What If It Was Never About The Money?

What if I told you that, for a philanthropic organization, I am not trying to raise money? At least, not exactly!

Yes, $5,000, $10,000, or $100,000 could do something meaningful around the world. The whole premise of this organization is built on my experience traveling and realizing that some of the most life-changing solutions to everyday problems are truly attainable and don’t require millions of dollars. More importantly, that many of us have it in our hearts to give or do something but never feel that the little we do have to offer is enough.

When I think about how I first announced Seed Change Collective – asking everyone I knew for $1.00 – what excited me the most was not the amount of money the organization would make. Sure, 1,000 people donating a $1.00 or more and sharing it with their friends who did the same could bring in a substantial amount of money – but that wasn’t the number that excited me.

The number that excited me was the number of people.

For me, I would rather have 1,000 people donating a dollar over one person donating $1,000. The power is in the people collectively doing good together and not the amount of money that comes in from the campaign. If you build properly and remain a good steward of people’s trust and your purpose, then the rest will fall in place. I am a firm believer that you won’t even have to ask for that support, but people will collectively come together to do good with you. There’s is something far more powerful about 10,000 people deciding that their participation matters. There is something even more powerful about 10,000 people who feel that their $1.00 is enough to offer.

The Dollar is Almost Beside the Point

We’ve been conditioned to think about philanthropy in terms of how much someone gives. Who donated a million dollars? Who wrote the big check? Whose name is going on the building? And listen, BIG GIFTS MATTER. WE NEED THEM!

However, I never want others to feel less empowered because we confuse wealth with generosity and giving capacity with the right to participate. That’s a problem. Because philanthropy, at its core, is not supposed to be about how much money you have. It’s about what you are willing to contribute toward making something better. If you remember Blog #2 – The Mistake I Made – this is something that has lived with me…it’s why this organization now exists.

That’s why Seed Change Collective started with a ridiculously simple proposition:

Give $1.00.

Not because $1 alone is going to change the world, but because your dollar doesn’t have to be alone.

One Dollar Changes When We Stop Looking at it Alone

One dollar is something you mind find in the washing machine at home, or in between the seats of your car. If you’re like me, I have a whole center console full of change and quarters that probably equals around $10-12 that just sits in my car and enjoys the Florida sun! The thing about one dollar is…it probably won’t make you stop and rethink your monthly budget, but multiply that dollar.

100 people become $100

1,000 people become $1,000.

10,000 people become $10,000.

And suddenly, something that seemed insignificant becomes capital that can help a community solve a real problem. That is the idea behind collective philanthropy.

Small contributions. Shared intentionally. Pooled together. Put to work.

The power was never hiding inside the dollar. The power was hiding inside the collective.

But Imagine Something Bigger

Now imagine those 10,000 people don’t give once. Imagine they begin to believe – I am a philanthropist – that changes things! Because now we’re not simply building a fundraising campaign. We’re building a community of people who understand that changing the world is not somebody else’s responsibility.

You don’t need a foundation. You don’t need the name on a building. You don’t need a six-figure salary. You don’t need to wait until you’ve “made it.” You can participate right now. With what you have. And when enough of us make that decision together, small generosity becomes collective power.

That’s The Experiment

When I decided to put my own fear to the side and leap out on something new, I kept coming back to one question: What could happen if we stopped asking a few people to give more and asked everyone to just give a little?

That’s what the Dollar Campaign is testing. Can we get hundreds – eventually thousands – or people to believe their $1 matters. Can we connect everyday generosity to locally led ideas around the world. Can someone give $1, watch it join thousands of other dollars, see exactly where that money goes, and understand what their participation helped make possible? And then – can we do it again? Because if we can, we’re no longer talking about a campaign. We’re talking about a movement.

10,000 People. $1. One Collective.

So yes, I would love to see us raise $10,000. But I would be even more excited to see 10,000 names behind it. I would be even more excited to see those names actively engaged with everything. 10,000 people who decided they didn’t need extraordinary wealth to practice generosity. 10,000 people who rejected the idea that their contribution was too small. 10,000 people who understood that participation matters. 10,000 people who became part of something bigger than themselves. And maybe, that’s how we begin redefining philanthropy.

Not by asking: “How much can you give?” …But by asking: “Will you be part of it?” If your answer is yes, start with a dollar. Plant $1. Join the collective. Let’s see what we can grow together.

Antoine B. Richards
Founder & Executive Director, Seed Change Collective, Inc.