(Cross-posted from MIRI's blog. MIRI maintains Less Wrong, with generous help from Trike Apps, and much of the core content is written by salaried MIRI staff members.)
Update: I'm liveblogging the fundraiser here.
Read our strategy below, then give here!
As previously announced, MIRI is participating in a massive 24-hour fundraiser on May 6th, called SV Gives. This is a unique opportunity for all MIRI supporters to increase the impact of their donations. To be successful we'll need to pre-commit to a strategy and see it through. If you plan to give at least $10 to MIRI sometime this year, during this event would be the best time to do it!
The plan
We need all hands on deck to help us win the following prize as many times as possible:
$2,000 prize for the nonprofit that has the most individual donors in an hour, every hour for 24 hours.
To paraphrase, every hour, there is a $2,000 prize for the organization that has the most individual donors during that hour. That's a total of $48,000 in prizes, from sources that wouldn't normally give to MIRI. The minimum donation is $10, and an individual donor can give as many times as they want. Therefore we ask our supporters to:
- give $10 an hour, during every hour of the fundraiser that they are awake (I'll be up and donating for all 24 hours!);
- for those whose giving budgets won't cover all those hours, see below for list of which hours you should privilege; and
- publicize this effort as widely as possible.
International donors, we especially need your help!
MIRI has a strong community of international supporters, and this gives us a distinct advantage! While North America sleeps, you'll be awake, ready to target all of the overnight $2,000 hourly prizes.
Hours to target in order of importance
To increase our chances of winning these prizes we want to preferentially target the hours that will see the least donation traffic from donors of other participating organizations. Below are the top 12 hours we'd like to target in order of importance. Remember that all times are in Pacific Time. (Click on an hour to see what time it is in your timezone.)
- 1 am hour (01:00–01:59 PT)
- 2 am hour (02:00–02:59 PT)
- 3 am hour (03:00–03:59 PT)
- 4 am hour (04:00–04:59 PT)
- 5 am hour (05:00–05:59 PT)
- 6 am hour (06:00–06:59 PT)
- 11 pm hour (23:00–23:59 PT)
- 7 am hour (07:00–07:59 PT)
- 10 pm hour (22:00–22:59 PT)
- 8 am hour (08:00–08:59 PT)
- 5 pm hour (17:00–17:59 PT)
- 9 pm hour (21:00–21:59 PT)
For the 5 pm hour there is an additional prize I think we can win:
$1,000 golden ticket added to the first 50 organizations receiving gifts in the 5 pm hour.
So if you are giving in the 5 pm hour try and give right at the beginning of the hour.
Bottom line, for every hour you are awake, give $10 an hour.
Give preferentially to the hours above, if unable to give during all waking hours.
We also have plans to target the $300,000 in matching funds up for grabs during the event. If you would like to contribute $500 or more to this effort, shoot Malo an email at malo@intelligence.org.
For those who want to follow along and contribute to the last minute planning, as well as receive updates and giving reminders during the event, sign up here.