[stigmata]

I have been considering setting up a charity which operates to make it very easy for poker players to contribute to charity. There is a huge amount of extra income generated by people on these forums and I feel that we could all be doing a little something to help, rather than just buying new iPods, etc.

The basic idea is to have a charity where you can contribute by simply transferring through neteller or by player-player transfer at the major sites. This makes it very easy for poker players to contribute to charity directly from their bankrolls, especially when running good or after a great month. The money would then be distributed something like the following:

1/3 to Oxfam
1/3 to Save the Children
1/3 to a Problem Gambling Charity

Also, at time of natural disaster the charitable contributions could be re-directed after consultation with these boards etc.

The charity would be a registered charity in the UK. It would either have a completely open book philosophy or some sort of official external audit so that it is completely accountable. Quaterly/Yearly reports would be posted here and elsewhere. Contibutions would be confirmed by the recieving charaties themselves. Fund raising drives would be occasionally be made by posting here. I would strive to work closely with neteller (to waiver transfer fees), the poker sites and perhaps other media such as CardPlayer magazine. I would envisage that it would never have any payed employees and minimal running costs. A website would be in operation that would detail the amount of money raised and a thankyou list of contributers etc. Press releases would be made to relevant media, essentially along the lines of 'Poker players gave $xxx to charity this year', and would thus act as much-needed good publicity to the poker playing population.

Before following up with this idea, I wanted to know if it would actually be worthwile - e.g. would it generate enough money for good causes to be worth my effort and work? So, how much money would you envisage contributing in the course of 1 year? Please be totally honest. I would hope that small stakes players could contribute a few dollars, and some of the high rollers could be more generous.

Any other ideas and thoughts on the matter are also welcome.