Watsi for Urgent Healthcare Crowdfunding
Twitter: @Watsi
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How it started
In August 2012 a small group of people launched a crowdfunding website to enable donors to directly fund urgent healthcare procedures for needy people around the world. The first few hours following the launch saw a trickling of donations from friends and family. Could it be that more than two years of work and weekly Tuesday night Google hangout meetings could have produced such a meager result? Chase Adam, one of the group members, made a secret decision. He took a chance and posted to Hacker News. Within hours Watsi (@Watsi) had over 16,000 visitors and every patient in their pipeline was funded fully.
How it works
Today Watsi continues to grow, expand, and help thousands of patients around the world. Watsi’s method is simple. Donors visit the sight, read profiles of patients in need, and make a donation to help. 100% of every donation goes toward the healthcare of the patient. Watsi goes to extremes to provide transparency, one of the tenets of their organization. With one click on their website visitors can view a document that shows exactly where the money goes right down to screenshots of transaction details.
Funders
So that all of the money from donors can directly reach the patients, Watsi relies on donations from funders to support their overhead and operations costs. In addition to their funders, Watsi leans on many companies as in-kind supporters who provide products and services which help keep Watsi up and running.
The latest
Watsi’s latest undertaking has been the launch of its Universal Fund. Choosing to join through this method allows donors to make a recurring monthly donation and automatically support a new patient each month. Universal Fund members receive a personalized email each month providing brief patient profiles, follow up details of patient recoveries, and even notes from doctors or family members thanking them for their contribution and willingness to help.
