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Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

ycombinator.com

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Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#91

Post by pixelphantom »

corin_ wrote: post #47

I'm personally not a fan of the concept of donating to help a specific person, rather than a cause, but am unsure whether I'm a rare exception or whether many people have the same view as me - hopefully a few replies could help answer this? When I say not a fan of the concept, I absolutely don't mean I disapprove. I don't have any problem with organisations raising money this way, nor with people choosing to donate m…

I'm the exact opposite, which is why I love Watsi and have donated even though I've never been a donating kind of person. I don't like giving money to something that feels abstract, where I don't really know how the money is being used for. I think what makes Watsi compelling is that we are supporting individual, specific people; solving a concrete, easily solvable problem (as opposed to, say, hunger, which requires more long term support); and lastly, the solution is low-cost, as opposed to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. The combination of these three factors is what I think makes Watsi a winning recipe that will entice people like myself who have always wanted to give but never felt comfortable with the current options of donation.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#92

Post by chaseadam17 »

bdcs wrote: post #40
suchow wrote: post #28

This is a neat idea. I have an unimportant question. PG's post says "They even eat the credit card processing fees", but Watsi's FAQ says, "As part of the cost of the treatment, we have included PayPal credit card processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). These PayPal fees are unavoidable, and no portion of the fees go to Watsi." Who is right?

Good question. Also, PayPal fees are only unavoidable at PayPal. Would it be a conflict of interest, on pg's part, to include donations via bitcoins using Coinbase? If so, what if a competitor, such as BitPay, was used?

We're switching over to Stripe and they've been kind enough to hook us up with a better deal than PayPal (we'll be paying cost which is something like 2.4% flat, inclusive of Amex and international transactions, which constitute more than 30% of our total donations).

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#93

Post by chaseadam17 »

wave wrote: post #36

The only suggestion I have is that it would be nice to see the patient's profiles get updated after being funded and treatment was given. We all like to see how our donations are making noticeable difference in people's lives. I really like what Watsi is doing. They even "eat the credit card processing fees"

Working on this! After Stripe integration, it's one of our top priorities. In the meantime, you can view every patient update on our transparency document (see the last column):https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ah3wJ9CRQzyHdDZ...

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#94

Post by ianstormtaylor »

chaseadam17 wrote: post #92
bdcs wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. Also, PayPal fees are only unavoidable at PayPal. Would it be a conflict of interest, on pg's part, to include donations via bitcoins using Coinbase? If so, what if a competitor, such as BitPay, was used?

We're switching over to Stripe and they've been kind enough to hook us up with a better deal than PayPal (we'll be paying cost which is something like 2.4% flat, inclusive of Amex and international transactions, which constitute more than 30% of our total donations).

Was just about to ask about Stripe helping out a charity and fellow YCer. Awesome to here that they are hooking you guys up. Even with Paypal I already went through 4 donations or so, but Stripe would make the process even more addicting.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#95

Post by Mizza »

I used Watsi when it was first announced here. It's a truly amazing offering, a great product with great customer support and outreach, and, as a user, it truly makes you feel like you're doing something good for the world.

A few weeks after donating, I later got an email from them letting me know that the boy whose heart transplant I had funded had died. It kind of wrecked my whole day, but I was still glad I got the notification. I didn't expect to have such an emotional connection to a person I have never even interacted with before. Godspeed, Watsi.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#96

Post by orionblastar »

Well it is good for people in Nepal.

But what about the USA, especially disabled veterans, people on disability, people on no or low income, homeless people, and others who cannot afford their healthcare and got shafted by the federal government?

There are some charities, but they collect funds with Quadriga Art, that keeps the lion's share of the donations and little to no money goes to the charity or people in need. CNN has investigated this company http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/26/us/senate-charities-investigat... http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/24/fund-raising-company-f... http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/25/charities-in-debt-to-f...

This is the reason why so many charities are broke in the USA and the money never goes to the people it is supposed to help. We can reform this problem by starting up a non-profit web company to keep the costs low for raising money for these charities and making sure the people in need get the money and life saving medical treatments and surgeries that they need.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#97

Post by chaseadam17 »

ianstormtaylor wrote: post #94
chaseadam17 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're switching over to Stripe and they've been kind enough to hook us up with a better deal than PayPal (we'll be paying cost which is something like 2.4% flat, inclusive of Amex and international transactions, which constitute more than 30% of our total donations).

Was just about to ask about Stripe helping out a charity and fellow YCer. Awesome to here that they are hooking you guys up. Even with Paypal I already went through 4 donations or so, but Stripe would make the process even more addicting.

Thank you for donating! It's amazing for us to hear from people that have already supported so many patients on Watsi.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#98

Post by pg »

dasht wrote: post #72

Paul Graham, or anyone "in the know", may we please hear a bit about what the equivalent of a term sheet looks like for a Y Combinator non-profit investment? Is Y Combinator giving a grant? Is Watsi issuing debt to Y Combinator? What's the financing model here?

It's just a donation.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#99

Post by tptacek »

tinco wrote: post #77
philwelch wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, it's plainly obvious that people in those other countries need our help more than people in the United States. What other concern is there? "I'd like to help people in MY country" is just a vaguely nationalistic bigotry.

It is not so obvious. There's a lot of suffering going on in your country too. Charity comes from the heart, and where you should direct your love is your own choice. If you feel the people in your country are closer to you, there's no shame in helping them before others. We are human after all.

Nobody is saying you shouldn't give to local people in need. There are clearly many deserving outlets for charity.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#100

Post by ryanmolden »

Congrats, this is awesome news! I contributed to a couple of patients when I first saw you announce this on HN because I like the 'direct to patient, 100% utilization' nature of it. This is a reminder for me to go back.

I see from your website you are a 501(c)(3) charity. I will submit your organization for approval for the matching program at my employer, which I like because it allows me to 'stick it to the man' by donating to all kinds of things my employer might or might not support (this doesn't fall into that category though). They also match volunteer hours by employees at $17 bucks an hour (after the first 10 hours), which can be a great way to get free work and free money.

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