Detailed Walkthrough
Our Beliefs
Our Philosophy
Impact Beyond Money
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HOW IT WORKS

DETAILED WALKTHROUGH

Impact Venture Capitalists are not typical donors. December 19th, 2016: The first ImpactClub® launched in Northern, VA. In just 28 days, 112 Impact Venture Capitalists joined as founding members. Each committed a $100 donation. Three charities presented. The majority vote winner: Received a check for $11,200.

OUR DISRUPTIVE BELIEFS

ImpactClub® Is Set To Launch in 100+ Local Communities

To further understand, how ImpactClub and the concept of Impact Venture Capitalism is going to change the world, one local community at a time. Watch the video above. Then join me, for a tour down the rabbit hole.

Typical Donors

The traditional, expected way of donating to charities.

Impact Venture Capitalists

Our core beliefs, that directly conflict with convention.

Charities Are Charities1Charities Are Businesses

We believe charitable organizations, like business owners, have a responsibility to their donors to deliver ROI: Return on Impact. That means, donated money, it shouldn’t just be spent. It should be multiplied. You do not Impact communities, long term, by giving away money. You do not help charities, their founders or representatives, long term, by giving away money. You do not help affected families, whose loved ones are fighting terrible diseases, to battle that disease, long term, by giving away money.

That is the misconception.

Giving away money is not the answer. The answer is to inspire charities, their founders, representatives, etc., and the parents, children, siblings, of affected family members, to become effective fundraising machines in their own right - so ultimately, they don't need your money.

That means we must accept - A charity is a business. Their product, their service is Impact. And to deliver that Impact, they must sell the value of that Impact to people willing to pay for it, support it, and champion it, to recruit further support.

Donate With Bleeding Hearts2Investments Based On ROI: Return On Impact

The Impact Venture Capitalist doesn't vote with a bleeding heart. We vote based on presented merit. Our concept: "Impact Venture Capitalism" is rooted in venture capitalism, because the startup founder who tells the best story, demonstrates the best return, etc., is the startup founder that receives the funding. There are many great founders that have great intentions, and, could positively impact their customers, but that alone is not enough to warrant an investment.

This explains why startup founders, weeks in advance of meeting with a venture capital firm, prepare their pitch deck. The pitch deck is the "story" of how their company will use the money they seek to grow the business, expand, or disrupt the market. If that founder makes a poor case for his company; tells a poor story, doesn't inspire investors, etc. then he doesn't get the funding.

Become The Best Storyteller!

Knowing the importance of storytelling is not unique to Saca either. Don Valentine, founder of the famed firm Sequoia Capital, has said, "The art of storytelling is incredibly important. Learning to tell a story is critically important, because that's how the money works. The money flows as a function of the story."

ImpactClub® brings this belief to Impact Venture Capitalism. To invest in charities. ImpactClub is not a charitable organization. ImpactClub, metaphorically speaking, is a venture capital firm. Except, instead of investing in companies for the purpose of profit. We invest in local charities for the purpose of demonstrate-able Impact on our communities.

Everybody Should Win3Winner Takes All

We believe high-stakes competition is the best way to incentivize charitable founders to get really good, really fast, at crafting, telling, and presenting their story. This “Story Engine” is what causes more money to flow to that charity in the future. Following in the XPRIZE’s footsteps, ImpactClub® employs a winner takes all model.

Peter Demandis, an Elon Musk-type entrepreneur, and founder of XPRIZE - put this on his website: “We believe in the power of competition. That it’s part of our DNA. Of humanity itself. That tapping into that indomitable spirit of competition brings about breakthroughs and solutions that once seemed unimaginable. Impossible.

We believe that you get what you incentivize. And that without a target, you will miss it every time. Rather than throw money at a problem, we incentivize the solution and challenge the world to solve it.”

The solution, in the world of fundraising, is to create a powerful “Story Engine.” ImpactClub, therefore, is a highly leveraged, incentivized competition that pushes charitable founders to present the best story. It’s not enough to just “do good things.” To earn the investment of ImpactClub, that charity, their founder or representative, must also be able enunciate it through a powerful story. And the high stakes format, "Winner Takes All," is the massive incentive for the 3 selected charities to get really good, really fast, at crafting and telling that story. Which requires extreme commitment. Not to mention, a deep understanding about the real industry that they are in.

Hint: It's not the charity business. It's the storytelling business.

Routine Small Donations4Large Impact-Altering Donations

We believe small donations are the role of the traditional donor. Not the Impact Venture Capitalist. ImpactClub® makes the greatest Impact, by coming together to write the biggest checks. We understand the importance of our role. We fill the gap in the charitable market that the traditional donor can’t fill.

Beyond the obvious size of our checks, the purpose of ImpactClub is to build a portfolio of charitable “Story Engines.”

Because a charity without an effective story, like a business without an effective story, is in constant need of more money and more funding. Charities with a story, on the other hand, like a business with a powerful story, has created for itself a “Story Engine.” Which in turn, causes more and more money to flow to it to be self-sustaining, to fund its own growth and future Impact initiatives.

This is how, long term, you Impact communities.

Takes Pride In Donating Alone5Organizes & Competes For Greatest Impact

We believe ego and pride are the enemies of Impact. Impact Venture Capitalists do not seek individual accolades, nor do we see value in operating alone. ImpactClub®, we make the greatest Impact, because of our ability to organize. We even compete against other ImpactClubs, in a the spirit of cooperation, to incentivize and motivate each ImpactClub to pursue its greatest impact.

In a phrase, ImpactClub is Home for people who want to make a difference. Like all athletes, Impact Venture Capitalists perform their best when they are inspired, challenged, and pushed by competition.

ImpactClub League: Comes complete with friendly bragging rights, Impact stats, national leaderboards, awards, and extravagant prizes given to those Impact Venture Capitalists who continually strive to multiply the Impact of their team. In short, we fight together. We take no pride in acting alone.

Linear Impact6Exponential Impact

When you act as an individual, we believe it’s extremely difficult to perpetually make a larger, more significant Impact. Traditional donors give to charities what they can afford to give, after their own personal expenses. And to make a larger donation, they must personally give more, which means they must make more. For obvious reasons, traditional donors (with the exception of the really rich) rarely donate enough to make a massive Impact in the local community.

Impact Venture Capitalists, on the other hand, create a Movement of Impact, by simply “growing & strengthening the Chain of Inspiration” one person, one action at a time. Take those 112 founding members. If each person grows and strengthens “the chain of inspiration” by just one new member. Those 112 founding members, become 224 members. And instead of writing a check for $11,200, ImpactClub® now donates a check for $22,400. Then it happens again. Each member inspires one other person, to join in the fight to Impact local communities.

Now there are 448 ImpactClub members.

Then it happens again.

Now there are 896 ImpactClub members. And in less than a year, ImpactClub went from donating an $11,200 check (just $100 from each 112 founding members), to donating a check for $89,600 every quarter. The best part? No member ever donates more than their same $100, and yet every Impact Venture Capitalist, has the same exponential Impact on the invested in charities and local community.

OUR IMPACT INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY

Impact Venture Capitalism Is Changing The World

Through ImpactClub®, as Impact Venture Capitalists, we invest heavily in local charities that demonstrate a powerful “Story Engine,” and, have proven their willingness to fight for their cause, by competing in and winning a high-stakes competition. As a result, ImpactClub, through Impact Venture Capitalism, has dramatically multiplied the Impact that a single person can have on charities in their local community.

Because of those 6 reasons explained, assuming the avg. traditional donor gives $100 per quarter, here’s a look at the “Impact comparison” of their donation via traditional means vs. donating through ImpactClub:

  • High Stakes Competition
  • Story Engines
  • Exponential Impact

OUR IMPACT BEYOND JUST MONEY

Building A Portfolio Of Charitable Story Engines

The benefit of ImpactClub® extends beyond the large monetary donations. The money portion is just the instant gratification and high-stakes incentive (modeled after the XPRIZE), to motivate local charities to get really good, really fast – to jump start their desire, to hone their craft as a storyteller. Like a fad diet, drop 10 pounds in a week. But results, purely inspired by instant gratification, they don’t last. Soon, that diet fails. The pounds come back. Likewise, that donated money is spent. Gone. And the need for funding again becomes urgent. Thus, for maximum Impact, the only true solution is for ImpactClub and charitable founders to play the long game. Which means, 1) Charities must be committed to building a strong “Story Engine.” But also, 2) They need the ability to continually water that “seed,” should they want to harvest it, time and time again.

That is why if ImpactClub just gave monetary donations, absent the more valuable benefits described below, it would be a flawed concept. Money only goes so far. But a community of support, and access to knowledge, is an ever-renewing resource. This is why venture capital firms are so supportive of their startup founders, because the support is infinitely more valuable than the money component:

We help in four ways:

  • Connections

  • Story Engine

  • Viral Growth

  • ImpactClub® is our identity. Our creed: “You can count on me!” But we’re also a product of our dominant Character-types: Growth Hackers, Conscious Capitalists, Charitable Founders, Affected Family Members. And the largest segment: The Connector. Each of us has different strengths. Different weaknesses. But together, we are damn near unbeatable. And every charitable founder, regardless of whether they won the majority vote, gains access to “the greatest” this community has to offer – the minds of you, me, all of us. Need help with sustained viral growth? Talk to a Growth hacker. Need help with a Story Engine? Talk to a Conscious Capitalist. Need help operating the actual charity? Talk to a Charitable Founder. Need insight into messaging? Talk to Affected Families. Need access to strategic relationships? Talk to The Connector. Each of these examples, albeit brief, are examples of how ImpactClub supports local charities, long after the actual event, with the needed resources to cultivate their greatest impact. Note: ImpactClub members are here for each other too. Never more than a holler away, using our specialized talents.

  • The process of building a powerful “Story Engine” can be daunting. Nothing is more frustrating to a new storyteller, than to not have the feedback of a master storyteller, regarding the effectiveness of their story. They work at it. They slave over it. They edit. They re-edit. They poor heart and soul into it. They get feedback from family, friends. But, it’s not bringing the results. What’s wrong with it? Why is it not working as it should? These are the types of questions that can only be answered by fresh eyes, and most often, a skilled storyteller - with vast experience in building “Story Engines.” This, of course, is where ImpactClub steps in and continues to provide support. Constructive feedback is invaluable.

  • Our goal and hope for every ImpactClub® event, is to have it filmed and documented. But more important? To create a mini-documentary for each charitable presenter to accurately capture their story. Video is a very powerful format to story-tell in. It’s visual. It’s auditory. You can effectively capture the environment, create mood, establish dominate emotion. It also, however, happens to be quite expensive. There are equipment costs. Film crew. Location and venue fees. Post production. It all adds up fast. Mounting costs. Can local charities afford $10,000 to $20,000 to create a 2-5 minute mini-doc? Probably not. Traditional donors, first off, would never approve of it. They would consider it abuse of donated funds. But to create the most powerful “Story Engine,” capable of causing more and more money to flow to that charity in the future, such an asset is required. Hence, the importance of ImpactClub, and the critical contribution to local charities.

  • It only takes 100 people, in a local community, to drive something viral. Thus, through ImpactClub®, here’s what we’ve done: 1) For each charitable founder, we’ve incentivized the creation of a powerful “Story Engine.” And 2), in short order, ImpactClub members, there are more than 100 of us to drive that Story Engine viral. The end result? Awareness. To win hearts & minds, charities must find an effective method to expose more folks to their message. What could be more effective than a powerful “Story Engine” backed, by the personal endorsement, lots of them, of ImpactClub members who believe deeply in the authenticity of that message? In this capacity, viral growth, massive awareness, it isn’t caused by luck or chance. It’s engineered: To create a Movement of Impact.

BELONG TO SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOU

Impact Venture Capitalism Is Changing The World

A Movement of Impact doesn’t happen by accident, it happens because of you. And someone else like you, who came before you. And someone like you, who will come after you. ImpactClub®, in each local community, grows stronger every day because Impact Venture Capitalists want to make a difference. It’s in their DNA. They want to inspire and be inspired. They want to belong to something bigger than themselves. Most important? Doing for others is where we believe deep-rooted fulfillment comes from.

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