Support the Institute for Digital Humanity
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We all know technology is tearing our lives, communities, and country apart. It’s scaring the hell out of all of us. And the time to fix it is running out.
But we can still win. And whoever you are – regardless of your politics, faith, or identity – the Institute for Digital Humanity is the best investment you can make to:
- Protect our privacy and secure our data before it is used against us.
- Fight against the biased, illegal, and unethical algorithms that are ruining lives.
- Defend reality by combating disinformation that is destroying the country.
- Mediate disputes between protecting free speech and regulating hate speech.
- Educate companies, governments, and schools on technology ethics.
- Catalyze public discussions on digital rights with art and community events.
- Advocate for policies that ensure a just and sane digital future for all of us.
In just three years, the IDH has become a locally, nationally, and internationally recognized success story. And the IDH wins big for three reasons:
- Training students as digital ethics consultants, researchers, and educators.
- Providing solutions -- for teachers, lawyers, governments, companies, and programmers -- that are non-partisan and teachable to anyone.
- Extending olive branches to all groups to start conversations between organizations that are supposed to “hate” or "cancel" each other. IDH partners include liberals, conservatives, Christians, Muslims, Jewish-Americans, evangelicals, the Anti-Defamation League, the ACLU, the Little Earth Native American community, elected officials from both sides, and attorneys, educators, artists, and advocates of all faiths, races, genders, and abilities.
The IDH’s story – of citizens putting their differences aside to work together – is the story America desperately needs to hear right now.
BUT -- TODAY -- THE IDH NEEDS YOUR HELP.
(Please donate now, watch our video, or keep reading.)
The IDH has had a weird year. And to keep winning the fight for everyone's digital rights, we need some quick assistance.
During the holidays last December, the IDH's Executive Director was hospitalized after a violent crime in his home in North Minneapolis. A small group of donors -- privately and respectfully -- raised $10k in a week to keep the IDH alive.
Thanks to those generous people, IDH students and staff crushed it in 2022:
- Presenting at prestigious conferences, winning awards for our mission and research, appearing on podcasts, and even getting a mention in Forbes.
- Leading legal trainings with the Nebraska and Iowa Bar Associations and providing education to the MN Legal Rights Center and Dept. of Human Rights.
- Landing partnership meetings with law schools, city officials, legal and regulatory agencies; civic groups, and law firms interested in taking cases.
- Incorporating the IDH -- finally -- as a true, third-party non-profit.
The IDH is now on the verge of scaling up as a financially self-sustaining champion to protect the digital rights of all citizens in 2023. But here's the problem: The IDH was just re-incorporated last month. And our bank account just opened last week.
So with three weeks left before its student staff returns to work, we need a quick cash infusion to win this ballgame.
WHICH IS WHY THE IDH NEEDS YOUR HELP.
(Please donate now. Or keep reading to learn our fundraising goals.)
IDH FUNDRAISING GOALS:
Ironically, the IDH actually worked too well. And now we need your help to scale up. We have quickly outgrown our initial small ambitions and now are leaving serious money and opportunities -- in education, technology reform, consulting, publishing, class action lawsuits, and legislation -- on the table. We need to fix this. Fast.
- In the last quarter of 2023, our priority is securing financial partners and investors in the education, legal, and tech sectors.
- We have the leadership team to grow: 30 years of experience in technology mergers and acquisitions; 20+ years in legal practice (including a stint as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Nebraska), and 20+ years in educational entrepreneurship (including a Fortune 500 partnership).
The IDH has a game plan. Speed is essential. But your support ultimately determines how quickly we can level up and how we do it.
Goal #1: $15,000
The IDH becomes online digital ethics coaches. (Still better than OnlyFans to pay the bills)
- Let's the IDH Education Division hire a proven -- and already vetted -- online course/coaching service (to generate revenue for our free initiatives).
Goal #2: $50,000
We write our book/textbook/multi-media memoir and pitch our podcasts/documentary
- All of the above, plus:
- Allows the IDH to complete its multi-media memoir/textbook project. (Literary agents are already interested.). Again, let's us raise cash.
- Allows the IDH to hire and expand its student social media staff, re-hire its writers and producers, and begin pitching its video series/podcast (IDH TV).
- Endgame: Continue to pursue national media exposure to raise funds.
All that said: This is the make or break moment for digital ethics, disinformation, and our country. So maybe y'all just want us funded enough to actually do what we do best (instead of scrambling for press and cash).
Goal #3: $100,000
The IDH becomes weekend digital ethics warriors.
- All of the above, plus:
- Allows the IDH to hire a dedicated Associate Director for 6 months to grow its education network (we are turning town proposals for schools; execute our after-school program on disinformation with Civic Nebraska.
- Allows the IDH to launch #Privacy4All Period -- which brings evangelicals and liberals together to fight for medical data privacy -- by producing our interactive international art exhibition on reproductive privacy; moving on a constitutional privacy amendment in Nebraska (we already got orgs and policymakers on board); getting a law clerk to handle our research paper backlog (and find the IDH a class action attorney for our medical privacy litigation strategy).
Goal #4: $500,000
We bring the team back full time. And split our time -- for two years -- between revenue generating initiatives and actual civic engagement/education.
- All of the above, plus:
- Allows the IDH to hire an Executive Director (full-time), Associate Director (full-time), attorney (part-time), Legislative Director (part-time), and dedicated contracted personnel in marketing, curricular design, and video production.
- At full staffing, the IDH would have the capacity to say "yes" to the opportunities we are already being presented (and that are available to any tech ethics org): Building educational programs for companies or universities; partnering with a major city interested in becoming the "national standard" for community-based technology ethics; growing, organizing and leading our national coalition of advocates and experts; and working with attorneys and law firms on high-impact civil litigation.
Goal #5: 1,000,000
Making the IDH the self-sustaining international force of good it deserves to be.
- All of the above, plus:
- Allows the The IDH to start selling its pre-developed education solutions/courses/certificates to companies, law schools, cities, and universities to be self-sustaining in 2 years. (And we thought we already had a partner on the line for this, so we know what the number is.)
- Allows the IDH to dedicate 3/4 of the staff to full time education/advocacy by hiring development, sales, and fundraising personnel.
FINALLY CONVINCED? PLEASE SUPPORT THE IDH TODAY.
(Otherwise, we'll try one last thing.)
To make a long story short:
Since 2019, the Institute for Digital Humanity – a student-run, bipartisan, digital ethics think-tank located in downtown Minneapolis – has been building new educational and civic coalitions across the digital divide.
In less than 3 years, the IDH has become a recognized local, national, and international thought leader among tech startups, educators, advocacy groups, lawyers, and governments. And our approach to digital ethics – with a focus on partnerships with diverse ideologies and on student advocacy – makes us a unique asset as we start to rebuild post-digital America.
The students at the IDH dream big and don't quit: COVID, the summer of Floyd, and their coach getting benched; nothing stops them. And the fight -- for a just, equitable, just, and sane post-digital world -- isn't over. No matter who you are, the IDH is the team you want in the national conversation on how to fix privacy, algorithms, misinformation, hate speech and free speech.
So please, donate to the IDH today.
(See all of our victories, partners, publications, and media appearances here.)
Fundraising team (2)
Aaron McKain
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
Samson Hall
Team member
