Trust
phot by hurricane finder
People just don’t give you money because they like you or you seem to be an ok guy. People don’t give you money because they think that what you are doing is cool or a nobel cause. People give you their hard earn money because they TRUST you.
When I first wrote about “My Project” of starting a school in the Philippines, I asked for help from my readers. I was honestly disappointed that only one person donated. I received plenty of well wishes but no donation. So, I decided to give up on asking the online community as part of the funding source. This is was last April when my blog was just about 2 1/2 months old.
After spending the first 3 weeks of July in the Philippines to implement the first phase of the project, I realized that I have to try again and asked the online community for help because the renovation cost exceeded my initial estimate.
And so I did, and I wrote “Be Immortalized For Only $10″ to encourage my online friends and visitors to donate for my school project. Honestly, I expected the same response as I received last April. But I’m happy to say that I’ve been proven wrong. That same day, donations started comming in.
It was like Christmas in July! I immediately called my family, who are still vacationing in the Philippines, and told the great news. Needless to say, we were all jumping up and down, all overwhelmed with joy.
Let me slow down a minute. I haven’t raised thousands of dollars, yet. But the amount is not the point. The point is that people are actually giving me money to fund my dream. Now, if you’ve ever had the experience of raising money for a cause, you’ll appreciate what I’m speaking about. Raising money for a dream is like pulling teeth.
When my excitement subsided, as always, I started analyzing what was happening. I questioned why was I receiving donations now and why didn’t I receive the same response last April. The answer is simple, TRUST.
I’m the same person with the same dream, with the same hope, and with the same passion as the person who asked for help last April. However, there’s an important difference. Last April, while my readers generally like me and my blog, they didn’t trust me yet. Trust is a funny thing. It’s so hard to earn but very easy to lose.
Naturally, since I hadn’t paid my dues and earned people’s trust, it was difficult for them to give me their hard earn money. I would’ve done the same thing. I’m like many people. I easily my money to a cause if I trust the person who is asking for my donation. Sometimes, even if I don’t really believe on the cause but believe in the person I still make a contribution.
The online community or the blogging community is much like any other community. It is built on trust and relationships. And since you’ve worked hard on earning the community’s trust, you must also work hard so that you can keep it. And because the online community is devoid of face to face interactions, the trust that is built within this community is more fragile. So what do you do protect this fragility? You hold each other accountable and more importantly, you take care and support each other.
The people listed below have taken the risk and placed their trust in me and made a donation. I would also like to thank the rest of the people who sent me e-mails and commented on my posts to wish me good luck.
David from Life of (f)Utility:Hacking the Human Race
Elizabeth at Urban Panther’s Lair
Katie from A Little Crazy A Lot Of Love
Kim my friend from high school and a karaoke duet partner
Manny the guy who keeps watdawat.com running, my son’s friend
Marelisa from Abundance-Blog.Marelisa-Online
Valerie from Thinking Out Loud Blog
As it grows, I will continue to update the list.
The total donation thus far minus paypal fees is $272.13.
On a side note, don’t miss tomorrow’s post. The first major hurdle in planning the school culture and curriculum has reached it’s first crossroad. I will need your input in resolving the issue.
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