Taking international development into our own hands while creating a giving culture, a center for conscious compassion:

A simple website, laid out simply like Google's homepage, starts with one box asking "What can you give?"This is the doorway to a new sharing central, matching those with resources to share with nonprofits around the world who need time, money, expertise and inkind gifts.

The door opens and a list of int'l organizations is given that matches your intended gift. Priority is given to struggling organizations in developing countries, those who would not otherwise be able to receive necessary materials.

A gift can be anything at all - computer training or old desktop machines, food supplies, medicine, time for volunteering, money, etc. Craigslist offers one model for organizing these gifts, and partnerships can be built with existing organizations like globalgiving.org and giftsinkind.org who are already providing these services to larger nonprofits (mostly US-based).

The website can also offer documentation of exciting partnership projects around the world (videos, photos, reports), resources on building long-term international partnerships, information on shipping, volunteering and crosscultural sharing, as well as vital statistics on why this kind of exchange is necessary in our rapidly-shrinking world.

The goal would be not only to facilitate individuals and corporations to make the most of their resources but also to create a culture of giving, a meme similar to the gift economies witnessed at Burning Man and other communities where the act of giving itself becomes a viral part of participation in the larger scheme.

I'm drawing up the proposals to launch this now as a 501(c)3 and would appreciate your input!

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