Members Unite

Discussions in our house are quite lively. Sometimes we even stand on the table to make a point. As the boys get older, the conversations are getting even more impassioned. One of the hot topics for us is discussing charities. It's been my hope to foster compassion and empathy within them so that they may be empowered to make a difference in a cause they love. While they really want to make a change somehow, they often wonder how one person can effect a sizable change.

We've been introduced to a fantastic organization called Members Unite. The philosophy behind the company is what sets it apart from other philanthropic sites. They find the most interesting, impactful, meaningful projects and then let their members decide which ones get funded. The projects are funded through member contributions and the members ultimately control the outcome each month. Not only was this right up the boy's alley, but we had a great discussion trying to figure out what organization our vote was going to go towards.

We narrowed it down to our favorite 5 options and wrote them on our chalk board. Going through each one we talked about how much impact it would have on the world based on a few parameters that they came up with. I found it really interesting to hear their ideas and saw that they were really invested in each one.

When they finally made their decision, which was to fund the purchase of 5,000 native trees for the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, they felt really empowered and invested in the group. And then something unexpected happened. There were a few ideas that they thought were really fun so they decided to pool their money together and actually do it themselves (on a smaller scale). They are combining two of the ideas into one. 

One of the Members Unite ideas was to purchase 1,000 helium-filled balloons and hand them out to people in Central Park and the other was to distribute 1,000 Smile Cards throughout major cities. The cards will remind people to smile, and then pay it forward by doing something kind for another before passing the card along.

So they will be purchasing 50 balloons with smiley faces on them and handing them out at our park along with the message to give their smile to someone else.

Any organization that is able to spark this much excitement in our house is always a hit with the boys. They like that for as little as $5 a month they will be able to take an active role in deciding which projects get funding and how much funding they get. 100% of their monthly contribution will go toward the winning project.

They will be looking forward to seeing the results of their vote and I'm looking forward to seeing in what ways this organization will inspire the boys to act!

p.s.- For a limited time, Members Unite  is offering my community a 50% off discount on the annual membership fee of $25! Use code “WELOVEMOMS” when you sign up!

Comments

[Jen]

I love that your kids were inspired to do a version of one of projects themselves! That makes us at Members Unite smile :)