7.8 Earthquake strikes Nepal, over 10,000 feared dead. Support NikeTalk's relief drive to receive a

Earlier today, the fundraiser page wasn't properly updating to show new contributions, so I didn't want to put this front and center before it was ready.

I was also hoping that we could get the three badge progression nailed down so a post containing the full fundraiser details could be featured on the front page.  If we still don't have that in place by tonight, I'll feature this thread anyway just to ensure that we're able to strike while the iron is hot.  

Thanks to those who've contributed thus far.  The timing on this is tricky, because we just made a big contribution that we'll be announcing soon, but we'll figure out a way to match at least the first $5,000 in donations to our group fundraising page - so that's another great reason to give.  

Please remember to include your account name in the comments section when you donate!  Otherwise, I can't award your badge. 

 

For our first tier badge, we could use something that would fit comfortably with these:

If you know any fellow NT members (or anyone, really) who could help us out with this, now is the time to get them on board.

These badges have been a strong incentive for previous fundraisers, and we'll need them this time around if we're to reach our initial goal.  

 

There are organizations that review and audit nonprofits.  Mercy Corps fares quite well when it comes to efficiency.  83.7% of all contributions go straight to program expenses.  Less than five percent is spent on fundraising activities.  

When we initially chose them for our Japan fundraiser, we were impressed with the way they worked with local organizations (like Peace Winds Japan) rather than spend money shipping Westerners in at a time when lodging, food, and water were in short supply.  Such a strategy wouldn't produce the sort of "boots on the ground" publicity photos that give the appearance of action.  Rather, the focus was on delivering assistance as efficiently as possible.

They stack up pretty well to other organizations, and they have their own on-site online fundraising tools, which should be more efficient than the third party systems utilized by other groups.  

I believe they're a solid choice, but if you prefer to contribute elsewhere that's certainly your prerogative.  I would, however, encourage people to ACT rather than paralyze themselves with cynicism or indecision.  If you're down two points in the final seconds of a basketball game, and you can't decide what play will give you the best chance to win, the absolute worst thing you can do is allow the clock to expire.  

Paypal donations will of course be accepted by the organization, but they're submitted via a separate page and don't count towards our group fundraiser.  

If you want the contribution to count towards our fundraiser and be eligible for a badge, please use the standard credit card payment. 

Agreed.  We need one more badge for either the mid or elite tier, and they should be optimized to fit in 108x75 and, ideally, should be formatted and color optimized to minimize artifacting.  

Thanks once again to everyone who's contributed thus far.  I'm still waiting to hear back re: the library we sponsored in Nepal in 2009, but so long as we get the badges in order we'll feature this prominently on the front page and start to build momentum once the badges have been deployed.  They really do reach across the entire site and give people an extra incentive to join us in our collective effort.  Thanks to nawzlew and zephyr for their willingness to assist on this front.  Hopefully they won't be the only ones to lend their talent to the cause.