Freedonia Grant

Freedonia's Goals/Mission

In our 2007 Granting Period, Freedonia will prioritize applications that focus on economic alternatives. This may include:

.Organizing around economic issues, with a focus on economic alternatives .Organizing around alternative economic models .Research and development of practical ecomomic alternatives .building capacity and tools within groups working to address economic alternatives

Freedonia Mission Statement

Freedonia was founded in 1997 by Gary Moffatt as an expression of his lifetime commitment to anarchism and to building social and economic alternatives to capitalism. In keeping with this anti-authoritarian vision, Freedonia is a catalyst for the development of movements promoting radical democratic and systemic change.

Freedonia supports projects which:

   * generate, explore, analyze, and promote practical democratic social and economic models;
   * demonstrate or test models of democratic economic and/or political organization;
   * demonstrate or test approaches to implementing anti-authoritarian social change;
   * enhance ability to generate anti-authoritarian social change through development and expansion of skills, tools, and participation.
   * enhance practical co-operation among groups that share Freedonia's vision; 

In addition to funding projects, Freedonia also

   * Builds relationships with and among groups we support
   * Provides referals to other resources
   * Leverages other resources to advance our goals
   * Builds our own fund and capacity
   * Shares information about our work and vision
   * Reflects our commitments in our investment policy statement

THE GRANT QUESTIONS

Parent/Sponsoring Organization (if any):

Free Geek Portland, Oregon

Aim/Mission of Organization/Group:

FREE GEEK is a non profit community organization that recycles used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.

Year founded:

2006

How does your structure and mandate support Freedonia’s mission statement?

Free Geek supports Freedonia's mission statement in two main ways.

First, Free Geek operates in a non-hierarchal structure. Our decisions are consensus based, and all of our communications are available to the public. Free Geek's transparency and dedication to inclusion is proof that a more positive way is possible for people to interact and conduct daily affairs.

Secondly, Free Geek offers an alternative economic model in the form of trading proportional amounts of personal labour for items needed.

Name/Title of Project:

Start-up

Goal(s) and Objective(s) of Project – What do you hope to achieve by the project?

Our goal is the successful start up of a sustainable community-based computer recycling organisation.

Strategy(ies) and Activity(ies) of Project – How will the project work towards its goal(s)?

We have already approached the original Free Geek in Portland, Oregon to present our organisation and have secured permission to use their name.

We have organised the interests and skills of individuals into workgroups designed to tackle our various startup needs.

These workgroups are:

• Governance
• Location
• Recycling
• Software
• Communication (Publicity/Fund raising/Outreach/Events)
• Content (Website/Listserve)
• Curriculum (Education)
• Health & Safety

Area(s) of Work – The project addresses the following of Freedonia’s identified priority funding areas.

• "Organizing around economic issues, with a focus on economic alternatives"
Free Geek will directly address the economic disparity between those who are able to afford expensive, up to date computer equipment and those who cannot.
• "Organizing around alternative economic models"
Free Geek offers an alternative economic model through it's volunteer programs. Volunteers can obtain free computers and access to the Internet in exchange for their labour. There is no money required by this model in order to receive goods.
• "Research and development of practical economic alternatives"
• "Building capacity and tools within groups working to address economic alternatives"
(Are they refering to helping other groups? If so, we could mention our hardware grants to non-profits)

Why is this project necessary?

The Free Geek project is necessary for several reasons.

Every year the Greater Vancouver Regional District buries 20,000 tonnes of computers, monitors, printers and TV sets in landfill sites.[1] Not only is this waste highly hazardous to human and animal health and the environment, but much of it is still highly usable or it's basic components recyclable. (perhaps I have made the sentence too long)

Free Geek will help to stop dangerous waste from making its way into the general environment. Through responsible recycling, hazardous materials can be reclaimed and recycled or re-used, diverting them from the landfill.

We will also be able to stem the tide of useful equipment being thrown away before it ceases to function. For economic reasons, many organisations and individuals go without computer tools which could help to improve their access to information access and dissemination. Free Geek will identify and redirect these tools into the hands of those who need them.

The current digital divide in Vancouver is another reason Free Geek is necessary. Many of societies most vulnerable people have little or no access to the Internet. In these modern times, it can be the difference between finding apartments, jobs, and government assistance or not. Free Geek seeks to bridge this divide.

Likewise, Free and Open Source software is in a position to challenge the dominant consumer-controlling economic model of proprietary software. As all of the machines we produce will be loaded with FOS software, we will act as a strong advocate of an alternate method of software creation and sharing.

(not sure if we need to do footnotes??) [1] Electronic trash to be banned, William Boei, Vancouver Sun, Wednesday, September 27, 2006

How does your project relate to Freedonia’s program goals?

(Errr which program goals?)

Why is your organization/group best qualified and able to undertake this project?

We are a diverse group of individuals with a wide range of experience in all of the areas required to achieve success in this undertaking. We have experience with:

• Community organisation and activism
• Non-profit operation
• Computer hardware and software
• Recycling logistics
• Consensus-based governance

Geographical Region/Scope of Project:

The Free Geek project will focus on the Greater Vancouver Regional District of BC, but hopes also to provide the groundwork for other similarly motivated projects starting up in other areas.

Who will benefit from the project?

The Free Geek project will provide a general benefit to all by helping to relieve pressure on the environment due to the release of toxic electronic waste into the landfill.

Due to economic circumstances, a large portion of our volunteers will likely have limited experience with and infrequent access to computers. Free Geek will provide these people with useful hardware and skills training to put it to good use.

How will you involve the project’s beneficiaries, and communicate with them?

As a large portion of our direct beneficiaries will be our volunteers, they will be integrated into and even help to direct our operations. Communications will begin with volunteer training and go right up until software training when a volunteer walks out the door with their own computer.

Project Evaluation – How will you determine the effectiveness and impact of the project?

Effectiveness and impact will be measured through multiple channels:

• Statistics
Measuring the volume of donations which would otherwise likely end up in the landfill will give us a sense of the impact we are having on waste diversion.
• Feedback
Feedback from our volunteers will tell us how we have performed in providing them with the tools and instructions required to help with their work and to make use of the hardware they have received.
• Financial stability
Producing a financially sustainable non-profit organisation

Proposed Starting Date:

??May 1, 2007??

Budget – Please provide a detailed budget for the project (this may be submitted as an attachment).

Greg and David to work on Budget

a) Total cost of the project$ b) Amount requested from Freedonia$

Other funding sources for the project (if any):

Other sources for funding include our $10 disposal fee on CRT monitors, and private donations.