written by Delciza Naghiu on Dec. 11, 2014, 12:42 a.m.

Gift: Sacred Economics ebook

We are running a different kind of crowdfunding campaign: gift-economy style! So instead of bribing donors with rewards, we depend on your unconditional support.
BUT we also give away GIFTS FOR EVERYONE, not just our donors!

So here it is, a true gift: a wonderful book of Charles Eisenstein to download for free. Its of courseabout gift-economy but also much more that goes philosophically and personally deep!

ebook, zipped 
PDF

And here it might even be in your native language, as volunteers translated it into 7 Languages!

Enjoy reading and happy giving!

Conditional rewards may kill people`s desire to do their best and in time can disconnect us from our intrinsic motivation; yet they lay at the basis of our education and working culture. I like what Alfie Kohn says, we should start worring when an idea is so widely shared that we no longer even notice it, when it becomes plain common sense and nobody raises objections anymore; at this point we don`t have the idea, it has us (I paraphrased the first paragraph from his book "Punished by rewards").

Crowdfunding campaigns adopted the rewards system quickly and of course, it pays off, in some respects!
For me, fundraising for a non-profit and social cause means touching people`s heart, appealing to their internal motivation to contribute for a vision they connect to and believe in. Giving rewards conditionally, brings to mind the image of the donkey following the carrots. I am standing for a culture of support where people give unconditionally, out of authentic appreciation and gratitude.
We chose to work with betterplace.org as a crowdsourcing platform, inspired by their choice to avoid using reward as a motivation to donate. They offer people the opportunity to experience wellbeing, by choosing the needs they wish to support. And you can donate time as well!

 

In the same spirit we offer ecobasa.org, to you, and welcome any contribution you enjoy to share.


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