Raising for Effective Giving has released their Q1 2015 financial numbers, and it shows there is still a lot of work to do with respect to attracting the interest of the poker community.
Raising for Effective Giving (REG), the non-profit organization founded by Liv Boeree, Philipp Gruissem, and Igor Kurganov has released their Q1 2015 results.
There were 26 new sign ups during the quarter, taking the total number of REG members up to 127. The total amount received from donors was $56,985. That amount is much lower than the $369,053 donated in Q4 2014, but $250,000 of that came courtesy of REG member, Martin Jacobson’s, success in the 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. A more reasoned comparison shows an increase on the $38,873 donated in Q3 2014.
It’s been a great 12-months for REG. Martin Jacobson’s victory has helped saved the lives of so many people/animals; their work was honored at the Global Poker Index (GPI) European Poker Awards (EPA) when they won the Charitable Initiative of the Year award; they appointed a new Director of Communications in Ruairi Donnelly, and teamed up with Leon Tsoukernik’s Kings Casino, in a move that will see a series of events created to provide REG with additional funding.
So where did the money go?
When you donate to REG you are presented with two options: you can select from a series of charities carefully chosen by REG, or you can allow REG to choose for you.
49.2% of the money donated went to charities chosen by the donors. The vast majority of which went to the Against Malaria Foundation. The other 50.8% was unrestricted, half of which went to the Deworm the World Initiative, and the other half went to the meta-charity: The Centre for Effective Altruism.
Here is the breakdown of the total quota:
$21,175 Against Malaria Foundation
$14,469 Centre for Effective Altruism
$14,469 Deworm the World Initiative
$3,864 GBS Schweiz
I am sure that the REG members feel progress is being made. And it is. But we can do so much better. The poker community consists of thousands of people. The current crop of REG members is only a small fraction of that industry. I urge poker players to head to REG, check out the site, and seek out people like Boeree, Kurganov, and Gruissem and ask questions. This is one of the greatest movements to be instilled in the poker community. Let’s make sure that it becomes an institution.
Not only does REG need more members, they need to be winning!
Two recent scores from REG members to speak of. Board member, Philipp Gruissem, cashed for just under $250,000 at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final, in Monte Carlo, including victory in a €5,300 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) 8 Handed Event for $164,938, and REG member Sorel Mizzi picked up his largest online tournament score of his career when he banked $354,960 in Event #3: $2,100 (H) NLHE at the PokerStars Spring Champions of Online Poker (SCOOP).
