INDIEGOGO!

October 21, 2011

Alright, it’s go time.

Last night we launched our Indiegogo campaign. Let me explain.

Sacred Valley Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We have several ideas and are working to become self-sustainable, but right now we depend completely on donations and grants. Indiegogo.com is a website where people put together fundraising campaigns to raise funds, and are then marketed to the world. After looking at several different options, we decided this was the best one for us.

Let me make my pitch. There have been 6300 views on this blog. I am not sure what brought you here. Maybe you are a friend or colleague, a relative or Rotarian, a former student or Rustic volunteer, or most likely you were stuck in a conversation with my dad and he directed you here. Maybe you are truly inspired by what is happening down here. Maybe the thought of a motorcycle trip seems really cool. You may possibly have dreams of doing something like this someday. Perhaps knowing a suburban math teacher taking two trimesters off to head to Peru is interesting enough to pop in occasionally and see what is going on.

The bottom line folks, is that this isn’t free entertainment. I came with a specific purpose and have shared this trip with you in order to bring you along. Think of it kind of like The Neverending Story. You might have thought you were just reading a blog, when in fact you have been a part of the story the whole time. I see those views go up, I get encouraging emails from people all the time, I know I am not here by myself. I appreciate it. But now is the time you must do more than simply read. All the stories, pictures, and commentary come at a cost to you. And what a small cost that is! All I am asking is that you hit the link to the right. That big picture of the four girls on the right margin, click on it. Check it out. If you have been reading this blog, you already know the story, you don’t have to look at much. I did make the headlining video which I feared would be a little cheesy, but turned out alright. Watch it. Share it with your friends.

The way Indigogo works, is that the more traffic that is directed there, the higher our campaign rises on the homepage. If you just click on it, we have a better chance of being seen by strangers perusing the site looking for a cause to donate to. If you decide that your hard-earned money is something you would like to give, then that is pretty easy too. The cool thing about Indigogo is that we are able to offer perks for donors. So, depending on the amount, you may get a package in the mail as a thank you for your donation.

In terms of money, all the people I know who are reading this are already generous almost to a fault. You probably already volunteer large amounts of time, give lots of money, and are involved in many organizations. This I understand. And like I said in a previous post, the United States has its share of needs as well. So don’t feel obligated to do more than a click. But it would be nice to see this community raise a little money for these girls. We actually really do need your money.

And we do have an amazing donor who has offered to match anything up to $3500. So every dollar given actually doubles. And, of course, every donation is tax-deductible.

Thanks for reading and being a part of this. It means a lot. And if you are just here for motorcycle stories, I’m headed to Chile next week on the bike to reset the motorcycle visa. It should be a good trip.