ChristianKl comments on Can You Give Support or Feedback for My Program to Alleviate Poverty? - Less Wrong Discussion
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The venture could be profitable, yes. Would it generate massive amounts of income? That is also possible. I did not consider a for-profit version of the idea because the project itself was supposed to be charitable in nature. I am considering starting a for-profit branch of this idea, and would be open to hearing other people's ideas and motivations. Is your motivation and other's in getting involved in a for-profit implementation of this idea to earn money?
To elaborate more on profits, the initial implementation of this idea might not be incredibly profitable because we are relying on third party virtual employment services like the aforementioned upwork.com to ensure the initial implementation (this summer!) would be a success and members would be able to find guaranteed work. Directly contracting with people and organizations wanting virtual workers is expected to be a lot more profitable.
That's a mistake.
On of the core ideas of effective altruism is to focus on effective structures instead of focusing on signaling that one is charitable.
I'm having trouble seeing how a for-profit corporation would create more good and be a more effective structure in this case. A non-profit organization can operate without income tax and attract donations which can be tax-deductible to donors. A for-profit organization could get investment capital, but I think it's highly unlikely I would be able to find any interested investors, and it otherwise performs worse compared to a non-profit with the same business model.
You are likely underrating the difficulty of raising charitable funds.
If the business model doesn't work for a for-profit it's unlikely from an outside view to think that you create much value in a nonprofit structure.