I first met Scott Stadium at a D.C. blogger meetup. Scott had been a longtime reader of DCist and had written to me about the site. I remember one of the things we had talked about that night was a project he was working on related to the Peace Corps. As Peace Corps volunteer Scott had been frustrated by how difficult it was to request support for his project. When he returned he set about creating a software system to help match up people and supplies with where they are needed in the field. The problem is, he’s not a programmer and didn’t have the expertise or time to finish the project himself. He told me that although he was able to get lots of enthusiasm from people who were programmers, he found it hard to coordinate all the work and actually find people who would help.

I am not sure how far he got trying to coordinate the volunteer network, but he appears to have some sort of CorpsRing software running on this website. According to a message posted to his blog, he’s trying to raise $2,000 to pay a programmer, presumably to help him finish off the finer points of the project.

He’s chosen an innovative way to raise the money, a website I hadn’t heard of called Fundable. The premise is simple: you can pledge money using Paypal or a credit card, but nobody pays until the goal is met. I think Scott’s idea is a good one and trust him to use the money wisely, so I’ll be pledging. To pledge or for more information on the website, see his Fundable page.