Howdy Ags!

I started Feel The Luv to turn international humanitarian aid and development on its head. We aim to develop a platform for connecting communities in poverty to the donors and philanthropists they are supported by. We will create an amazing, immersive experience that will help develop emotional bonds while also providing an entertaining and educational experience.

I'd like to keep it in the Aggie family. Please contact me if you are interested to hear more.

Zach
Founder and CEO, Feel The Luv, Inc.
zach@feeltheluv.org

About Feel The Luv:

What we do:

• We fund and provide comprehensive start-to-finish support, including, design, fundraising, implementation and management oversight.
• Offer a platform for connecting communities in poverty to the donors and philanthropists they are supported by. We aim to create an amazing, immersive experience that will help develop emotional bonds while also providing an entertaining and educational experience.
• Our team will be embedded within an established partner organization already working on the ground. This makes for faster project startup time and shared expertise and operating expenses.

How we are different:

• We fund-raise directly for real villages and communities. One village at a time is our approach, yet our projects are large in scale to create synergies and cost savings. Our first project aims to reach 50 communities in DRC.
• Our Team is made up of real humanitarian professionals, all with gritty experience of working directly with communities in poverty - not just sitting in fancy offices. I've attached our team profile, or you can have a look at our website: [url=http://www.feeltheluv.org/team-members.html][/url]http://www.feeltheluv.org/team-members.html
• We do it better. Each of our team members have extensive experience with community focused poverty alleviation (or building resilient communities), delivering real results. Have a look at the results of a project we implemented together with ACF in Pakistan ([url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/acf-site-files/ACF+final.swf][/url]https://s3.amazonaws.com/acf-site-files/ACF+final.swf).

We are working on simple problematic and business hypotheses:

• More than 1 Billion people are living in extreme poverty (living on less than $1.25 a day). This is a result of a failed approach by the aid sector and huge lack of funding directed toward impactful solutions. Focus needs to be put towards building resilient communities that can escape the cycle of extreme poverty and stand on their own.
• There is a huge market available in terms of private donations to charity ($373 Billion last year in the US alone). However, only a small portion of that is going to support international poverty related issues (less than 5%)
• Why? People feel disconnected from the projects. The standard marketing campaigns with pictures of starving children just don't click anymore in today's social media centric world. People don't trust their money is doing any good.
• We believe once we create that feeling of connection, there is huge potential for funding, particularly within the US market.

http://www.feeltheluv.org/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/feeltheluv

I'm just curious...how will you be connecting people? I mean, you say:

Quote:

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The standard marketing campaigns with pictures of starving children just don't click anymore in today's social media centric world.

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So, you won't show them images of poverty to tug at heart strings. But, what are you going to do actually?

Bitter Old Man

It depends on how you look at it. If someone wants to give a large donation to be considered a founder and join our Board, that is great and we would welcome it. We are also interested in a strategic financial partners that would definitely expect a return on investment. Banks don't typically loan start-up non-profits money, but non-profits take loans all the time. We are looking for investors that are willing to work with us over the long term. Just because we are non-profit doesn't mean we can't compensate contributors.

diehard03

Our concept is creating an immersive social experience using the latest technology. It is a departure from your standard fundraising approach. On the other end - we work with and embed our staff within partner organizations who are already well established in our target areas. Our teams will not only be managing the project, but also collecting regular updates on project progress and personal stories. Donors get real time updates rather than a monthly bleeding heart email. Attend a project launch meeting live, pop in randomly to see the latest updates in VR/360 video. It's about real connection.

Have a look at our article on the topic:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-signs-apocalypse-vr-developers-humanitarians-working-zach-watson

Your initial post says you do this and do that but then also say start up. Have you already filed a 990 and is it available online?

Hi libertyag,

I'm not new to humanitarian work. My team and I have over 50 years combined experience, but we've been doing it while working for other organizations. Feel The Luv, Inc. is a start-up for sure. The post above is intended to give you a glimpse of what we are working to create. At the moment we are lacking resources. We have not filed a 990 yet, as I can't afford the legal fees. We've filed a Form 202 in the state of Texas to form the non-profit. I'm happy to share that with you.

More about me:

I'm a Texas A&M graduate (class of '00) with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a M.S. in Management from the University of Texas at Dallas. After spending over 8 years with American Airlines as an Engineer and Program Manager, I made the shift to international humanitarian work. My first job was with Action Against Hunger (ACF) as an intern and project manager in South Sudan, where I lived "in the bush" for 1.5 years leading implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene projects.

I later moved up to Program Coordinator in South Sudan and then Pakistan, and was Program Director and Country Director in Pakistan after that. In those roles, I oversaw design and implementation of a range of innovative community-centered projects linking water, sanitation, nutrition, agriculture, livestock, family livelihoods, and market linked approaches. Our projects were remarkably successful, and several were selected for presentation and publication for the annual Water, Sanitation and Hygiene WEDC conference.

View our work here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/acf-site-files/ACF+final.swf

After Pakistan, I went back to one of my passions in the water and sanitation side as a Program Coordinator for Oxfam GB in Iraq. It was during this experience that I became interested in conflict mitigation and what we call social cohesion.

To summarize, I've implemented a wide range of humanitarian projects, including over 1,500 new or rehabilitated water sources impacting nearly 1,000 communities. I've managed project portfolios of over $25,000,000 and annual turnover of over $15,000,000. As Country Director in Pakistan, I oversaw all departments with a total staff number of just under 500.

Understand now, these things have been done through other organizations. The 990 I was asking about isn't a legal thing, it is a form you have to file with the IRS annually. The requirements vary according to your gross receipts. Most non-profits will post their Form 990 on their website. There are organizations who use the 990's to evaluate the non-profit as to how much of what they take in is used for their charitable purposes. It can impact future donations if the analysis shows too much being used for non-charitable purposes. From what you have said in these posts, I would suggest that you have a sit down session with someone or (someones) who do a lot of work in the area of non-profits, filing requirements, what you can and can't do, etc. Good luck to you.

libertyag said:

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Understand now, these things have been done through other organizations. The 990 I was asking about isn't a legal thing, it is a form you have to file with the IRS annually. The requirements vary according to your gross receipts. Most non-profits will post their Form 990 on their website. There are organizations who use the 990's to evaluate the non-profit as to how much of what they take in is used for their charitable purposes. It can impact future donations if the analysis shows too much being used for non-charitable purposes. From what you have said in these posts, I would suggest that you have a sit down session with someone or (someones) who do a lot of work in the area of non-profits, filing requirements, what you can and can't do, etc. Good luck to you.

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If you are talking about organizations like Charity Navigator, I can assure you the data they present you is worthless. I've been responsible for the country level budgets - where the projects are actually implemented - of 2 major organizations, and I have a large number of colleagues who run programs for other major orgs.

Most of the time, the country teams never see a cent of private donations. If they do, it is used as "co-financing" for the primary projects. The "primary" projects are funded by your taxpayer dollars and dolled out through USAID and other government or UN funding arms. When those organizations submit their 990, they are lumping your private donation in with the institutional donor funds (again, your taxpayer dollars). Bottom line, the data is complete crap. If you want to find a good place to donate to charity, talk to someone in the business and stay away from those worthless ratings sites...unless you enjoy being duped.

The worst organizations you should never donate to:
UNICEF
Save the Children
Action Against Hunger - USA (ACF-France is great! 2 separate entitities)

Best orgs:
Oxfam GB - 9% of all country program budgets come from private donations, so your money is used for part of the real project. How much goes to direct/support costs varies. Once it gets to country level, we consider these funds "unrestricted", meaning we can spend them however we want
Feel The Luv - All of our funding comes from private donors, so there is no co-financing and fuzzy math to deceive donors. Obviously, this is just a shameless plug, as we are about 6 months away from implementing anything. But once we are up and running, that is how we will operate.

HumanitariAg said:

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libertyag said:

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Understand now, these things have been done through other organizations. The 990 I was asking about isn't a legal thing, it is a form you have to file with the IRS annually. The requirements vary according to your gross receipts. Most non-profits will post their Form 990 on their website. There are organizations who use the 990's to evaluate the non-profit as to how much of what they take in is used for their charitable purposes. It can impact future donations if the analysis shows too much being used for non-charitable purposes. From what you have said in these posts, I would suggest that you have a sit down session with someone or (someones) who do a lot of work in the area of non-profits, filing requirements, what you can and can't do, etc. Good luck to you.

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If you are talking about organizations like Charity Navigator, I can assure you the data they present you is worthless. I've been responsible for the country level budgets - where the projects are actually implemented - of 2 major organizations, and I have a large number of colleagues who run programs for other major orgs.

Most of the time, the country teams never see a cent of private donations. If they do, it is used as "co-financing" for the primary projects. The "primary" projects are funded by your taxpayer dollars and dolled out through USAID and other government or UN funding arms. When those organizations submit their 990, they are lumping your private donation in with the institutional donor funds (again, your taxpayer dollars). Bottom line, the data is complete crap. If you want to find a good place to donate to charity, talk to someone in the business and stay away from those worthless ratings sites...unless you enjoy being duped.

The worst organizations you should never donate to:
UNICEF
Save the Children
Action Against Hunger - USA (ACF-France is great! 2 separate entitities)

Best orgs:
Oxfam GB - 9% of all country program budgets come from private donations, so your money is used for part of the real project. How much goes to direct/support costs varies. Once it gets to country level, we consider these funds "unrestricted", meaning we can spend them however we want
Feel The Luv - All of our funding comes from private donors, so there is no co-financing and fuzzy math to deceive donors. Obviously, this is just a shameless plug, as we are about 6 months away from implementing anything. But once we are up and running, that is how we will operate.

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lmao, of course you feel your organization is one of the best, very objective of you. Particularly given that it isn't even operating, lol. My comments were that organizations, through their 990 (you know, that form you haven't filed yet because you cannot afford the "legal" fees), provides all sorts of information as to how their entity operates, which one has people getting rich off the donations of others, etc. Those groups who do analysis of 990's, that you feel are worthless, perhaps so, perhaps those that get a poor rating just don't like to admit they deserve it. I am going to go though with what they say over anyone who is promoting their own gig, particularly when it isn't even operating. Perhaps you are the one doing the "duping?"

Again, from what you have posted, you need to sit down with someone who can steer you in the right direction.

For those on here not named libertyag who may want to get back on topic...please have a look at my article which gives some insight into my vision for the organization.

Feel The Luv, Inc.

I'm looking for partners, not donors.

Also, a quick update:

I had a call with the CEO of VRTUOZ yesterday. We will be partnering with them to build our virtual reality platform. We'll be starting off with a virtual meeting space to present to potential investors and donors. Once we have funding, we'll put together a trip to DRCongo to collect the 360 video content we need from the actual villages we'll be supporting. Have a look (http://en.vrtuoz.com/)

HumanitariAg said:

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libertyag - I am really not sure why you are on the attack. I've made it pretty clear my organization is a start-up. My team and I specialize in implementation, not the business side. That is precisely why I came here looking for strategic partners.

I am NOT here looking for donations, so I'm not even clear how you think I am trying to dupe anyone. My post about my own organization was tongue in cheek. If you read my post a little more closely, you might see I was joking and even pointed out we are not even implementing yet.

If you don't want to take my advice regarding charity ratings sites, that is fine. I hope some other folks on here will see the benefit of getting an insider perspective.

Not sure what has you so bitter about life man, but you need to change something up.

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On Texags you will get a mix of good advice, bad advice, positive feedback and incredibly negative feedback. When I came here almost 8 years ago about opening my law firm, I had the same mix. Keep up the good work.

Thanks queso1. I'm doing my best to keep it positive. I've edited that post to try to lighten it up a bit.

I'm just going to throw this out there. It is not a strictly non-profit venture we would be talking about. The core of the work Feel The Luv will be doing will be non-profit. However, it involves a range of potential for-profit uses. Our partner VRTUOZ is a for-profit company that is far ahead of Facebook in terms of VR capabilities and social interactions.

There are a wide range of other uses for the technology.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-signs-apocalypse-vr-developers-humanitarians-working-zach-watson

Check out the Facebook VR demo for comparison with VRTUOZ.

http://www.roadtovr.com/video-mark-zuckerberg-demos-facebooks-social-vr-app/

There is even advertising potential with this. You can create the meeting space anywhere you want. It would be an easy sell to a company like Starbucks.

While my side of the venture is non-profit and aimed at poverty alleviation, there are other opportunities here.

I have worked with many non profits and charities, good and bad. At the moment you DO come off as a marketer on this message board. That is not a criticism of your goal, setup, or ideals; just of your posts here.

A very small piece of free advice, that is worth exactly what you pay for it, never argue where you are looking for support. You can redirect etc all you want but arguing turns people off very quickly. Good luck on your project!

Great post

Haven't seen a 509 area code in a long time. Pullman/Spokane. That code is mostly the middle of no where mobile home chefs looking for red phosphorus.

Just some advice from someone who accounted for a small non profit ( 501 3 C ) for 4 years. File your 990 form every year. If you have been granted 501 3 C status and don't file timely you will loose your tax exempt status after a few years of bad filings and it is a pain to get it back.

This has nothing to do with lawyers or legal and everything to do with accounting and your tax exempt status.

If your income is under $50k you can file the 990-N form online for free. 990-EZ I think is under $200K and over is a regular 990. For larger income (990 or 990-N) I would seek out a nonprofit minded tax accountant or cpa to help you file. If you have your accounts in order it should take you a few hours to convert to IRS speak and file a 990-N as just starting out I doubt you have that much income. Having your accounts in order is the biggest hurdle.

Good luck but remember to be filing compliant with the IRS if you want to keep your tax exempt status.

Church makes a good partner.