When the COVID-19 Pandemic hit our planet in 2020, we as the IDIN Steering Committee saw how the Pandemic exacerbated global inequality and were determined to help. However, organizing an in-person summit, our core offering, was definitely not an option for health and safety.

We thought about what makes IDIN special. In a world where the news seems to spotlight conflicts across differences, we are a diverse community who trusts each other and connects across differences. In a world that seems to think there are many problems with no solutions, we are innovators who have ideas based on what our local communities have and need.

Ben, one of our Steering Committee Members, pointed out how we could play a unique role of getting money into the hands of the IDIN innovators who are in positions to catalyze change in their communities.  More specifically, he advocated re-launching our IDIN Grants program. 

We did not have funding secured. But, we knew this was what we needed to do now, so we would make it happen. After all, as IDDS organizers and participants, we have plenty of experience making magic happen through emergence and simply working together.

We started reaching out to IDIN Members who had previously offered to financially support IDIN - and we were surprised by their enthusiasm. The Network was excited to support itself! This got us thinking…

What if we could  opened this up? What if we created a way for IDIN Members to continue to support each other to co-create technologies, even after IDDS? How might we use a more circular approach to giving?

Today we are excited to officially invite all IDIN Members to join us in our IDIN Grants.

Some FAQs: 

How do I get involved?

• We invite all IDIN Members to contribute to our IDIN Grants. This is for IDIN Members who have financial resources to share with our network.
• We also invite all IDIN Members to apply for IDIN Grants. This is for IDIN Members who seek financial resources to work on co-creating technologies with their local communities.

How does Circular Giving work? 

• IDIN Steering Committee has set up a Giving Page where IDIN Members (and friends) can directly donate to our IDIN Grants. 
• IDIN Steering Committee has also set up an application process for IDIN Members to apply for IDIN Grants.
• Thus, IDIN Members support other IDIN Members to co-create technologies with their communities!
• We expect that some IDIN Members may both give to IDIN Grants and be a recipient of IDIN Grants. Life circumstances change over time!
• For administrative support, we partner with Olin College of Engineering. We compensate Olin administrators a small percentage of the Circular Fund contributions for their support. All other funds are entirely given to IDIN Grant recipients. IDIN Steering Committee work is completely voluntary.

This seems over-complicated. Why do this?

• Traditionally, fundraising means spending a lot of time (and money) to prove why IDIN is valuable, to people who have never experienced IDDS. We don’t mind documenting and sharing our impact, but we would like focus this fund on those who already understand what we mean by IDDS Spirit. 
• We hope that this way, we can spend more time engaging with our community to better understand how we can grow together.
• We invite IDIN Members to tell us what you'd like to hear about the IDIN Grant recipients' work. We especially welcome any offers to support this work. Please reach out at idds.steercom@gmail.com !
• We believe our Network is regenerative on its own. Instead of seeking external resources to ‘save’ our Network, we would like to focus on what our Network can offer itself.

We hope you participate in our experiment with whatever contributions you are able to offer with joy. Thank you!