The State of Colorado puts on a pretty interesting challenge each year called Go Code Colorado. It is a series of events which bring awareness to using public data for the public good. The Secretary of State describes it as ". . . brings together a community of entrepreneurs, business partners, and developers to make use of public data . . ."
The Go Code Competition
The actual event is a competition - basically one weekend. "Teams compete to build apps that use public data to help businesses make smarter decisions".
This year Eldon was invited to participate with a team making a Philanthropic Assessment App focused on building bridges between Donors and Nonprofit / Charitable organizations. The idea guides Donors to organizations that best align with things that are important to them. We see so many tear-jerking advertisements from Charities looking for donations, but the base values of those charities are not evident. True, you can search them out and look them up, but that takes time.
What if . . . We create a tool that will align your values with the values of Nonprofit organizations? Things like how the organization operates, areas of focus, how money is spent, % of donations actively going to the cause, etc.. What if an app could let you know how you fit with a particular nonprofit you enter? The idea is brilliant, and supports research of the big players like the Pew Charitable Trust. Personally, I would love an app that would quickly tell me how my values align with a Charity.
Go Code Team Catalyst
Our Go Code team was truly awesome. Rubbing shoulders with some brilliant and talented people is worth every minute volunteering toward this cause. Thank you Team!
Unfortunately, our concept did not fit as well with the Colorado Secretary of State competition guidelines. Philanthropy really has a more national trajectory, and the point of this competition is using Colorado Public Data. We only used a little of the Colorado Public Data, so that certainly dropped our score. The weekend is over. However, the idea is not dead. If you wish to assist others in building confidence in how people give, then please Contact Me. I am happy to connect you with the right people.
Thank You!
I learned a bunch - especially about nonprofit organizations. A couple of fun facts (from ColoradoNonprofits.org):
- 80% of Coloradans give to charities!
- $30,058,466,142 Total Donated Revenue 2011-2013 in Colorado.
(It makes me proud to be in a state of such generosity. However, I can't quite get my mind around that $30 Billion number. That's a lot of money!)
Thank you Go Code! Thank you Team Catalyst. What a great event, and what a great experience.
Quotes in this post are from the Colorado GoCode website. (Sorry, the website is not active any longer.)
Update 1: Check out the post for 2018 Challenge Weekend. Another great event.
Update 2: At some point with the pandemic, Go Code disappeared. I think this program was a good thing, but it appears to be gone now. Hopefully they will bring it back at some point, because I believe a lot more good came out of it than just the competition.