This week has been brought to us by the letters, F, U, and the number 41. That's not just my age, it's also how many states and jurisdictions (read: Washington, D.C.) with whom we need to register before we can solicit donations nationwide.

Jessica and I would be nowhere on this task yet if it weren't for the week-long tireless effort of none other... than my mother! She paved the way by pre-filling every PDF from every state that requires a paper form, each one a unique snowflake of pure charitable bureaucracy. Might one say: a charitocracy?

We still need to fill in some blanks where Ma left us sticky notes to flag the tricky bits. We still need to hire "registered agents" with in-state addresses at nearly $100/year to do nothing more than wait around and answer the door if we get served with a lawsuit. (Speaking of which, if you reside in CA, CO, MI, ND, OR, or DC you could possibly save us $100/year by letting us list your name and address instead of a for-profit company's!) And then we need to get most of the forms notarized. Only then can I get back to the fun work, putting the finishing touches on the web site.

Speaking of which, we're only 2 days from the end of Week 1 in the new 4-phase monthly routine. That means 2 days left to nominate a new cause if you're so inclined! There haven't been any new nominations yet this month, so have at it, please! Motivate us to get this paperwork done so we can turn on actual donations in September!