Day 14 Fundraising my trip to Outer Space

1 - Raise the cash to send me to space.



Yes, I am asking you to click that little button on the right and make a donation that will help send me to Outer Space. I have a feeling that this is going to be a hot topic for discussion on this project. My hope is that you will take the time to express your thoughts and questions in an open forum so that I can answer them. If you will do that, we can get our opinions out in the open and ensure that everyone understands the motivations behind this project. A good friend, Melina, hit me with a bunch of questions and I greatly appreciate that she took the time because it allowed me to not only answer them for her, but practice defending my ideas as well. I promise that this is a truly altruistic endeavor and those of you who know me well, would only expect that from me. Ideally, the new friends that I'll meet along the way will learn that about me as we go.

It sounds pretty wild that I am planning on fundraising two-hundred thousand dollars so that I can take a trip to Outer Space. I admit that. In fact, that is one of the key concepts because it raises the questions that need to be asked. It sounds even more absurd if you can imagine that there are some people doing some fundraising for me as we speak, to help us out the financial hole that 30 days in hospital can create in your life. So, this begs the question, "How is it, that I can ask for you to donate this amount of money, only to spend it on something as frivolous as a space flight - couldn't you do so much else with that money?" The answer is, "I intend to do so."

First of all, let me reiterate that I am planning on raising the money entirely through this blog, a website, and events connected to them. Small donations from private citizens and revenue from the ads that you see placed on it. Hopefully I get 200 000 one dollar donations so that we have reached out to that many individuals. I am not planning on accepting any corporate donations, and there is no tax receipt that you will get from chipping a couple of bucks into my virtual guitar case. To reassure donors that the money fundraised is going to my goal; I set up a special account that only allows me to purchase the ticket and nothing else. In truth, the point of the fundraising is to demonstrate that my desire, my perseverance towards this goal can act as an inspiration to others to get back on track and work towards their dreams. Additionally, I am hoping that through dedication and devotion towards this project, I can stimulate corporate sponsorships that will be used to create a nonprofit that will assist others on their own journey.

2 - The Non Profit

I've thought a lot about doing personal and life coaching and in those contemplations I started to evaluate who my clients might be. I kept coming back to them having to have the money to afford it as private coaching is valuable and in response, costly. I'd always planned to offer some pro bono cases, but it is often those folks who need it the most, who would be unable to afford it. As I thought further on the concept, I couldn't get past thinking about so many people whose dreams have been pushed aside because of financial hardship and so spending money on chasing their dreams sounded ridiculous. That is where the idea for the nonprofit was born. I could raise money to create a resource for people to do amazing things with their lives. I would even wager that some of those successful people become key contributors as alumni of the program I create. I will create online resources, virtual coaching and advice, case studies and whatever else people need to get back on track towards their dreams. It sounds a little crazy and little lofty to put these two ideas together into one big project, but that's exactly what I plan on doing.

So to be clear, yes I am fundraising to send myself to space, but not just to go and come home and forget about all of the donations. I fully commit to growing those donations into much larger commitments that will help as many people as I can with my trip to space as the inspiration point. Hopefully I can inspire people to return to their childhoods, when their parents would turn out the lights and just before they fell asleep, they dreamed wonderful, childish dreams that should never die.

"The I'm going to space guy"

Jim Moss