The Machine!
The second "edge" of the sword is "The Machine!"
The machine is the engine that will power our marketing, sales, and your business. It's basically an organization completely seperate from the charity in which each member/contributor(you) pledge to purchase at least one care package from the charity per month. You then have three options on what happens to that package. It could be immediately shipped directly from the charity to an organization or geographic region that desperately needs it. You can also allow the charity to "bank" it for use in future disasters such as the recent hurricanes, earthquakes, food shortages and tsunamis. Both of these options give the member a full tax deduction for the retail value of the care package.
You may also take delivery of the package, say to create or replenish a home emergency kit. Of course with this option there is no tax deduction because you are keeping the package, yet you have still contributed because any profits generated by your purchase will go to causes that need it.
Now here is where the real horsepower of the machine kicks in; each member is given the option, at no charge, to start their own business and become a distributor for the charity. This means that they can personally help change the world, and generate a profit for themselves.
By selling care packages(for now just the Lifestraw) and recruiting other distributors into their organization, they will receive a commission on every care package sold by the distributors that they bring into the organization, and the distributors brought in by those recruits.
Yes, this is network marketing or MLM, but this extremely powerful vehicle for moving product has never been applied to charity! And the product(care packages, which you're making a profit on) are being shipped directly to people who really need it. People if you think that all network marketing companies are a scam and they're not profitable then take a look at what Wikipedia has to say about Amway here. $7.2 billion in sales in a single year?! That's definately a profitable business and alot of their distributors are millionaires. There are lots of other examples, like Herbalife. $1.3 billion in sales reported in 2004 with a sales force of 1.5 million people in 65 countries! And again alot of their distributors are millionaires. If you do a little research you'll find that alot of these company's products are overpriced lotions, potions, soap and vitamins. Can you imagine what their sales figures would be like if their products were actually saving lives!? If either of these companies were owned by a nonprofit organization then that charity would never need to beg for funding again! With your help this is what MyMark hopes to create.
This concept of "Social Entrepreneurship" or using “greed to feed” is brand new, and to us is the future of charity!
It is ironic, but it will change the landscape of what charities can accomplish!
Next: How you can help with or without donations!
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