Crawlathon WR, get down on my level.
Hey everyone, now that AGDQ2016 is over and the feedback thread is up, it’s time to start talking about the future. As the first of a series of threads GDQ will have over the coming months, we just want to take a moment and thank everyone for their input and assistance with the events. We’ve grown a great deal since the days of Mike’s basement at Classic Games Done Quick.
The topic of this discussion is “What charities should we consider for AGDQ2017 and beyond?” There’s a large number of fantastic charities out there, and we’ve also built up an amazing rapport with our current charities. We know that everyone will have some specific charity in mind, so this discussion might take a while, and that’s fine. We’re providing a list of charities that our staff have looked at closely in interest, as a starting point, but it should not be seen as an exhaustive list. That said, if you make a recommendation, make sure to keep in mind the following:
Reach - Charities should be US national at the minimum, with international charities being preferred. They must have a US presence for us to work with them easily.
Rating - Not the end-all of selecting charities, but remember to investigate charity ratings and their finances. https://www.charitywatch.org/top-rated-charities is a good start. You can also browse http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Impact - There’s a lot of great causes out there, but if the charity is too specific or unknown, it may not reach a large audience. Humanitarian and health are the best categories to look at.
Politics - Try to avoid charities that may have strong political ties. It should be a cause that most people feel comfortable supporting.
Size - Although not critical, smaller charities stand to benefit more from our fundraisers.
We should point out that there is one charity that we are going to take off the table immediately: Doctors Without Borders. They are a fantastic charity, but we already have an event (SGDQ) for them. We do not expect to change that relationship anytime soon.
It’s important for GDQ to be varied and maximize its reach. It gives potential donors a choice, and also avoids us being lumped into “that DWB event”. Furthermore, there’s a strong concern that one event might end up cannibalizing the other. Holding two events for the same charity could be a high risk. It could damage the impact and reach GDQ has. It could also eliminate opportunities for our community to run and volunteer, when an event shrinks from lack of interest.
Otherwise, the discussion is open-ended. Our goal is to narrow down the options with the community. From there, we can reach out to the charities we’re interested in, pitch our fundraiser to them, and see where it goes from there!
As for our starting picks, this is what the staff has come up with so far.
Prevent Cancer Foundation
http://preventcancer.org/
Cancer has a huge impact.
Still on CharityWatch’s Top-Rated list (B+).
They are expanding internationally, read more here: http://preventcancer.org/our-work/our-global-reach/
Long-term relationship, in the DC area.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
http://www.nami.org/
A- on CharityWatch
Mental illnesses have a large impact worldwide.
Is national, but may be able to negotiate something outside the USA. Also headquartered in DC area.
Does not have a large amount of existing funding, so would benefit greatly from GDQ.
Charity: water
https://www.charitywater.org/
Rating of A on CharityWatch.
Global impact
Is a humanitarian effort similar to DWB.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
http://www.jdrf.org/
Rating of A- on CharityWatch
Global impact, international charity
Good for those looking to fund a cure.
Already has a great deal of funding, GDQ may not make a large impact.
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
https://bbrfoundation.org/
Rating of A on CharityWatch
Mental illnesses have a large impact worldwide
Primarily funds research, which has global benefit
Is national, but may be able to negotiate something outside of the USA.
Does not have a large amount of existing funding, so would benefit from GDQ.
The topic of this discussion is “What charities should we consider for AGDQ2017 and beyond?” There’s a large number of fantastic charities out there, and we’ve also built up an amazing rapport with our current charities. We know that everyone will have some specific charity in mind, so this discussion might take a while, and that’s fine. We’re providing a list of charities that our staff have looked at closely in interest, as a starting point, but it should not be seen as an exhaustive list. That said, if you make a recommendation, make sure to keep in mind the following:
Reach - Charities should be US national at the minimum, with international charities being preferred. They must have a US presence for us to work with them easily.
Rating - Not the end-all of selecting charities, but remember to investigate charity ratings and their finances. https://www.charitywatch.org/top-rated-charities is a good start. You can also browse http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Impact - There’s a lot of great causes out there, but if the charity is too specific or unknown, it may not reach a large audience. Humanitarian and health are the best categories to look at.
Politics - Try to avoid charities that may have strong political ties. It should be a cause that most people feel comfortable supporting.
Size - Although not critical, smaller charities stand to benefit more from our fundraisers.
We should point out that there is one charity that we are going to take off the table immediately: Doctors Without Borders. They are a fantastic charity, but we already have an event (SGDQ) for them. We do not expect to change that relationship anytime soon.
It’s important for GDQ to be varied and maximize its reach. It gives potential donors a choice, and also avoids us being lumped into “that DWB event”. Furthermore, there’s a strong concern that one event might end up cannibalizing the other. Holding two events for the same charity could be a high risk. It could damage the impact and reach GDQ has. It could also eliminate opportunities for our community to run and volunteer, when an event shrinks from lack of interest.
Otherwise, the discussion is open-ended. Our goal is to narrow down the options with the community. From there, we can reach out to the charities we’re interested in, pitch our fundraiser to them, and see where it goes from there!
As for our starting picks, this is what the staff has come up with so far.
Prevent Cancer Foundation
http://preventcancer.org/
Cancer has a huge impact.
Still on CharityWatch’s Top-Rated list (B+).
They are expanding internationally, read more here: http://preventcancer.org/our-work/our-global-reach/
Long-term relationship, in the DC area.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
http://www.nami.org/
A- on CharityWatch
Mental illnesses have a large impact worldwide.
Is national, but may be able to negotiate something outside the USA. Also headquartered in DC area.
Does not have a large amount of existing funding, so would benefit greatly from GDQ.
Charity: water
https://www.charitywater.org/
Rating of A on CharityWatch.
Global impact
Is a humanitarian effort similar to DWB.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
http://www.jdrf.org/
Rating of A- on CharityWatch
Global impact, international charity
Good for those looking to fund a cure.
Already has a great deal of funding, GDQ may not make a large impact.
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
https://bbrfoundation.org/
Rating of A on CharityWatch
Mental illnesses have a large impact worldwide
Primarily funds research, which has global benefit
Is national, but may be able to negotiate something outside of the USA.
Does not have a large amount of existing funding, so would benefit from GDQ.
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