This is brilliant idea and one that is perfectly executed. I would love to contribute whichever way I can and the way it brings down the barrier to contribute is remarkable. I would love to contribute in a personalized way than to donate to an organization where I don't have any clue what happened to the money.
Wish you all the success!
Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
121–130 of 190 posts
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes please. And maybe credits that are not allocated within N days automatically get directed to a profile that Watsi chooses.
That's a great idea. Perhaps you could select from three options: 1)Receive an update every time you have new credit and allocate it yourself 2)If you don't allocate within X days the credit is automatically allocated to a patient OR 3)Automatically allocate all credit to patients' based on X criteria (location, age, etc.). We'd love to implement this!
I second the concerns raised by
alexanderh. Perhaps directing unallocated funds strictly on a needs basis would go some way towards addressing such concerns?
Such a scheme would also address the question of whether a patient should be expected to sacrifice their privacy in order to obtain funding.
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your operation could maintain 2 sets of cash flow: one for patient care, and one for administration. Maybe you could qualify for NGO status and get some government to fund some of the administration side. This would be somewhat similar to Costco's model, where most (all?) of employee wages come from membership card fees, not product revenue. With this model, you could still let people donate 100% of their funds to th…
You could even make a slider with an animation that displays the percent which goes to each part of your business - so 10% or 15% of the donation could goto administration. This is a great idea. Check the Humble Bundle's ( http://www.humblebundle.com/ ) sliders at the bottom of the page to see how they handle their "Humble Tip", maybe you guys can do something similar.
This is why HN is such an amazing place. So much helpful feedback, all over. Unbiased. Informative.
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#124This is "Death panels" in a fancy suit. Bid on life saving medical treatment from a thumbnail? By someones looks? and a possibly fabricated story? So now we the internet get to decide who lives and dies? Who has a healthy fulfilling life and who lives with disease and disability? Idk about this idea. Its well intentioned, but oh so wrong all at the same time. This type of charity should be first come first serve to b…
I also found it genuinely disturbing for the same reason. The 'you decide' aspect of the site seems very sick to me.
I think the moral dilemma could be solved easily by just having a single fund that you pay into. The money is then distributed among the people who need treatment. No input from the giver.
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#125We just built an app that saves asses
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#126I'm typically against organizations that need to live off donations. I think it's an impractical and unsustainable model. Your cause is very close to my heart and I would love to support it, but I'm a creature of convenience. I could make one donation now, but would fail to continue making donations. The two solutions I have seen that are successful at solving this problem are: 1) Automation. E.g. in the movie Office…
They could offer a subscription model, and then make it a monthly "game" of deciding where your money's going to go. Lots of people are willing to become sustaining members of charities. Or, I'm a member of a meta-charity called Foundation Beyond Belief, in which my contribution is distributed to various nonreligious charities based on priorities I set (e.g. 25% of funds to environmental causes, 50% human rights, 25%…
We (Kiva) are also adding monthly donation subscriptions as well, or at least I'm trying to this week for my innovation iteration project.
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#127The one thing you need to focus on above all else is transparency and preventing scams. Video of the actual person who needs the treatment would go a long way, as would video updates along the way. I'm thinking an Android app that the locals could use to document the process. If you solve that properly, this will really take off and do a lot of good. Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of t…
> Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of the donations to pay living expenses for your volunteers. 100% to the patient sounds great, but for my donation, I'd prefer to know that there is someone dedicated full-time to the cause and overseeing the process, and receiving a reasonable salary for it. Of course, be 100% transparent about those salaries as well.
This might also be accomplished with a "tipping" model. Always advertise the full 100%, but when they go to "checkout", give them the option of tipping the organization. Make a default recommendation of, say, 10%, but let them pick their own tip amount as well.
It would be interesting to see what the average tip amount would be here.
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#128This is "Death panels" in a fancy suit. Bid on life saving medical treatment from a thumbnail? By someones looks? and a possibly fabricated story? So now we the internet get to decide who lives and dies? Who has a healthy fulfilling life and who lives with disease and disability? Idk about this idea. Its well intentioned, but oh so wrong all at the same time. This type of charity should be first come first serve to b…
How is this a "death panel"? These people are currently not receiving treatment they need, and this site helps give it to them. Nothing is being denied to anyone here.
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#129The one thing you need to focus on above all else is transparency and preventing scams. Video of the actual person who needs the treatment would go a long way, as would video updates along the way. I'm thinking an Android app that the locals could use to document the process. If you solve that properly, this will really take off and do a lot of good. Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of t…
> Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of the donations to pay living expenses for your volunteers. 100% to the patient sounds great, but for my donation, I'd prefer to know that there is someone dedicated full-time to the cause and overseeing the process, and receiving a reasonable salary for it. Of course, be 100% transparent about those salaries as well. This might also be accomplished wi…
We are definitely considering experimenting with a donation "tip" feature. Based on our research, the average tip on peer-to-peer giving and lending platforms is about 5% of the total donation amount for a first time donation, and virtually nothing for recurring donations (people usually only tip once). It's not enough to run an organization on, but it's a great potential source of revenue to help cover some overhead costs.
Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives
#130The one thing you need to focus on above all else is transparency and preventing scams. Video of the actual person who needs the treatment would go a long way, as would video updates along the way. I'm thinking an Android app that the locals could use to document the process. If you solve that properly, this will really take off and do a lot of good. Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of t…
I was thinking the %100 made sense. And that they rely only on donations specifically to them. So like I'd pay the 10 bucks to the child with cancer. And separately I'd add a dollar for them. I'd like that. Then we can decide how rich we want to make you.