Stellar Community Fund

By IDUNU: Help Kids Thrive

IDUNU: Help Kids Thrive

SCF #21

$15.0K

Legacy v5.0 Activation Award

Awarded

A fundraising and fund distribution platform for high-impact, cost-effective charities working with underprivileged kids.

Products & Services

1- What the product is:

IDUNU: A fundraising and fund distribution platform for high-impact, cost-effective charities and NGOs working with underprivileged kids.

Goal: Empowering charities focused on underprivileged children through a sustainable and transparent, Stellar, and Soroban-powered fundraising and fund distribution platform.

Our target audience includes charities and NGOs, as well as donors who are looking for a trustworthy platform to support underprivileged children.

By leveraging Stellar for transactions and Soroban for smart contracts, the platform will help NGOs raise the necessary funds they need to make a positive impact in the lives of these children and provide a transparent fund distribution platform, ensuring donor funds are accounted for to the last cent.

* IDUNU means Happiness

2- Problems it solves, how it solves them, and the target audience:

I built a small personal portfolio project that helped raise badly needed funds for NGOs who contacted me. Over $2537 (over 2 million naira) in 1 week was raised, and our success was covered in numerous national and international media. I was blown away, and it got me thinking about how we could take this small win and transform it into something truly monumental.

There are over 98 million out-of-school children in Africa (200 million worldwide), and those still in school lack basic learning materials to achieve their dreams. The next generation of digital technologists needs help.

Over the past years, I've worked with NGOs like The Helpmates Foundation and Teens Trust Foundation to donate proper school kits to needy school kids in Nigeria, especially where millions live in extreme poverty.

They all face one problem: the struggle to raise funds for their annual school initiatives due to the country's dire economic situation.

Like mine, there is a big chance crypto has had a huge influence on your life. And we're hoping you can help us build a sustainable fundraising and fund distribution platform for causes that matter. Plus, there is a massive potential for increased media and developer attention for the Stellar and Soroban ecosystem.

By leveraging these platforms, we provide a transparent and sustainable platform that ensures donors are incentivized to donate, and donor funds are utilized effectively, directly benefiting the children in need.

In summary,

Problems: - NGOs face significant challenges in raising funds for educational initiatives due to economic constraints. - There is a high number of out-of-school children, and those in school often need more essential learning materials. - Raising and distributing funds needs more transparency, affecting donor confidence and willingness to contribute.

Solutions: Building on the previous individual/indie-hacker success and expanding to a: - A sustainable blockchain-based fundraising platform leveraging Stellar and Soroban offers transparent, low-cost transactions where donors can trace the direct impact of their contributions, ensuring accountability and incentivizing donations. - Smart contracts automate fund releases upon meeting set conditions, providing donors reassurance that their contributions are utilized precisely for the intended charitable purposes.

Target Audience: - Individuals and organizations interested in supporting educational initiatives for underprivileged children in Africa. - NGOs that require a more efficient and transparent way to raise and manage funds. - Donors seeking a secure and direct method to contribute to causes with tangible outcomes. - The cryptocurrency community, especially those who have benefited from crypto and wish to give back to society meaningfully.

Benefits: - It supports the education of the next generation of digital technologists in regions that need it most. - Ensures that every dollar contributed goes directly to its intended purpose, maximizing the impact of donations. - Raises awareness and increases media attention for the initiatives and the underlying technology platforms (Stellar and Soroban), creating a win-win situation for the causes and the Stellar community.

3 - Key features: - User-friendly interface for both charities and donors - Integration with Stellar and Soroban for blockchain-powered transparency and efficiency.

User-friendly interface for both charities and donors: A user-friendly interface is essential to ensure that both charities and donors can easily navigate the platform and access the features they need. Our platform will be designed with the user in mind - an intuitive and straightforward interface that makes it simple for charities to set up their fundraising campaigns and for donors to contribute to verified causes they care about. We will also have tools like customizable donation pages - each charity has its page showing current fundraising efforts and fund distribution progress.

The ability to track and distribute funds transparently is crucial in building trust between charities, NGOs, and donors.

4- How it works and how it uses Stellar and/or Soroban: Our platform leverages Stellar’s unique open blockchain payment features for secure and transparent fundraising and fund distribution. When a donor contributes to a charity or NGO, the funds are tracked on the Stellar blockchain, ensuring that every cent is accounted for. The funds are then distributed to the charity or NGO using Soroban smart contracts, which automate the distribution process and ensure that the funds are used for their intended purpose.

Soro-Lock: Transparent fund tracking and distribution: Integrating Stellar and Soroban into our platform can help provide a level of transparency and security that is unmatched by traditional fundraising platforms. This transparency is achieved through our Soroban-powered smart contracts (using Rust SDK for Soroban Contracts.), introducing critical features like Soro-lock on funds: Time-based Lock, Conditional Release, and Refund Mechanism, ensuring that funds are not misused or misallocated.

Donation: - Donors choose a campaign and make a donation using mainly Stellar USDC. - Collaborate with Stellar Anchors like Busha or Accrue for funds distribution to needed parties. Such collaboration is needed for the overall growth of the Stellar and Soroban ecosystem.

Fund Distribution: - Charities set up fund distribution rules using Soroban smart contracts. - Smart contracts automate the distribution of funds according to the rules. - There’s also the possibility of exploring Stellar’s open-source bulk payment solution for humanitarian aid, Stellar Disbursement Platform.

Reporting & Transparency: - All transactions (donations and fund distributions) are recorded on the Stellar blockchain. - Donors and charities can view the detailed transaction history and fund usage reports. - This provides transparency and builds trust between donors and charities.