We are just getting started with $0$ as an organization. We have been planning for a long time, but we are just now starting to do things. We haven’t yet filed the paperwork to become an official entity yet, but we are working on that as quickly as possible. It’s one of the big things at the top of our current to-do list. We haven’t done it so far because we wanted to make sure we did it right.
$0$ has gone through a lot of changes over the months it was planned. As an organization, it went through many forms before we finally settled on the one that served our needs the best. We thought about being some form of for-profit organization, then a typical non-profit organization (NPO), but finally settled on what the IRS calls a “Social Welfare Organisation”. The official code for it is 501(c)(4).
Your typical NPO, things like Shriners, Red Cross, etc, those are classified as 501(c)(3). They are what everyone thinks of when they think of charities. They are tax exempt, people can count donations off of their taxes, etc. 501(c)(4) organizations are a little different. First of all, they exist for a different purpose. You don’t find typical charities there. Instead, you find things like the Rotary and Lions Clubs, and the Miss America Organization. They still get some of the advantages of typical NPOs, but they have some limitations too. However, they are much more flexible in what they can do than a 501(c)(3). We decided that this was perfect for $0$, because definitely do things a bit differently.
The reason these differences are important is that we had to write a mission statement in order to file as a 501(c)(4). That mission statement is directly related to what we get things like tax exemptions on. So writing it was a Big Deal, and something that had to be done with care and precision. It took some time to get it right, but when we did, there was something that came out of it that I thought was worth talking about here.
One of the biggest things that Alan and I both have looked at when working on $0$, all the way back from the beginning, before the project even had a name, was second and third order effects. Meaning, we didn’t just look at what we were doing, but we also looked at the impact that would have on others, and even on those around them. We specifically worked to maximize our impact, so that we wouldn’t just be doing good for the people we targeted, but that we would also have a positive effect on those around the people we targeted. It was something that we embedded in the core of $0$, so much so that it is astonishing to us the amount we have done even before we have really began.
This project is huge. Starting a business from scratch is hard. It was so much more than Alan and I could do, and we had a lot of help from volunteers. Those volunteers gave us a lot, but we gave back to them just as much or more. It was a conscious decision and effort by us to help those who helped us. Alan and I have a lot of expertise between us, a lot more than most of our volunteers had, so whenever we could, we shared that expertise. We trained them as they worked for us, so that they could be more valuable to their future employers, but more than that, more confident in their own skills. Sometimes, all someone needs is to be shown that they are competent and be given a chance to prove it.
This leads into another intentionally planned ripple effect. We are going to base our company hq, when we have one, out of the poor town in South Carolina where Alan grew up, and we are going to hire people from the local college to help us (once we can afford to do so). With the training and experience they will get, and the amount of networking and recommendations that Alan and I can provide, they can go anywhere they want once they want to move on from us. We aren’t just giving them jobs, we are giving them a future.
But the biggest example of the built in ripple effect is our business cards. Or rather, the envelopes we use instead of business cards. They are specifically designed to be given away again to someone in need, and then the cards themselves have a dual use. First, the contents of the card, the cash or gift card inside can be used immediately, and when that is gone, if more help is needed, they have the number to contact $0$. Furthermore, the person who received the card from us and gave it away again gets a boost. Being altruistic, giving to others is a proven way to improve mood. In addition, they also have our information if they need anything as well. Plus, the envelopes can be “reloaded”. The person who received the envelope can then put something in it themselves and pass it on to someone else who needs it. The entire concept is designed to pass from one person to another, and do good in the process.
That is really the story of $0$ in a nutshell. A positive psychologist and a genius designer finding new and better answers to the question “how can we do the most good for the most number of people as efficiently as possible?” The answer is by creating solutions that create good in others, and encourage them to share it. We are all connected. So think about how you can create good in someone else next time you have a chance.
