BRAVE Communities' Rewards for Social Good

[BRAVEmakers]

Short description of the idea (140 character tweet):

Earn rewards for Social Good and Building Community. Redeem at local biz, which also helps promote them too. So many Austin levels of getting involved. City, schools, businesses, churches, community groups, nonprofits, etc.

What is your project concept or idea? What challenge or opportunity will it solve?

We earn rewards to be consumers, why not to do good? Citizens will earn points when they build community (ie: volunteer, join or start a book club, running group, etc). Points may be redeemed at participating biz, which can also use this as a way to bring in new customers. (ie: $10 off next $50 purchase at Whole Foods, free shake with order of entree at Shake Shack, free pair of socks with next shoe's purchase at Luke's Locker, etc). App or website designed in a social network way, so subscribers can see who's 'checking in' and who the participating businesses are that are supporting a BRAVE (Building Relationships Awareness Voices Engagement) Community.

It will allow us to build community in Austin. Businesses can support patrons and community groups that are doing good and building community in Austin, and Austinites can support the businesses that are participating and supporting the community. The point rewards system will motivate people to get involved, take action, make change, and build community in Austin (and other cities too).

Who will benefit from your project? Describe the humans at the center of the problem - who are they?

How would they benefit? Can you tell their story?

Businesses will benefit from this project because they will be listed on the app/website as a participating organization, as well as social media posts when the patron redeems their points at their business (ie: "John Doe earned a free dessert at Takoba for helping to build community in Austin). They will also get more patrons when people redeem their point rewards at their business.
Austinites will benefit from this project because they will be encouraged and rewarded to do good and build community, and will reap their efforts through redeeming rewards at participating businesses.
Nonprofits, churches, schools, etc will benefit too with name recognition and an easy way to promote their event(s) or organization. They will need to "approve or check-in" the community members, which can tie in with social media so it posts a (example) "John Doe checked in to volunteering at Habitat for Humanity and received 10 points on BRAVE Communities for Good" on FB, Twitter, etc

Do you have photos of them? Or quotes? No

Issue area(s) relevant to your project idea:

• Arts & Culture
• Children & Youth
• Economic Opportunity & Development
• Education
• Environment & Sustainability
• Food/Hunger
• Health
• Housing
• Mobility/Transportation
• Neighborhoods
• Open Government/Transparency
• Public Safety
• Other

What is the current state of your project idea?

• I have an idea or concept of a solution, but have not yet prototyped or tested it

Tell us more about the current state of your project idea.

BRAE Communities Rewards for Good is totally in idea stage.

Do you have any links to news articles, text, mockups, code, or data? No

Tell us about yourself.

BRAVE Communities is a startup nonprofit that is addressing social good, digital technology and philathropic promotions, while training 16-26 years old in diverse teams to be aware and address social issues.

What is your background? Why is this challenge important to you?

I am a seriel social entrepreneur. I want our society to focus less on consumerism, and more on building community, serving and loving our neighbors.

Are you representing a group in submitting this project idea?

No

[ssharif1]

Consider your project accepted, @BRAVEmakers. We invite you to pitch it at the ATX Hack for Change!

Now that your project has been approved, here are some things we suggest you do next:
https://github.com/atxhack4change/2016-project-proposals#once-your-project-is-accepted-here-are-some-things-we-suggest-you-do-next

We'll send you an email in the next few days regarding speaking slots for the Saturday morning pitches. Please let us know if you will no longer be able to champion your project at the hackathon.

[ssharif1]

We have a secured a lead for this project, thanks!

[danielhonker]

@BRAVEmakers - you should have received an invite to join Slack. If you haven't already joined the team and seen the Slack channel for your project, it's #bravecommunities. We'll be sending out an email with details on pitches soon.

[danielhonker]

@codykeith - Looks like you're already in slack. For any followers' interest, the slack channel for this project is #connectedteentech. We'll be sending out an email with details on pitches soon.