Not as good as past companies? Apply.
Don't see any companies like you? Apply.
Don't see other founders that look like you? Apply.
You're not quite ready and just need a few more months to polish things up? Apply.
Too big for YC? Apply.
Your company is starting to maybe figure things out, but also secretly kind of fucked up, but you think maybe you can pull it together and apply when you're a well-oiled machine like No Startup Ever? Apply.
Even the application process itself is helpful to learn the metrics you should be tracking and to get used to talking about your company.
If you think you'll get in - apply - it's obviously the best out there; but don't drink the punch.
But don't expect to get in if you're "not quite ready". The last time I applied, they didn't even look at the demo, although they did watch the video.
What is it?
- A tithe manager.
Tithes are a historical donation of a % of earnings to charity, many religions have this but many non-religious people donate to charity too on an equally regular basis. The monthly amount is fairly consistent but sometimes one may wish to vary the amount that goes to which causes.
What this company will do:
- Act as an intermediary between donors and charities
- Encourage people to give more to charity (help with accounting of donations and claiming of tax relief as applicable)
- Help charities to be discovered by donors
What the company's product would do:
- Receive the whole amount to be donated each period
- Pay each charity according to the donor preferences (this much here, that much there)
- Provide end-of-year reporting for government tax claims, and instructions on how to claim, or auto-filing if it makes sense (where govts allow this claim to be filed separately)
- Allow the donor to change these figures easily, i.e. during the Ebola crisis I put a higher % of my tithe towards Medicins Sans Frontiers.
- Provide alerts on crises
- Provide marketing services to charities (to help be discovered, but also to keep existing donors informed of what their donation is doing)
Size of market: In the UK alone, some GBP 14BN is donated by individuals annually.
Benefit to donor: In the UK, for every £100 donated via a Gift Aid registered charity, the charity will receive an extra £25 and if you are a higher rate taxpayer you are eligible for £25 in tax relief. The vast majority of these donors never claim their tax relief and do not realise how far their donations go nor that this would only really have been a £75 donation for a £125 gain for the charity.
Benefit to charity: Reduced marketing costs, know who your donors are, able to react at times of crises, increased revenue.
That's the idea, to handle payments and manage donor accounting such that donors can be encouraged to give more, and charities can do more.
And I have operated a 10% on net earnings since forever. Well, since I learned about them at school... from a Sikh friend. It's called Dasvandh in Sikhism, and is literally 10% and must go to community. Islam has the Zakat, Christianity the Tithe, and atheists just give (though there isn't as widespread awareness in predominantly non-religious countries of the habit).
I choose to give to a variety of charities, but things like Open Rights, MSF, Computers for Africa, etc win out. And of course I consider open source donations and contributions to be within this.
Mostly... it's static, and one just needs accounting tools. But sometimes it varies by demand, i.e. Open Street Map request recently, or perhaps a humanitarian crisis.
Giving individually, direct, makes it hard to make adjustments as a reaction to urgent things like that. One cannot just cancel and renew standing orders easily, most charities wish to own the whole thing (naturally, as they want to have a base revenue guaranteed), but this actually makes it harder for donors to give more at times and makes it harder for donors to give more regularly (if they may need to make adjustments).
5% is too much, I'd probably suggest barely 1% on the payment processing. Instead it's services to charities that would produce the revenue, and fees to donors when you help get their tax return sorted, after all you would know that you helped them claim back a certain figure. There's obviously a lot of money there, but the business model would have to be worked on to make sure it didn't discourage giving.
Mind if I send you an email?
I've heard that earlier applications give more time for alums (who review submissions) to check out the demos. On the flip side, spending more time on polishing the application could help as well.
I'm asking out of pure curiosity.
"Groups that submit early have a small advantage because we have more time to read their applications."