Year 1 - What2do.Live
Donation protected
Talk about what the support will mean to you
My entire life I have seem to be drawn to helping people. In grade school, those with special needs were drawn to me, they felt comfortable around me. In High School, I spent a lot of time volunteering for a local fair along with working with the elderly and those in my neighborhood. I applied and attended the US Coast Guard Academy for around 18 months, a military organization whose primary focus is helping people. I spent my 20’s fairly nomadic, and everywhere I ended up, there was a friend I made that was drawn to me for some kind of help. I then began to find out that my natural talent with technology could keep me in the ‘helping’ business for eternity, running IT support for a variety of organizations. I’ve worked for companies that provide health care products, health care technologies, and my recent work was as the IT Manager for Virgin Pulse, which is in the business of employee wellbeing.
That whole of my life has seemed to build towards this idea, the idea of trying to help. All the struggles, all the learning, all the successes…It isn’t just wanting to help, to really make a difference, it needs to be simple and fill a need, both of which this idea has. It is inexpensive to get started and I have the technical know-how to at least get a proof of concept running and have the confidence and experience to cold call and basically just walk in the front door of current charities and volunteer organizations to talk with them about the idea. My life has been the training for this one particular project.
Every experience I’ve had up to this point in my life has prepared me to get this off the ground to make a difference. The rest of the world is benefiting from intelligent technology professionals optimizing business processes, strategies and exposing some of the highest productivity and profit rates the world has seen, why can’t we get some of that mojo over to the charities and volunteer organizations? I want to help bring them to a golden era, not of money, but of volunteers!
What is the project/idea?
It is remarkably simple, match people’s free time with volunteer opportunities. For more thorough information, please visit https://what2do.live/ where I am maintaining a blog with some more information on the project. Don’t worry, no ads at all, that is one of the tenants of this project.
Describe who will benefit
This will benefit me, my family and my local community with the hopes that the eventual product will benefit thousands. That is a lofty goal, but I am confident that with a solid first year of getting the actual project set up, tested, and actively being used by local charity and volunteer organizations, we can have a self-sustaining solution that all of the generous gofundme’ers help get off the ground.
Detail what the funds will be used for
This will allow me to work on this project full time and pay for those first year business costs, such as lawyer fees, travel expenses, hosting costs, professional services, etc.
Explain how soon you need the funds
I do not need all the funds right away but I’m leaving myself 30 days to see if this is something I can fully devote my time to. Many of the expenses can have the payment pooled, and the sooner I can get the funds, the faster I can move in certain areas of the project, such as gaining access to a lawyer. I left my job at Virgin Pulse due to the commute length, so I am currently living off my savings, which is just about exhausted and I recently cashed in the little that I have in my 401k to get by until either this takes off or I find other gainful employment.
However, a lot of the limiting factor right now with the project is funds related. I need to support me and my family first, I can’t help others if I’m not in a position to be of help, and that is why there is a 30 day window.
If this happens to provide me with a windfall or substantial amount more than what I’ve requested for that first year, that money will go to expedite the formation of the business in all its’ glory. I can start hiring part-time contract work or even forming the full-time team. I have a bunch of resources that have already shown an interest. Establishing a workplace, and moving onto the larger idea would all be on the table to move forward with.
In the coming weeks, as funds become available, I’ll file the LLC business paperwork. That part isn’t too expensive, but I need to wait a tad while the 401k monies come in first.
Share how grateful you will be for help
How grateful will I be…I really don’t know if I can find the words. It is one thing to do something in your own personal circle, a few people get involved, and you win some and you lose some, small. The prospect of opening myself up is frightening, so it isn’t even just about the idea itself that I will be grateful for, but grateful that there are others that feel the same as I do, grateful that I can take what I’ve learned in the last 39 years of life and finally be ready to focus it towards something I was meant to do, grateful that finally we can apply the benefits of the tech industry to a grass roots project that can directly impact the volunteer and charity community with more than just dollars, but people. I would be eternally grateful.
If you would like to learn a little about me as an individual, feel free to look at my LinkedIn or Facebook Profiles. I'm also on Twitter, @jimmyandrews78
My entire life I have seem to be drawn to helping people. In grade school, those with special needs were drawn to me, they felt comfortable around me. In High School, I spent a lot of time volunteering for a local fair along with working with the elderly and those in my neighborhood. I applied and attended the US Coast Guard Academy for around 18 months, a military organization whose primary focus is helping people. I spent my 20’s fairly nomadic, and everywhere I ended up, there was a friend I made that was drawn to me for some kind of help. I then began to find out that my natural talent with technology could keep me in the ‘helping’ business for eternity, running IT support for a variety of organizations. I’ve worked for companies that provide health care products, health care technologies, and my recent work was as the IT Manager for Virgin Pulse, which is in the business of employee wellbeing.
That whole of my life has seemed to build towards this idea, the idea of trying to help. All the struggles, all the learning, all the successes…It isn’t just wanting to help, to really make a difference, it needs to be simple and fill a need, both of which this idea has. It is inexpensive to get started and I have the technical know-how to at least get a proof of concept running and have the confidence and experience to cold call and basically just walk in the front door of current charities and volunteer organizations to talk with them about the idea. My life has been the training for this one particular project.
Every experience I’ve had up to this point in my life has prepared me to get this off the ground to make a difference. The rest of the world is benefiting from intelligent technology professionals optimizing business processes, strategies and exposing some of the highest productivity and profit rates the world has seen, why can’t we get some of that mojo over to the charities and volunteer organizations? I want to help bring them to a golden era, not of money, but of volunteers!
What is the project/idea?
It is remarkably simple, match people’s free time with volunteer opportunities. For more thorough information, please visit https://what2do.live/ where I am maintaining a blog with some more information on the project. Don’t worry, no ads at all, that is one of the tenants of this project.
Describe who will benefit
This will benefit me, my family and my local community with the hopes that the eventual product will benefit thousands. That is a lofty goal, but I am confident that with a solid first year of getting the actual project set up, tested, and actively being used by local charity and volunteer organizations, we can have a self-sustaining solution that all of the generous gofundme’ers help get off the ground.
Detail what the funds will be used for
This will allow me to work on this project full time and pay for those first year business costs, such as lawyer fees, travel expenses, hosting costs, professional services, etc.
Explain how soon you need the funds
I do not need all the funds right away but I’m leaving myself 30 days to see if this is something I can fully devote my time to. Many of the expenses can have the payment pooled, and the sooner I can get the funds, the faster I can move in certain areas of the project, such as gaining access to a lawyer. I left my job at Virgin Pulse due to the commute length, so I am currently living off my savings, which is just about exhausted and I recently cashed in the little that I have in my 401k to get by until either this takes off or I find other gainful employment.
However, a lot of the limiting factor right now with the project is funds related. I need to support me and my family first, I can’t help others if I’m not in a position to be of help, and that is why there is a 30 day window.
If this happens to provide me with a windfall or substantial amount more than what I’ve requested for that first year, that money will go to expedite the formation of the business in all its’ glory. I can start hiring part-time contract work or even forming the full-time team. I have a bunch of resources that have already shown an interest. Establishing a workplace, and moving onto the larger idea would all be on the table to move forward with.
In the coming weeks, as funds become available, I’ll file the LLC business paperwork. That part isn’t too expensive, but I need to wait a tad while the 401k monies come in first.
Share how grateful you will be for help
How grateful will I be…I really don’t know if I can find the words. It is one thing to do something in your own personal circle, a few people get involved, and you win some and you lose some, small. The prospect of opening myself up is frightening, so it isn’t even just about the idea itself that I will be grateful for, but grateful that there are others that feel the same as I do, grateful that I can take what I’ve learned in the last 39 years of life and finally be ready to focus it towards something I was meant to do, grateful that finally we can apply the benefits of the tech industry to a grass roots project that can directly impact the volunteer and charity community with more than just dollars, but people. I would be eternally grateful.
If you would like to learn a little about me as an individual, feel free to look at my LinkedIn or Facebook Profiles. I'm also on Twitter, @jimmyandrews78
Organizer
Jimmy Andrews
Organizer
Uncasville, CT