Lucky Friday Labs has introduced Teddy DAO, a perpetual on-chain charity NFT collection minted on Moonbeam, in collaboration with online fundraising platform JustGiving, to utilize crypto as a funding medium to promote social impact.
Teddy DAO presents what it claims to be an innovative approach to charitable giving through daily auctions of limited-edition teddy bears designed by acclaimed pixel artist Yumi.
With a new bear added to the collection daily, collectors and philanthropists can make a meaningful impact through their bids.
“As digital currencies become more mainstream, we’re pleased to offer our charities the opportunity to benefit from blockchain-originated donations,” said Oliver Shaw-Latimer, senior director of payments and innovation at JustGiving.
“Starting on June 23, crypto donated during Teddy DAO’s daily auctions will be converted into sterling and sent directly to JustGiving to distribute to the auction winner’s chosen charity.”
Each daily auction’s winning bidder will have the opportunity to select from 400 charities to receive the proceeds from their bid. This selection is set to expand to over 450,000 charities after the initial launch phase.
The funds collected from the auction will be converted from crypto to fiat and directly delivered to the chosen charity via JustGiving, the world’s leading platform for online giving.
JustGiving has facilitated over £6 billion for charitable causes in nearly every country, connecting with over 450,000 charities worldwide.
As a registered 501(c)(3) charity organization, Teddy DAO aims to build out its community to collectively contribute to social good.
Lucky Friday Labs was also the grant recipient from the Moonbeam Foundation for advancing its efforts in utilizing NFTs for social good. This grant supports the project’s development and is claimed to have brought a unique, impactful use case to the Moonbeam and Polkadot ecosystems.
David Chapman, the founder of Teddy DAO, emphasized the project’s focus on social good, saying, “We are thrilled to launch Teddy DAO and bring a truly remarkable project that prioritizes social good to the community.
“Teddy DAO offers more than just a collection of NFTs. It provides collectors with the chance to make a genuine difference in the world through their participation in the auctions. Our goal is to demonstrate that NFTs can be a powerful tool for decentralized projects seeking to drive real-world change and make a positive impact.”
Moonbeam was chosen as the deployment platform for the initiative due to its eco-friendly proof of stake foundation, making it an ideal choice for minting NFTs with a reduced carbon footprint.
With Polkadot’s shared security model, Moonbeam employs an efficient consensus mechanism, establishing it as one of the most environmentally responsible EVM-based platforms for minting NFTs.
Katie Butler, the co-founder of Distractive, a significant marketing contributor to Moonbeam, praised Teddy DAO’s potential to drive global impact through community-led blockchain initiatives.
“This collaboration sets a high standard for NFT projects and underscores a commitment to positive change through responsible and sustainable blockchain technology,” said Butler.
Crypto philanthropy on the rise
Teddy DAO’s collaboration with JustGiving marks another entry into the growing trend of crypto philanthropy.
Just a few weeks ago, Ethereum founder Vitalk Buterin donated $10 million in funds acquired from the sales of memecoin Shiba Inu to an Indian-based COVID relief organization.
A month prior, the crypto funding platform Endaoment partnered with the nonprofit Global Giving to expand its subsidiaries that accept crypto donations.
According to Pat Duffy, the co-founder of crypto philanthropy platform The Giving Block, the industry has witnessed a surge in crypto donations since 2022, with a growing preference for a stablecoin and non-fungible token (NFT)-based giving.
Despite the rollercoaster ride of crypto prices, nonprofits actually demonstrated resilience and successfully fundraised through cryptocurrencies.
Last year, The Giving Block welcomed more nonprofit organizations than ever, surpassing the previous record set during the 2021 bull cycle. On average, nonprofits raised $26,000 by soliciting crypto gifts, with some organizations amassing millions of dollars in donations.
The appeal of crypto donations lies in the powerful tax incentives they offer compared to traditional cash contributions. Donors are increasingly opting for cryptocurrencies due to the tax benefits, and the trend is reflected in Google searches, with more people searching for “donate crypto” rather than “donate stocks.”
According to Duffy, this shift can be attributed to the digitally savvy user base and the performance of cryptocurrencies as assets over the past decade.
Taking over the nonprofit sector
Due to the masses’ preference for donating their favorite coins, crypto philanthropy has been slowly emerging as a leading industry within the nonprofit sector.
Major nonprofits have embraced crypto, with nearly half of Forbes’ “America’s 100 Top Charities of 2022” accepting cryptocurrency donations, a substantial increase from 2019.
The Crypto Philanthropy Adoption Index (CPAI), which measures the total crypto donations via The Giving Block compared to the average price of Bitcoin (BTC), reveals that crypto philanthropy has consistently outperformed the crypto market since 2020.
In 2022, donors collectively gave $172 for every dollar in Bitcoin’s market value, marking a 41 percent increase compared to the previous year. By blending historical donation data with Bitcoin price trends, The Giving Block forecasts significant growth for crypto philanthropy over the next decade.
Based on the past three years of CPAI data and projections, charitable crypto giving is expected to drive $10 billion to nonprofits by November 2032 through The Giving Block’s platform alone. This would account for approximately two percent of all charitable giving in the United States.
Stablecoin donations have gained prominence, with USD Coin (USDC) comprising 44 percent of the donation volume in 2022. Additionally, the rise of Web3 philanthropy, including NFT philanthropy and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) philanthropy, demonstrates that making a difference goes beyond donating Bitcoin.
Among the 49 charities accommodating crypto donors, 38 utilize The Giving Block as their crypto fundraising system, including notable organizations such as Feeding America, United Way Worldwide, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Direct Relief.
According to Duffy, as long as the incentive to donate crypto persists, the nonprofit sector will continue to benefit from the generosity of crypto holders.
“The world needs reasons to see the positive impact that crypto is having,” said Duffy in his CoinDesk post.
