Watsi (YC W13) and the Future of Patronage

http://www.daniellemorrill.com/2013/03/watsi-and-the-future-of-patronage/

by dmor • 13 years ago

55 11 13 years ago

jotaass• 13 years ago

I wish all the best to the team at Watsi. They have an amazing concept. It's captivating how straightforward it really is. They offer the possibility for anyone to make a difference to the lives of real people, and watch that happen, in almost real time.

I don't know what these kinds of projects will do to the "future of patronage" but it gets people aware of the problems, gets them involved and brings in real results, with little effort. That can't be a bad thing.

rdl3• 13 years ago

I think there would be nothing but good coming from "lightweight", ad hoc charities, instead of enduring NGOs and other institutions.

The problem with conventional charities is that if they're successful, they put themselves out of business. Even if a funder supports that idea, it's entirely possible the organization will become an "institution" in its own right, and find other problems to solve -- and when you have a huge pool of money looking for problems to solve, there's no incentive for it to be efficient at all.

Charities, especially in Africa and other parts of the developing world, have institutional biases toward ongoing involvement -- the people involved don't want to create dependency, but the pressures on the organization lead it in that direction.

I prefer preventive medicine and economic development to paying for medical treatments (more effective for each dollar invested), but I support Watsi's methods, and if they can use those same methods of transparency and direct, small-dollar donor involvement to solve other problems (or, better, if other organizations copy their methods to solve other problems), they will dwarf the impact of any other YC company to date.

randall• 13 years ago

(Thanks for this! And thanks for staying around HN after comments have gotten crazy. Gems like this help a lot.)

lincolnq• 13 years ago

Watsi is doing great stuff.

One related thing I would recommend, if you're interested in charity & philanthropy, is to check out GiveWell (http://givewell.org). They have very well-studied recommendations of charities, and they recommend them on the basis of "most good for your dollar". Some of the most efficient treatments on Watsi are on the order of thousands of dollars per child's life saved. That's pretty damn good as "good for your dollar" goes, but GiveWell's recommendations are often a factor of 2-10 better, and the evidence base to support their recommendations is quite strong.

citizenkeys• 13 years ago

I'm working on a blog post right now about YC-funded charity and philanthropy companies. Watsi is the only official non-profit, but YC has funded at least 5 companies that focus on social good. Charity is giving. Philanthropy is doing.

http://ycuniverse.com/ycombinator-companies?market=charity+a...

capdiz2• 13 years ago

Am jealous. Why the fuck didn't i think of this before. Am from Africa. Everyone needs help up in this bitch. Guess what? I got caught up with these 30 under 30 posts and how i made n amount of $$ in n amount of years. Thank you Watsi. I don't i have to make a profit to a make difference. Thank you.

rdl3• 13 years ago

There's no reason you couldn't do "Watsi for local entrepreneurship" or something. Essentially Kiva-like.

capdiz2• 13 years ago

Thank you for pointing me to Kiva. Checking it out and its definitely something i could work on. Thanks again.

gamblor956• 13 years ago

I support Watsi's goals but a cursory overview of their financial statements suggests that they are anything but "lightweight." For their current size (measured in terms of personnel), I would expect at least 5x the charitable activity and 20x the fundraising compared to similarly situated NGOs.

Yes, I know that 100% of their "fundraising" will go to their charitable activity. But that is "fundraising" in the Groupon sense--it is a redefinition of a commonly used term that excludes their fundraising activities that actually support their non-charitable operations. Small donors may not care much about that, but for institutional donors (i.e., foundations), operational costs are a significant factor in the grant-making decision process.

jessriedel• 13 years ago

Could you give some more detail about your first paragraph?

Watsi (YC W13) and the Future of Patronage

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