$3500 in 3 days.

I’m still having a hard time believing this. I have been so humbled by the outpouring of support that it has fundamentally changed my perception of what the Open Forum Foundation is and who it belongs to. (If you’re interested in all of my sappy discussion of why this is so humbling to me, you can also read my personal blog post.)

I received the full amount in 6 donations.

What?

S.i.x.   d.o.n.a.t.i.o.n.s.
Among those are 4 averaging $125 each, one for $1000, and one for “the rest of the amount”.

I would not have thought it possible, but here I am at the receiving end of kindnesses that I could not have imagined previously. How do I justify it?

It’s not about me – I’ll explain:

Now that people have contributed money to the Open Forum Foundation, I get it. It’s different. Thirteen months ago, I established a board who owns the organization and is legally responsible for everything I do. I then became an employee of the Open Forum Foundation. But still, it was really mine – everyone knew that. I founded it. I did all the work. I put everything I have into this for a year and a half. I built all the connections, established the understanding, facilitated the projects. And, I spent all the money – it was all my money, so who really cared. I mean, I was careful with it, knowing that someday it wouldn’t be all mine, but it was really just an academic exercise, wasn’t it.

Until now.

Now, it’s not mine. Now, I don’t own it. Now, it’s not my money. Now, I’m not alone.

Six souls have joined the Open Forum Foundation. Six people have said that they believe we are positioned to make a significant impact in how government to citizen communication operates. Six people have stepped up and told me without words that they trust what I have done, but their is an implicit statement that I see in this trust: I am no longer working for myself, I am working for the community. Everything that I do for the Open Forum Foundation is no longer for me – it for the donors and the board members and the volunteers and the interns.

Everyone has a part to play and mine is facilitating the interaction between the rest of the parts to make sure they add up to something. Mine is ensuring that everyone understands how their contribution leads to greater things, how it ensures that the system takes shape, how it creates legitimate channels of communication between citizens and their government representatives, how it paves the way to a new era of responsive government.

There is much to do, and I will do everything I can to make it happen and make it be fun to be a part of.

Onward and Upward!

Blog Posts, Front Page
Wayne Moses Burke
November 13th, 2009 12:28 am
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