I recently joined a charitable organization’s board of directors to assist with formation, and I anticipate being a long-term donor. I currently serve as the Secretary, and as an advisor, who I imagine my colleagues hope will tone down on my “dumping of ideas.”
Voluntary Virtue 501c3 is forming in the summer of 2021.
I am not a religious person, and I love giving to others, so this organization offers a great way to do so. Many religions expect a 10% tithe, and governments expect 18% to 54%. Are they efficient, transparent and intelligent in their expenditures? To a certain degree, I would argue that religious organizations are, especially the small and independent ones.
Years ago my pal Susan Gore, a government corruption whistleblower, gave me a book, Who Really Cares. It really made me wonder if the bias in the media, or the bias in the book was true. Either way, I knew there were often unintended consequences when it comes to charity.
My colleagues in Voluntary Virtue are principled, study history and are intellectually consistent. While we hope to grow to need full-time paid positions, we are all currently donating our time and our money for startup.
Voluntary Virtue 501c3 was the brainchild of Patrick Smith, a tech mogul from Texas whose family experienced hard times over the last years. His young daughter was diagnosed and treated for leukemia, and through this experience he learned about and volunteered with Make a Wish Foundation. Fortunately, Patricks daughter’s treatment was a success and she got to ring the “all clear” bell recently.
This experience, and the $1.5 million dollar price tag that accompanied it, made Patrick wonder how a family without means could have weathered this storm. Our non-geographic community of libertarians sometimes experiences unearned and non-chronic hardship, and Patrick wanted to help. He reached out to a few trusted friends who he thought might hare his interest and who were workaholic success-driven people, and ask them to join.
