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BitGiveOrg
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I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:11 pm

Hi Everyone,

I am the Founder and Executive Director of BitGive, which was established in mid-2013 and is the first government recognized 501(c)(3) global Bitcoin nonprofit. We have built a positive philanthropic representative organization for the Bitcoin industry, bridging the gap between the innovative technology and its practical applications for nonprofits and humanitarian work in the developing world.

We have built partnerships and raised funds with large nonprofits including Save the Children, The Water Project, TECHO, and Medic Mobile. BitGive recently announced its Bitcoin Charity 2.0 Initiative, which includes a variety of projects aimed at leveraging Bitcoin and blockchain technology to benefit charitable organizations worldwide, the first of which is a donation transparency platform.

BitGive has been featured in Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, Non Profit Times, Inside Philanthropy, and more. I have also presented at numerous conferences around the world, included SXSW 2015.

Previously, I worked with environmental organizations in California for over 14 years, specializing in consulting, strategy development, policy and advocacy, funding assistance, and program management. Most notably, I worked on the development and implementation of multi-million dollar programs in public funding for the environmental sector. I remain involved in this sector on the Board of the California Urban Forests Council.

I'll be here for as long as I can today and then will check back periodically throughout the day.

Ask Me Anything!

Connie Gallippi
Founder, BitGive

Learn More - http://bitgivefoundation.org/
Last edited by BitGiveOrg on Fri Nov 13, 2015 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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BitcoinXio
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:20 pm

Hi Connie, thanks for doing this AMA!

Can you speak to how BitGive is working with the nonprofit community on getting more nonprofits on board with accepting bitcoin as a donation method? Surely after seeing some of the benefits they would be on board, what do you hear as possible challenges that nonprofits pose to you on why they don't want to accept bitcoin at this time with their nonprofit?

Thanks in advance.

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arnoudk
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:25 pm

I wanted to start of with a quick thank you. I appreciate how you dedicate your time to changing the life of others for the good, and I appreciate how you have helped to show how bitcoin can be used for positive things (when you started BitGive, most news seemed to be about the dark net).

I have a quick question - do you think that the traceability of bitcoin transactions will ensure that charities become more honest and because they need to operate in a transparent and proven honest manner? ie, proof that donations are used to purchase aid in a specific region. What do you see as the main challenge for this transparency?
Excited about the potential of Bitcoin Cash in the beautiful country of Belize.
Developer of the RegisterDocuments.com Document Registration Service (using the Bitcoin Cash blockchain).

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BitGiveOrg
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:37 pm

Hi Connie, thanks for doing this AMA!

Can you speak to how BitGive is working with the nonprofit community on getting more nonprofits on board with accepting bitcoin as a donation method? Surely after seeing some of the benefits they would be on board, what do you hear as possible challenges that nonprofits pose to you on why they don't want to accept bitcoin at this time with their nonprofit?

Thanks in advance.
Thanks for the great question. We have historically done a great deal of outreach and education to nonprofits about Bitcoin and the benefits is offers to the nonprofit sector. We have worked closely with some of the largest nonprofits to help then understand and feel more comfortable with Bitcoin. There has also been a lot of press relations and public speaking as well. Largely to date, our focus has been on outreach and raising funds for nonprofits as an easy entry point. For organizations like Save the Children, after working with them for some time, we ultimately brought them on board by working with our partner BitPay who can directly process donations for them. We have worked with numerous nonprofits in this fashion. We have also hosted campaigns for organizations such as Medic Mobile to introduce them to the technology and our community.

Most of the time the barriers are pretty obvious such as a lack of understanding or knowledge of the technology and the time it takes to get up to speed. Another is the risk in volatility and being able to follow all the regulatory requirements that nonprofits face while using a new innovative way to raise funds. We have been able to help with these questions and more as we have literally paved the trail in figuring out how to do this ourselves as the first official Bitcoin nonprofit. Many of the nonprofits greatly appreciate that we are a 501(c)(3) ourselves, and we have to follow all the same rules as they do. They appreciate that we are figuring it out as the technology evolves and the regulatory environment evolves with it.

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BitGiveOrg
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:52 pm

I wanted to start of with a quick thank you. I appreciate how you dedicate your time to changing the life of others for the good, and I appreciate how you have helped to show how bitcoin can be used for positive things (when you started BitGive, most news seemed to be about the dark net).

I have a quick question - do you think that the traceability of bitcoin transactions will ensure that charities become more honest and because they need to operate in a transparent and proven honest manner? ie, proof that donations are used to purchase aid in a specific region. What do you see as the main challenge for this transparency?
Thank you very much for your kind words! It has been an honor and pleasure to do this work. I hope to be able to continue to do this and at a much grander scale as time and resources permit.

Re: traceability - Absolutely! I believe one the greatest benefits to the technology is that it offers transparency and accountability. The nonprofits that are ready and willing to share this data with donors and the public will gain more trust and ostensibly more funding to support the important work they are doing. They will set a new standard and those who are not able to compete will eventually have to follow suit in order to remain relevant and accomplish their goals.

Currently it is technically feasible to follow transactions with the blockchain, but difficult to follow an isolated transaction from start to finish, and data is buried in code and therefore not easily accessible to the mainstream user. This is why we are embarking upon building a transparency platform for NGOs (and other uses as well) that will provide a user-friendly experience and make the process as open and transparent as possible - from end to end, including the last mile in developing nations. We are just getting started, so there is much more to come. You can learn more about this initiative here - http://bitgivefoundation.org/bitcoin-ch ... nitiative/. Thanks!

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MadBitcoins
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:08 pm

Hi Connie!

Do you have any exciting partnerships with bitcoin shopping sites you'd like to mention?

What kind of projects is BitGive working on for the future?

=[8-)

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BitGiveOrg
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:26 pm

Hi Connie!

Do you have any exciting partnerships with bitcoin shopping sites you'd like to mention?

What kind of projects is BitGive working on for the future?

=[8-)
Hello Mad Bitcoins!

What a great question as we are approaching Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season!

Yes, we do in fact have an amazing partnership with Purse where you can opt in for 0.5% of your purchase price to be donated to BitGive (at no cost to you), and thanks to Gem - https://gem.co/ - that donation will come to us through the end of 2015! We have had previous sponsors Chain and Libra support this program as well. Check out Purse and save money using bitcoin and donate to charity while shopping! https://purse.io/

This program with Purse and Gem will DOUBLE the donation that Amazon Smile makes when you sign up for BitGive as your choice charity for a total of 1% to BitGive - at no cost to the consumer! Sign up for BitGive on Amazon Smile here - https://smile.amazon.com/ch/46-3362563.

We also have a partnership with Bitcoin Metals, Inc so get your shiny cufflinks and other classy holiday gifts, and they will share 5% of sales with BitGive! https://bitcoin-metals.com/

Thanks!

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purseIO
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:40 pm

Hi Connie,

How can people donate to BitGive? Do you accept Bitcoin directly?

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BitGiveOrg
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:53 pm

Hi Connie,

How can people donate to BitGive? Do you accept Bitcoin directly?
Absolutely! I would sure hope so being the first Bitcoin nonprofit. haha!

Here is our Donation page with payment options - http://bitgivefoundation.org/donate-now/. If you use the form, you will get an email receipt so that you can write off your donation from your taxes (another benefit to our official nonprofit status).

Thanks!

vivekomon
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Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Sat Nov 14, 2015 6:58 pm

Hey Connie!

Any NGO's from India you working or plan to work with?

Bit for the Good Future, a charity fund run by my friend Markus expressed interest reaching out to Roberto Carlos a well know footballer to create awareness and help poor children in India.

Would love know your thoughts on this? :)

~ To the Moon ~

Lu-Fong Chua
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 7:59 pm

Re: I'm Connie Gallippi Founder of BitGive, Ask Me Anything!

Sun Nov 15, 2015 1:08 am

Hello Connie:

A "thought leadership" type question rather than one directly related to BitGive:
* Premise: Much has been written lately about blockchain technology's potential as a "Trust Machine" to secure property rights, fight counterfeiting etc especially in the developing world where the requisite institutions aren't as well-established.
* Question: Outside of philanthropy (in which BitGive is an outstanding leader!), have you already seen how "trust machine" type applications of Blockchain have taken hold in the developing world? Where do you see opportunities, limitations, pitfalls?

Finally, please accept my warm congratulations on your and BitGive's outstanding work -- truly a marriage of cutting-edge tech with a noble sense of calling.

Best,
Lu-Fong

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