PokerDonors.com

Hey, I made a blog post a few days ago, but it didn't really get anyone coming onto the site (except twotimesopt ), so I'm trying this. Admins, lock this up tight of it's not okay, I PM'd an admin the other day, but never got a response.

http://pokerdonors.com

I sponsored two kids out of pocket to get things going, and through some friends/family, and a very generous donation from twotimesopt, we have enough to renew it next month. And with a little more help by the end of the month, enough to sponsor a third kid.

There's a FAQ to answer most of the questions, and I'll be quick to respond to any questions here. You can also see a picture of the kids we're sponsoring in the Charities section.

I update the site very often, so you'll be able to see a history of your donation within ~12 hours in the News section. If you look in the Site section, you can see some all-time numbers, and how far we are from making our quota/sponsoring an additional child for the month. You can also view who's donated the most over the past month or all-time.

I wrote/run the site myself, and I maintain it between slow-times at work, and when I have time at home. But there will rarely be an hour in the day when I won't have some kind of access to it. I've put poker playing on hold for the time-being, and I won't be playing on my PStars or FTP accounts while this thing is going.

Anyhow, anything is extremely appreciated, and don't feel pressured to match with twotimesopt's very sweet donation; $2-3 is awesome too.

Thanks much,

Cory

Some Q/A from the blog post:

Show nested quote + On August 12 2007 19:31 milkman wrote: if u want people to donate money to ur site, u need to be more clear right on the front page why and what their doing. and u need some sort of theme/images or something, i mean i could make this site with html from my head + notpad + /w a blindfold... but good idea, and good luck I definitely agree that the site could use some help graphically. But that's secondary to getting the functionality down for now.   On August 12 2007 20:08 vegable wrote: If everyone on LP ended up donating a buy-in (or half a buyin for higher stakes players) then we could end up sponsoring 100 children. That's a good deal all around Ha! That'd be nice for sure But I don't really expect that from anyone...I mean, if we can just toss a few BB's in every now and again, that'd be cool too. I would expect the average donation to be $2-3, which is way more than the average Joe is giving. The way I figure, 2 kids have already prospered from this project, and all it's cost me was a bit of time, so anything that comes out of it going forward is all extra.

Show nested quote + On August 12 2007 20:20 twotimesopt wrote: AWESOME can you get another stars account for donation purposes? it's pretty jank to have to donate to "KingKory" on stars. so you're not playing any poker while this thing goes on? weird...seems like they need not be mutually exclusive prolly not necessary to post PT stats on the site... other than that, it's cool as hell. GREAT WORK MAN! PS: you should include detailed instructions on how to donate. i know it's simple, but it'd be more user-friendly if you just stated TO DONATE: transfer funds to KingKory (Awesome City) on Stars, etc. etc. ALSO: i have done a little html/css stuff, i might be able to help with programming/creative stuff   From FAQ Section Hello, my name is Cory, or "KingKory" on PokerStars. For the duration of this endeavor, I will not be playing poker under any of the usernames listed on the 'News' page. I tried to get my "KingKory" alias changed to "PokerDonors", but apparently that's against PokerStars code. If you submit proof of any of the usernames on the 'News' page involved in a real money poker hand (while this site exists), I will ship you $100 out of my own pocket. I sent emails back-and-forth to Stars. I guess once you create a username on Stars, you agree to NEVER change your username EVER EVER AGAIN. I probably could have covertly changed my name, but I didn't want to risk it down the line. As far as playing during the project: It just seems wrong to me to play on the same account that has a bunch of donated cash. I figure I'll be busy most of the time in the next couple weeks working out some twinks anyway. - PT Stats: You think? I thought it'd be good to know that the person managing the donations was also a somewhat-serious player as well...and not a completely busto one at that. - Help: I just may have to hit you up on that CSS stuff

this is soo good and cute:D this kind of threads shows that the world has gotten as cold as i sometimes fear show the love!

I think you should make it more obvious that the money is going to charity - I couldn't tell from the main page and it took me awhile into the FAQ to confirm that this is a poker player -> charity thing.

and maybe make it display better in internet explorer, the text is cluttered all over, some of it over the other so its hard to read

But very nice idea, great work

*edit* sent a little

^ Ty

Yeah, I'll probably had a little descriptor on the frontpage. Maybe I'll copy over that italicized piece under the "Charities" link.

Man, I think it looks better in IE...I'll see if anything can be done if it's hard to see.

this is what it looks like in my browser:

What are you talking about? That looks totally awesome and edgy!

That is really bad though, I'll check it out tomorrow.

kek how can i donate a pennys

i'd be interested....

is transferring the money to your Stars account ok?

shipped 10$!

awesome idea and everyone should donate

On August 15 2007 22:21 TimDawg wrote: i'd be interested.... is transferring the money to your Stars account ok?

Yup

I also have an FTP account (on the frontpage, "PokerDonors" you can transfer to.

Ty Loco $4 away from sponsoring a 3rd kid

this pwns and i wanna be top1 donator so ill donate 36 to u on ftp

On August 16 2007 07:00 hansen jr. wrote: this pwns and i wanna be top1 donator so ill donate 36 to u on ftp

Bumps us to almost 4 kids.

On August 15 2007 20:55 Zorglub wrote: this is what it looks like in my browser: http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/26284/2000427791258980623_rs.jpg

Does it look like this for anyone else?

On August 16 2007 07:21 KingKory wrote: Show nested quote + On August 15 2007 20:55 Zorglub wrote: this is what it looks like in my browser: http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/26284/2000427791258980623_rs.jpg Does it look like this for anyone else?

It looks even worse now with more people on the list

Bah. I'm going to try to move everything into a table, instead of just floating on the page.

Give me a few hours...looks like I'm not getting much work done this morning

This is the best initiative I have ever encountered in the poker world.


Very good job sir I will surely donate.


edit: shipped

Shipped.

Emmanuel won my heart. :D

Wow...thank you SakiSaki.


Children Currently Sponsored 2
Donations[$] This Month $747.00 ~ 21.3 children

21 kids...that's amazing.

Come the end of the month, we will have 21 (or more ) entries in the "Charities" link!

And thank you too Suicide. Remember guys, a donation of $2-3 is also appreciated, so please don't be shy.

Still working on the tabling for the site, sorry if it looks like crap...I'm making progress.

You said "twinks" rather then tweaks. I just though I would point out to you that a twink is a young attractive homosexual male, it also has a connotation in WoW (which is even gayer then the other meaning, so I wont discuss that here).

Just thought I would help you out

edit here is quote

As far as playing during the project: It just seems wrong to me to play on the same account that has a bunch of donated cash. I figure I'll be busy most of the time in the next couple weeks working out some twinks anyway.

Haha, woops...ty.

great initiative! I agree that laziness is the main reason why we pokerplayers dont do this more often. i sent a little somethingsomething

hey guys

thanks to everybody who has donated, but especially KingKory for putting this shit together. this is a very significant amount of work he's doing here. this is seriously an awesome project, and like kory keeps saying, even a donation of 2-3 bucks is very much appreciated. he's made it ridiculously convenient to transfer funds, so it's really easy for anybody who plays online poker to ship him a few bucks.

make an account on UB so i can transfer some ;]

lol fucking saisaki. you baller.

TIME TO DONATE 700!

jk :D

but yea UB is my only available means for giving funds at the moment =[

Thanks Stygg That's another 2.5 kids right there!

Man, are there any ASP/HTML gurus here? I can't get these f-in tables to render correctly.

cbkprice@gmail.com is my gChat ID.

^ RE: Ultimate Bet - I'll probably add other networks after I renew/add children this month.

EDIT: And thanks for the words, twotimes.

Word, awesome idea, I love it, shipped some dough out

^ TY

So, I was thinking of maybe creating a thread on 2p2.

Do you think that would be okay with administration there? If so, which forum should I post it in?

this thread should be sticky, also would it be possible to do some of them for many months instead of just helping them one month and then not the next if theres not money enough?

On August 16 2007 13:58 Zorglub wrote: this thread should be sticky, also would it be possible to do some of them for many months instead of just helping them one month and then not the next if theres not money enough?

Well, it's $35/month to sponsor one child.

There's also an option to just donate a mass amount of money per month.

We could:

1) Just give World Vision (or some other organization) a monthly donation of what we've accumulated.

2) Sponsor as many children per month as we possibly can (current plan).

3) Sponsor a selected handful of kids, but give them triple/quadruple the normal amount per month.

--

With our current plan, we'll have to drop sponsorship if we do not meet our quota.

E.g. at the end of the month, I will sponsor an additional 25 kids (man, that sounds crazy...it's like a whole classroom). If next month we can't come up with ~$850 needed to renew our sponsorships, we'll have to cancel a few of them.

I'm open to suggestions.

Personally I would prefer to sponsor fewer kids for a longer time, maybe a year or so to start and then you would have a year to make enough money to renew the sponsorship

I have a hard time giving them money for one month and then nothing the next month

imo option 3 is best
giving a child some food for one month then stop it isnt really usefull imo (i think having a shitty life is worst when uve experienced a decent life before. i mean hes gonna be all happy then BANG no more. sucks)

if you select a few childs and truly help them out, i think its gonna make more of a difference. i dont really know shit about this stuff thought

On August 16 2007 14:29 Floofy wrote: imo option 3 is best giving a child some food for one month then stop it isnt really usefull imo (i think having a shitty life is worst when uve experienced a decent life before. i mean hes gonna be all happy then BANG no more. sucks) if you select a few childs and truly help them out, i think its gonna make more of a difference. i dont really know shit about this stuff thought

This is good...I'm as much a novice at this stuff as anyone else, tbh.

So maybe we should take the total amount we have...let's say $1k at the end of this month, and give a percentage per kid...let's say 10%.

So at the end of this month, we'll have a total of 10 kids @ $100/each.

This way, even if we come up a little short, we can still kick down a normal donation of $35 or so...or at the least not have to cancel so many sponsors.

Any other thoughts?

RE: Yearly renewals.

I'm wary of doing yearly renewals because I think people want to see their cash in action right away.

Also, we'll be able to see our results every month, instead of having to wait an entire year for updates.

I dont think option 3 is the best , no use in making them rich, its far better to just sponsor the stardart amount for a longer periode of time imo

well kory like floofy said the money is not really usefull if they can taste a normal life for one month and then its back to the shit hole and out of the school again

you could do something like, when you get 12 x 36$ you sponsor a new child for a year

i rather have a few of them live well than a bunch of them live just a little less shitty
come on what r they gonna do with 35$/month? its just enough to survive.

no read the page the 35$ is enough for food and school, I think they would rather have that secured for a longer time than beeing rich for a year and then have to quit school and no food again

This is true.

How about this:

Example: $1k of donations this month.

1. We put 20% of what we've collected each month aside ($200).

2. The remaining 80% ($800) goes toward monthly renewals/new sponsorships.

3. The 20% we spend on a generic donation to World Vision.

This way, we'll give ourselves a 20% buffer from getting in over our heads, and having to cancel sponsorships.

What do you think?

On August 16 2007 14:44 KingKory wrote: This is true. How about this: Example: $1k of donations this month. 1. We put 20% of what we've collected each month aside ($200). 2. The remaining 80% ($800) goes toward monthly renewals/new sponsorships. 3. The 20% we spend on a generic donation to World Vision. This way, we'll give ourselves a 20% buffer from getting in over our heads, and having to cancel sponsorships. What do you think?

This would be great, if the 20% went towards renewal of the the ones we have now for next year instead or something like that, at some point of the year we should stop sponsering new kids and work towards renewal of the ones we got for the next year

Zorglub

Please check the site again.

How does it look now?

On August 16 2007 14:52 KingKory wrote: Zorglub Please check the site again. How does it look now?

Much better, no more cluttered text

On August 16 2007 14:57 Zorglub wrote: Show nested quote + On August 16 2007 14:52 KingKory wrote: Zorglub Please check the site again. How does it look now? Much better, no more cluttered text

Great Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Hmm, now let's see if I can get some work done in the 2 hours I have left here

Byrnesam make a banner for the site please, would also be usefull as a banner add on other sites like this one for example (if they will allow it)

just shipped my donation to your Stars account Kory

awesome thing you got going here

Received, thanks!

How do I sign up as one of the charities?

i shipped a couple bucks..

SakiSaki should get a humanitarian icon for such a balla donation.

On August 16 2007 18:38 Suicide wrote: SakiSaki should get a humanitarian icon for such a balla donation.

On August 16 2007 17:47 bigbb33 wrote: How do I sign up as one of the charities?

You don't "sign up" for a charity per se.

I donate the money for you. All you have to do is "Request Transfer" --> send cash...I do the rest.

Currently all of the money will go to World Vision (www.worldvision.org), in support of kids who were dealt a rough hand. My plan so far is to sponsor as many children as possible at the end of the month.

On August 16 2007 18:38 Suicide wrote: SakiSaki should get a humanitarian icon for such a balla donation.

Agree 100%, I never thought anyone would donate so much.

Even the $50/$100 donations have been crazy. I honestly don't expect anyone to donate more than $2-3 at a time...we are looking at some very unique people here.

The stereotype of poker players as greedy/uncaring people has to waver after this.

any word yet on 2p2 thread, facebook group, or myspace page? i want to help promote as much as possible (while still being lazy)

i dont get why not just go to www.worldvision.org and donates
u get a nice tax breaks if u donates often

On August 16 2007 21:08 twotimesopt wrote: any word yet on 2p2 thread, facebook group, or myspace page? i want to help promote as much as possible (while still being lazy)

I created a PokerDonors myspace page.

How would you like the password?

EDIT: I'm going to post a thread on 2p2 tomorrow.

But...if anyone is a regular poster there, I'd appreciate it if you created it/posted on the thread I create. I don't have much rep on that forum at all.

On August 16 2007 21:22 newbie.cjb wrote: i dont get why not just go to www.worldvision.org and donates u get a nice tax breaks if u donates often

This is definitely possible, and I encourage it most def.

I provide a service for those who don't want to go through the hassle of cashing out, and going through all that crap.

On August 16 2007 14:41 Floofy wrote: i rather have a few of them live well than a bunch of them live just a little less shitty come on what r they gonna do with 35$/month? its just enough to survive.

yeah that's the thing, you SHOULD allow them to have a chance to develop into a capable productive human being. However, you can't give a poor person more money and expect him/her to reform their lives all of a sudden. They'll have more money but not even know the basics of mainstream society. A perfect example of how "giving" more extraneous money to the poor won't solve any problems. They're not gonna have the discipline to invest it, or use it to better their standard of living. They'll just spend it on beer or diapers instead of putting a kid through college.

On August 16 2007 20:30 KingKory wrote: Show nested quote + On August 16 2007 17:47 bigbb33 wrote: How do I sign up as one of the charities? You don't "sign up" for a charity per se. I donate the money for you. All you have to do is "Request Transfer" --> send cash...I do the rest. Currently all of the money will go to World Vision (www.worldvision.org), in support of kids who were dealt a rough hand. My plan so far is to sponsor as many children as possible at the end of the month.

Are you still doing this?? its like pissing in the pants to keep yourself warm, its not very good long term, they get a taste of normal life for one month and then its back to the shitter again, its no good in my oppinion, I would suggest you write world vision and ask them what would be the best thing to do, sponser fewer children for a longer time or many for a short time, please do that

It will only work if you get the same amount every month and I dont think that will happen or if someone else takes over when we leave the ones we started sponsering.

I also thought you might get some sort of relationship with the ones you start sponsering, you can write them mail and they will answer back, so it will be even tougher to just stop the sponsering again after a short while. Personally I would love to have some sort of update posted on here once in a while to see how the kids are doing.

"World Vision believes witnessing from Christ is a fundamental part of their relief work. The organization believes that God, in the person of Jesus, offers hope of renewal, restoration, and reconciliation. World Vision seeks to express this message through "life, deed, word, and sign".
All of its US staff are required to sign a statement affirming their belief in Jesus Christ and background checks are often made with a candidate's pastor or priest."

I too would be opposed to helping some christian fanatics...
There are lots of others to choose from:

This site is by far my favorite: " Child sponsorship admin costs
No deductions are made from the sponsors' payments for administration. We are very grateful for work done by office volunteers in our Cambridge office, which helps keep our costs low. Our administrative costs will be met by unrestricted donations and from tax we recover through Gift Aid. All sponsorship payments therefore go 100% to the charity's work for and around the sponsored child. For other details, including our response to occasional objections raised, see our Child Sponsorship FAQs. "


Here is their USA site, only 28$ a month:

http://www.sos-usa.org/cgi-bin/sos/js...jwppid=ussosuk&jwpbid=sponsorlink

"As a child sponsor, expenses such as food, clothing, school fees, medical care, and the salary of the SOS mother are subsidized by your generosity.

You will receive:
A welcome packet with your sponsor manual that provides information about the SOS village and its history, the role of the SOS mother, tips on how to correspond with your sponsored child and more.
Your sponsorship assignment that includes biographical information and a picture of your sponsored child, and information on their village and country where your child lives.
A mid-year report about your sponsored child as well as a situation report about current events in the village.
At the end of the year, you will receive a photo from your child along with a report about the village and a holiday greeting."


"What religion will my sponsored child be?
We bring up children in the prevailing religion of their country until they are old enough to make decisions themselves. If you would like to sponsor a Roman Catholic child, a Protestant child or a Hindu child for example, then we have many children available for sponsorship in countries where each is the national religion. Although many of our sponsors and people who work for us are religious and we treat religion very seriously, we do not try to introduce different religions or cultures into a region. In general we respect the local culture in its entirety: there are only a very small number of exceptions to this (we prohibit physical punishment of children even if local culture and law allows it)."





I really like this site!

On August 17 2007 03:33 b97531 wrote: "World Vision believes witnessing from Christ is a fundamental part of their relief work. The organization believes that God, in the person of Jesus, offers hope of renewal, restoration, and reconciliation. World Vision seeks to express this message through "life, deed, word, and sign". All of its US staff are required to sign a statement affirming their belief in Jesus Christ and background checks are often made with a candidate's pastor or priest."

I think that we shouldn't donate as many kids as we can this month cause it's the beginning of the site and everybody is donating and people are more generous now but next month I think we won't be able to gather that much and we'd have to drop sponsorship. IMO a steadt sponsorship is better so w should sponsor like 10 kids this month and always leave some monies left for the next month just in case.

Oh and Saki is ultra baller. Congrats

Oh and I just read the part about worldvision being christian fanatics so I'd be also in favour of going for some other site if it's possible.

KingKory please write to sos-usa and ask if its better to sponsor say 3-4-5 children for a year or many more for just one month, I would hope we would settle for less children for a longer period, we also might get to know a little about the kids we are helping that way.

If we do this I will help you with writing to the kids, and put letters/updates on your site, and help you making the site look better if you want it

And Byrnesam or someone else who knows photoshop, please make a banner for KingKory's site

^ Hey everyone.

Just woke up. I'm going to enter in today's donations, then head to work. I'll read over everyone's thoughts, and reply here in a couple hours.

$62 already this morning!

Well, I made a thread on 2p2 (Other Other Topics forum)...I imagine I'm going to get flamed pretty good though :/

nice donation saki!

On August 17 2007 07:45 nicksson wrote: nice donation saki!

missclick


I'll put some money on my stars account and donate.

On August 17 2007 07:45 nicksson wrote: nice donation saki!

2p2 thread got locked

why?!

Sorry for not updating sooner; I've had a morning full of meetings.

I'll try to address everyone's concerns here.

On August 17 2007 04:12 Loco wrote: Show nested quote + On August 17 2007 03:33 b97531 wrote: "World Vision believes witnessing from Christ is a fundamental part of their relief work. The organization believes that God, in the person of Jesus, offers hope of renewal, restoration, and reconciliation. World Vision seeks to express this message through "life, deed, word, and sign". All of its US staff are required to sign a statement affirming their belief in Jesus Christ and background checks are often made with a candidate's pastor or priest."

Yes, I am also wary of donating money to an organization like this. However, if a kid who was born with zero hope grows up to be a pastor, or some sort of church teacher instead of starving to death, or joining some street gang, I think I'm okay with that.

But I'll research the site Zorglub posted. I'll be honest with you, though, I have extreme doubts in donating money to an organization I've never heard of before.

If we are going to look away from World Vision, it would need to be a very accredited charity, that comes highly recommended. At least with these guys, you know the kids will be fed/clothed...even if they are made to read the bible.

On August 17 2007 06:04 SneakrFreakr wrote: I think that we shouldn't donate as many kids as we can this month cause it's the beginning of the site and everybody is donating and people are more generous now but next month I think we won't be able to gather that much and we'd have to drop sponsorship. IMO a steadt sponsorship is better so w should sponsor like 10 kids this month and always leave some monies left for the next month just in case.

Yes, I agree here for sure.

We still have a couple weeks here to come up with a solid decision for the donations, but rest assured that I will not be spending the entire month's donations on sponsoring a small army of kids, only to drop them next month when we get 1/3 the donations.

LP 1
2+2 0

come on 2+2 wtf

The only two questionable things I have found with the SOS site is that its only the UK site which actually pays 100% for the kids, the US site takes 10% in administration.

The other thing which really isnt that questionable in my ears is that the money doesnt exactly go to "the" kid but it goes to a village made for children where a number of "mamas" takes care of ten kids each and they provide everything they need for the money including food, education, healthcare etc. You will however get a certain kid assigned to you.

If you donate money other than the regular 28$ they will be set aside for the specific kid though and they will have it once they leave the village when they are grown up.

And btw. its a very reputable site, I have heard about it many times and it has branches around the world, even here in Denmark. And it has no religious fanatics or agendas.

Wow, a lot of donations so far.
The current method you are going with, where you sponsor as many kids as possible, is good but I have to agree with Floofy. Nothing worst than danging money in front of kids for a month, then cutting it off.
Why don't you take your monthly donations and set up a group of kids (dunno how many, its dependant on amount of donations) up for 4-6 months.
It'd still technically be a month to month thing, but these kids would have the gauranteed funds for 4-6 months.

eg. You get 1000$ in donations.
Its 35$ for 1 child per month.
35 * 6 = 210$ per child for 6 months.
1000 / 210 = 4.7ish.
Thus, you do a month to month sponsorship of 4 kids for 6 months.
Next month you do the same thing but for a new batch of kids.
Setting them up for 6 months (on a month to month basis) would be great.
Then when the 6th month comes to an end, you can renew it with new sponsorship using the months donations.

whatever, lets just donate to kingkorys site?

^ Yeah, this is the main point

I am all for opening discussion for the allocation of the donations, but the whole purpose is for players to not have to worry about that. I'd rather not fill this thread with worries over the final destination of the donations.

For those of you who are generally concerned about how the donations are being spent (and a lot of you here had some good ideas), I made a tiny forum on the website to talk about such things. In the "Charity Discussion" forum, feel free to post any thoughts about how you think the money should be spent. You'll also find my current plan for the donations.

On August 17 2007 15:39 nicksson wrote: whatever, lets just donate to kingkorys site!!

It wouldnt be a good idea to sponsor as many childs as you can right now, because you might not get the same amount donated every month.

I think being consistent every month would be the best. Set a realistic number amount of children for example 5. So the goal would be to come up with 175 every month, which is a realistic amount. if after a couple months you see that way more than 175 is flowing every month you could calculate how many more children could be added

for the rest of the money, a percent should be saved up in case that next month you need it, the rest you should go as a one time donation.

Just donated -_- I'll sleep well tonight.

bomp

When we had the donations debate here, the thread was bumped too and the actual donors could debate, I doubt people are gonna register at a new forum only to debate this.

Moving the debate only makes this thread die and donations dissapear since this is the only advertising you got by now

*BUMP*

Tell your friends!

On August 18 2007 11:02 Zorglub wrote: When we had the donations debate here, the thread was bumped too and the actual donors could debate, I doubt people are gonna register at a new forum only to debate this. Moving the debate only makes this thread die and donations dissapear since this is the only advertising you got by now

Okay, fair enough.

I'm going to be spending the donations in two weeks. Here's me current plan for the donations.

Building a backup "treasury" from month-to-month would be very effective, but I'm wary of the thought of sitting on a bunch of donations every month.

Also, any advice on how best to spread the word of the site would be appreciated.

Thanks.

still the christian fanatics... why not the SOS site? what was negative about them? it was also only 28$ per child = more kids helped

In fact I think giving it to christian fanatics might scare some donors away.

And to spread the word: make the site look better, have a banner made (byrnesam?), ask people if you can get a small banner add on their sites for free, that would be the cheapest way, and make the purpose of the page first thing you see when you come to the site, perhaps ask pokerstars and other big sites if they can mention you in the news, or their homepage or somewhere

I wish some other donors would say what they think....

On August 19 2007 11:09 Zorglub wrote: still the christian fanatics... why not the SOS site? what was negative about them? it was also only 28$ per child = more kids helped In fact I think giving it to christian fanatics might scare some donors away. And to spread the word: make the site look better, have a banner made (byrnesam?), ask people if you can get a small banner add on their sites for free, that would be the cheapest way, and make the purpose of the page first thing you see when you come to the site, perhaps ask pokerstars and other big sites if they can mention you in the news, or their homepage or somewhere

Yeah, I won't be donating to the christian fanatics. Especially if they're taking a % of the money out for themselves.

Why not a making a poll here so donors could choose democraticly where the money is going to ?

On August 19 2007 14:55 Graisseux wrote: Why not a making a poll here so donors could choose democraticly where the money is going to ?

makes too much sense for us to do that

......is there any way we can make sure our money is going to charity and not being pocketed?!?!?!?!?

*UPDATE*

I've traded some emails back-and-forth to SOS-USA, and I like what I've heard so far.

I've received some feedback via MSN, and this thread, and I think we're going to move away from World Vision for a few reasons:

1. It's a religious affiliation. And although I'm not altogether against a religiously driven charity, I want to be connected with completely unbiased charities whose sole goal is to help kids.

2. World Vision takes a percentage of each donation for administration fees; as far as I've read, SOS-USA does not. EDIT: The SOS UK site does not take an administration fee; the SOS USA site does

3. SOS-USA allows for "Annual Sponsorships", where you sponsor a child for an entire year. I think this may a step in the right direction for us.

Please post any concerns you have regarding SOS-USA here.

Thanks again for the input everyone, and THANK YOU PINK RANGER for our first donation in 2 days B-)

once again, great job Kory

On August 19 2007 17:21 MrArsenal24 wrote: ......is there any way we can make sure our money is going to charity and not being pocketed?!?!?!?!?

You can't, exactly.

Once I make this month's donations, I will post screenshots/RL pictures of receipts + any information they provide me with. The only thing I can do at this point is promise you all that I have zero intention of robbing anyone.

My MSN is cbkprice (at) hotmail (dot) com. I'm always more than happy to chat with anyone who has questions regarding the site.

Thanks again,

Cory

As far as I could understand, the only negative thing about SOS is that the US site takes 10% in administration fees (to pay for accountant, administration jobs etc.), where as the UK site doesnt do this because they rely on volunteer workers, but then again the US site costs 28$ per child and the UK site 20£ per child which is a bit more.

And maybe it will be too much of a hassle for Kory to exchange the $ to £ and we will lose a little there too. But even with the 10% for administration I think SOS - USA is far better than worldvision (which also took part of it for administration)

How do you make a poll?

^
ask floofy

i agree with zorglub 100%

http://charitynavigator.org/

This site was recommended to me by a friend of mine who works at the Boys 'N Girls club.

Pretty interesting.

I made a small change to the Charities page. This setup will allow me to show non-child sponsorship donations if we should decide to go that route.

Also, clicking on the link in the "Charity Description" column will bring you to a forum topic displaying images/screenshots of the specific donation.

Poll: Your opinion about PokerDonnors.com
(Vote): Go with SOS USA
(Vote): Go with world vision
(Vote): Kory obvious scammer
(Vote): dunno but Talentedtom own

damn i need more than one vote, go with SOS usa would be my choice

dumb poll floofy..

SOS USA FTW

On August 20 2007 11:45 Floofy wrote: Go with SOS USA Go with world vision Kory obvious scammer dunno but Talentedtom own

I'm actually surprised that the votes for this option is so low, to be honest.

Once again, I can only deny this accusation, and hopefully when I post proof of my submittals at the end of this month, more people will come around.

SOS-USA's breakdown: http://charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/8016.htm

According to this site, 28% of donations go toward administration/fund raising. I've sent mail to SOS-USA asking for a breakdown...no response yet.

Still, with the end of the month fast-approaching, and a decision needing to be made, we are most likely going with SOS-USA's annual sponsorship program.

Heather Paul CEO of SOS-USA
Compensation: $110,865



This is why I never ever donate ANYTHING to institutes basically.
I know this is all in good cause. But I suggest u all stop spewing money to whores who spend most of their time drawing jesus fish on mini-vans.

well 110k is not really a lot of money for a CEO of a big company, if you want people with skills you have to pay something

On August 20 2007 13:40 Zorglub wrote: well 110k is not really a lot of money for a CEO of a big company, if you want people with skills you have to pay something

Its supposed to be CHARITY not a money making corporation. I understand if someone is willing to devote his life into this so he/she has to make his living on this money on the way. BUT no one needs a 6digit salary to live. And thats only the salary of the CEO. There are lotta other people who make lotta money on your donation. Im also %100 sure everyone here knows people who need money for whatever reason. And Im sure they are WAY more in need of some $$ than the CEO of a charity is in need of a 100k salary.

Also Im %100 sure that most of the people who do the low level dirty jobs in theese companies are volunteers.

My girlfriend has been on the administrative side of the charity biz and I know they are HUGE Rip-offs just like churches.

^ Well, yeah there are bad apples everywhere.

But since we can't fly down to Uganda, and personally hand a ham & cheese sandwich to the kids, it's a risk we've got to take. We can be assured that some money will reach these children, and we can hang our hats on that. They will be better off than they were before...whether or not part of our money is going toward a CEO's salary.

On August 20 2007 14:06 KingKory wrote: ^ Well, yeah there are bad apples everywhere. But since we can't fly down to Uganda, and personally hand a ham & cheese sandwich to the kids, it's a risk we've got to take. We can be assured that some money will reach these children, and we can hang our hats on that. They will be better off than they were before...whether or not part of our money is going toward a CEO's salary.

You dont have to fly to Uganda to find someone in need.

On August 20 2007 14:11 capaneo wrote: You dont have to fly to Uganda to find someone in need.

This is true.

And I'm glad you're donning the mantle of unwavering altruist this afternoon -- you bring up a good point.

However, the slope you're on is a slippery one.

How would you go about finding someone in need?

Give $5 to a homeless guy?

Naw, he'll probably use it for crack.

Toss a few bucks to the homeless shelters!

Negative -- read: your post.

Buy a turkey for a family you know is in need?

This is probably your best bet. But if you're online now, with a PC, an internet connection, and a full belly, chances are you and the people you know are in the upper echelon of the world's class ladder. Even still, this is definitely as close to pure charity as you can get.

Add all of this to the fact that the companies are providing a service to those of us whose sense of philanthropy are not as impassioned as yours, and we come to questioning the entire theory behind organized charities.

Yes, it's true -- right now I can step outside, take a cab across the train tracks, visit project #201, find myself a single mom (who is not addicted to methamphetamines), and buy her a month's supply of diapers. The chances of me actually doing this? Very close to zero. This is why a service exists.


EDIT: I don't want to sound like I think organized charities are the best thing since sliced bread...I'm just saying that it's what we've got to work with right now.

On August 20 2007 12:42 Loco wrote: dumb poll floofy..

my poll was basicelly asking wether to go with SOS usa or world vision but i added 2 trap option to filter out idiots/people with no clue

On August 20 2007 14:54 KingKory wrote: Show nested quote + On August 20 2007 14:11 capaneo wrote: You dont have to fly to Uganda to find someone in need. This is true. And I'm glad you're donning the mantle of unwavering altruist this afternoon -- you bring up a good point. However, the slope you're on is a slippery one. How would you go about finding someone in need? Give $5 to a homeless guy? Naw, he'll probably use it for crack. Toss a few bucks to the homeless shelters! Negative -- read: your post. Buy a turkey for a family you know is in need? This is probably your best bet. But if you're online now, with a PC, an internet connection, and a full belly, chances are you and the people you know are in the upper echelon of the world's class ladder. Even still, this is definitely as close to pure charity as you can get. Add all of this to the fact that the companies are providing a service to those of us whose sense of philanthropy are not as impassioned as yours, and we come to questioning the entire theory behind organized charities. Yes, it's true -- right now I can step outside, take a cab across the train tracks, visit project #201, find myself a single mom (who is not addicted to methamphetamines), and buy her a month's supply of diapers. The chances of me actually doing this? Very close to zero. This is why a service exists. EDIT: I don't want to sound like I think organized charities are the best thing since sliced bread...I'm just saying that it's what we've got to work with right now.

There's also the fact that 1 dollar sent to africa is worth much more than 1 dollar here, I guess.

On August 20 2007 14:54 KingKory wrote: Show nested quote + On August 20 2007 14:11 capaneo wrote: You dont have to fly to Uganda to find someone in need. This is true. And I'm glad you're donning the mantle of unwavering altruist this afternoon -- you bring up a good point. However, the slope you're on is a slippery one. How would you go about finding someone in need? Give $5 to a homeless guy? Naw, he'll probably use it for crack. Toss a few bucks to the homeless shelters! Negative -- read: your post. Buy a turkey for a family you know is in need? This is probably your best bet. But if you're online now, with a PC, an internet connection, and a full belly, chances are you and the people you know are in the upper echelon of the world's class ladder. Even still, this is definitely as close to pure charity as you can get. Add all of this to the fact that the companies are providing a service to those of us whose sense of philanthropy are not as impassioned as yours, and we come to questioning the entire theory behind organized charities. Yes, it's true -- right now I can step outside, take a cab across the train tracks, visit project #201, find myself a single mom (who is not addicted to methamphetamines), and buy her a month's supply of diapers. The chances of me actually doing this? Very close to zero. This is why a service exists. EDIT: I don't want to sound like I think organized charities are the best thing since sliced bread...I'm just saying that it's what we've got to work with right now.

well I disagree. All Im sayin is that u don't have to find someone who is dyin in need of some $$$. Like I know a family member [a single mom with 2 girls]. They have their own house and car and stuff but I know they can always need some $$$ in their life. The people who u are helping doesn't need to be dying from hunger. When a teenage girl wants a toy from a store thats $100 but the family can't afford it cause "they can save the $$ for better stuff" I think helping them is ALOT better than giving some money to some american organization who is tryin to fill their own pocket WHILE helping poors.

Again I agree that they have to make a living too. Like ur site I know u take %1 and its a small money for the service u provide. I know if u wanna manage $500k a year maybe u have to devote ur full time into this thing thats why u need 50k a year. But will u still take %1 if u get around $100mil of donation a year? Whats the excuse then? You don't need to drive in a Mercedes cause u r a CEO of a company. You don't NEED 100k a year to live unless u want luxury in ur life. And if u want ANY luxury in ur life please stop sayin stuff u don't belive in about people dying in africa.

On August 20 2007 19:30 capaneo wrote: But will u still take %1 if u get around $100mil of donation a year?

I will not be taking more than $5,000/month; no matter how many donations we receive. I probably should add that to the FAQ...I just honestly don't think we'll ever get close to that point ($500,000 donations in one month). I'll definitely add that note in my next build.

On August 20 2007 19:30 capaneo wrote: I know if u wanna manage $500k a year maybe u have to devote ur full time into this thing thats why u need 50k a year.

$500,000 x .01 = $5,000

We'd need well over $5,000,000/year for me to consider making this a full-time job Which isn't really my intentions at all.

POKERDONORS.COM BANNER CONTEST

- I will be taking $15 of the donations this month for site/domain hosting costs.

- My salary so far this month is a whopping $13.

- I am going to forfeit my salary in lieu of paying for a nice banner for the site.

Height = 70-80px.

Width = 450-750px

Colors = I'll leave this to you. I want to keep it to 2-3 colors at the most.

Motto = "Take a little, give a little" If you can find room for it somewhere on the banner, that would be awesome.

Misc = It doesn't need to be super extravagant. As long as the "PokerDonors.Com" is easy to read.

Prize = $15 shipped via PayPal, PokerStars, or FTP.

Shipped! If I win this 100$ rebuy I'll PWN saki's donation. EDIT: Im starting off well
Submitted by : PlayingNaked

PokerStars Game #11611761128: Tournament #58539969, $100+$9 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/08/21 - 14:06:15 (ET)
Table '58539969 2' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: Bjolle (3210 in chips)
Seat 2: copi (2790 in chips)
Seat 3: brett h (2970 in chips)
Seat 4: Hugobass (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: Stimpy444 (2970 in chips)
Seat 6: PROSTOZIDAR (1470 in chips)
Seat 7: Nicolai (1730 in chips)
Seat 8: PlayingN4ked (1860 in chips)
Seat 9: sylvyu (1000 in chips)
Bjolle: posts small blind 10
copi: posts big blind 20

Holecards(Odds)
Dealt to PlayingN4ked
brett h: folds
Hugobass: folds
Stimpy444: folds
PROSTOZIDAR: folds
Nicolai: folds
PlayingN4ked : raises 40 to 60
sylvyu: raises 40 to 100
Bjolle: calls 90
copi: folds
PlayingN4ked : calls 40

Flop(Odds) (Pot : $320.00)

   
Bjolle: checks
PlayingN4ked : checks
sylvyu: bets 460
Bjolle: folds
PlayingN4ked : raises 460 to 920
sylvyu: calls 440 and is all-in

Turn(Odds) (Pot : $2,120.00)

   

River (Pot : $2,120.00)

   

Showdown
PlayingN4ked : shows (a pair of Kings)
sylvyu: shows (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
sylvyu collected 2120 from pot

Summary
Total pot 2120 | Rake 0
Board  
Seat 1: Bjolle (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: copi (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: brett h folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Hugobass folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Stimpy444 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: PROSTOZIDAR folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Nicolai folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: PlayingN4ked showed and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 9: sylvyu (button) showed and won (2120) with two pair, Aces and Sixes

All Im sayin is that u shouldn't spew ur money to some sterilized broad who spends most of her time drawing jesus fish on mini-vans.

Ty PlayingNaked

On August 21 2007 08:11 KingKory wrote: POKERDONORS.COM BANNER CONTEST - I will be taking $15 of the donations this month for site/domain hosting costs. - My salary so far this month is a whopping $13. - I am going to forfeit my salary in lieu of paying for a nice banner for the site. Height = 70-80px. Width = 450-750px Colors = I'll leave this to you. I want to keep it to 2-3 colors at the most. Motto = "Take a little, give a little" If you can find room for it somewhere on the banner, that would be awesome. Misc = It doesn't need to be super extravagant. As long as the "PokerDonors.Com" is easy to read. Prize = $15 shipped via PayPal, PokerStars, or FTP.

No takers on the banner?!

Um, maybe this has been suggested, but what about donating the money to the Red Cross or something similar? I know it's not exactly the same type of organization, but I'm pretty sure that nobody is getting rich from their donations, and this might inspire more people to donate. Also, they have a reputation for being one of the most helpful charities out there.

On August 22 2007 10:37 twotimesopt wrote: Um, maybe this has been suggested, but what about donating the money to the Red Cross or something similar? I know it's not exactly the same type of organization, but I'm pretty sure that nobody is getting rich from their donations, and this might inspire more people to donate. Also, they have a reputation for being one of the most helpful charities out there.

Hey twotimesopt,

The American Red Cross takes 12-15% per donation for administration/fund raising efforts. capaneo was correct in that 99% of organized charities (especially big ones) will take a cut. And you can be sure that if money is being made, there's someone sitting at the top getting fat off it; if it's not a jesus fish-drawing sterilized broad, it's someone else making way too much money. But we can also be sure that most of our money is going to a great cause.

However, with time running short, and very few actual suggestions being made to me (I think you're the only other person to suggest a charity besides Zorglub), we are going to run with SOS-USA this month.

This can always change next month, of course.

*SITE UPDATES* http://pokerdonors.com

* I've made changes to the Donation Agenda. All references to World Vision have been removed from the site (except for the two children I sponsored at the beginning of the month).

* The FAQ section has been prettied up a bit.

Great I like the new donation agenda a lot, I think you should save some money for renewal next year though or maybe you hope to get enough throughout the year for renewal? anyway this is far better than worldvision.

It is only the administration expenses I have a slight problem with (and every charity has those), as a charity I guess it would be suicide not to use anything on fundraising. It would be like cashing out your whole bankroll every end of the month and starting over.

As I see this a small percentage of our money goes to fundraising where they will generate even more money to help even more kids, as a pokerplayer I have no problem with that, it only means our money will eventually help even more kids.

And SOS helps orphans with no where else to go, these kids would probably die without the help as they live in very poor countries. SOS provides them with a "family" and helps them get an education, food, clothing, medical care, and a hope in life, money very well spent imo

In fact after reading this I will donate a little more once I get money on pokerstars again.

On August 22 2007 11:02 KingKory wrote: Show nested quote + On August 22 2007 10:37 twotimesopt wrote: Um, maybe this has been suggested, but what about donating the money to the Red Cross or something similar? I know it's not exactly the same type of organization, but I'm pretty sure that nobody is getting rich from their donations, and this might inspire more people to donate. Also, they have a reputation for being one of the most helpful charities out there. Hey twotimesopt, The American Red Cross takes 12-15% per donation for administration/fund raising efforts. capaneo was correct in that 99% of organized charities (especially big ones) will take a cut. And you can be sure that if money is being made, there's someone sitting at the top getting fat off it; if it's not a jesus fish-drawing sterilized broad, it's someone else making way too much money. But we can also be sure that most of our money is going to a great cause. However, with time running short, and very few actual suggestions being made to me (I think you're the only other person to suggest a charity besides Zorglub), we are going to run with SOS-USA this month. This can always change next month, of course.

cool, thanks for the info. you seem very knowledgable, so i trust your decision on which charity to use

^ Ty

I want to be sure that during this charity debate, we're not losing focus on the really cool thing that's going to happen at the end of the month. We've pooled $1,400 from some of the most greedy, and self-centered group of people on the internet, and the vast majority of that money is going to help kids who were born with zero chance in life.

If we continue being successful in the next couple months, I imagine we'll find a charity that perfectly suits what we're looking for. The longer the site stays running, and donations come in, the more research me (and other donators) will do, the more effective our efforts and money will be.

SITE UPDATE

I will be requesting a cashout from PStars and FTP when I get home from work tonight. We've also received a PayPal donation, so I'll be transferring that over as well. Very exciting.

I've created MySpace and Facebook accounts for PokerDonors.com.

MySpace: http://myspace.com/pokerdonors
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635676842

Add PokerDonors as your friend ASAP!

BUMP

It's been a few days since the last donation, but just a reminder that I'll be submitting this month's donations to SOS-USA at the end of the week, and to keep your eyes out for it!

Also, add PokerDonors.com as your MySpace/Facebook friend! GOGO

This Concept Rocks. Good Job Sir.

On August 24 2007 11:23 KingKory wrote: SITE UPDATE I will be requesting a cashout from PStars and FTP when I get home from work tonight. We've also received a PayPal donation, so I'll be transferring that over as well. Very exciting. I've created MySpace and Facebook accounts for PokerDonors.com. MySpace: http://myspace.com/pokerdonors Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635676842 Add PokerDonors as your friend ASAP!

sent friend requests. will do my best to advertise as much as possible via my local cardroom's myspace, etc.

up

On August 29 2007 02:07 twotimesopt wrote: sent friend requests. will do my best to advertise as much as possible via my local cardroom's myspace, etc.

Awesome, ty. I've been lax this past weekend, but will try work on advertising this week.

Ty tokeweed and MiPwnYa Broke our little dryspell there.

UPDATE:

August Donations

So, I tested the SOS-USA, and subscribed to an annual sponsorship.

1. It never told me exactly how much I was being charged.

2. I wasn't given a login name or anything, so I can't track all of the donations we've made.

3. All I received was the ambiguous email below, saying that I'd receive a package in the mail in 5-7 days with information regarding our sponsorship...



Plan:

Before I make anymore sponsorships, I want to have a look at this package, and see how much they actually put on my card.

I'll keep everyone updated.

On September 01 2007 08:02 KingKory wrote: UPDATE: August Donations So, I tested the SOS-USA, and subscribed to an annual sponsorship. 1. It never told me exactly how much I was being charged. 2. I wasn't given a login name or anything, so I can't track all of the donations we've made. 3. All I received was the ambiguous email below, saying that I'd receive a package in the mail in 5-7 days with information regarding our sponsorship... Plan: Before I make anymore sponsorships, I want to have a look at this package, and see how much they actually put on my card. I'll keep everyone updated.

UPDATE

http://pokerdonors.com

Okay, it's been ~3 weeks now, and the following things have happened:

1. My emails/calls to SOS-USA have gone unanswered.
2. The donation I sent to SOS-USA has not reached my credit card account.
3. I have not received the "package" mentioned above.
4. The 2 children I originally sponsored through World Vision automatically renewed for a total of $70. Although I said I would no longer affiliate the site with World Vision, I don't really have the heart to cancel these two kids.

I've been back East for the past ~1.5 weeks, but I'm going to spend the next couple days researching a new organization to donate to. We have ~1.5k left to give, and I want to get it out of the door as soon as possible.

The charity must make it a point to supply ample tracking/proof of donation.

EDIT: And a HUGE thank you to SakiSaki for another gracious donation!!

UPDATE

http://pokerdonors.com

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for the time between updates. September was pretty busy for me.

GOOD NEWS

The package for our annual donation to SOS-USA arrived (Champa Sandareka Denagamage) the ~26th or so. I was away for the better part of the end of the month, so I was unable to make this update.

So, I make the donation on the 1st, the letter is dated for the 18th, and the package actually arrived on the 26th.

Not the promptest delivery ever, but I'm excited about the picture, and information that was sent.

I'm going to go ahead, and submit annual sponsorship for 4 more children @ $336/each. I'll update you when their information arrives!

Thanks again everyone! This is all of your efforts at work!

Good news, heard a lot good stuff about SOS childrens villages here so im glad it worked out.

Maybe save a little $ for birthday/christmas gifts?

good work kory

Are these sons of bitches still alive?

Edit: Epic bump btw

wheres kory!!

site is down