Seed money sprouts change for tiny non-profits

Ari Nessel knows that many start-ups need a financial boost to get going, which is why he created the Pollination Project.  Every day he gives away $1,000 to some deserving individual who wants to make a positive difference in the world.

One recipient is 13-year-old Harley Helman, who created a charity called Blankets Fur Beasties to provide necessities like food and blankets for animals in shelters.  She’s using the seed money to turn her charity work, which she began at age 8, into a non-profit with a tax exempt status:  “The thousand dollars that I receive will most likely change my life, because it changed the charity.  And it’ll turn the whole thing around.”

Nessel decided that he wanted to spread his wealth around in $1,000 donations rather than giving it all in one place:  “One of the challenges with the way philanthropy is currently being done is there’s such a disconnect between the givers and those who are benefiting from the work.”  He’s already given away over $447,000 and plans to continue the $1,000 per day donations for the rest of his life:  “My experience is that transformation happens on the fringes and in the micro areas and the individuals, and doesn’t happen on the large scale.  It happens through all these people coming together in communities.  And so it becomes a movement.”

And he says he couldn’t be happier:  “I feel great.  Every day I get to say, ‘Here’s money for you.  Go do something to improve your community.  Go do something to improve the world.  Go do something to help others.’  And that is quite reaffirming.”

Good for You, Ari Nessel, for your generosity every day–demonstrating the meaningful difference 1000 dollars of seed money can make in the lives of individuals looking to help others.

CBS News, 3/23/14