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Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#31

Post by asselinpaul »

biot wrote: post #26
sinnerswing wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is indeed THE BEST web service that I've ever seen EVER. @chaseadam17 Do you take advantage of mobile apps/fb/twitter/etc.? One thing I realized about your service. It's sustainable. Resources are NEVER depleted. I have a lot respect for Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, but according to them they intend on spending ALL their money on charity in their lifetime. So that means the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will…

> So that means the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be > non-existent 100 years from now. Not necessarily. Put $100 billion into a trust and you can spend billions of dollars a year from the interest generated without depleting any capital. Barring unforeseen economic catastrophes, this can be sustained indefinitely.

If you use all the interest, you'll lose money because of inflation.

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#32

Post by ars »

Since everything is fully funded you should give people the option of funding in advance.

Be open about it of course, and send them an email as soon as you know who the money is going to.

Also give people the option of getting an email when there is someone in need. (To avoid annoying people perhaps limit the email to the next 3 people, then stop sending them for a user specified time.)

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#33

Post by jacquesm »

Every now and the something comes along that is a real game changer. The internet was such a thing and it in turn engendered with web, which gave us WikiPedia, the Khan Academy and now this. What a super concept!

I hope you guys will be able to avoid the various pitfalls and traps that other charities seem to fall in to (where it becomes more about them than about those they help), by the looks of it you will be in excellent shape in that department.

Edit: you've covered this in the faq, but you may want to make it more plain, your donations are tax deductible, you might want to emphasize that. Especially for corporations that's a big thing, and it could get you corporate sponsors willing to name you. I know you're peer-to-peer but don't underestimate corporate dollars and riding their PR machine for free.

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#34

Post by umsm »

ars wrote: post #32

Since everything is fully funded you should give people the option of funding in advance. Be open about it of course, and send them an email as soon as you know who the money is going to. Also give people the option of getting an email when there is someone in need. (To avoid annoying people perhaps limit the email to the next 3 people, then stop sending them for a user specified time.)

I second this. Wonderful idea to be able to commit to funding before it's posted.

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#36

Post by gotmayonase »

ars wrote: post #32

Since everything is fully funded you should give people the option of funding in advance. Be open about it of course, and send them an email as soon as you know who the money is going to. Also give people the option of getting an email when there is someone in need. (To avoid annoying people perhaps limit the email to the next 3 people, then stop sending them for a user specified time.)

Another option is to donate to their operating costs here (http://watsi.org/about) under the Donate to Watsi heading.

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#37

Post by farmdawgnation »

I just tried to access the site and got a Heroku error page. Looks like you guys are under some significant load? This is an excellent idea.

I'm left to wonder how well this idea would transplant to a country like the United States. Everyone has varying degrees on Obama's healthcare act depending on where you fall on the political spectrum - but wouldn't it make the entire conversation moot if the private sector were able to fund stuff like this?

What about directly funding and putting a face to the efforts of someone who is homeless finding a job? Plenty of people give to organizations like Goodwill and United Way, but you very rarely get to have a picture put with where your dollars are going. There would be a lot of details to work out, and the idea is certainly ambitious - but if Watsi is able to succeed this much then hey, someone should give it a shot.

So much good is happening here. You guys are brilliant, and I'm thankful for people like you. Cheers.

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#38

Post by yannickmahe »

biot wrote: post #26
sinnerswing wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is indeed THE BEST web service that I've ever seen EVER. @chaseadam17 Do you take advantage of mobile apps/fb/twitter/etc.? One thing I realized about your service. It's sustainable. Resources are NEVER depleted. I have a lot respect for Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, but according to them they intend on spending ALL their money on charity in their lifetime. So that means the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will…

> So that means the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be > non-existent 100 years from now. Not necessarily. Put $100 billion into a trust and you can spend billions of dollars a year from the interest generated without depleting any capital. Barring unforeseen economic catastrophes, this can be sustained indefinitely.

Bill & Melinda Gates want to avoid the foundation spending money and energy staying alive. So the rule is that all the money has to be spent 50 years after they die.

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#39

Post by chaseadam17 »

ars wrote: post #32

Since everything is fully funded you should give people the option of funding in advance. Be open about it of course, and send them an email as soon as you know who the money is going to. Also give people the option of getting an email when there is someone in need. (To avoid annoying people perhaps limit the email to the next 3 people, then stop sending them for a user specified time.)

Love this idea. We're going to implement a "general fund" profile soon which is essentially what you described above. Email idea is also great.

Re: Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved

#40

Post by jaredmck »

farmdawgnation wrote: post #37

I just tried to access the site and got a Heroku error page. Looks like you guys are under some significant load? This is an excellent idea. I'm left to wonder how well this idea would transplant to a country like the United States. Everyone has varying degrees on Obama's healthcare act depending on where you fall on the political spectrum - but wouldn't it make the entire conversation moot if the private sector were…

Check out giveforward.com for a US version of this.
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