
I’ll write you a Slack bot in return for a $5K donation to ScriptEd - dopeboy
http://dopeboy.github.io/bot-for-a-cause/
======
sudhirj
This is a good idea, but the execution is distracting. What are you selling
me, a slack bot or the pleasure of donating to charity?

What I’d suggest instead is a clear message of “high quality slack bots for a
flat 5000” and a prominent note that all proceeds go to the charity. Maybe you
could also mention that when it comes time to pay, you’d like me to pay the
charity directly, but you don’t have to lead with this. The charity is the
icing on the cake, but you’re building the cake on icing.

~~~
nolite
It's not a tiny detail. It's not tax-deductible if someone pays directly. It
has to go straight to the charity

~~~
endorphone
>It's not tax-deductible if someone pays directly

It would be an expense and would ergo be 100% tax-deductible (e.g. a reduction
on $5000 of taxable income). There is another aspect relating to whether the
firm gained an asset but that applies to both scenarios.

This makes no sense as a tax scheme.

~~~
nolite
This only works if you're a business. Individuals can't deduce expenses... (I
wish)

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hawkice
Honestly, I like this model a lot, but I think the focus is like 2:1
charity:slackbots, where I'd like to see the reverse. For example, more
examples of slackbots you've made, how long it might take you, and maybe
throwing in the app store thing unless that's a big deal, so businesses can
get the value out of the bot as simply as possible.

Basically, I would recommend focusing on value instead of the charity (despite
the fact the charity is the most delightful part -- it's still a price point
businesses need to be _sold_ on, not just pitched on).

~~~
dopeboy
I really appreciate the feedback hawkice. Totally get that. Will do that for
the follow around. To answer some of your questions:

* I made the bot for my startup [0]. It supports interactive messages (buttons, dropdowns), slash commands, and @ commands. Put another way, I use (and have knowledge of) pretty much all parts of the Slack API.

* You're getting a backend with the bot. This backend could just save stuff into a database or do more sophisticated things.

* I'm happy to work with the non-profit, ScriptEd, on some content marketing material so that the person or company that sponsors this gets public recognition.

* Timing - I'm doing this in tandem with other things. Obviously depends on what I get but let's say roughly 2 months.

* We're pretty close to getting our startup's app in the app store. I'm happy to help with this process now that I'm more familiar with it.

[0] - [http://braidhq.com/](http://braidhq.com/)

~~~
Gys
Nitpick: at the bottom of braidhq it says '2016' ;-)

~~~
FTA
Assuming 2016 is when they started working on this, that is the correct date.
It should convey the first date of publication and not be some listing of what
years it is copyrighted.

------
BeccaScriptEd
Chiming in as a rep of the nonprofit - happy to answer questions about our
work! We operate in NYC, San Francisco, and Oakland. We're also looking for a
few more volunteers to teach web dev in high schools - and especially in
Oakland! Apply in the Bay Area at
[https://bit.ly/ScriptEdSFBAYvolunteer](https://bit.ly/ScriptEdSFBAYvolunteer)
or in NYC at
[https://www.scripted.org/volunteer](https://www.scripted.org/volunteer) !

~~~
mvexel
Do you have plans to scale out? I'd volunteer time but I'm not near any of the
cities you currently work in. (For others who are in the same position --
inquire with your city / church / local refugee support org, you may find
there are similar local initiatives for refugees.)

Also, this being (I assume) a weekday daytime commitment, do your volunteers
get typically get their teaching time 'donated' by their employers?

~~~
BeccaScriptEd
Hi! We don't have formally announced plans to scale - though if you send me a
message at becca@scripted.org I can chat with you more. I'm fairly well
connected with other orgs nationally that I might be able to recommend to you,
depending where you're located!

Some of the companies our volunteers work for have paid volunteering time
included as part of employee benefits - however that amount of time is usually
1 day / month, which is less than the amount of time we ask people to
volunteer (2x a week, for 1.5 hours each session). Most commonly, our
volunteers employ some flex time and make up the hours they spend with us by
either coming in to work earlier, or staying late. It does require manager /
company support to get approval to do so, however!

------
hoistbypetard
I like this. A long time ago I offered to add features to TortoiseCVS (that
alone probably tells you how long ago it was) for people who would donate
(much less than $5000) to a charity that was important to me. I did it because
at the time the TortoiseCVS build system was a PITA to get working, I had
already gotten it working to offer patches that would scratch my own itches,
and most of the other requests I saw on the mailing lists were not hard.

It garnered a few (promises of) donations... I never did follow up to see if
the charities I specified had gotten them. But I was young and happy to do the
patches anyway, so it felt like a bonus.

------
pudo
I work as a software developer for an NGO and we sometimes get coders who want
to volunteer their time to us. Quite frequently, this turns into a lot of
overhead for us with little to show for.

Given the choice, I'd prefer this model.

Donation cash is the sweetest thing an NGO can have, and doing development
work in exchange for a donation like this seems like a really cool way to
raise it.

~~~
fooker
>Donation cash is the sweetest thing an NGO can have

Also involves the least amount of transparency and not much assurance that the
cash is not going directly into the pocket of someone.

------
endorphone
Just to clear up a bit of confusion, the company making the donation has no
tax advantage over just paying this guy directly. In many jurisdictions there
would be a tax _disadvantage_. Add that many firms would never engage in such
a relationship because it has a confusing, legally dubious compensation and
accountability structure.

Further, why not just charge the $5000 and donate it yourself? Why the
gimmick?

[https://dennisforbes.ca/index.php/2015/10/01/the-gradual-
dem...](https://dennisforbes.ca/index.php/2015/10/01/the-gradual-demonization-
of-money/)

~~~
jordan801
I think the presumption is the tax incentive. I wonder if setting up something
like "gofundme" but for this sort of transaction, would simplify
accountability.

So you donate/pay X, a non-profit organization, then they send the work to one
of their contributors to build. This way you don't have the, "I paid so and
so, but for something some other person built".

------
dopeboy
Honored this made it to the front. Happy to answer questions here.

~~~
rhcom2
Simple and to the point offer, I applaud you for what you're trying to do.

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koolba
Is $5000 a good deal for this amount of work?

~~~
deegles
For comparison, I write Alexa skills (close enough IMO). I charge about
$1200/day so $5k would be about a weeks worth of work. Seems reasonable to me
given the scope described in the post.

~~~
Houshalter
Christ what have I been doing with my life...

~~~
throwmenow_0140
Seems reasonable for a freelancer. If you're doing less, you can work easier
and worry-free as an employee. I'm 19yo, building software as a freelancer and
earn 520$/day. If it would be less, I would try to get an employment. If you
factor in employer's contribution to your pension plan and health insurance,
sick days and insurances for freelancers e.g. IT liability insurance and
income protection, this money is spent before it's earned. And you have to
make sure that you always have enough contracts and that they don't interfere
with each other.

I don't think everyone has to live such a life. It's a great relief to be in
an employment without having to think about making money all the time. I chose
freelancing because I want to choose what to work on and don't need any
security for now, but I can imagine to work for $4,500-5,000/month in the
future when I have kids and mortgages to pay for and need security.

The problem I have with freelancing is that you start to measure your life
time in your hourly rate, because the time = money equation is ever-present.
One has to be mature to resist this temptation, sometimes I'm not able to do
it. It's a constant fight between the attitude that money isn't everything and
the impression that it actually is.

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kpatrick
OP might want to check the tax implications of this e.g. Joe Louis.

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sweep4r
So I donate $5000 and in return you push more HTML/JS developers to the
market, making me getting paid less?

Well, what a deal!

~~~
parzivalm
I find it somewhat hard to believe that helping some less fortunate schools
teach coding is really going to have a negative impact on your pay. But by all
means keep bashing something that is actually doing some good.

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devtesting
Honestly, I did not like that at all. How about the people who need that $5K
and want to write a bot to get food for their family?

If someone is willing to buy that bot, they will be more inclined to pay you
to do that since is "charity" than the dev who need food. If you want do
donate, it's OK donate as much as you want for anyone, but brag/sell your
services for charity just degrades our profession.

