We've raised $988, and you've nominated 7 causes so far.  Not bad for week 1!  Today is the last day to nominate causes for September, so if you have a pet cause (whether or not it's actually a pet cause, though we do have 2 of those in the running already) please sign up today and nominate it. The Top Ten narrowing that occurs a week from now will be a tad anticlimactic if we don't get 4 more causes...

So there's no day like today to sign up! $13/year (or more if you want). Even if you prefer not to get involved in the process, nominating or even voting, you'd still be supporting a dozen charitable causes each year without lifting another finger. And the more $ in the pot each month, the more interesting it is for everyone else, attracting more donors to give!

In other news, we just received our solicitation approvals from Michigan, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Oregon, so we'll be able to open the front door to the site before we know it. There are only 7 states and jurisdictions (yes, I'm looking at you, DC) we're still waiting to hear from. Which reminds me, I need to decorate the front door of Charitocracy with a sales pitch so first-time visitors understand what we're trying to do and how it all works. If you have any ideas for good taglines (or bad ones) I'd love to hear them!

The Charitocracy main page remains the same poker-faced, "Coming soon!" message it's been all along. Until we're granted permission to solicit from the general public across the nation, this is how we'll keep the charitable hordes at bay: a secret back door for friends and family.

Not unlike Charitocracy, Rochambeau is a bit difficult to say and spell, so instead use this link to get in: <redacted>

Note that beta test accounts and nominated causes have been wiped from the server, so don't be surprised that your old username/password aren't recognized.

Please sign up at a donation level you're comfortable with, maybe nominate your favorite cause of broad national appeal (i.e. probably not your local school PTO!), and definitely report any problems you encounter, big or small, via this blog, Facebook, email (benj at charitocracy dot org), or text message. Screenshots welcome!

Nominations will close in 7 days, at which point you'll receive an email summary of the newly nominated causes. (I hope there's more than 10, or it'll be real hard to narrow them down to the top 10 halfway through the month!) Vote now, revote later! Your vote won't be locked in until September 30.

I'm excited that Charitocracy is ALIVE, we have real donation dollars going into the pot, and we'll be able to write a real check to some deserving cause a month from now! Let's make that check as big as possible, friends...

Big news!  But first, a status update, now that I've been back from vacation in California for a few days:

I hired a registered agent for the District of Columbia, completed 3 of their many forms, and mailed off the last of them yesterday. I still have at least one big one to go (BBL-EZ -- ha!), but it requires waiting for prior ones to be processed first. Meanwhile, I've been following up with the ~20 states we haven't heard back from yet, getting green lights from a bunch of them via email today. So that leaves about a dozen states we expect to hear back from in the next couple weeks, eventually granting us permission to "do business" and solicit donations in their great states. I only hope to break even on the nearly $2000 in annual fees required for the privilege to operate a charity nationwide. At least our nonprofit status is more secure than ever.

We've certainly done the legwork in good faith, but technically we're supposed to wait for all the green lights before opening up the web site to take donations. Our CEO (remember her?) thinks we should flip the switch now regardless. Clearly she's an adrenaline junky not averse to living on the edge! As Grace Hopper (the Navy's amazing computer pioneer) put it, "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission." I'm inclined to agree.

So here's my compromise: I'm going to leave the front-page of the site in its current "under construction" form. I'm going to reset the database, removing all beta test users and their nominated causes, starting from scratch. I'm going to turn on real credit card processing. And then we're going to conduct illicit charitable business behind closed doors, like a speakeasy during prohibition. Just you and me, see.  Friends and family and loyal followers. No soliciting strangers during this first month! Which is actually perfect, because it will also give me time to put together the "pitch" for the rest of the world to see on the front page.

Starting in September we'll go through the full cycle for the first time, for real, with real $ at stake: nomination week, top 10 selection week, top 3 selection week, then awarding Charitocracy's first check! This will depend on a bunch of you getting your nominations in starting Thursday so we actually have more than 10 causes from which to select. But based on the number of people who've been asking, "When will it go live already, come ON, seriously?" I'm not concerned in the least.

Pardon me, while I go finish the web site now.