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300% Matching to SENS Research Donations Until Year End


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#1 Luna

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 10:06 AM


http://www.methusela...detaildisplay=Y

Woo :) donations time, let's make an effort!

#2 eternaltraveler

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 10:40 AM

if now isn't the time for a joint project, I don't know when is

#3 Luna

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 10:52 AM

Yes.
I am now doing all I can to encourage all who I can to donate, even if it is just small amount like 10$ as it'll become a 30$ worth thanks to the offer by T. Michael Cooper and Peter Thiel.
I really encourage everyone here to take this month to make an effort, convince as many people as possible to donate andreach the challange!

#4 Lazarus Long

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 12:54 PM

I want to bring up a suggestion I have made before.

I think full members should be able to allocate a small percentage of their membership dues to be allocated to organizations like this on a continuous ongoing basis. Even if it were as little as 5% of dues its cumulative effect, as well as gathering a highlighted selection of worthy independent organizations, helps legitimize our dues structure and makes it pragmatically more constructive both in a more immediate AND long term manner.

I will try again to bring this up for a vote soon, this time in the FM area but please think about it everyone.

#5 eternaltraveler

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 04:01 PM

What SENS projects are members most interested in? It may make sense for us to throw some money into whatever specific project we like most given this opportunity (i'm sure we can get an agreement from the MF that money we might donate would be allocated toward that area we choose).

#6 Shannon Vyff

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 04:21 PM

Good time to join the 300 if you have not already done so...

#7 John Schloendorn

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 06:13 PM

Yes.. this may be a good chance for imminst to demonstrate its will to collaborate in times of extraordinary opportunity. But because of my affiliation with the MF, I'm not the one to pursue this idea further.

#8 Shannon Vyff

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 06:21 PM

Better Humans is a 300 member, how about Immortality Institute?

#9 Lazarus Long

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 06:24 PM

Better Humans is a 300 member, how about Immortality Institute?


This was my point too. But I am trying to go beyond a single organizational linkage and increase the long term benefit to the recipient, while maximizing the benefit to this organization as well.

#10 Shepard

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 06:25 PM

Better Humans is a 300 member, how about Immortality Institute?


Yes, ImmInst is a 300 Member (or a member allowed ImmInst to put its name for his donation, I can't remember). Even if it wasn't, I would think a large one-time donation would be more advantageous right now.

#11 Bruce Klein

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 06:26 PM

I think ImmInst is a 300 member...

#12 Bruce Klein

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 06:28 PM

Of note, I've discussed w/ Aubrey and Dave that ImmInst may help w/ sponsorship of SENS West... which is in development. I'm bringing this topic (leadership only) up now.

#13 Lazarus Long

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 06:33 PM

I remember us donating early on, years ago, as an organization but now is still a good time to do so again. $1000 = $3000 effectively and so on. It is also a good time time to put into effect the kind of shared revenue stream I described and extend awareness of this event to all the members off the front page.

#14 DukeNukem

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 08:15 PM

I remember us donating early on, years ago, as an organization but now is still a good time to do so again. $1000 = $3000 effectively and so on. It is also a good time time to put into effect the kind of shared revenue stream I described and extend awareness of this event to all the members off the front page.



Just joined the 300, donating an initial $1000.

I've tried to join previously, but ran into too many confusing interface and decision hurdles, so I gave up (and even complained within these forums). I'm glad to say that most of that confusion is gone, but I'm still not sure what the difference is between picking the M-Prize or SENS to contribute to, or why I might choose one over another. This almost stopped me from contributing again because I have zero intolerance for unnecessary confusion of this sort, and usually just say, "fuck it", and move on to something worth my time. But, the fact that the matching amount was so great, I made a rare decision to ignore this hurdle and just donate anyway, not knowing if I made the right donation choice.

I can only imagine that others run through the same decision process that I do, and end up moving away from the site simply because things are not made perfectly clear, and a lot of money is at stake.

Edited by DukeNukem, 08 December 2007 - 09:09 PM.


#15 Shannon Vyff

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 09:02 PM

I remember us donating early on, years ago, as an organization but now is still a good time to do so again. $1000 = $3000 effectively and so on. It is also a good time time to put into effect the kind of shared revenue stream I described and extend awareness of this event to all the members off the front page.



Just joined the 300, donating an initial $1000.

I've tried to join previously, but ran into too many confusing interface an decision hurdles, so I gave up (and even complained within these forums). I'm glad to say that most of that confusion is gone, but I'm still not sure what the difference is between picking the M-Prize or SENS to contribute to, or why I might choose one over another. This almost stopped me from contributing again because I have zero intolerance for unnecessary confusion of this sort, and usually just say, "fuck it", and move on to something worth my time. But, the fact that the matching amount was so great, I made a rare decision to ignore this hurdle and just donate anyway, not knowing if I made the right donation choice.

I can only imagine that others run through the same decision process that I do, and end up moving away from the site simply because things are not made perfectly clear, and a lot of money is at stake.


I completely agree with this--maybe someone from Mprize could comment?

#16 Shepard

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 09:29 PM

I completely agree with this--maybe someone from Mprize could comment?


This has been discussed before:

You can directly fund SENS Research, you can donate for expenses, or you can donate to the MPrize.

Within the MPrize, there are two prizes: Longevity (extended life starting with a young mouse) and Rejuvenation (extended life with an aged mouse).

Someone correct me if I am wrong, though.

#17 John Schloendorn

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 10:36 PM

I'm still not sure what the difference is between picking the M-Prize or SENS


Thank you so much for joining, Duke.

SENS research is a project that funds specific research to repair certain types of molecular damage. E.g. we pay scientists' salaries, and the reagents they need. In return, we require them to work on the various components of Aubrey de Grey's specific plan to cure aging, subsumed as SENS. We think that this will put us on the road to cure aging, but we don't know it for sure. This is why the Mprize exists in addition.

The Mprize simply defines the objective to extend mouse life-span, without prescribing any specific means. It offers a blanket sum paid out to the competing scientists upon achievement of the objective. This means, competing scientists have to come up with the entire design of their project, and have to raise the necessary funding for their research on their own. They merely get the rewarded at the end, if their ideas work. This has raised support for a broader range of ideas, and is intended as a backup in case the more focused SENS work should run into severe difficulties.

You can either leave the decision of where your donation should go to the Methuselah Foundation (who will usually attempt to balance the two projects meaningfully), or decide for yourself. Just shoot us an email to main@mprize.org. Also, keep in mind that right now, only donations to SENS research get tripled, because the donors issuing the matching challenges chose to do so only for SENS research.

Hope this helps,
j

#18 DukeNukem

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Posted 08 December 2007 - 10:46 PM

>>> Hope this helps,

Only after the fact. Which has been one of the reasons I've tried and given up about 3-4 times in the past, and almost this time. Too many options is confusing and bad, and leaves people wondering if they'll make the right choice. You should read the book, Made to Stick, which talks about the psychological phenomenon known as the "curse of knowledge," a trap your above post falls into 100%. In other words, things make sense when you have relevant knowledge, but to those that do not, it's just a big bag of confusion. And worse of all is that the people with the knowledge usually cannot understand the perspective of those without such knowledge, and that's the curse.

Another thing that's not clear on that site (and any follow up explanation to me in this thread is again too late), is whether donating to one or another option leaves one out of The 300. Again, you know, others might know, but most likely those looking to donate will not be sure, and that will cause many to blow it off and not risk making a bad choice.

With such an important goal at stake, this site needs a lot of improvement, IMO, otherwise I predict it will continue to be much less effective than it could be at raising money.

Edited by DukeNukem, 08 December 2007 - 10:47 PM.


#19 ag24

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 12:45 AM

urgh......

we tried, we really tried, and honestly we still can't see what the problem is. As you say, it's a hard thing for insiders to see. Can't you folks help us?

I guess we could put as link next to "Commitment Level" to an explanation of what qualifies as 300-club level.

I guess the words "SENS and Mprize" could also be links to explanations of the two things, and maybe there could be an additional link to why we promote both.

I guess we could have a little thing next to the SENS button highlighting that only those (and "you decide") get matched.

Would the above help? Anything else? Help please!

#20 Bruce Klein

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 12:57 AM

This will be noted.... with Tyler Emerson and others, we're working on site improvements.

#21 Liquidus

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 02:35 AM

I will be donating $50-100 after Christmas (once I have a budget set). This is great news!

#22 Athanasios

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 02:37 AM

I will be donating $50-100 after Christmas (once I have a budget set). This is great news!

$100 can get you a signed copy of 'ending aging' :wink:

#23 Live Forever

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 06:44 AM

I remember us donating early on, years ago, as an organization but now is still a good time to do so again. $1000 = $3000 effectively and so on. It is also a good time time to put into effect the kind of shared revenue stream I described and extend awareness of this event to all the members off the front page.



Just joined the 300, donating an initial $1000.

I've tried to join previously, but ran into too many confusing interface and decision hurdles, so I gave up (and even complained within these forums). I'm glad to say that most of that confusion is gone, but I'm still not sure what the difference is between picking the M-Prize or SENS to contribute to, or why I might choose one over another. This almost stopped me from contributing again because I have zero intolerance for unnecessary confusion of this sort, and usually just say, "fuck it", and move on to something worth my time. But, the fact that the matching amount was so great, I made a rare decision to ignore this hurdle and just donate anyway, not knowing if I made the right donation choice.

I can only imagine that others run through the same decision process that I do, and end up moving away from the site simply because things are not made perfectly clear, and a lot of money is at stake.

>>> Hope this helps,

Only after the fact. Which has been one of the reasons I've tried and given up about 3-4 times in the past, and almost this time. Too many options is confusing and bad, and leaves people wondering if they'll make the right choice. You should read the book, Made to Stick, which talks about the psychological phenomenon known as the "curse of knowledge," a trap your above post falls into 100%. In other words, things make sense when you have relevant knowledge, but to those that do not, it's just a big bag of confusion. And worse of all is that the people with the knowledge usually cannot understand the perspective of those without such knowledge, and that's the curse.

Another thing that's not clear on that site (and any follow up explanation to me in this thread is again too late), is whether donating to one or another option leaves one out of The 300. Again, you know, others might know, but most likely those looking to donate will not be sure, and that will cause many to blow it off and not risk making a bad choice.

With such an important goal at stake, this site needs a lot of improvement, IMO, otherwise I predict it will continue to be much less effective than it could be at raising money.

These are excellent thoughts, Duke. All of us know where the money is going if you click SENS or MPrize, but for the person that just hears about the site or goes for the first time and wants to just give some money, it should be as easy as possible. I am glad that it is easier than it used to be (as you state as one of your reasons why you gave this time).

Perhaps there could just be a "donate" area, just for donations, no explanation of anything (50/50 to MPrize and SENS, or some other percentage, but this is in the fine print). Then there could be a "more specific" button for the people that want more control over where their money goes. (much like the donate screen now) So, if you click on it, it is a very simple layout with just an area to type in what you want to donate, and then you click a button to "donate now". No options whatsoever except to click "donate" or "more donation options" (or something similar, which would send you to what it looks like now). Just a thought, though. Perhaps simplifying too much would get problems in the other direction, but simpler is always better, especially when trying to appeal to people that don't necessarily know about the organization and just want to give some money. Someone can always read more if they want to before/after they donate.

#24 Luna

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 12:44 PM

There is "I just want to help, you deicde where it goes."

#25 Live Forever

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 01:01 PM

There is "I just want to help, you deicde where it goes."

But, like Duke says, that is just one more option to add to the options. Perhaps that should be the default (and only) option unless the person specifically wants to decide where it goes? I agree it is pretty straight forward, but Duke is a smart guy, so if it was confusing to him I can imagine it would confuse other people.

#26 Bruce Klein

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 05:35 PM

All good points.

Perhaps from the outset, things could be made as acronym-less as possible (see idea here) where there are very minimal drop-down options that only become more complex depending on users wish to dig deeper:

Attached File  drop.png   9.13KB   1 downloads

#27 DukeNukem

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 08:48 PM

Bruce,

When people donate to SENS is it matched, or does that only apply to MPrize donations?

Seriously, every option presented only increases confusion and doubt in the process.

#28 Bruce Klein

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 09:38 PM

Duke.. see John Schloendorn reply:

You can either leave the decision of where your donation should go to the Methuselah Foundation (who will usually attempt to balance the two projects meaningfully), or decide for yourself. Just shoot us an email to main@mprize.org. Also, keep in mind that right now, only donations to SENS research get tripled, because the donors issuing the matching challenges chose to do so only for SENS research.



#29 ag24

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Posted 09 December 2007 - 10:26 PM

Duke, I currently count **four** places on the home page and **four more** on the Donate page where the matching grant is mentioned, and in **every single one** it specifies "SENS" or "Research" or both. How can you be confused by that?

#30 Liquidus

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Posted 10 December 2007 - 05:46 AM

I will be donating $50-100 after Christmas (once I have a budget set). This is great news!

$100 can get you a signed copy of 'ending aging' :wink:


I already own it, although it might make a good gift for my brother
.

Edited by G Snake, 10 December 2007 - 05:46 AM.





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