Join the Travellerspoint Foundation

Hello all,

We're very excited today to announce the Travellerspoint Foundation, and the Give Us Your Money Good Will All Around The World Project. That lovely title comes courtesy of Gretchen (aka Isadora), who has been putting in a ton of work setting up the Foundation and working out all the little bits and pieces. Thanks Gretchen!

But, the project... Basically, it works like this:

• You donate the Adsense earnings you earn through Travellerspoint to the Travellerspoint foundation
  
• The TP Foundation will use that money for loans to Kiva entrepreneurs.
  
• Repaid loans plus all the new deposits will be "recycled" into new loans.
  

In case you've never heard of Kiva, it's an organization that allows individuals and groups to make small loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. It's an amazing, empowering organization, so we're really excited to make loans to people for whom that little bit of start-up capital can make a huge difference. I'd encourage you to check out Kiva's website for more information about them.

Now, the place to keep track of all the latest news about this is the Travellerspoint Foundation blog. Gretchen's first post is up there, explaining in more detail how this whole thing works.

If you want to dive straight in and switch your Adsense earnings over the TP foundation, here's how you do so:

• Go to your profile page.
  
• At the very bottom of the page, where you can put in your Adsense Publisher ID (note: this is only available to members who have achieved Full Member status), put in the TP foundation ID: 1326685919872860
  

Cheers,
Eric

[ Edit: Edited on 31-Mar-2009, at 18:22 by dr.pepper ]

Hey Eric - the link for the TPF blog actually takes one to their home page at the moment. At least it does for both Kris and me.

So, try this one:
The Travellerspoint Foundation Blog

[ Edit: Edited on 01-Apr-2009, at 05:05 by Isadora ]

Yay, congrats on the Foundation! It's a small step of many we hope to take!!

Just to clarify one thing, clearly this is totally optional. No one (except Peter and I) knows whose accounts are actually redirecting to the foundation adsense account so of course you should feel free to keep it pointing to your own adsense account if you prefer that. Of course if you want to let people know that you have started donating your earnings, we're happy to recognize that as well. We will not be publishing who doesn't contribute, so there is no pressure (I hope). If you do feel pressure, let me know. My PM 'door' is always open

Peter and me also have some other ideas on how to increase the foundation's income some more. Hopefully we'll be able to get one or two of those plans live in the next few weeks. And perhaps it's time for a new calendar?

Oh, I also changed the link in the original post to match the new domain

[ Edit: Some edits based on feedback... ]

Edited my post to allow for people that want to let others know that they are donating their adsense income; woops!

That's a great idea, guys! Thanks for always finding new ways for TP to give back.

great
I hope that many TP members sign up for it.

thanks for setting up this foundation,with so many members at TP we should be able to help some people to set up a small business.

Just thought I'd mention the latest TP Foundation blog entry has been posted. Please, someone humor me and subscribe. Thanks (in advance)!

It's me again...

The May TP Foundation blog entry has been posted. Please oh please - somebody read it and take the plunge... Really... We're almost to our first goal... I promise to try really hard to get Bono (and the rest of U2 but you know how finicky The Edge can be), Eric Clapton, B.B. King and maybe even Steve Winwood to do a benefit concert for free. I'm working on it. No promises. Maybe we can do our own TP Guitar Heros thing... I know a few musicians on this site... Just a thought...

Anyway, check it out and give it some thought. We're all fortunate enough to travel while the people we'll be helping are hoping to be fortunate enough to put food on their table at night or start their own business. A few cents here and there go a long way to make someone's dream come true...

Yes, I realize there is a rule about double posting in threads but I think I can get a pass on this one... We'll find out...

Just about 6:00 this morning (my time, of course), I logged onto the Kiva site to look at the most recent loans made by the TP Team members. In the process, I noticed their Kiva Launches in the U.S.! sidebar announcement. Being the curious person that I am, I clicked on the "Learn More" link and then the "View all US entrepreneurs" link. Living in the US, I was pleased to see that our little corner of the world was now also a part of Kiva's funding network and went about my morning chores. I was listening to Good Morning America (ABC) as I went about my business and they mentioned micro-financing, which immediately caught my attention. Kiva's President - Premal Shah - was announcing the launch of the US program and explaining how Kiva's financing works.

What really impressed me, and I have watched this happen on Kiva previously, is the small amount of time it takes for an entrepreneur to become fully funded. At 6:00am, one entrepreneur had 19% of her funding - she was asking for $6500. Just during that 5 minute GMA segment, she received the remaining 81% to fulfill her request.

Just so everyone is on the same page... The original plan for the Foundation was to contribute to a pool of entrepreneurs that the Kiva TP Team members had contributed to recently. Basically, work from a limited pool of recipients. We thought we'd make it simple. Silly us!! Again, having watched the speed of the loan process, it was decided that the Foundation would be choosing their own set of entrepreneurs.

Last, but surely not least, we're $1.32 short of our benchmark for release of funds. Okay, there will be the audit and bank transfer times before the first loans - but we're almost there. I'm excited! I've been working on this since February! I want us to make some loans! I'm done ranting! Really!

Quoting Isadora

Last, but surely not least, we're $1.32 short of our benchmark for release of funds. Okay, there will be the audit and bank transfer times before the first loans - but we're almost there. I'm excited! I've been working on this since February! I want us to make some loans! I'm done ranting! Really!

Awesome! Although I must say I quite enjoy your rants