Dear Members, Challengers, & Readers,
The Yakezie Writing Contest officially launches this Thursday, November 11th and I’d like to share with you the framework which is certain to make us all very proud. The Yakezie Writing Contest is a one of a kind scholarship that focuses on not only helping someone in financial need, but also provides mentorship to all our winners!
WHAT’S AT STAKE
* Amount. We will launch with at least $500 a month every month for the first six months. My proposal is a suggested monthly donation of $5 by each Member. $500 is the minimum amount to be awarded to the winning recipient as I will be the anchor to get us there if we fall short. We hopefully will get to $1,000 a month by June, 2011 as we contribute $10 a month or more thanks to growing advertisement opportunities that many of you have experienced already. Challengers and readers alike are encouraged to donate through an upcoming donation button on the sidebar as well. Even just $1 dollar can help make a difference with enough people participating.
* Mentor Program. With potentially over 100 Yakezie Members by January, 2011 I propose one of two things: 1) We assign a Yakezie Member who is particularly inspired by the individual’s winning essay and wants to get more involved. A good goal is to have each of us become a compatible mentor to someone. 2) We set up a rotating Mentor Committee where the Yakezie Scholar can ask for our help and advice when desired. The committee should be made up of a diverse set of backgrounds. Our goal as Yakezie Mentors is to ensure the Yakezie Scholar achieves what he or she wants to achieve, and uses the scholarship money wisely.
* Maximum Yield. 100% of all scholarship donations will be used to give to the Yakezie Writing Contest winner. We are not interested in using some of your donations to fund and grow our operations as we have very little overhead and have other means of earning money. I am consistently disappointed when I read studies where only 50 cents, or 25 cents of every dollar you donate ends up in the hands of the intended recipient. Once again, 100% of all proceeds will be donated to the winning scholar.
NUTS & BOLTS
* Number of Winners. Currently, we have capacity for one $500 winner per month. However, if we so happen to raise more than $500 per month, we can use the proceeds to give a smaller amount to a second and third place finisher. I am confident as the Yakezie Network grows, we will have capacity to giveaway more. Finally, we all have the capacity to be mentors to applicants who do not win.
* Application. The Yakezie Writing Contest application form link goes live this Thursday, November 11th. The application form will be a simple link on Yakezie.com where an applicant can submit their contact details and full essay which addresses the particular Writing Contest question of the month. The recommended essay length will likely be roughly 700-1,000 words and must be properly edited for punctuation and grammar.
* Process. The submission form will be open for two weeks. In the third week, the Yakezie will choose the best 5-10 essays (depends on the amount of entries) and publish them on Yakezie.com. Members, Challengers, and readers will all get to vote using a simple numerical value of between 1-5, and the essay with the highest numerical value wins. In order to vote, you must register for Yakezie.com, and each IP address gets one vote. The Yakezie Scholar will then be announced in the 4th week and be mailed or Paypaled the sum of $500. Given we are launching in the middle of the month, and this is our first initiative, we will keep the submission form open until Dec 10th and reward our first scholarship by the holidays!
* Winners. If you are the deserving winner, you must sign a pledge of honor to use the winnings for the intended purposes. We will all be curious to follow your progress, so please send in pictures and write a follow up post or Youtube video clip at the end of 30 days with your initiatives. Please also keep in constant communication with your Yakezie mentor.
SPONSORSHIP TO SUPPORT YAKEZIE.COM
* Corporate Sponsorship. We welcome corporate sponsors who have a culture of giving back. As the main corporate sponsor, we will name the particular writing contest after your firm and prominently display your ad for the entire month on Yakezie.com. For example, if you are American Express, we will name December’s Yakezie Writing Contest as the “American Express Yakezie Writing Contest” and eventually, the “American Express Yakezie Scholar” to the particular individual. Your banner ads will be displayed prominently in your location of choice.
* Individual Sponsorship. If you are an individual blogger who so happens to be particularly passionate about the scholarship at hand, we can also offer the same benefits as the corporate sponsor.
* Supporters. If you or your organization would like to participate, but not as the main sponsor, you may and will be highlighted in our Supporters section of the application page, Yakezie.com homepage, and announcement of the Yakezie Writing Contest winner.
Your support helps keep the initiative alive and kicking!
HELP SPREAD THE WORD
Through the suggestion of readers and Yakezie Members, we have identified several charitable organizations to reach out to such as the Youth Tennis Advantage and other quality organizations who empower our youth to succeed.
Thank you for your interest in the Yakezie Writing Contest. The Yakezie Network is the web’s largest personal finance network of its kind. We are a tight community whose primary goal is to collaborate with each other and give back to the community. Please retweet and highlight this post on your respective sites to help spread the word!
For any questions, please feel free to e-mail financialsamurai AT gmail DOT com. If you would like to donate immediately, please send funds to theyakezie AT gmail DOT com.
Please feel free to provide your suggestions and constructive feedback so we can make the Yakezie Writing Contest a success!
Thank you!
Sam
This is so amazing. I know we’re going to help so many people. This takes the Yakezie philosophy to the next level. Thanks for starting all of this and I can’t wait to help out.
Kevin, thanks for being the first one to donate $10 bucks! You’re the man! You are simply one of the best Yakezie Members around. Thanks so much.
Sam,
This looks awesome! Thanks so much for your vision and all your hard work in making it happen. I’ve made my donation to the scholarship fund for this month!
Thank you Dana for your donation! Thank you for helping spread the word. I have two fears: 1) is nobody applies, and 2) too many people apply and we can’t give enough.
Thanks for your support.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tim-Faith & Finance, Suzanne Cramer, Suzanne Cramer, Yakezie, Financial Samurai and others. Financial Samurai said: The Yakezie Scholarship Framework http://t.co/QIyThQI -> At last, our next challenge is upon us! #charity #scholarship #giving #Yakezie […]
Definitely down to contribute my fair share and then some. This is gonna be AWESOME!
For sure man! The $5-10 is just a suggestion and not mandatory. I didn’t talk about all the revenue the Yakezie Network generated in October b/c I feel it should be private. But, hopefully those who have benefited the most from the revenue generation can also be some of the best promoters.
What a unique and fantastic idea! I will be more than willing to participate as both a giver of $$$ and in writing essays (I take it you can do both). A great way to build a strong blogging network – better than simply listing out the ‘best’ blogs.
Hi UHNW, our target audience is underprivileged, financially disadvantaged youth. You are welcome to apply if you are one of them. If not, sure do appreciate your support!
Very excited to read the submissions! This is gonna change lives for sure
This is so amazing and inspiring. Honestly, this network almost brings tears to my eyes. I am so keen to work with you to help others on a whole new level. Thanks for putting forward this fantastic mission.
Miss T, thanks for your thoughts! I can’t wait for the submissions and pictures to come in so we can hear their stories. I’m thinking up some questions right now.
Please help spread the word. Looking forward to your participation!
Awesome selflessness. I’m down for throwing $5-$10 a month towards someone else. My debt snowball won’t miss it. :)
Thanks Sandy! Whatever you can afford is fine. I promise you that once you pass the Challenge, the revenue opportunities via the Yakezie will be that much greater.
I think that we can all spare a few bucks a month to help those in need.
I agree! With as many of us that are here, we can definitely do it and make a huge impact!
I can’t wait to see the scholar entries for this!
I can’t wait either! I think one of our key challenges will be to get our message out to the right audience/youth. Too often, scholarships go ignored b/c people don’t know how to apply or have never heard of it before. Hence, it is up to us to spread the word and get those who are most in need to give it a go.
Cheers
Amazing! $500 to $1000 could really help out an organization or family! You know me Sam, if there is anything I can do just let me know
Yes sir! I know I can count on you. We’re going to put a donate/subscribe button up to make it easier for folks to donate once we launch the scholarship this Thursday.
I hope that through our continued ACs, we can provide a perpetual giving machine!
This is awesome Sam! I’ll gladly make a monthly sponsorship. This lines up perfectly with our own mission to give. I’m sure the Yakezie Scholarship will be successful and I’m excited to see what kinds of changes we can make!
Tim
Thanks Tim! We’ve created two buttons on the home page side bar. One is the Donate button, where you can decide to give whatever you want. The second button is the Subscribe button, where you can just choose how much to give every month automatically until cancel.
Appreciate your support!
Also, if people have feedback on the suggested donation amounts, you are more than welcome to share. I really don’t want anybody to feel like they need to give, or give an amount that they are uncomfortable giving. If you feel more comfortable signing up as a Mentor, that’s great too!
WOW! I’m in tears just thinking about what something like this could do for me. $1000 won’t change my life but it could be the turning point I need. $500 would get me off in the right direction. I can’t afford to donate even a penny right now but my hope is to someday be able to give back. Thank you for thinking of those of us in a terrible financial position. Love you site!
Hi Debt Princess, thanks for stopping by! Hang in there regarding your debt! Maybe we can help in some way, or connect you with some advertising revenue on your site.
We will alternate the topics and target audience each month. I just fear that we won’t be able to help enough people :( There are many debt bloggers out there who’ve come out of your situation.
Also, you should look around in the Yakezie.com forums. There might be some staff writing or paid post opportunities. Come join the community!
This is awesome – i love it! I love the idea of helping others and hearing inspiring stories. And I think the mentor aspect is great. Being able to help someone financially and also emotionally/educationally is so rewarding.
Yay!! The next phase of the Yakezie movement is OnnNN!! I’m down for donating monthly :) I’m excited to hear about the submissions coming in. $500 is a lot of money, especially for students and I am happy we get to give it away 12x in a year. That’s adds up.
Excellent to hear! It sure does add up. If you’d like to subscribe automatically a month, pls try out the button on the right to see if it works. Thx!
Okay I think it worked- want to see if you got it? I didn’t subscribe automatically but I did a lump sum which should last until next November :)
[…] excited to announce that the Yakezie Scholarship Framework is now up on Yakezie.com! I spent several hours this past rainy weekend formulating the plan and […]
Wow! What a way to use the power of Yakezie to come together and help other people. This groups just gets more and special by the day!!
OUTSTANDING!!!
Thx Freddie! If you know of any potential applicant, please definitely encourage them to apply.
Hey Freddie,
Doesn’t it? I’m very proud to be apart of this group!
Thanks,
Timothy
I’m really excited to participate! Has anyone investigated getting the Yakezie tax free status so our contributions can be deducted? Would you like me to follow up? If we can get tax free status it’s a draw to get more donations from outsiders.
That is a good point, and something someone mentioned about “giving money through a 501(c)3”. I think it requires a board, and all this fancy smancy stuff that I don’t know if we have time or the money for. Maybe though. Would be great if you looked into it and what it entails. Thnx!
I’ll put it on my “to do” list and get back with you!
If not now, it’s nothing we can’t figure out in the future when our organizational finances are more in order :)
I can’t wait to watch this grow. It will be great to help others, and know that 100 percent of contributions are actually being given to the person in need.
Looking forward to seeing that donation button!
Good point Barb- I have been wondering about the tax implications.
Donation button is up on the right. Let me know if it works. One can either subscribe to a monthly deduction which is automatic (set it and forget it), or choose to Donate whatever set amount they feel like.
Should we have the buttons on the top right, or in the middle where they are now?
I just did my little October donation. Hoping for more in November!
Ha ha The Youth Tennis Advantage, you just want some kids to beat on the court when you are kicking 60! In actuality I think it’s a fine cause. Kids really needs sport and tennis is a hell of a sport to keep a kid on his/her toes and in great shape.
I’ll be there with the donations of course. There are other initiatives that I will be giving through too (Beating Broke’s and Wealth Pilgrim’s thing in the Private Forums) and will keep up with minimum suggested donation at very least.
This is going to be awesome and of course will work as great marketing for the Best Personal Finance Network in the world.
Beating Broke and WP’s initiative sounds great. If that is a Member’s preferr way to contribute, awesome.
I’m happy to go the direction of organizations and better yet specifically people who this scholarship initiative will target. The Youth Tennis Advange is just one organization, and the scholarship would go directly to the applicant rather than the organization.
http://knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=Coca_Cola and http://knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=Nestle. If only 1/10th of the claims against Coke and Nestle are true they are certainly not good companies! From Coke being accused of murdering a Columbian Union leader to Nestle getting African tots addicted to Formula it initially gave out for free they have serious ethical issues! And yes sugar is a real killer :).
Bono, I am sure he does it all to fuel his ego. The side effect of his work though is good :).
That’s really cool that it will be awarded direct, I like that aspect. Sometimes spreading dollars thin just gives little impact.
That’s really cool that it will be awarded direct, I like that aspect. Sometimes spreading dollars thin just gives little impact.
I’ll be donating direct and through any schemes that take my fancy.
I am still a tiny potato in the monetary scheme of things, but if it’s for a good cause then I would be glad to help out!
We are all tiny potatoes! No Member should feel like they have to give more than they are comfortable giving. Hopefully we’ll all benefit from future advertising opps via the Yakezie!
No worries! I just donated. Since I only have a personal paypal please keep mine private as well. :)
P.S. Have you guys ever looked at Bitcoin? (http://www.bitcoin.org/) I know it’s not mainstream, but there are no transaction fees, and the spreads to get in and out of the currency are low. It would be interesting to have an alternative.
Yep, everything is private 100% guaranteed. Haven’t had a chance to look into it.
This is awesome Sam. I just donated. Thanks! :)
Thank you Jaime! Thanks for your help in spreading the word too.
Sounds great. I just sent my donation.
Thank you Joe! We’re going to make this effort a success!
Sounds great…I hope we can do some good. Just donated.
Thanks for your contribution Mike!
I’m wondering how young one has to be to get this scholarship? Would adult returning students be eligible? I’m a low-income returning student trying to get through school without debt, working toward a business degree, and am an active Yakezie member. Would I qualify, or is it more geared toward high schoolers?
We will probably have guidelines each month. The initial one will likely be geared towards youth from lower income families who have aspirations of going to college. We’ll probably change the targets around each month, but pre-college youth is likely the majority of our focus.
If you are cash strapped, please don’t feel like you need to donate. Your time and support is most welcome!
I like that we will move the targets around. It’s great that we won’t completely bar a person trying to return to school. I just want to make sure that people are using it for school :)
Good initiative. I just donated.
Thank you for your contribution mate!
Great to see it rolling along! I’ll donate a lunch for this!
Why a lunch, you may ask? Because that is the cost of eating lunch at a cheap restaurant is about $5.00! So for the scholarship, I can afford to without lunch for a day :)
Of course, I’m still eating breakfast and dinner that day!!! ;)
Thanks Don! Great way to look at it. I think i’ve got to start skipping some lunches myself as my waste line is growing! Thanks for your support.
This is such a great idea sam, and I’m glad we were able to get a monthly subscription button installed. I plan on signing up at the 10 dollar level this weekend.
Appreciate it Jeff! The Subscribe button will hopefully make things easier for some who would like to subscribe once and let things roll. They can always donate more if they see a particular person who they have a particular interest in.
To keep myself anonymous, I’ll donate through my BF’s PayPal account…So if you see some randomness… And you asked about tax implications. I think that even though you give away money earned here from sponsors, unless it’s the Yakezie Scholarship network is registered charity, you might be on the hook for paying taxes on that moolah.
Gotcha, not a problem Sandy! Everything that comes to me is private, private, private. Please put down your Twiter handle though or something so we can keep track. thnx!
Argh! Forgot to do that, but when you see the name “Clarence” you can attribute that to me. I’m certainly not Clarence, but he doesn’t mind me hijacking the PayPal every now and then.
Sounds great! :)
First of all, this is awesome! I’m so proud to even just be associated with a group of people as awesome as the Yakezie network.
I’m just curious Sam; has this been set up as an official non-profit organization? I’d hate to think you have to pay taxes on this money, and I’d also hate to think of the missed sponsorship opportunities because the donation is not tax-deductible.
Thanks Kevin. As for our initial launch, we have not set up the 503b thingy for taxes, so yes, we will probably have to pay taxes. Second, our current fund raising initiative is small enough ($500-$1000) that I think we will manage without the tax incentive. As we grow, perhaps we will change. The majority of people I know donate simply b/c they care, and not so much at all for tax reasons. I’ve always thought it secondary myself. However, I realize some big corporates might definitely want that, and could be key!
From what I understand, to take tax deductible donations, you have to be registered in each state from which you receive donations. IANAAccountant
Wow, that’s something that I didn’t know! That really makes things a bit more difficult!
I threw in my $5 for this month (I thought we had already started, lol) and hope to increase that as my advertisers pay up this month, lol. Woot for the Yakezie!
Thanks very much for that contribution! We’re going to spend an extra couple weeks for this scholarship given the Thanksgiving and year end holidays, and since this is our first launch. Cheers!
[…] Yakezie has launched a new scholarship program! You can head over there to support the program, and you can also enter the HowtoSaveMoney.com […]
I’m very happy about this. I’ve got a post going up on Monday that is mentioning this opportunity. Three cheers for the Yakezie!
Thanks,
Timothy
[…] The Yakezie Scholarship Framework. One of the most exciting things when the Yakezie started phase two was plans for a scholarship program. Well the details are unveiled. We’re looking for recipients and sponsors. (Yakezie) […]
[…] the Yakezie Financial Network announced that we will be offering a Scholarship. The Yakezie Scholarship is just one more way that our network is trying to help the community. Be sure to stop by and […]
I’m gearing up to make my first Yakezie Scholarship contribution! It’s time to put up and shut up!
I’m in, I just made my donation. It’s an eCheck so Paypal said it will probably take about 3-5 days.
Thanks for your contribution! Will record and update when it comes through.
Great, It’s exciting to see that tracker you’ve got up there. That will probably be one of my favorite things to check!
What happened to the tracker btw? I haven’t been able to find it… is it being worked on?
[…] Yakezie has recently launched a new scholarship program! Alan Dunn of HowtoSaveMoney.com along with many Yakezie members have all kindly decided to sponsor […]
This altruistic challenge has prompted me to join the Yakezie group with enthusiam. I’m part of your team, and keen to help!
Sweet! Great to see you finally join the challenge, Andrew! You’re going to love it here. :)
It really is great Andrew has joined! With him being a teacher and blogger and investor, can there be a better fit?
[…] members and readers can directly support the Yakezie Scholarship every month for new recipients (read more about the Yakezie Scholarship initiative here).Located in the sidebar for now, these PayPal buttons allow one time contributions to the Yakezkie […]
i sent my donation in this morning as well. Looking at the tracker on the sidebar motivated me to contribute sooner than I anticipated :)
Good stuff. Thanks! I think we need folks to put a note on what their Twitter handle is so we can better keep track. Cheers
[…] perhaps I’ve come up with a solution, which needs your input.All of us enjoyed reading the Yakezie Member Posts from the Alpha Class that went up the months of September, October, and November. It was a chance […]
Okay, I just donated. Thanks to Aloysa for the reminder with her 12 days of giving post!
[…] 7th, 2011 0 TweetAs you may or may not know, the goals of the Yakezie network are the noble scholarship cause, and the selfless support of the members within!But I have a secret desire for the Yakezie network […]
[…] way to organize the Yakezie carnival other than highlighting the best part of the Yakezie- Yakezie scholarship. The second Yakezie Scholarship is live and accepting […]