Pocketbooks and Purse Strings

Our solution is simple: donation-based crowdfunding through a low-cost month-to-month subscription. Funds will drive money directly into local, national and global high-impact organizations dedicated to the advancement of girls and women through STEM programs. This gives underfunded organizations access to money they otherwise would not have.

Research proves that girls and women’s organizations continue to be chronically underfunded even as overall charitable giving grows. Girls and women’s organizations currently raise less than half the average amount of funds raised by other not-for-profit organizations. The problem is access to funds. Pocketbooks and Purse Strings’ ultimate goal is to even the playing field when it comes to access to charitable giving without relying solo on government grants or major one-time private donations and sponsorships.

There is substantial evidence that investing in girls and women worldwide has a significant impact on society. Research proves that some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by failing to educate girls to the same level as boys (CARE, 2016) and each extra year of secondary school can help a girl increase their future earnings by 10-20% (USAID, 2015). The popularity of sites like GoFundMe and Kickstarter is proof that many people are willing to donate a small fraction of their discretionary income to support causes they care about. 

If we’re diligent, tens of millions of girls who do not have access to primary or secondary school will be impacted by our solution. It is a hefty goal to want every girl worldwide to be educated but it is not impossible. Entire countries can be lifted out of poverty by simply investing in girls' education. The impact will be economical and deployed by directly funding organizations in those communities we intend to impact with guidelines on exactly how donors want the money to be used that way we can effectively measure our progress.

Track each girl's progress from P&P's initial contact until secondary school completion - 1 million girls in low-income countries complete secondary school

Work directly with organizations to determine funding needs on an annual basis to ensure continued impact after original impact has been measured. - Reduce girls organizations threat of closure due to a lack funding in the U.S.

Determine which girls organizations focus solely on these tasks so that we can funnel funds directly to them for these purposes. - 1 million textbooks, book-bags of school supplies, and school uniforms sent to the schools for girls of low-income countries

To be honest, people giving away their money towards a good cause isn’t novel or innovative. What will be innovative is how involved donors will be in sharing exactly how they want their dollars used through a subscription service. Donors will be able to subscribe to donating a certain amount each month. Then they can choose exactly how each dollar of their donation should be used (i.e. out of $5: $2 for textbooks, $2 for STEM program, $1 for school fees) and which organization(s) their money should go to while getting real-time updates on their impact.

Pocketbooks and Pursestrings starts with people who want to make a large impact on the world but can only do so in small ways – by donating their money to causes they care about. It ends with the funneling of that money directly into organizations that are located in the underserved communities globally that are interested in investing in girls’ education. The girls in those communities are involved in that they tell us what they need to be able to complete their education. Then we tell our donors and work diligently to provide the necessities. 

Our solution will be deployed through a mobile application accessible only for donors initially. This app will allow them to change their subscription amounts, choose which causes and organizations their money will benefit and get real-time updates on the impact of their donations. They will also be able to get information regarding all of the organizations participating as well as links to the organizations’ websites.

15% administrative fee from the monthly subscription by donors.

I hope to receive mentorship, partnership and resources to launch my solution.  I need to build an application that will allow for an easy process for users (subscribers) and for the benefactors (girls organizations that are based locally, nationally, and globally). The application also needs to be able to track real-time progress, manage transactions, and receive feedback from the girls’ organizations. I intend to take advantage of Solve’s online community for feedback on the progress of my solution.

I currently have no partners but will be presenting to an advisory board of Girl's Inc Chicago to join my team in launching Pocketbooks and Purse Strings.

Organizations like Catapult and GoFundMe.