What Would You Do With A Million Bucks?
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Do you like to make people smile? Well, I do. While we all know the old adage "money doesn't buy happiness," it can certainly make people smile.
After a previous GoFundMe page went so well, I had this crazy idea. What if I could raise a million dollars and give it all away? It seemed so impossible, but as we all know, the internet is a crazy place where stranger things have happened.
This is not about me getting rich.
First, there are a few things you should know.
1. The idea is simple. Get one million people to give me a dollar. Of course, larger amounts will help and are encouraged. In order to reach this goal, I'm going to need your help. [Update: After doing the math on what GoFundMe and WePay will charge, it makes more sense to shoot for $5/person - you can read more about the math at rerockstar.com]
2. Once the goal is reached, Uncle Sam will be given his cut (booooo!) and my debts will be paid. Sadly, this last step is necessary. Without it, lawsuits and red tape will prevent the good stuff from happening. Note: I have no mortgage and my car loan will not be paid off. Once these items are done, then we can get to the cool, smiley, restore your faith in humanity stuff.
3. This is where things get good. Whatever is left will not be used to buy me a fast car, a nice home, or anything like that. The idea is to give the money away through what some might call random acts of kindness (or paying it forward) - except they will be bigger and bolder than just buying the guy behind me his Starbucks.
The idea is to spread this far and wide, so you're going to need to tell everyone and remind them often. The more people we get involved, the more realistic the end goal becomes.
What kinds of things will I do with the money? If it sounds fun and perhaps a little crazy, then it could easily make the list. Some of the ideas kicking around my head:
Pick up the tab for an entire restaurant
Pay a single mom's daycare tuition for a year
Pick someone who donated to this and send them a really awesome Christmas present
Leave $100 bill all over a grocery store
Buy computers for an underfunded school
Donate to a charity anonymously
Send someone who participated in this on a dream vacation
Mail out two $100 bills to random people and ask them to keep one and document how they made someone smile with the other one.
...do you get the picture?
One of the first things I will be doing is donating 10% of the cash sum (after the tax/bills) to Love for Paws Rescue, who were the catalyst for this idea.
It's all about giving it all away and having fun doing it. I'm going to document the whole process on my blog, rerockstar.com and if it really takes off I think we could probably convince someone to film a documentary on it.
There are some disclaimers:
All Reward Levels are conditional upon me hitting the goal of $1,000,000. No goal, no rewards. Nothing like a little incentive for you to spread the word, huh?
Paying off my personal debt does not include car loans or mortgages (I live in an apartment). This debt is the result of poor planning back when I made a lot more money than I do now.
More Reward Levels and ideas on what to do with the money will be released over time - mostly to keep things interesting.
I'm giving myself one year to complete this.
As this idea begins to take off, I will be releasing a FAQ on my website in order to answer questions or clarify things as they come up, so be sure to watch for that (I'll post here whenever I update the site).
After a previous GoFundMe page went so well, I had this crazy idea. What if I could raise a million dollars and give it all away? It seemed so impossible, but as we all know, the internet is a crazy place where stranger things have happened.
This is not about me getting rich.
First, there are a few things you should know.
1. The idea is simple. Get one million people to give me a dollar. Of course, larger amounts will help and are encouraged. In order to reach this goal, I'm going to need your help. [Update: After doing the math on what GoFundMe and WePay will charge, it makes more sense to shoot for $5/person - you can read more about the math at rerockstar.com]
2. Once the goal is reached, Uncle Sam will be given his cut (booooo!) and my debts will be paid. Sadly, this last step is necessary. Without it, lawsuits and red tape will prevent the good stuff from happening. Note: I have no mortgage and my car loan will not be paid off. Once these items are done, then we can get to the cool, smiley, restore your faith in humanity stuff.
3. This is where things get good. Whatever is left will not be used to buy me a fast car, a nice home, or anything like that. The idea is to give the money away through what some might call random acts of kindness (or paying it forward) - except they will be bigger and bolder than just buying the guy behind me his Starbucks.
The idea is to spread this far and wide, so you're going to need to tell everyone and remind them often. The more people we get involved, the more realistic the end goal becomes.
What kinds of things will I do with the money? If it sounds fun and perhaps a little crazy, then it could easily make the list. Some of the ideas kicking around my head:
Pick up the tab for an entire restaurant
Pay a single mom's daycare tuition for a year
Pick someone who donated to this and send them a really awesome Christmas present
Leave $100 bill all over a grocery store
Buy computers for an underfunded school
Donate to a charity anonymously
Send someone who participated in this on a dream vacation
Mail out two $100 bills to random people and ask them to keep one and document how they made someone smile with the other one.
...do you get the picture?
One of the first things I will be doing is donating 10% of the cash sum (after the tax/bills) to Love for Paws Rescue, who were the catalyst for this idea.
It's all about giving it all away and having fun doing it. I'm going to document the whole process on my blog, rerockstar.com and if it really takes off I think we could probably convince someone to film a documentary on it.
There are some disclaimers:
All Reward Levels are conditional upon me hitting the goal of $1,000,000. No goal, no rewards. Nothing like a little incentive for you to spread the word, huh?
Paying off my personal debt does not include car loans or mortgages (I live in an apartment). This debt is the result of poor planning back when I made a lot more money than I do now.
More Reward Levels and ideas on what to do with the money will be released over time - mostly to keep things interesting.
I'm giving myself one year to complete this.
As this idea begins to take off, I will be releasing a FAQ on my website in order to answer questions or clarify things as they come up, so be sure to watch for that (I'll post here whenever I update the site).
Organizer
Matt Stigliano
Organizer
San Antonio, TX
