Hi Pian,<br><br>This sounds like a great fundraiser! Thank you for thinking of us. We would love to partner with you and Couchange. Would you like to meet to discuss the details? Please let me know what you need from the Habitat side of things.<br>
<br>Best,<br><br>Grace Lee<br>MIT Habitat for Humanity club, President<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: Pian Shu
<<a href="mailto:pshu@MIT.EDU">pshu@MIT.EDU</a>><br>To: <a href="mailto:mit-habitat-exec@MIT.EDU">mit-habitat-exec@MIT.EDU</a><br>Date: Fri, 9 Apr
2010 14:53:35 -0400<br>Subject: Fundraiser at MIT for Habitat for
Humanity<br>Hello,<br>
<br>
I got your contact from Jennifer Cook at MIT Public Service Center and<br>
am writing to survey your interest in collaborating on a fundraiser at<br>
MIT for Habitat for Humanity. My name is Pian Shu and I'm a third-year<br>
PhD student at the Department of Economics. I'm also the Executive<br>
Director of Couchange, a start-up social venture that's converting<br>
"couch change" items like partially-used gift cards into cash<br>
donations for charities like Habitat for Humanity.<br>
<br>
Our fundraising idea is simple: put "gift card drop boxes" and flyers<br>
on campus to encourage donations to Habitat for Humanity--in the<br>
undergrad and grad dorms and possibly also at the student center and<br>
77 mass ave. The whole process actually doesn't require much manpower:<br>
We just need to allocate the drop boxes and put up the flyers.<br>
(Couchange already has the boxes with lockers. If we put the boxes in<br>
the dorms, the frontdesk staff can watch them.) Then we collect the<br>
boxes after two weeks. Couchange will convert those gift cards into<br>
cash and we will split the final revenue 90/10 (Habitat will get 90%).<br>
<br>
$8 billion dollars of gift cards go unused every year in the States,<br>
representing a huge source of "found money" for philanthropy. There's<br>
likely to be a lot of those lying around at MIT since students may<br>
receive gift cards as Holiday gifts and also from their parents over<br>
the course of the year. Once they have consumed the majority of the<br>
amount on the card, the remaining balance is likely to have little<br>
personal value. However, just like the loose coins that fall forgotten<br>
behind seat cushions, if someone bothers to collect them altogether,<br>
one could raise a significant amount of money.<br>
<br>
Please let me know if you are interested in this idea. Happy to meet<br>
up and discuss the details. Looking forward to hearing from you.<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Pian<br>
<br>
------------<br>
Pian Shu<br>
Ph.D Candidate | MIT Economics<br>
Executive Director | Couchange<br>
<a href="mailto:pshu@mit.edu">pshu@mit.edu</a> | <a href="mailto:pian@couchange.org">pian@couchange.org</a> | 617-448-9735 |
<a href="http://twitter.com/couchange" target="_blank">twitter.com/couchange</a><br>