October 2019 Accounting Report: Money

Introduction

For new followers, one of the arms of my "Showing Up" pledge has to do with monetary contributions. I am contributing 10% of my income to solving problems in my communities, local, state, national and global in a range of ways. 

This month I got my first Patreon supporter so in addition to my wages I also earned $1 with this project. 

Base Wages: $4827.83
Overtime Wages: $210.75
Patreon Contributions: $1.00

Total: $5039.54

This gives me a contribution goal of $503.95 this month let's see how that broke down this month. Let me know in the comments if any of the contributions inspired you to take action. All of us showing up, even just a little bit, makes a big difference in aggregate.

Monthly

Patreon: $70

I have many folks that I support on Patreon who are showing up in this fight with their creative works in a wide range of formats and modes of expression. While I don't necessarily support any one contributor significantly, I feel like Patreon is the opportunity for folks to come together and support the work to make things better by following through with showing up in the world as we want it to be.

Unloop: $30

I had forgotten until I was looking at bills this month that I have a recurring donation to Unloop, which I should have mentioned in last months accounting report. Unloop is an organization that goes into prisons and teaches incarcerated people to code. It also supports them on release with finding work and stability as they transition to life on the outside.

Podcast Hosting: $12

I'm working on producing a podcast which I will be talking more about later this week. One of the recurring monthly expenses will be podcast hosting. Since this is service of the other arm of my Showing Up pledge to dedicate time, energy, and talent to addressing problems in my communities, it will count within this tithe.

Kiva: $10.24

You can learn more about my experience with showing up via microloans on Kiva in the blog post I wrote. With the migrant crisis, I am continuing to focus the majority of my microloan efforts in Central America.

This month I helped facilitate the following loans:

Via Repayments getting re-lent:

Sandra Elizabeth, a food seller in El Salvador.

Candida Lorenza, a food seller in El Salvador.

Valentina de la Paz, a weaver in El Salvador.

Federman de Jesus, a construction entrepreneur in Colombia.

Via Bonus for making a qualifying loan during a sponsor matching event:

Madeleine Flaure, a beautician in Cameroon.

Via Rounding Up to the next loan: $10.24

Catherine, a cereal processor in Rwanda

Social Media Giving

Birthday Fundraisers: $82

When I know that I'm going to be contributing 10% over the course of the month. It is easier to just say "Yes" to Birthday fundraisers. It encourages philanthropy within communities by showing buy-in and honors the efforts of folks who want attention they receive on their birthday to go to a good cause.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: $25

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: $57

Note: I have since realized that Facebook Birthday Fundraisers can be used by Facebook as their charitable contributions, so if you are going to do a Birthday Fundraiser, please consider setting one up yourself instead of doing it through Facebook. You can still advertise it on Facebook but this way Facebook gets less opportunity to dodge taxes on your charitable contribution.

Individual Community Needs: $45 

A few needs arose among people in my online communities which I contributed to help alleviate. 

This Month's Callings

This month I felt called in a couple directions. I felt called to help teachers who need support in their classrooms and to help free people from detainment who do not need to be detained.

Donors Choose: $25

To support classrooms I selected a campaign via Donors Choose to help supply a special education classroom with chairs for circle time so that the environment would be less chaotic as students would not be moving their chairs across the room. Having worked in schools I know how much valuable instruction time is lost due to infrastructure issues in transitions so this campaign to provide the classroom with a durable solution that can be used for years to come seemed like a good investment.

Minnesota Prison Writers Workshop: $25

I learned about the Minnesota Prison Writer's Workshop via a Facebook Ad of all things. Since visiting the prison in Clallam Bay with Unloop, I have really taken to heart the transformative effect of programs in prison which provide opportunity and challenge to come to terms with internal struggles and grapple with authenticity and connection. My experience in writer's workshops and the testimonials from prisoners who are a part of this program leads me to believe that this is a great use of funds dedicated to making the world a better place.

Releasing Prisoners: $204.83

To support releasing folks from unnecessary detainment I contributed to a couple of different Bond Funds. Like with Kiva, Bond Funds are a great return on investment as when the released people show up for their court dates that money gets returned to the fund and gets re-lent out to support even more individuals being released. To support releasing detained neighbors in Tacoma's Northwest Detention Center, I contributed to the Fair Fight Bond Fund. To support releasing citizens charged with crimes but awaiting trial, I donated to The Bail Project.

Looking Ahead

Looking ahead towards November, I know that I'm going to be picking up some equipment for the podcast that I'm editing / producing so that we can have better sound quality as sound quality can make a big difference in listenership. I'm also thinking that releasing prisoners in time for the holidays will likely be a big calling. Additionally the Vlogbrothers Hank and John Green have launched a fundraiser to raise funds for Partners in Health and as someone who identifies with the Nerdfighter community I will will want to take part in that as well.