions we'll have in how/where we spend the money. The voting system I envisioned was more of a legislative structure. 3 legs of voting- One is the general membership, Second is the Board of directors, and the Third is Active members (along the lines of what you explained).
Along the lines of what Nickonomics addressed above, it is important in the start up stage is to have a project which has both short term and long term needs. I know that a lot of prospective members will not like investing into infrastructure of a NPO, but will happily invest to a project allowing the NPO to take admin fees for infrastructure (reasonable is 10-18%). So having a project with short term needs will allow us to immediately show results, however small, and as our membership grows we could seamlessly transition into the larger projects.

I stillhave to comment my own 9well thought-piece at this juncture I can only say..Goodspeed 2 u!

?

"collects small dues/donations ($5 a month) from its members and encourages members to go and enlist 5 more members. "
So, some type of pyramid scheme?

Network Marketing save for any commissions being paid out... A pyramid without the scheme and serving the greater good.

So, what is the motivation for the users to get there friends to join?

That sounds reasonable. I don't think there's any problem with starting small, particularly as there are plenty of worthwhile things you could invest in that WILL show immediate results but will also go on to provide long-lasting benefits. Many of the examples you mention above would fall into this category - education and training are obvious, but wells and small-scale green power generation units could be equally empowering for a community.

Good luck with it!

Kevin
My hope is as the users see the power of numbers and the results we are producing they will encourage their friends to join the movement... At $5 a month, it would be something that most people could afford without "feeling it". I also hope to get association benefits such as discounts and coupons that members would actually use and in the end they would actually be saving money. I would ultimately like to get support from a Starbucks that would provide members one free drink a month.

Seems simple enough to make. This idea could work. Though I am sure there are many organizations doing the same thing or close to the same thing.

"Christian organization" I personally don't like any religious organizations as the focal points. They always seem to spend part of the money to push some of there own motives and in-force views on others. Not to say all religious affiliated organizations helping 3rd world country's have secondary motives behind them.

It seems like the whole coupons thing is in another idea in ideawarz. It might help to team up with him. Because he has got that aspect down.

I haven't seen any other non-profit focus on small dues with large membership bases. The only organizations that take small monthly donations are the adopt a child organizations which I feel are ineffective as their are more starving children than their are potential donators. These small donations will have the most effect when you concentrate them on one project at a time maximizing your efforts in any given location. I will search around for Mr.coupon. Thanks for your comments... Good as usual.

Pick any charity off the top of your head. I am sure that most if not all will have a way for you to give them money even small donations.

One more thing: I think it certainly adds to more focus that things actually can get done with small donations. Because you can show directly how that money was added up and used.