I met the Love Drop team at the Blissdom blogging conference recently, and have spent the last several weeks getting to know Lauren, J. Money, and Nate through twitter conversation, email, and reading just about everything I can get my hands on related to Love Drop. I like to do my research :)
Simply put, they are my kind of people. Authentic is really important to me, and there is no pretense to any of them. What you see is what you get. And they don't make much secret to the fact that what they have been through in life has fueled their compassion for others. They know we're all the same inside, and we all need support and community sometimes. It has inspired them to find simple, reachable ways to change the world.
The basic idea behind Love Drop is called micro-giving. You can go here to sign up to contribute as little as $1 a month, more if you want to. The big idea is that if hundreds or thousands of people do it at the same time, the $1, $5, $10 per month add up in a really impressive way. People from more than 100 countries are already part of the team.
The Process
Each month they take suggestions from Love Drop team members who know an individual or a family struggling to cover some expense, and the team comes together to cover it for them. Examples of the expenses are things like their mortgage, medical bills, or groceries, things you might expect.
However, for the Love Drop team, it’s about much, much more than money. They also want to help the recipients of the Love Drop mission get back on their feet in tangible ways: by offering love and support, by strengthening their local support system of friends and family, and sometimes getting business local to them involved in helping as well. Love Drop tends to focus on people in particular who are working to give back to others, even though they are struggling at the moment.
The story of every month's Love Drop gets told in increments each week, through videos, pictures, blog posts, and interviews posted on http://LoveDrop.us. The team reaches out to people who have expressed interest in helping through social networks and via email to find more resources and generate buzz, if you will, and at the same time, they are building an active, engaged community around the Drop recipient. At the end of each month, founding team members Nate and J. Money spend several days promoting and making the Love Drop in person, shooting video and posting on social networks to keep the rest of the team all over the world involved in what they are supporting.
February's Mission
This month, Love Drop is trying to raise $13,000 to place and train a highly skilled service dog with a family touched by autism through 4 Paws for Ability . More information about this months mission can be found here.
They are just under $9000 toward the goal, it's down to the wire, and I have posted here hoping that you will be inspired to join me in giving. The February mission is THIS WEEKEND! If you can, please sign up to be a part of the team. If that's not in your finances right now, then help me spread the word on twitter, facebook, and any other social network you are a part of.
Would you post this for Love Drop?
The Love Drop for Ethan and Alex is this Saturday! Small giving can make a big impact: #autism @LoveDropTeam
Thank you for listening. This is really important to me, and I was compelled to share.
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Additional links for you:
Become a member of the Love Drop Blogger Network
More information about Love Drop
A Question and Answer Session with Nate St. Pierre of Love Drop:
An Interview with J. Money of Love Drop:
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