Ask HN: Suggestions for my Cancer Research initiative?
Over the past year, a bunch of my friends and family have had some major involvement with cancer. One of my cousins just finished her Chemotherapy for melanoma and my Aunt was able to get through her Chemotherapy for breast cancer. Another one of my friends was also diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My mother currently has a spot of melanoma on her nose that could cause her to lose it or need serious surgery.
All of the ordeals really got me thinking that I should be doing more for the Cancer cause, especially since I currently have a stable job with some time on the side.
I’ve developed a site called CureCart.com which basically offers all of the items on Amazon.com at the same prices, only I get a commission for every sale. I split half of this commission with cancer research funds (So far only the American Cancer Society). The reason I only split half right now is because you can only get a tax write off for 50% of your income. If I donate more, I basically end up going negative after taxes (Theoretically I could donate 85% and break even after an estimated 30% tax rate, however, I have been using the other 50% for Google Adwords and Facebook ads). I have made a total of about $50 over the past month at a commission rate of about 6% per order.
I really think that this idea could go big… why wouldn’t people want to start at CureCart.com and get the same items/service from Amazon.com while helping others? I’ve spent a good chunk of change on advertising without much luck. It has been quite difficult to get visitors to my site and I have actually spent much more of my own money on advertising than the site has made.
Do you guys have any ideas on how I can get my site out there any better? I’ve contacted about 150 non-profit organizations in hope that they would want to be featured on my site in return for donations, however, most of them have said that I need to have had a company that is at least a year old. I’ve also formed an LLC in hopes of attracting more non-profits to feature them but I’m afraid that will take too long.
I appreciate any comments/suggestions. Thanks!
-Jeff