Magic doesn’t happen without a whole lotta hustle.
With the start of a dream, you put your thoughts to the world, you whisper a promise, you believe that something is possible—and then you get out there and you chase it.
On July 12, I opened my big mouth and made a promise. We made a promise—you all made a promise. In fact, 225 of you have already jumped on board, as well as a whole lot of companies, start-ups and organizations.
Then the Huffington Post even featured it.
Amazing.
But we’re not done yet!
Nope, not even close.
(You don’t stop hustling until you’re done. Quick movie trivia–who said it? “Never stop–Never stop fighting until the fighting is done.” Answer here.)
For the month of August, there are going to be great, ridiculous prizes and matching donors from some of the biggest hustlers and change-makers I know. From each person who donates $29 to the company that matches $2,900, to the individual that donated $2,929.29 on July 29th (incredible!), the way that this is going to happen is because all of us–you, me, them, your neighbors, your family–actually stop and do something about a problem that exists in the world.
You have the power to change things.
You have the power to do this. To make a small movement and become part of a larger movement. Some people don’t donate $29 to charity because they don’t think that what they’re doing is good enough. That it matters. That it won’t make a difference. Guess what? Your contribution matters. What you’re doing makes a difference.
Some people do the same thing with exercise, or with goals, or with dream-setting. They don’t put in the micro-actions because it seems as though without making the big win, the energy isn’t going to be good enough. The reality is that most big movements are made as a series of small movements coupled with big dreams.
But it gets even better than that. You can make a difference.
And now, I’ve found a whole bunch of people who want to give you prizes if you donate. For real.
It gets better: we have prizes! Lots of prizes!
For people on the fence about donating, I’ve been working up a storm to get a whole bunch of prizes together for the next month as an incentive for donating.
And yes, now we’re offering prizes. LOTS of prizes. The companies I’ve been talking to for the last few weeks have been absolutely, insanely, ridiculously generous with their time and ideas and prizes. For the boot-strapped startup, they’ve offered prizes and other bonuses instead of a monetary dollar.
For people who haven’t yet donated to the Charity:Water campaign, as of August 12th, we raised more than $13,000 in donations from 235 different people. The majority of the donations have been $29, $58 and $129 donations; a handful of $290 donations, and some amazing contributions of $1000 and $2929.29.
Be sure to watch the twitter stream for more prizes announced throughout the next month. As of right now, here’s some of what you’ll get:
For the next month–from August 12th to Sept 12th, anyone that donates $29 will be matched by Big Wheel Brigade (up to 100 donations). If you do the math, that means Big Wheel Brigade has pledge up to $2,900 towards clean water. (Gratitude!) Send them a tweet or give them a heads-up on their Facebook Page and say a huge thank you (and tell them to match your donation!).
The Zirtual team jumped on board and has pledged to give up to four different people a three-month membership to an executive personal, virtual assistant at the Premium Level. They are currently closed with their private Beta because demand has been so high–but they’ll let the next four people who donate get an assistant. How do you get this? The first four people to donate $290 or more between August 13th (today!) and before August 23rd will get the prize. (Keep in mind: the 3-month package is valued at $591, so the recommended donation is somewhere between $290 and $591.) If you’ve been looking for a reason to try a virtual assistant, donate the money to Charity:Water and Zirtual will help you out—big time.
Want to talk about your ideas? Sign up on Clarity FM: If you’ve reached out to me for coaching or advice before and the line’s been backed up–it’s now open! If you’d like to jam on a 20-minute phone call, say hello, or just generally chat with me, I’m opening up the phone banks between now and September 13th for coaching, consulting, and idea-generation. Want to go over your life, your ideas, your vision, or get clarity? Sign up for a phone call, here, and ALL of the phone calls’ proceeds will go to Charity:Water. Because so many of my readers are hustlers making things happen on the side, I’ve discounted my consulting rate from $120 to $60 to make every one of these calls (1) affordable for you, yet (2) still help with the fundraising project.
Heard about Getaround? How about renting a car? If you’re in San Francisco, for the months of July, August, and September, I’m donating all of my car’s earnings to the charity–and my car is one of the best-rented cars on the block! Even better, Getaround will match up to $290 of the car’s earnings this month–so take it for a spin and let me know if you liked it!
Many more donors have jumped on board, and I’m excited and thrilled to have each of them:
Everest is one of the major sponsors of the swim and will be donating both financially as well as offering prizes (more to come!) and is offering spots in their Dream Series as prizes as well; Swim Outlet has reached out to provide swim wear (for training) and/or a cap for the swim and possibly prizes and a donation, and Sports Basement is also going to support the swim with prizes, coupons, and more!
And that’s just the start! There will be more prizes, and many, many more donors.
Oh, and if anyone happens to know Michael Phelps directly, just let me know. It would make my day if he tweeted about this. BOOM.
Oh, and one more thing: we’re having a PARTY!
Just in case you thought that’s all we were doing, rest assured, crazy takes crazy. Lastly, but not at all least – we’re going to be throwing a PARTY, with a BAND, and a whole lot of prizes and great people in San Francisco in September. (Date to be confirmed by the end of this week). The prizes above are just the start – I’m talking to many more donors about giving away prizes. Tickets will be $29 and will sell out quickly; there will also be raffle tickets (2 for 29). Some of the prizes will be from Sports Basement to Swim Outlet to the Everest Dream Series and many, many more. (Side note: if you’d like to offer a prize, please email me directly!)
Details on the party to come next week–stay tuned.
Generosity and Gratitude: Thank you.
Giving happens in all sorts of ways. People have reached out, donated time, energy, connections, ideas, and thoughtful words. A number of people have written me incredible emails and said, simply, “Thank you for doing this. This is important.”
Over the past month, as I’ve reached out and talked to people, I’ve been consistently blown away by the generosity and kindness within our communities. It seems that each time I thought maybe we could do something – for example, I mused, maybe we’ll throw a party! – someone emerged in front of me and said, “Sure, I know just the venue – and they’ll probably donate it for free.”
We got a venue.
Hmm, maybe we should have a band. “Yup, got that,” the unbelievable Howie Diamond responded.
Now we’re going to have a band.
Next up, we’re looking at Beer and Wine sponsors. (Before you ask what the band is, and where it is, and what the date is: Let me tell you that I’ll post it up by the end of next week and I’ll definitely be telling you about tickets.) If all goes well, we’ll have a party with a kick-ass band, a dope venue (did I just use the word dope? Wow), lots of booze, great prizes, and an amazing group of people all in one place.
The lesson that I’ve learned is:
Make sure you ask. Tell people your story. You never know.
The number of people that get out from behind their desks and rally behind something has been inspiring and jaw-dropping. Let’s make this happen.
And not a penny of it will be for profit. We’ll do it because it matters.
Because we love people, and we love living.
Here’s to water, everyone.
Thank you.
With love and overflowing gratitude,
