Our Blog

Benj and Jessica launched a nonprofit. Follow our journey as we built a 501(c)(3) and a web site, and now usher in an endless stream of worthy charity nominees and monthly grant winners!

Shortcuts: News | Winners | Nominees

Spotlight on nominee Pan-Mass Challenge

Nominee Pan-Mass Challenge

Next in our series of posts about new Charitocracy nominees, we have the nominee Pan-Mass Challenge, nominated by donor Jenn. This annual cycling event raises funds for Dana-Farber cancer research. You can find their web site here.

A few words on Charitocracy

Firstly, for newcomers: here's how it works. Donors pool their monthly contributions, as little as $1. The cause with the most votes each month wins the pot. No matter how much or how little you contribute, each donor at Charitocracy gets one vote. This is where charity meets democracy. So please share this post and ask your friends to join us and vote! That's how we spread the word and, as a result, grow the monthly pot. The bigger the pot, the bigger our positive impact on the world!

About nominee Pan-Mass Challenge

Mission

The Pan-Mass Challenge raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through an annual bike-a-thon that crosses the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Since its founding in 1980, the PMC has successfully melded support from committed cyclists, volunteers, corporate sponsors and individual contributors. All are essential to the PMC's goal and model: to attain maximum fundraising efficiency while increasing its annual gift. Our hope and aspiration is to provide Dana-Farber's doctors and researchers with the necessary resources to discover cures for all cancers.

History

Established by Billy Starr in 1980 and under his direction, the PMC has grown considerably and consistently from its modest beginnings into an event that draws 6,000 cyclists from 41 states and seven countries. Today, the Pan-Mass Challenge raises more money than any other athletic fundraising event in the country. The PMC generates more than 50% of the Jimmy Fund's annual revenue and it is Dana-Farber's single largest contributor. Over the past 38 years, PMC cyclists have ridden to raise and contribute $598 million to cancer research.

The now nationally recognized PMC is a tribute to Starr's unending desire to achieve, make a difference, and raise money for cancer research. It is also a model for all athletic fundraising events, setting the pace for a now $5 billion industry.

So visit the Pan-Mass Challenge's page on Charitocracy to vote for, like, or discuss this cause! And finally, check out their video of shots from 2017’s PMC:

Spotlight on nominee RAICES

Nominee RAICES - Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services

Next in our series of posts about new Charitocracy nominees, we have nominee RAICES, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services nominated by donor TdotWING. They’re working today to #ReuniteEveryChild. You can find their web site here.

A few words on Charitocracy

Firstly, for newcomers: here's how it works. Donors pool their monthly contributions, as little as $1. The cause with the most votes each month wins the pot. No matter how much or how little you contribute, each donor at Charitocracy gets one vote. This is where charity meets democracy. So please share this post and ask your friends to join us and vote! That's how we spread the word and, as a result, grow the monthly pot. The bigger the pot, the bigger our positive impact on the world!

About nominee RAICES

RAICES is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees in Texas.

Founded in 1986 as the Refugee Aid Project by community activists in South Texas, RAICES has grown to be the largest immigration legal services provider in Texas. With offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, RAICES is a frontline organization in the roiling debate about immigration and immigrants in the world.

As an organization that combines expertise developed from the daily practice of immigration law with a deep commitment to advocacy, RAICES is unique among immigration organizations. A diverse staff of 130 attorneys, legal assistants, and support staff provide consultations, direct legal services, representation, assistance and advocacy to communities in Texas and to clients after they leave the state.

In 2017, RAICES staff closed 51,000 cases at no cost to the client. Our advocacy and commitment to change are driven by the clients and families we serve every day as our attorneys and legal assistants provide legal advocacy and representation in an immigration system that breaks apart families and leaves millions without pathways to legal status.

So visit RAICES's page on Charitocracy to vote for, like, or discuss this cause! And finally, check out their overview video:

June 2018 winner Together We Rise

Charitocracy's 22nd check to June winner Together We Rise for $1237

We have good news about June winner Together We Rise, right after this quick update...

First, where in the world is Benj?!

Hopefully you noticed the “Back Soon!” message posted across Charitocracy’s social media. I’m not due to return from Brazil until the 15th. But I don’t want to put the 3 newly nominated causes (yay!) at any disadvantage. I’ll try everything to blog about them prior to July’s Top 10 selection. So I’ve climbed to the top of an observation tower, rising up above the rainforest canopy. Here I’ve found a somewhat reliable cell signal emanating from nearby village Novo Airão on the Rio Negro tributary to the Amazon river. This should work!

No usual Charitocracy check image yet, since that requires my MacBook back home. But hopefully the rainforest/river placeholder will suffice in the meantime! It might sound cliché. But this vacation has been a great opportunity for me to reflect on what truly matters. [Amazon photo now pushed down here since I've replaced it with the intended check image!]

Amazon

June 2018 winner Together We Rise

10 days ago we voted in Charitocracy's 22nd monthly winner. Congratulations to Together We Rise! You can find their web site here. Also congrats to donor SuZQ, whose personal testimony helped this cause rise quickly to #1.

Every day, 1200 kids enter foster care in the United States. We are a non-profit that changes the way they experience the system.

Together We Rise is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization comprised of motivated young adults and former foster youth. Our vision is to improve the lives of foster children in America, who often find themselves forgotten and neglected by the public. We collaborate with community partners to bring resources to foster youth and use service-learning activities to educate volunteers on issues surrounding the foster care system.

TWR works with hundreds of foster agencies, social workers, CASA advocates, and other partners to bring our programs to foster youth across the nation. Our foundation has allowed us to provide thousands of foster youth across the country with new bicycles, college supplies, and suitcases so that children do not have to travel from home to home with their belongings in a trash bag.

Check out this video about Together We Rise, and feel good about your part in our collective $1237 grant to help with their work!

Have a great July and log into Charitocracy to update your votes or nominate a new cause!