
Thank You HN: From 30 people whose lives you saved - chaseadam17
Three months ago we launched Watsi.org (first global crowdfunding platform for healthcare) here on HN, and the response was amazing.<p>I hope this doesn't sound too corny with Thanksgiving tomorrow and all, but I wanted to thank the HN community for giving us our start. Not only did HN directly fund every medical treatment we had on the site at the time, but the buzz that resulted gave me the confidence to quit my day job, take the plunge, and dedicate myself to Watsi full time.<p>Most important, thank you for the feedback you provided. It's funny, but whenever I feel like we're losing focus, I come back to the comments on our Show HN (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4424081) to remind myself of what's really important.<p>In our first three months our volunteer team has processed nearly $30,000 in donations, 100% of which have gone directly to patients in need. And while this is just the start, we wanted to take the time to say thank you HN. Not just from us, but from the 30 people who've received life-changing medical care because of you, and the 3 million more to come.
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streeter
I've been following Watsi for a while, and it's great to the continued
success. They're currently tied for first in a HuffPo competition to win $10k
which would help them reach even more people in need of medical aid. If you
want to help them out, you can vote in 10 seconds for them here
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/millennial-
impact-c...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/millennial-impact-
challenge-finalists_n_2128936.html?utm_hp_ref=impact)

~~~
alainbryden
Voted for Watsi. They're currently ahead by less than 3%, so they could use a
little push!

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justjimmy
Your open Google doc is what persuaded me. I've always felt uncomfortable
donating to charities - knowing well that my money may never go towards the
cause they're touting, but on TV ads, expense accounts, PR Campaigns etc.
While some argue it's operation costs but it's just not transparent enough.

Your easy to access and understand table really lifts the veil, as well as
your clear separation of Donations going to the patients vs. Donations to the
operating costs. I think people are definitely more willing to open their
wallets knowing that 100% of the money go towards directly helping the
patient.

Definitely suggest setting up a recurring payment option - while some people
would love to help out continuously, they may not have the time to read each
case (and then having to decide who to help) and come back once in a
while(paradox of choice) - just take $100 bucks each month out of my account
and let me know how that $100 was spent. Also give the option of deciding a %
of the donation go towards operation and a % go towards the patient (like a
slider style) so people don't have to feel compelled and work to donate in 2
flows.

And knowing that you guys may have a challenge of getting operation donations,
offset it by giving us easy to add social widgets or just a simple graphic to
add to our blogs and sites. I have no problem showing it next to my Dribbble
and LinkedIn icons knowing that you guys have a really tight budget and may
not have PR money. (I think free social advertising works better than those in
your face PETA campaigns anyway. Makes us feel like we're directly helping out
by displaying it on our sites :D)

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ashray
Oh my god! I missed this for a while but .. wait a minute. You're saying that
I can find $580 and help save this kid Cesar ?!

Or Alan even ?!

This is absolutely FANTASTIC!! I'm really curious as to how you carry out on
the ground execution (getting the money to the family, carrying out the needed
medical procedures, etc.) and stuff but I absolutely love the idea. Amazing
work guys!

EDIT: Just donated $25 :) Oh yeah, just noticed this. If I click on "Tweet" on
the site, the pre-filled tweet says "via @sharethis". You might want to change
that to say "via @watsi_org" so that you know when someone shares your stuff
=)

EDIT2: Just voted for you at the huffington post thing. Looks like it's close!
51-48 so far :O

EDIT3: GOOD GOING HACKERNEWS :D I just checked the site and:

 _There are 0 people on Watsi that need your help!_

AWESOME!!! (<http://watsi.org/fund-treatments>)

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forgingahead
Clickable to Watsi: <http://watsi.org/>

Clickable to original thread: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4424081>

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sherjilozair
Great work Adam, and the Watsi team!

However, its the time to scale up higher. I came to the website and saw that
there were no patients to help. Surely this means that the scouting team
should be enlarged. Tie-ups with other NGOs would help, who can provide you
details about patients who need help.

Here in India, there is a very reputed hospital called AIIMS, who have
subsidized treatment, but still ask for some nominal payment. Also, patients
have to buy medicines on their own. Watsi could be a great help to these
patients, since the amount of money they require is only nominal, and many
times, these patients can't even afford that. Some of these medications would
cost as little as $20/month. Partnering up with such institutions would get
you a credible list of people needing help, and this list is perfectly aligned
to the 'low-cost, high-impact' patients you aim at.

I'm willing to help you with operations in India, if you are willing to
expand.

Keep up the great work!

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clicks
Wow, this is so, _so_ awesome. You made the right choice to quit your job for
this. :)

I am really really looking forward to see this become big. Kudos to you for
building this thing. I should also note that you've made a beautiful site as
well, I can't find any faults in it by any aspect. I wish you much success.

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kainteriors
This is a wonderful idea being executed completely by volunteers. It can be a
game changer for those in impoverished countries. You can help out even more
by voting in the Huffington Post IgniteGood contest. Watsi has a 50% chance of
winning $10,000.00. Please vote for them so they can continue doing this
amazing work. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/millennial-
impact-c...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/millennial-impact-
challenge-finalists_n_2128936.html?utm_hp_ref=impact)

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mtrimpe
Congrats on the great work! Just a quick question; have you considered making
a WordPress plugin to display today's top causes?

I worked on a project similar to that for Oxfam Novib (Blogsfam) which didn't
make it due to organizational friction but won several awards nonetheless.

It might be an interesting addition to your platform...

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toomuchtodo
Do you have a way yet to charge on a recurring basis?
#shutUpTakeMyCreditCardAndChargeItMonthly

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thomasilk
It literally takes half a second to get what the site does and how to help.
Brilliant.

I'd put the mailing list or something similar more prominently above the fold,
because more people would regularly return if they'd get a weekly or monthly
email with success stories and new profiles/stories that still need funding.

F.e. currently every project is fully funded and I almost fear forgetting
about the site.

Anyway great project if you need someone to help with some marketing ideas or
anything else from time to time (of course for free), send me a mail
(me[at]ilkthomas[dot]com). I'd love to help.

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nodata
Your website is excellent, I've helped five people so far.

Just two suggestions:

1\. Please give me a way to view who I have helped. A followup story would be
great too.

2\. Please give me a way to find out about new people

~~~
liber8
Also, on your "donate to help cover our overhead" page, you might consider
giving suggested donation amounts. I have no idea what your overhead is, what
amount would help you reach more patients, what your current funding is, etc.

Providing suggested amounts may also boost donations (see
[http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669882/how-touchscreen-
buttons-...](http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669882/how-touchscreen-buttons-made-
nyc-cabbies-a-lot-richer))

~~~
chaseadam17
Will do. This is a great idea. We're hoping to even have a fundraising bar ($X
raised out of $X needed this month) to encourage people to give.

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ars
Since everything is fully funded you should give people the option of funding
in advance.

Be open about it of course, and send them an email as soon as you know who the
money is going to.

Also give people the option of getting an email when there is someone in need.
(To avoid annoying people perhaps limit the email to the next 3 people, then
stop sending them for a user specified time.)

~~~
gotmayonase
Another option is to donate to their operating costs here
(<http://watsi.org/about>) under the Donate to Watsi heading.

~~~
jlees
Wonder if there should be an option to over-donate. I'm particularly
sympathetic to certain illnesses that I've lost loved ones to, and covering
the cost of the immediate treatment is lovely but I wouldn't mind giving that
person a little more so they can be comfortable while recovering and cover
future bills from follow-up treatment too.

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farmdawgnation
I just tried to access the site and got a Heroku error page. Looks like you
guys are under some significant load? This is an excellent idea.

I'm left to wonder how well this idea would transplant to a country like the
United States. Everyone has varying degrees on Obama's healthcare act
depending on where you fall on the political spectrum - but wouldn't it make
the entire conversation moot if the private sector were able to fund stuff
like this?

What about directly funding and putting a face to the efforts of someone who
is homeless finding a job? Plenty of people give to organizations like
Goodwill and United Way, but you very rarely get to have a picture put with
where your dollars are going. There would be a lot of details to work out, and
the idea is certainly ambitious - but if Watsi is able to succeed this much
then hey, someone should give it a shot.

So much good is happening here. You guys are brilliant, and I'm thankful for
people like you. Cheers.

~~~
jaredmck
Check out giveforward.com for a US version of this.

~~~
farmdawgnation
Good to know. Thanks!

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noonespecial
I can't help feeling that there's some of the ingredients needed to create an
entirely new form of health insurance in here.

I'm ridiculously glad its working as well as it is. Its like watching the
start of an avalanche. You don't really know what exactly is going to happen,
but the ground is rumbling and you're sure its going to be huge and exciting.

~~~
chaseadam17
This is my favorite comment of all time.

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jacquesm
Every now and the something comes along that is a real game changer. The
internet was such a thing and it in turn engendered with web, which gave us
WikiPedia, the Khan Academy and now this. What a super concept!

I hope you guys will be able to avoid the various pitfalls and traps that
other charities seem to fall in to (where it becomes more about them than
about those they help), by the looks of it you will be in excellent shape in
that department.

Edit: you've covered this in the faq, but you may want to make it more plain,
your donations are tax deductible, you might want to emphasize that.
Especially for corporations that's a big thing, and it could get you corporate
sponsors willing to name you. I know you're peer-to-peer but don't
underestimate corporate dollars and riding their PR machine for free.

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yesimahuman
Great work guys. I agree with the other comments, I just felt something
powerful as soon as I hit the landing page, and just had to donate (and I
don't do that much).

It's amazing that just 10 minutes ago Cesar needed $500 and now he's fully
funded. Keep up the awesome work!

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rdl
Wow, that's a pretty great site.

You should make it easier for people to give bigger gifts -- to do so people
need your tax ID and address info, so they can set you as beneficiary for
401ks (if you die before collecting), etc. And most people don't know anything
about this, so maybe a 1-pg on "how to save 10 lives for free*" or something.

Also, a lot of people donate specifically before the end of the (tax) year, so
a focused campaign in December would make a lot of sense.

If you possibly can, get reviewed by Givewell.

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vimarshk
I am a student at USC. I could not do much on the financial side of it but I
sure did spread the word on Twitter and other channels. I e-mailed them about
the awesome work they were doing and told them that I would help them from the
technology side if they required me. Then I got a reply back from Chase (co-
founder) himself. In life very seldom you get a chance to do something
meaningful, they are doing it! Hats off. Go Watsi!!

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baggers
@chaseadam It would be quite nice to have an option to use this in a gittip
sort of way. Also how do you go about finding people to donate to? I have
contacts with a Ugandan Hospital and I'm sure others here have have worked on
the ground with folks that would love to link up with you guys. Thanks for
your awesome work and good luck

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HyprMusic
This is such a brilliant idea, and looking at the site now everyone is fully
funded. And major kudos for taking the risk of quitting your day job to head
such a great non-profit. If you ever need any extra dev hands, I'll happily
help any way I can.

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adrianwaj
The problem would be verifying that the people are real, they have the claimed
illnesses, they get the claimed treatment, it's the right treatment, they ask
for the right amount, have the claimed outcomes and checking where remaining
money goes.

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ryanteo
If there are any plans to expand to Asia, I would be happy to bounce ideas. I
think this is a fantastic idea. I have been involved in healthcare startups
(co-founded one) for the last 2 years in Singapore, so this is extremely
interesting to me.

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brackin
Congrats, this is really awesome. We're building a crowd-funding site in the
charity space. Where one can fund a project directly and relieve updates on
project progress. So that your money is going directly to help.

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keeptrying
You guys rock man!

I would love to meet you guys if you are in SF. This is the kind of deep
impact stuff that I want to be doing or at least sponsoring.

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nickbarone
Woah @ prefunding-treatement. Brilliant! I hope it scales - It can, I think,
if you keep momentum.

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hosh
Gratitude is never too corny for Thanksgiving. And thanks for putting the
platform together :-)

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andreyf
Well done! Support for Google Checkout and Amazon Payments will help a lot, I
think.

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woodsier
You guys are absolute heroes. The concept behind this site is amazing. Well
done.

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gauchosteph
Here's to another 30 more!

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aioprisan
you should build widgets so that others can embed the top stories from your
site and get distributed exposure, I'm sure it would provide sustained
exposure.

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killingmichael
chase - this is great :) if you're up for it, we would be happy to donate some
iOS time to the mobile app.

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fblp
795 donations so far totalling $28,515

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dos1
Holy shit. I can't remember a time when a website had an immediate impact on
me like this. I mean, literally 5 seconds after landing on the site I got what
they were trying to do and couldn't click the fund button fast enough. Such a
simple idea but maybe that's what makes it so damn brilliant. So cool.

Edit: When I first went to the site 15 minutes ago there were two profiles of
people in need of medical care. The total outstanding balance for both
treatments was around $650 USD. In just 15 short minutes both treatments have
been fully funded according to my inbox. That's just phenomenal, and I bet
this story on HN has a lot to do with that!

~~~
sinnerswing
this is indeed THE BEST web service that I've ever seen EVER. @chaseadam17 Do
you take advantage of mobile apps/fb/twitter/etc.?

One thing I realized about your service. It's sustainable. Resources are NEVER
depleted. I have a lot respect for Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, but according
to them they intend on spending ALL their money on charity in their lifetime.
So that means the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be non-existent 100
years from now. Watsi is a gamechanger imo.

~~~
biot

      > So that means the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be
      > non-existent 100 years from now.
    

Not necessarily. Put $100 billion into a trust and you can spend billions of
dollars a year from the interest generated without depleting any capital.
Barring unforeseen economic catastrophes, this can be sustained indefinitely.

~~~
yannickmahe
Bill & Melinda Gates want to avoid the foundation spending money and energy
staying alive. So the rule is that all the money has to be spent 50 years
after they die.

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rxooo
We did it Reddit!

