Tiebreaker, Tiebreaker, Break Me a Tie

The struggle to join Charitocracy's Top 10

Just a heads up on a tiny little update to the rules regarding tiebreakers: if the stars align and multiple causes have

  1. the same number of votes from
  2. the same number of voters and
  3. the same number of likes...

... then the first of them to have been nominated wins. First come first served.

I had to make this rule up on the fly last night. I received an email just after 1am reporting that the Vote page wasn't listing any causes any more. (Thanks, Stephanie!) I checked my server logs, and sure enough there it was, the result of the Top 10 selection process:

tie for votes AND voters *AND* likes!
need quadruple-tiebreaker?!

So I chose a 4th criterion that cannot result in yet another tie, since two causes cannot be nominated at the same time; one of them will make it into the database first. And that one will edge out any others with the same number of votes, voters, and likes.

For example, let's say there's a cause called The Nature Conservancy and another called St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and both are vying for 10th position in the Top 10. Let's also say, hypothetically, that as of midnight both have 2.5 votes from 3 voters and 7 likes. That's when a friend emails you that your server's broken, and you spend from 1am to 2am fixing the voting criteria, and St. Jude, nominated just 3 days before The Nature Conservancy as it would turn out, secures its spot in the Top 10 for March.

Usually I make my own memes. But this one I found on an old blog post about NCAA March Madness was too perfect and timely as-is. (Now pardon me, I have to go Pimp My Charity some more.)

Dawg, we heard you like tiebreakers so we put a tiebreaker in yo tiebreaker so you can break ties while you break ties

Spotlight on Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation

Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation

Next in our series of posts about Charitocracy nominees, we have Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation nominated by donor carolinatim.

The Fisher Center is one of the largest and most modern scientific facilities in the world dedicated to solving the puzzle of Alzheimer’s disease. Our founding director is Nobel Laureate and neuroscientist Paul Greengard. He and his world-renowned team at the Fisher Center are leading the way to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

Our Mission: to attack the scourge of Alzheimer’s disease through a 3-pronged assault focused on understanding the causes of Alzheimer’s disease; improving the care of people living with Alzheimer’s to enhance their quality of life; and finding a cure for this devastating disease.

Visit The Fisher Center's page on Charitocracy to vote for, like, or discuss this cause!

Spotlight on Comfort Cases

Comfort Cases

Next in our series of posts about Charitocracy nominees, we have Comfort Cases nominated by donor OBXHubands.

“I remember the first day Amaya came to stay with us. She was four years old, moving into her third foster home and carrying her entire life in a white trash bag,” said Comfort Cases founder Rob Scheer.

“Having experienced foster care myself, I was disgusted to see a child forced to carry around their things like they were garbage. We took her out to buy new clothes and she picked out a Cinderella nightgown.”

“From that moment, I knew we needed to make a change.”

Scheer founded Comfort Cases, a non-profit organization that provides backpacks with essential items like toiletries, pajamas, activities and other items for children in foster care. The charity went from providing about 300 kits in 2013 to donating 25,000 to kids in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia foster care systems last year.

Visit Comfort Cases' page on Charitocracy to vote for, like, or discuss this cause!