**🗒️ RECAP: Ecosystem Showcase AMA with @beetogether.near 🐝** Date: 13 June 2023 Channel: [NEAR Discord](https://discord.gg/zfhfRpaM4m) **1. Introduction of Claudia from BeeTogether:** - Claudia's background: started in banking and finance, shifted to marketing, communication, sales, and promotion. - Interested in working on projects with a higher purpose, especially related to animals, nature, and humanity. - In 2021, joined Green NFT project with Yessin as an NFT artist and got inspired to create a project involving companies worldwide for social good causes **2. Introduction of Yessin from Near Foundation:** - Yessin's background: started as a bank auditor, then worked in private equity field. - In 2014, joined the advisory board of Ethereum Foundation. - Worked on projects like the Status.IiM Project and Web3 Foundation. - Currently CFO of Near Foundation, involved in finance, legal, and operations. **3. Near Foundation's Efforts for Carbon Neutrality** - Partnership with South Pole Carbon Asset Management, a provider of voluntary carbon offsetting. - Assessment of the Near Protocol's carbon footprint: Approximately 170 tons of CO2 produced annually. Additional assessment of energy usage per transaction revealed a small carbon footprint. - Near Protocol's design: Optimal decentralization and proof of stake consensus algorithm, which is more efficient than proof of work. - Near Protocol became the first product to receive a carbon-neutral product label, drawing interest from various parties. **4. BeeTogether and its Initiatives** - Overview of BeeTogether: A social good initiative through NFTs. BeeTogether acts as an art community, connecting artists, investors, and charity organizations. - Concept: Artists mint NFTs and split the profit, royalties and revenue percentage going to charity organizations. BeeTogether acts as an intermediary, providing marketing, promotion, and educational support. - Transparency: NFT sales directly go to charity wallets, ensuring full transparency and preventing embezzlement. **5. Onboarding and Education** - Onboarding process: Combination of in-house efforts and active community members. Community members, including art students, actively onboard full classes of students. - Education: Virtual sessions conducted to guide new participants in opening Near wallets. Developed their own beginner-level guide. - Focus on supporting NFT artists from developing countries with limited resources. Creation of custom documentation to accommodate artists with limited access to tools. **6. Challenges in Traditional Fundraising and NFT Fundraising** - Challenges in Traditional Fundraising: * Small charity organizations with limited resources and teams. Lack of dedicated social media and business development teams. * Difficulty in balancing daily work with fundraising efforts. - NFT Fundraising as a Solution: * The goal of creating a win-win situation for artists, charity organizations, and BeeTogether. * Be an artist agency and handling marketing on behalf of artists and charities. * Compared to traditional fundraising, NFT fundraising offers a passive sustainable income through royalties. Avoids the need to repeatedly seek funding every year. **7. Future of NFTs for Social Good** - Opportunity to use NFTs as a fundraising tool and for other utility purposes. - Importance of adding more value to NFTs, the evolution of NFTs from simple pictures to utility-driven use cases. **8. Yessin’s journey with Claudia and BeeTogether** - The idea to create NFTs that add more value and support a good cause with the concept of using NFT proceeds for charitable purposes. - Claudia joined as an artist for the Green NFT project. Claudia's passion for Near technology and desire to contribute to the general good. - Shifted towards professionalizing the project and driving it further with the education aspect of demonstrating how blockchain and transparency can be utilized. Agreement to establish BeeTogether as a result. - Yessin gave advices to BeeTogether regarding setting up the organization and obtaining a grant from the Near Foundation. **9. Success Stories and Impact of Near Foundation's Support in Social Good Projects** - BeeTogether: 22 NGOs listed in the charity directory. Help NGOs consider new technologies, including blockchain, to achieve their targets. - Open Forest Protocol: Decentralized carbon registry for reforestation built on top of Near. Measures, reports, verifies, and funds reforestation projects with digital transparency. - Aidonic: Humanitarian aid technology platform which enables quick distribution of goods during emergencies, such as flooding. NGOs can distribute vouchers that can be redeemed for goods with proper control. - Unchain Fund: Fund established to support people in Ukraine during the Ukraine War. Provided quick help, including shelter, food, and evacuation efforts. - Flowcarbon: Tokenizing carbon credits on the Near blockchain. **10. Importance and Impact of Web 3.0 for Social Good Projects** - NFTs and tokens provide a means for human interaction with the blockchain. - The blockchain's properties, such as immutability, offer new possibilities for addressing global challenges like climate change. - By leveraging Web 3.0 technology, social good projects can bring about significant advancements and innovations in addressing global challenges, providing alternative solutions, and transforming conventional approaches. **11. Choosing and leveraging Near Protocol** - Near's carbon neutrality was a key factor in the decision. - Near's technology has been crucial in building BeeTogether. - The collaborative atmosphere and support from the Near community facilitated BeeTogether’s development. - The commitment of Near Foundation to social projects and involvement in the social good space is exciting. Near's dedication to addressing global warming aligns with the passion for helping in that area. **12. Advice for Projects and Organizations in the Blockchain and Social Good Space** - Educating and onboarding non-tech individuals is important. Simplify educational materials to make blockchain and cryptocurrency concepts more accessible. - Charities and organizations should explore new approaches and embrace innovation. - Provide opportunities for charities to participate in projects without financial risks. - Join initiatives like BeeTogether, where funding and support are available. - Be courageous in exploring new technologies and platforms, as they offer exciting possibilities. Foster a mindset of experimentation and continuous learning, acknowledging that not every venture will be a perfect fit. - Take advantage of low-risk projects that allow you to explore without financial investments. 👉 **Check out:** - @beetogether.near at https://bee-together.org/ - [Projects supported by BeeTogether](https://linktr.ee/beetogether_nft_stores) **Disclosure: information provided is for general informational purposes only. It should not be considered as investment, tax, or any other form of advice and Near Foundation bears no responsibility for any financial decisions made based on this information.**