Today, I’m excited to introduce you to Impossible.org – a new site for all of the philanthropic initiatives at Impossible.
Since I’ve started Impossible, I’ve had an eye towards giving back – specifically on a global scale.
This is mostly because when you realize how fortunate you are (and if you’re reading this blog, that includes you – no matter how bad you think your current situation is – you have the freedom to read this and the leisure time to do something like read a blog), you get perspective on your place in the world.
And when you get perspective on your position in the world, you have a responsibility to:
- Not waste the opportunity whining about your disadvantages or creating excuses for inaction
- Help others push their limits in the same way others have helped you.
That’s why – ever since the early days – we’ve had a Kiva team that’s lent over $42,000 dollars to entrepreneurs throughout 74 countries in the world. We’ve built one school with Pencils of Promise, and raised enough for a couple more, and we’re still going.
The initiative to give back has been ingrained in Impossible since the beginning, but there’s 3 main reasons on why I specifically wanted to create Impossible.org as a way to see all of the charitable projects Impossible is pushing for all in one place.
Greater Transparency
Table of Contents
The main reason is that (up till now), our charity initiatives have been spread out quite a bit. They weren’t always readily available, and if someone wanted to find out more about that part of our business, they would have had to dig around through a bunch of different URLs. Now, with Impossible.org – all of that is in one place.
Giving Is Integral
I mentioned this already, but giving back is integral to everything I do here at Impossible. Whether it’s raising funds for charities, giving talks to other entrepreneurs or doing selective one-on-one mentoring, I’ve had a lot of people take the time to help me out, so I try to return the favor down the road.
Higher Purposes Driver Higher Action
Making money is useful. Money is fuel and helps you do interesting things. However, after a certain point, making an impact produces bigger changes and is more satisfying. I try to make an impact not only in the business, but also through groups that are helping people in ways we can’t.
Rapid Fire Q&A on Impossible.org
Is Impossible.org it’s own charitable entity?
No – right now all donations are through readers and done as a part of our business, Impossible X directly to the charities and organizations we support.
Do you take any administrative fees?
No – all donations and contributions go directly to the charities. The only time we even touch any of the money is when we’re personally donating it from my personal account or from the business bank account.
Do you have a page on Charity Navigator?
No – we’re not a charity. We just raise funds and awareness for causes we support. We vet the causes we work with strictly and focus on charities that spend their resources directly on the work being done (not administrator salaries). You can see some of their grades here and here.
Are you looking to support any other charities right now? I have a charity and am interested in getting support.
As of right now, we’re set with our partners. That said, we’re always interested to hear about great causes doing great work with strict financial controls.
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I’m excited about what Impossible.org will mean for IMPOSSIBLE going forward and the causes that we can support. If you want to keep up with what we’re doing at Impossible.org, check out the site or follow the twitter account @IMPOSSIBLEorg.
Hi Joel, I am a big Believer in giving. In the past 36 years of marriage & being self employed I have experienced two major robberies and 3 major losses. One was from being defrauded. The first robbery was my family jewellery business in Oakville Ontario while we were expecting our first son. The Insurance agent took our money for a policy which he failed to send into the Royal Insurance Company. That gunpoint robbery took 7 years of my Jewellery inventory & 10 years of savings & earnings from bid calling as an auctioneer. We lost everything, house cars , everything!
We got up and started all over & had a pretty good ten years of working hard and we rebuilt a new business & named it after our first son. In 1990 we were bigger than ever & expanded rapidly. That company was fronted by another robbery which knocked us down hard the losses were just too much for me. Hospitalized & shell shocked. I quit jewellery for 4 years. My wife worked at the crossroads ministries. I made 10% of what I used to at Walmart… but we became aware that others worse in more need than us.
We started going to church became Christians and spent every waking spare money giving to others, collecting for food banks benevolent funds, non profit charity auctions while we rented.I started working for memorial gardens where my eyes were opened widely & realized how many were much worse off than us. There were lots of tears and hugs in that industry and I gave in a totally different way! We raised 3 boys & never again have had too much in the way of assets. Inflation and costs made it difficult. When we were down & out way back when, we were really hoping that someone very wealthy & humble would help us get back what was taken from us but that never happened. There was no such thing as Criminal compensation either.
The 3rd loss I talked about was a defraud. A couple that befriended us took advantage of us & took several hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewellery & gems from us & gave us rerouted American Cheques from the USA & the bank of Commerce ended up debiting our accounts & we had no sources to repay angry suppliers. We decided to mortgage our property to the hilt. Why am I telling you this story? Well You say people can do the impossible. I believe you. We did! We bounced back. The only thing against us now is less energy and age. We love people, love giving. Have nothing left to give except prayer. We have 3 grown sons that are doing well. 2 grandchildren & one new one to arrive around July 28. This is now my first senior year & I still struggle & may never regain any of those losses. I just wanted to share this story with you because I just realized that our happiest years was when we were busy giving to others & driving a beat up old Chrysler station wagon that smelled like a bread bin . Really.
My comment was to salute you for your dedication & goals. In closing, I wish our community and government had of had a criminal compensation fund so others who suffer major losses have something to give them help when needed. Ours was a struggle but those lessons in life made us stronger!
Wow, this is very interesting and inspiring.
I have always wanted to help, but I’m not doing until this large.
Sometimes when I switch on the TV and I see someone needed help, I’ll donate some.
Not much, but it’s a start. And I believe eventually I will grow big to reach out more people and help more people.
You managed to get the domain Impossible.ORG, and this is something outstanding. Hope you can achieve better results and touch more people’s lives. Cheers. 🙂
Awesome! The Pencils of Promise school was one of the first things that really drew me to IMPOSSIBLE.
Hi Joel,
I’m a long time time follower of your blog – in fact you were a key inspiration for my first ultramarathon! I love that you’re moving your business further into the world of altruism. I think that what you’re making is so much more than just a charity evaluator, and want to know how you choose your charities?
Givingwhatwe can and Givewell have some very useful data on the most good you can do and lives you can save with money (the difference between charities varying by several orders of magnitude!)
Keep it up chap 🙂