Test 2

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OLPC missing a golden opportunity

My friend Michael Gartenberg made some comments today regarding the OLPC (one laptop per child) “G1G1″ program. When I was in Boston with Bug Labs last month I had the opportunity to meet with some of the OLPC staff. Great folks, really dedicated to a good cause (which obviously has room for improvement, but it’s better than nothing). While there I made a comment about how I felt the “buy one, give one” is a great starting point, they are missing out on a huge opportunity to raise even more money and awareness.

The current program (which ends on Nov 26, so get moving!) allows anyone in the US or Canada to “purchase” an OLPC (aka XO Laptop) for $399, which automatically donates a second OLPC to someone in need. Very nice. But what about people with a higher net worth, who are interested in supporting the cause with more money? Sure, they can donate more cash, but in my eyes this is a total opportunity to have a big win-win by appealing to ego.

Whether we all like it or not, there’s a certain amount of pride/vanity associated with charitable contributions. There’s a reason most buildings on campuses have names on them, I don’t recall a single class in Anonymous Hall. People like to get a bit of recognition for their charity. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I think the OLPC initiative should support the ability to gain recognition.

My proposed program would have the ability to donate higher amounts, say $2500, $10K, and up. At each plateau you’d give XX laptops to good causes, and you yourself would still get just one. The difference is you’d get a “special” one. The special part? Different colors. For example, instead of the basic green, at $2500 you get a blue one. At $10K it’s purple. At $50K it’s gold. Etc…

This is a very simple win-win in my eyes. It’s a win for OLPC, as they’d likely raise more money from those who have it at their discretion. Further, they’d be doing it with a method that has virtually no impact on their cost structure, it would cost literally pennies more to stock a few extra color chassis (vocab tip of the day: the plural of chassis is… chassis). It’s then a win for those interested in the donations, as they get a little bit of extra recognition for their contribution.

Sure, in an ideal world people would just give whatever they can to support causes. But we don’t live in an ideal world. We live in a world with many different motivations, and whether good or bad, I’d rather leverage ego-driven desires if the result is greater altruism.