A Sneak Peek “Reducing Carbon Emissions” at COTAP

 

Off to an excellent start!  Boom!

We’re thrilled to report that, since our launch last month, new Cotappers have been swiftly signing up to take on climate change and global poverty through the world’s most powerful donation, as explained in  “7 reasons why COTAP is the most powerful donation on the planet.”

COTAP rocks… for you, for farmers, and for the environment

We’ve created an extremely unique, meaningful, and high-performance philanthropic opportunity.  And we’ve been working hard to forge partnerships which have unparalleled impacts for the rural communities in which they operate.

Behind the scenes at COTAP

All the good stuff mentioned above is more or less straightforward and obvious, it’s basically our mission and we lead with it on our website and newsletters.  Now it’s time to take a little trip backstage…

When you view COTAP from a “behind the scenes” angle – as a new movement and as an ambitious, young non-profit organization that’s just getting off the ground – there’s a whole ‘nother set of compelling reasons to join us.

By supporting COTAP’s first project and then spreading the word, you’re helping COTAP in these equally important,  but more “behind the scenes” ways:

  • Proof of concept.  Each time someone offsets their CO2 footprint to a poverty-alleviating COTAP project, they build the case that people dig COTAP.  Foundations which make grants to non-profit startups look for a strong “proof of concept,” the signal from the marketplace that the organization is executing on its mission, serving those it aims to serve, and has the potential to scale.  In this way, your participation indirectly helps COTAP attract foundation support.
  • Establishing COTAP in the marketplace.  A solid number of Cotappers establishes us as an important funding source for our existing partners and helps to attract more quality partners like them.  Last planting season, our first partner’s average order was about 3,000 tonnes.  COTAP wants to be AT LEAST an average source of funding for them and our other partners who are making magic on the ground in least-developed countries.
  • COTAP’s goal: 150 Cotappers by December 1st.  The average American’s annual carbon footprint is 20 tons, which is 18.14 tonnes.  What this translates into is that COTAP wants to purchase at least 3,000 tonnes from our first partner.  At 18.14 tonnes apiece, this translates into a goal of getting to 150 customers for our first project.
  • Timing matters!  Because tree planting projects take place according to natural environmental cycles, there’s a bit of a sense of urgency because COTAP went live in early October when our first project’s next planting season starts with seedling development in January (it’s in the tropics, not NYC!).  So, COTAP needs to hit its goal before then.  Our goal is to get to 150 customers by December 1st.
  • COTAP earns money for itself.  Unlike any other player in the carbon markets, COTAP only adds a modest and transparent 10% to the amount we pass on to our partners and their projects.  By supporting our first project, you’re also supporting COTAP’s operating costs (especially so if your employer matches your donation!).  Every penny is critical startup funding that will help COTAP continue to get off the ground.

But what if I don’t want to offset 18 tonnes?  Ahh, you have hit on an extremely important point!  COTAP achieves ALL of the above goals, regardless of how many tonnes any one particular individual offsets.  Further, all of the 7 awesome things about a COTAP transaction hold true regardless of the amount you offset.  COTAP’s goal is 150 people offsetting 18 tonnes each, but the magic of COTAP happens just the same if 300 people offset 9 tonnes apiece, or in the extreme case, if 3,000 people offset just 1 tonne each.

Behold the power of “crowd-funding.”  Pulling together modest-sized contributions from many individuals is also known as crowd-sourced funding or “crowd-funding.”  It’s a business model that is perfectly suited for an organization like COTAP whose goal is to bring people like you together with the seemingly-magical, high-performance philanthropic transaction also known as forestry carbon offsets.

The COTAP.org team

 

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