Quote from: technowizard12 on May 28, 2011, 03:04:01 AM

What do you think about a bunch of people getting together to donate a bunch of Bitcoins to a specific Bitcoin related project? We'd vote on which project to support, with a new project each month, and we'd donate coins to that worthy project.

I actually had a similar idea. The project that I was thinking of mentioning was one that is trying to the save largest inland lake in Ohio. It's a dying lake thanks to algae and farm run-off, and it's killing the local economy. It's going to cost a lot of money to fix the lake - millions of dollars. Maybe a Bitcoin effort can save a lake, and get the local cities using Bitcoins at the same time! I know it's not a "tech project" which might be more like what you were thinking, but it could benefit Bitcoin simply through the press and awareness campaign.

I was thinking of a plan like this:

1. Raise a bunch of Bitcoins for lake restoration through the generous donations of the Bitcoin community - from an international community of donors.

2. Have a press release - a big announcement - donating the funds in Bitcoins to one or two of the non-profit organizations that are trying to save the lake. (Picture a photo-op press conference where someone hands a giant "bitcoin Check" to the head of the Lake Restoration committee or the mayor.)

3. Perhaps this could lead to a greater effort to "Save the Lake with Bitcoins" where local businesses (who are dependent on the lake and tourism) might accept Bitcoins for transactions, and commit to donating 1% of their transactions to Lake Improvement. Donating 1% of their transactions to Lake Improvement, rather than donating 2.5% to Visa/Mastercard seems like a no brainer. Many of these businesses will fail without the lake tourism.

The two primary lake cities of Celina Ohio (population 10,300) and St. Marys Ohio (pop 8,300) are small enough that they could get Bitcoins going in the local economy. It might take some Bitbills to make it work, but could you imagine a CITY using Bitcoins? That would create quite a buzz! And being within short driving distance (100 Miles) of some much larger cities (Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati), it might actually create a stir that gets attention to Bitcoin and saves the lake. The lake is in the center of a circle of 150 mile radius that touches some major US cities: Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland.

If we could raise even 10,000 BTC for something like this, it would get so much positive press, it would be amazing. And with two rival cities on the lake, it might just spur a competition as to who can raise the most money through Bitcoin acceptance (after the donation). 10,000 BTC is a donation of 1 BTC from each member of this forum.

Bottom line - I think a GEOGRAPHIC based fund raiser - something like this - would make a lot of sense, and actually benefit the Bitcoin community in the long run. If you can do good, AND make a big press release, AND get more people using Bitcoin (in the local economy), that seems like a winning formula.

At the risk of my reputation, I'll volunteer to lead this, if you guys think it might work. (It'll be embarrassing if I only end up collecting .7 BTC or something.)
Now you guys don't know me from Adam, and you might be reluctant to donate to a project thinking it's a scam. But I'll be glad to tell you all about me, or do what I can do earn your confidence. And you'll be able to WATCH the transactions in BlockExplorer.

This post is getting kind of long, so I'll give you a donation address, and end with links and stuff.

Donations for Save Grand Lake can be made via me:
1D1MC9fYjvhH3vw89vSEiQpBp1uf2T7X9s

Here's an article describing the situation. (You can find many more in Google)
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/21/toxic-algaes-return-a-blow-to-businesses.html?sid=101

If you want to make a contingent donation (Like "I like the idea, but I don't want to be the only person to donate, so here's 5 BTC, but I want it back if you don't get 1000 BTC or more by July 1, 2011."), I am totally fine with that. But you have to tell me BEFORE you send the money (since anyone can see the transaction and claim that they made it.) Send me such stipulations in emails to jerfelix on Hotmail - I'll need to know the sending address and the BTC amount so I can watch for the transaction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lake_St._Marys_State_Park The Wikipedia page has some info about the lake issues.

Donations for Save Grand Lake can be made via me:
1D1MC9fYjvhH3vw89vSEiQpBp1uf2T7X9s

What do you guys think? Not exactly an "Angel" investment in a company, but it might actually benefit Bitcoin. Didn't mean to hijack the thread!