Chuck pre-call email on possible resources

Chuck email on possible resources prior to conference call:

Sea Turtles 10-16-2013 Some topics for discussion on conference call 10-18-2013

Tom, Eric, Sam

Hi. I’ve been doing work mostly in background and wanted to ship this before our conference call. I’ve been working mostly on possible funding and volunteer resources while trying to educate myself on the projects. I had a nice discussion with Tom today so I’ve learned a bit more about the interactions in the group.

Some topics for information or possibly discussion. Note that I have not acted on any of these.

Possible funding- -especially for support for Summer 2013 devices I can do the work on these but will need some technical backup info on the projects and on turtle behavior plus general ideas of where you wish to focus and what the budget amounts would be.

1. I found an appealing website, www.crowdrise.org, which we might use. It was described in a Forbes article (Top 10 Crowdfunding ..” ) as a “do gooders site”. They have a very engaging style, which among other things says “CrowdRise is a crowdfunding platform for good. CrowdRise is about raising money for amazing causes and having the most fun in the world while doing it. CrowdRise is the official fundraising partner of the New York Marathon, Chicago Marathon and thousands of other events. The world's finest charities, such as Stand Up to Cancer, Robin Hood, American Red Cross, and the Clinton Global Initiative all choose CrowdRise for online fundraising. CrowdRise was named a Top 25 Global Philanthropist by Barron's, the most innovative fundraising platform by Mashable, and was nominated for a Webby for Best Philanthropic Website. Besides that, CrowdRise isn't that great.

They have the Nature Conservancy and Sierra Club foundation as active sites plus hundreds of other organizations (small and large). Charges seem to be a flat 3% of the transactions plus a 2.9% credit card processing fee. May be different if we go in as a charity (Eric’s?). Money can go to local charities (Eric’s ?). with easy access They walk you thru the enrollment and website process it seems but it would help to have artistic website expertise involved. Writeups are short. Their terms and conditions package is  about 10 pages long from, as they put it, “our mean lawyer”-- which I haven’t digested

I’ve never worked with one of these, but obviously the goal is to somehow have enough publicity so people know about it. (bit more below under Other Resources). It is good to have a feedback of some type (small plastic turtles? T shirts?) Donor names can be listed plus they have a system of award heroes depending on how much is raised. Tom and I briefly discussed perhaps using SeaTurtle.org to positive effect for donors?

2. IBM On Demand Community. Internal corporate site, funds open about March, up to 2 K or so with minimal bureaucracy and quick decisions. An hour or less to do the proposal. Funds go to a charity (at least the many I’ve done). Rules change a bit year to year but bigger funds possible if lots of IBMers involved (will be easy to get, probably).

3. IBM IVOC grant—within Almaden, perhaps $1200, may be able to get a bit this year. They balance demands/vs. money in the pot.

Other Resources—haphazard order

In casual conversations, I’ve found the interest in this project to be very high.

a. Publicity: we can get some informal help and suggestions from IBM communications but they have to be very careful about corporate commitments in the government/political arena. We have two such experts in Almaden and one of my friends lauded the wife of one of them (she’s not an IBMer) who helped his high school robotics program get PR and perhaps some funding. Mike Ross, a scientist and former IBM communications person, now an independent writer, would help also I’m certain. b. UC Santa Cruz has a class/department on Wildlife Illustration. They also have a well known technical writing master’s program. Perhaps we can seed something there.? c. MIT has a January undergrad research period for undergrads that has an internal funding source…and they are pushing that program. No doubt other schools have something similar. Perhaps get seed funding there? d. In casual conversations (part of the basis for my comment on the interest) Organization In my discussion with Tom today I suggested he shift to me his admin work, from scheduling conference calls to whatever else. I can give it priority, and he should have as much time as possible on version 2 or 3 or whatever—just a thought. Maybe there are other ways I could help.
 * one of my friends volunteered that his son has an advertising company and might be interested in doing pro-bono web and advertising
 * one of the Almaden postdocs at lunch got very excited—he’s interested in turtles of all types, wants to send me lists of organizations, would like the project to extend to other turtles besides those in NC.
 * a local author of children’s books knows good illustrators who might be interested
 * my son is starting an online business and has sampled website designers in San Luis Obispo, CA—college town, and no doubt some of these would love to have their name on a worthwhile project.  Ditto Silicon Valley?

Cheers, chuck