FAQs - Community Outreach

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Founder’s Story 

 

Theodosis Tzanos is a mechanical engineer by profession with a master’s degree in management. In 2009, along with 21 of his best friends, he founded I.D.E.A. - a non profit Union whose purpose is to establish a model of best practice for NGOs to operate according to principles of transparency and meritocracy. In I.D.E.A. we are well aware of the toxic effects that power has on people who hold it for a long period of time.The I.D.E.A. meritocracy method is designed to avoid this, prioritising direct democracy over concentrated power. In this way, Theodosis looks for others who will join and co-manage the organization in equal terms.

 

What is I.D.E.A.’s Mission?

 

I.D.E.A.’s Mission is to provide a solution for intellectual direct democracy, built on foundations of transparency and meritocracy. We position ourselves as a testing ground and by evidencing these principles in I.D.E.A. we hope to create a model for change in other organisations. 

 

What is I.D.E.A.’s Purpose?

 

We empower and offer a participatory income for people to actively improve their communities, while creating an open source decentralised governing system that allows for I.D.E.A. to be completely run by its members. We believe this will result in not only happy communities but happy and fulfilled members of those communities. 

 

What are I.D.E.A.’s Core Beliefs?

 

• Transparency creates trust and common goals.

• Meritocracy ensures respect within the team.

• Hierarchy within an organisation is necessary. Remembering that we are all equal at all times is essential.

• Every problem has a solution.

• ‘We create the change we want to see in the world’.

• We are all connected.

 

What is I.D.E.A.’s Method?

 

I.D.E.A. has proven their organisational and financial transparency methods across 500 community actions including tree planting, nature clean-ups and the provision of food and basic necessities for people in need.

 

We achieve transparency through:

 

• We only implement community actions when we can guarantee transparency, financially and organisationally. 

• Our bank accounts are accessible to anyone via our website and invitation to audit.  

• We urge our donors to DEMAND a full report of how their donation was spent.  

 

I.D.E.A. is now in the process of developing its second goal which is to pay its volunteers a participatory income, allocated through a meritocratic process. Participants can organise, implement, fund and participate in co-designed projects that are of benefit to our communities. I.D.E.A. has created a system that evaluates participants according to the commitment they show to being active citizens. This determines both their payment and the voting rights they have to influence I.D.E.A.’s governance. The result is an organisation that places ultimate value on cooperation for and with others through participatory democracy. 

 

The community actions organised through I.D.E.A. can be organised by anyone who wants to contribute to I.D.E.A. We encourage and support people to organise actions that they design, that support others, animals and the environment and we mentor them through the process. 

 

 

 

How can I get involved?

 

There are several ways for you to be part of I.D.E.A.:

 

• By organising actions;

• By volunteering in other people's actions;

• By offering your expertise for other people's actions;

• By giving money, as a donor, to other people's actions;

• By becoming an I.D.E.A. supplier providing products and/or services for our actions.

 

What type of action can I organise?

 

At I.D.E.A. we believe that everyone has an interest in affecting key issues in their local communities and should be supported to do so. If your action has the final purpose to help the community and can be executed with proven organisational and monetary transparency, your action will be approved. We never give money to the people we help; we provide goods and services. Keep in mind that we don’t support any political movement, religion or act of violence. Any action that doesn’t fit these conditions will be denied.

 

By becoming a member of I.D.E.A. you are recognised as an IDEATIS and have the possibility to develop your action as well as joining others.

 

This system creates an environment in which each local citizen is seen as a responsible agent towards driving social change through their actions. We move from a model of passive citizenship to a model of active citizenship.

 

How do I get started?

 

The first step is to sign up here. Select user type IDEATIS at the top of the page. You can then propose or sign up to an action. (see video on how to sign up)

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I.D.E.A. processes

 

TRANSPARENCY

 

Performing social actions with transparency is one of the core principles that govern I.D.E.A. as an NGO.  We believe that social change and citizen involvement cannot take place without transparent models of financial and organisational management that create trust amongst all stakeholders. 

 

These are the following systems put into place to ensure our transparency:

 

1. Provide visibility of banking activity to all users via monthly print screens and live access to our bank accounts during our meetings. All expenses and income can be viewed by members of the public. 

2. A transparency portfolio for each action that each action manager needs to submit after their action has been completed.

3. Each user that has donated money will be able to track the usage of their funds through their own unique code. For every euro that is donated a ‘seed coin’ will be awarded to the donor. Seed coins will run on the blockchain allowing for total tracking on how the donation was spent. 

4. Create a list of suppliers that are local and can offer the most competitive pricing on items bought to complete social actions. A system of supervision in which senior members can support junior members to implement transparency.

5. Any member can propose improvements to the transparency methodology. 

 

We manage all financial transactions through our bank account, so that we can make this visible to all. 

 

What are the consequences of not complying with the I.D.E.A. Transparency Method?

 

Everyone is given the opportunity to organise an action with I.D.E.A. but if the action does not comply with the Ι.D.Ε.Α. Transparency Method requirements or ends without it, the IDEATIS who organised it, will be denied the chance to organise actions in the future and the action itself will be archived as incomplete.

 

How do I donate? 

 

Ι.D.Ε.Α. has 2 e-banking accounts through which we manage all the funds available. The bank statements are published on our website www.idea.org.gr and on our Facebook page, for everyone to see as they wish. The bank statements are uploaded at least once a month, without any modifications using 'print screen'. If there is doubt for the authenticity of the statements, one can print them and bring them to our monthly meetings, where we can log in to our accounts and check for discrepancies. Administrator of the 2 bank accounts is the founder of Ι.D.Ε.Α. Theodosis Tzanos. By having just one administrator, we know who is to blame in case of a “mistake”. 

 

Ι.D.Ε.Α.’s 1st expenses account Alpha bank IBAN GR76 0140 3630 3630 0200 2000 136 

 

The 1st account is for the promotion of the Ι.Δ.Ε.Α. Union. When there are promotion expenses we make it public and people can contribute towards the payoff of these expenses (we always aim to receive promotional services for free). 

 

Ι.D.Ε.Α.’s 2nd events account Alpha bank IBAN GR54 0140 3630 3630 0200 2000 144 

 

Our second bank account is exclusively for our actions. In this way, those who donate to the 2nd account, know that their donation will go in full to their wished action. By separating our expenses from our actions, we make transparency procedures and their audit much easier. For every purchase we make, we photograph the receipt and we publish it on our website so that one can easily compare the money spent with those deposited in the account. Furthermore, for each action we take  pictures and video documentation  from key steps of the action, in order to prove that the action has taken place. 

 

Our I.D.E.A. Transparency Method is a reliable procedure yet with continuous improvements. We welcome any observation or suggestions, so please contact us at info@idea.org.gr

 

How do I track my donation?

 

When you make a donation, it is essential to write your name and event code you want to support in all bank deposits. Each event has its own unique code. If you wish to support an ongoing event, just insert the event title with your name. (If you wish to remain anonymous, please use a nickname in order to check that your donation has appeared in our bank account. A copy of our statement is uploaded on www.idea.org.gr on a monthly basis). 

 

In case someone deposits money without a name and reference, these will be used for our ongoing events or necessities of our union. 

Cash can only be given to Dimitroula Psimouli (Treasurer of Ι.D.Ε.Α.) and to Theodosis Tzanos (Founder of Ι.D.Ε.Α.), only if they have a validation by the tax authority receipt book on them and give out the proper receipt on the spot.  

 

For food and material donations, the IDEATIS will write the name of the donor and the things they donated in the action on our platform. We prefer that donors also write their donations as a comment on the respective action in our platform. An alternative way for a donor to notify us is with an email to info@idea.org.gr (with subject “Event Transparency – event code”). 

 

MERITOCRACY 

 

“My efforts will never betray me.” A meritocratic system is a social system in which advancement in society is based on an individual's capabilities and merits rather than on the basis of family wealth, or social background. The result is a system in which talented individuals from the bottom of the social ladder in a given society have the same possibilities of gains as those above them due to the equal distribution of rewards. 

 

By applying this to our organisation, everyone who decides to join us has the same opportunity to earn and evolve up the Active Citizenship Ladder.

 

How can I earn within I.D.E.A.?

 

In I.D.E.A. we have created a model that allows for a participation-based income that allows for active citizens to be paid for their social contribution. 

 

In order to earn the I.D.E.A. participatory income, one has to be involved in the completion of projects that improve their community. You can contribute by implementing your own project idea, being a financial donor (crowdfunding), volunteering, providing your knowledge as an expert or providing products and services as a supplier. 

 

For your contributions you gain rewards that propel you in the ‘I.D.E.A. active citizenship ladder’ resulting in payment and decision-making powers.

 

Do I need to commit full-time in order to get paid?

 

When you join I.D.E.A. you can choose the amount of time that you commit. If it is better for you, you can opt for one-off actions. It will take you more time for you to grow within the organisation, to the point where you start receiving a salary, or a participatory income. But this gives you the flexibility to organise actions until it can be a part-time or even full-time job.

 

How can I grow in I.D.E.A.?

 

In I.D.E.A. everyone can grow on the Active Citizenship Ladder, according to the amount that you contribute to your community and the organisation. As you grow, you will gain the right to vote and join the decision-making process. 

 

Your contribution is measured by your actions, their impact, and longevity. In I.D.E.A. the measurement is made fun using the measurements of “ants” and “seeds”. 

 

By accumulating “ants”, you can go up the ladder of I.D.E.A.  However, it is not enough to accumulate ants, you have to feed them “seeds”. Otherwise, you will lose the ants. You can acquire seeds by volunteering in the projects of I.D.E.A., or by funding them with fiat currency, like the euro (One seed = one Euro).

 

When do I receive ants and/or seeds?

 

In any given project there will be an IDEATIS owner, who proposes the action; IDEATIS manager, who tutors the IDEATIS owner in implementing their action and is responsible to ensure that the IDEATIS owner implemented his/her/their action with transparency; IDEATIS evaluator, who allocates the number of ants each action is worth and checks the job of the IDEATIS manager.

 

Ants are given to:

• Actions owners;

• Actions managers (receives 15% ants of an action);

• Actions evaluators (receives 5% ants of an action);

• Experts, when they are required for the action implementation (the ants amount is variable and decided by the action owner).

 

Seeds are given to:

 

• Volunteers in other people's actions (20 seeds/hour);

• Money donors to other people's actions; by giving fiat currency they're buying seeds.

 

The number of ants that an action is worth depends on its benefit to the community. Ants are then allocated to those who provide a service or expertise that is required to carry out that action. After the distribution is completed, the IDEATIS owner will receive the remaining ants and all the seeds allocated for this action, minus the 5% that goes to the evaluator and the 15% that goes to the manager of the action.

 

In order for you to maintain or raise your hierarchy level, you will need to accumulate ants as well as keeping your ants alive, by feeding them seeds. One seed per ant, every month. This means that you need to remain an active citizen, especially if you reach the stages where you vote and participate in I.D.E.A direct democracy.

 

How do we evaluate the benefit of an action to the community?

 

The more beneficial an action is, the more ants/seeds will be allocated for it. To quantify the positive impact of an action, we use the following criteria:

 

• Number of people being helped: the bigger the number the greater the impact;

• The period over which people are being helped: the longer the period the greater the impact from once (e.g. donation of food); periodically or with lasting effects (e.g. an activity once a week; Giving clothes); it is a permanent solution (e.g. providing a job). 

• Creativity and imagination: when a new type of activity is proposed it is worth twice the ants. And it is worth three times the ants when the action consists of new methods that help the implementation of community actions. This category encourages innovative thinking. 

 

Each action is considered complete when all information related to its transparency are recorded and uploaded in plain view.

 

Our aim is that the evaluation criteria are constantly improving, so that we can have more and more precise methods of analysing how beneficial an action is. We welcome suggestions from IDEATIS on how we can do this.

 

What is an Active Citizenship Ladder?

 

The Active Citizenship Ladder has nine levels (figure 2).  All members start at level one and have the opportunity to reach level 9 through hard work and dedication in the production of social projects. All members of I.D.E.A. are given the title of IDEATIS as soon as they sign up as a member of the NGO. Each level gives different participatory rights in the management of the NGO.  From levels six to nine, members can vote on key governance issues influencing the NGO.  Such a dynamic has the ability to produce an intellectual direct democracy.  The meritocratic system of I.D.E.A. allows all its members to receive rewards in relation to the social output throughout their work.  

 

Being promoted to a new level does not necessarily mean that IDEATIS will occupy that position indefinitely and the benefits (monetary, voting rights etc.) that this position holds.  If the IDEATIS is no longer active, they will gradually be demoted in the hierarchical structure. One of the primary aims of I.D.E.A. is to avoid the accumulation of power to a few top executives. I.D.E.A. has created mechanisms for decision making processes to happen in the most egalitarian manner possible.  This takes place by no member being able to occupy a higher position until there are sufficient members in the lower-level positions. i.e. no IDEATIS level 9 may exist if there are no users in the level 8. 

 

I.D.E.A. Active Citizenship Ladder

 

IDEATIS Level 1

 

All members of I.D.E.A. start at level 1 and are called IDEATIS. In order for a person to be promoted to level two they need to organise and lead three different social actions that do not require any monetary support. (for example, a beach clean-up). This is the training stage of an IDEATIS to get familiar with our transparency procedures.

 

IDEATIS Level 2,3,4 

 

From level two onwards IDEATIS will gradually receive financial rewards for implementing social projects (payment corresponds to the number of ants in a given month).  When an IDEATIS is in this stage they have gained sufficient experience on the methods of transparency and are being trained in the methods of meritocracy and intellectual direct democracy.  From level two, members can receive a participatory income which relates to social engagement and production. 

 

IDEATIS Level 5 

 

IDEATIS five are awarded with the certification of transparency diploma and now work as IDEATIS managers for projects. The work of an IDEATIS manager is to tutor new members and help with the monitoring of transparency and meritocracy organisational procedures. The people that have reached level 5 can be seen as ‘Ethics Officers’ that have been trained and in return train and certify the transparency of projects.

 

IDEATIS Level 6

 

At level six members gain the right to vote in strategic decisions regarding I.D.E.A.  Each member at level six has 1 vote. Members from level six to level nine have a seat in the board of directors. The weight of each person's vote increases at each higher level.  

 

IDEATIS Level 7, 8, 9

 

IDEATIS at level 7 have 2 votes in our strategic decisions; level 8 have 3 votes and level 9 have 4 votes. 

 

Do I need to have previous experience to become an IDEATIS?

 

No. In I.D.E.A. we provide all the guidance that you need in order to carry out your action. Our aim is to teach and help people to become more and more independent in the way they organise their actions. In this way, you can gain experience by working with us and the actions you do reflects your growth within our NGO.

 

What kind of help do we provide to IDEATIS to implement their actions?

 

• We provide guidance to IDEATIS for the necessary steps for the organisation of their event.  

• We provide volunteers and donations from the Ι.D.Ε.Α. friends’ network.

• We make sure that an experienced volunteer is always present in the form of an assistant in every event, so that the organiser feels confident throughout their action.

• This assistance is at a consultative level so that the organiser of the action is empowered to implement their action.

 

I don't live in Greece, can I still organise an action?

 

I.D.E.A. is an organisation born in Greece, with its head office in Athens. We aim to have an international reach and, in the past, we have implemented actions outside of Greece. If you want to implement an action in a different country, we are limited in the support we can offer but are still able to advise you on how you organise your action. Alternatively, you could support other actions by offering expertise that doesn't require you to be in the same country where the action will take place (ex.: graphic designer). Beyond this, you can think bigger and build your own I.D.E.A. in your own country! Please get in touch and we would be happy to talk to you more about this.

 

I don’t have time to give to an action but I have ideas for actions, what can I do? 

 

If you have an idea but don’t have the time to do it, our platform allows you to suggest the action in order to be fostered and carried out by somebody else. The action should be described in detail and provided with the steps needed to carry it out. The proposed action is then evaluated by the IDEATIS evaluator (IDEATIS 6-9).

If accepted, then the next step is action management.  At this stage, the owner of the proposed action has to define tasks and which resources will be needed (this includes experts/number of volunteers/services materials etc.). When this process is concluded, the action becomes visible in the platform and it is given the name of “orphan action”. And so a person who wishes to be responsible for an action, but doesn’t know what to propose can view this action and choose to “parent” it.