FINALLY, I'm following up - (edit: final update)

[daredtowork]

16. KnR

But I think you have to do a couple things because of turnover at DU.

1) Create transparency mechanisms about how the money is used. The main problem with giving to organizations rather than directly to individuals is over time the money tends to get sucked into overhead, and even advertisement, rather than the people it purports to help. The more transparent the use of the money is, the more confident people will feel about giving.

2) IMHO, it's a mistake to keep mentioning the handpicked people you have ready to hire. In your mind it probably sounds like you've vetted them, but from the outside it sounds like you just got to pick some people to receive this money. I assume you will be soliciting money from new people coming to DU, and there will be new people showing up who are in need (especially in that SSI/SSDI gap category). IMHO, you should make your criteria for hiring public, and make that an open ongoing process so there will be future opportunities.

That said, I think it would be awesome to have some way to process/vet people who are driven to "ask the Internet" for help. It would also be great to spare those people a lot of trolling they tend to get here.

One more thing - make sure the people who ask for money understand the circumstances and terms under which they already receive any government support - because sending them tax-reported money might actually put them through a lot of hell. Click my sig to see what happened when I tried to do little work for basic necessities.