Bloggers' Tribute raises $1300 for women in poverty

What an incredible week. A few days ago Incentive House offered to donate $100 for every blog post written as a tribute to the entrepreneurial poor (up to $1000). It took less than 3 days for ten Australian bloggers to rise to the occasion. Incentive House then offered a further $300 for another 3 posts, which were practically written overnight. WOW. So thank you to these amazing Australians who wrote a blog post in order to generate a substantial donation towards this microfinance project.

In order of contribution, as they appeared in my inbox between Friday and Monday :)

1. @badkoala Matthew Johnson It's all about Opportunity says we can influence opportunities for others "you need to have & recognise the opportunities that are present to you get closer to your goal"
2. @servantofchaos Gavin Heaton A Tribute to a Woman's Investment shares how just about anyone "can begin to build a portfolio of investments in small businesses that have significant local impacts in communities far from where you live."
3. @innotecture Matt Moore in his usual quirky style issues a bold challenge for people to invest in this Trust Bank program
4. @deswalsh Des Walsh A Tribute to the Entrepreneurial, Currently Poor Women writes of his desire "to see others with an entrepreneurial spirit supported in achieving their dreams."
5. @marigo Marigo Raftopolous Investing In Entrepreneurship wrote about the reward of assisting with a women's shelter in Zimbabwe "My small investment gave these women and their families the dignity, independence and confidence that poverty and abuse had robbed from them. Never underestimate the power we all have to make a difference to the life of others. "
6. KerrieAnn Christian paid tribute by sharing the journey of entrepreneur Sally Bowen
7. @cheekysoul Alena Russel wrote Teach a Girl to Fish "These women have dreams, just like we do. We have ways to help them achieve these dreams that are simpler than you think."
8. @katherineliew Katherine Liew wrote a tribute to opportunity and entrepreneurs "In economic theory, it’s entrepreneurs that drive the innovation and economic growth. It’s time to invest in them."
9. From @shaicoggins Shai Coggins wrote A Tribute to Entrepreneurial Poor Women in the Philippines to honour "my late maternal grandmother and my mother - who both were very instrumental in showing me that entrepreneurship and hard work can help you to live better lives. They are both examples of women in the Philippines who managed to escape poverty by going in to business and learning how to save and to invest accordingly.
10. @iggypintado Iggy Pintado Making a Difference to Poverty in the Philippines shared "a first hand view of the need to find ways to aid and support people in a third world country."
11. @graemebowman Graeme Bowman wrote his first ever blog post Poor in Pocket, Rich in Spirit"With microfinance, training and programs, these poor but passionate people can seize opportunities and break the poverty cycle."
12. @Socioteque Socioteque in Feeling Guilty? I know I am! makes a great suggestion to "make a pact with yourself to support a few personal causes this year. "
13. From @miscmum Karen How blogging philanthropy is powerful and activism works shared her "interest in developing the skills to harness the potential - I feel - the Internet has to do real and important work for social causes
14. @polkadotbride Ms Polka Dot A charitable tribute "Entrepreneurs have a certain spirit- I have been so lucky to meet so many and to be one myself with Polka Dot Bride. There’s a tenacity, a drive, an imagination and a certain sparkle that comes along with it."

A huge thanks to each blogger for participating, and to Incentive House (Reward Yourself card and getoutoftown.com.au ) for contributing to this fundraising initiative. I am flattered with their feedback and grateful for their support "Jasmin's enthusiasm and passion for supporting the entrepreneurial poor in the Philippines was the inspiration for Incentive House’s donation, and we are delighted by the selfless contribution of the many Aussies who supported this initiative, by either writing a blog post or spreading the word about this worthwhile cause. I hope we have inspired many more to make a further contribution.’

image uploaded by urbanshoregirl

If you missed out on writing a Tribute blog post you can still contribute by making a donation or purchasing greeting cards and art prints. Also I have two more initiatives in mind between now and the end of June, when my fundraising will end (at least for this Opportunity International Filipino microfinance project) so stay tuned! Don't worry, I won't be recruiting my online community into any more creative challenges because you have been so generous over the last few months participating in The Women's Investment Slides, the Beyond challenge, SOS09 and this recent Tribute project . I do promise that I have something very special planned - this time it will a gift from me to YOU :)

Update:Great news -futurist Morris Miselowski will be talking about this on local radio station 3AW tomorrow April 1st.

Tribute: how your blog post can raise $1000 for people living in poverty

I have some great news to share with you! Over the next week Melbourne based business Incentive House will be contributing up to $1000 towards an Opportunity International microfinance fundraiser by donating $100 for every blog post you write for a special project.

First a quick background about how this happened. Last week, out of the blue, I received a tweet from Incentive House asking to discuss my fundraising project and how they could contribute.You see, many years ago the owner had visited the Philippines and witnessed people living in a rubbish tip. The devastating image of poverty never left him.

Images originally uploaded by Simon Oosterman

Within days I met the directors of Incentive House for the first time and shared an idea for a blogging challenge I already had in mind, then we came up with this project! They are really supportive of this fundraising initiative for a group of entrepreneurial poor in the Philippines - which also reflects their business about rewarding success and "giving inspiration to those with aspirations". So let me tell you about this exciting project.

TRIBUTE - a creative fundraising challenge for Australian bloggers.

Between now and the end of March, the generous folks at Incentive House will donate AU$100 for each "Tribute" blog post (up to a total of $1,000) So if ten people can write a post each, you will generate a total of $1,000 towards a group microfinance project in the Philippines!

Here's how to do it:
1. Create a TRIBUTE blog post between now and the end of March 2009.
The entrepreneurial poor in the Philippines are an incredible bunch of individuals who are rising up out of poverty and circumstances to develop their small businesses. The small banks and organisations like Opportunity International Australia who provide them with the loans, training and programs are equally doing a wonderful thing by creating opportunities to end the poverty cycle and impact whole communities. So this is your opportunity to create a Tribute to the entrepreneurial poor. For instance, you may choose write about the benefit of microfinance projects, the women who take the initiative to start their businesses to help feed and clothe their families, or you could share a personal experience about reducing poverty in the Philippines. You could even pay tribute by simply writing a poem or sharing a photo to honour these women.

2. Please leave a comment on this blog post to let me know you have written something for the Tribute project.

3. It would be great if you could mention that I am raising funds for an Opportunity International Filipino Trust Bank on http://wonderwebby.chipin.com so that others can consider making a donation to this important cause between now and the end of June.

I will write a follow up post early April linking to the contributors and letting you know that your contribution has resulted in a donation by Incentive House :)

Stuck for words? Here are some links:

• The similarities and differences between Opportunity International and Kiva
• A YouTube clip explaining microfinance aka microlending
• Some slides I made to explain Trust Banks
• Some information about poverty in the Philippines

I am so excited about this initiative and look forward to reading your Tributes to help raise $1000 via the generous folks at Incentive House. And of course even once we reach the target of ten Australian blog posts to raise $1,000 you can still join in with this project just to help spread the word about making a difference with the entrepreneurial poor!

About Incentive House and the Reward Yourself Card. Incentive House is creating opportunities for business to motivate their staff, through their latest innovative corporate reward product, the multi-store Reward Yourself Card. The Reward Card operates like a debit card, through invited 'aspirational' retailers eftpos terminals. See www.rewardyourself.com.au for further information.