Hello Steemians, this is our first post from ADRA Germany.

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Who is ADRA?

ADRA Germany (http://www.adra.de) was founded in 1986 with one full time employee and a part time secretary. Today we are a highly professional NGO with an annual budget of around 10 Million Euro and more than 40 employees, located close to Frankfurt in Germany (Weiterstadt). We belong to a global network of around 140 independent country offices – with at least one ADRA also somewhere near you (English information www.adra.org or google for the respective website in your country). ADRA is short for Adventist Development and Relief Agency. We are a church-based organization belonging to the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). (https://www.adventist.org; German http://www.adventisten.de). That means, we as organization are guided by the biblical principles of charity.

ADRA is neutral and helps anyone in need regardless of ethnicity, political affiliation, religious association, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation. You will never find us promoting the bible. But you will find, that our employees (of many different religions) are honest and dedicated people who always go the extra mile and do what they do out of love to mankind and our planet.

ADRA Germany alone is just an NGO-dolphin, but with our global network of partner offices we form one of the biggest NGO structure on this planet. It’s a bit like Steemit, you might be a minnow, a dolphin or even a whale. Yet alone you might feel weak. But together we can change the world.

What does ADRA do?

If you were struggling hard in life after, for example, a cyclone or an earthquake destroyed your home, your country is at war or a serious drought destroyed your harvest, you might have received life-saving support from ADRA. This humanitarian relief after natural and man-made disasters is complemented with projects for sustainable development. It is estimated, that almost 15.000.000 people in dire need receive support through the ADRA network (2015 statistics). Delivered through 7,733 projects and a total budget exceeding US$ 180 M. Of course, we can only speak for ADRA Germany and the support we can send to our implementing partner offices.

Who moderates the @adra STEEM blog?

@adra is the official channel of ADRA Germany on the STEEM blockchain. It was initiated and is moderated by @dinoo under the supervision of Martin Haase, Press Spokesman / Director Communication. @dinoo is working for ADRA since 2011 and currently in the position of Emergency Response Coordinator. Please also check his account and introduction post for some crucial additional information. LINK

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Why did ADRA join STEEM?

The NGO sector is under constant development and progression. To continue to thrive we must innovate every aspect of our work on a continuing basis. We’re following the technological development closely. Until recently Bitcoin and blockchain technology was often seen as the place to do something illegal. An organization vitally depending on peoples’ trust cannot be affiliated with that. Now, with the imminent breakthrough to mass adoption of blockchain technology and many honorable real-world applications it also opens the gate for charitable organization like ADRA. We want to spearhead this development in our sector by supporting this technology and promoting STEEM. Testing the water, build use-cases and best practices, educate and lead by positive example, so others can learn and join this realm for mutual benefits.

Last but not least it’s about the money, of course. We analyzed the postings on Steemit and found many people willing to support charitable causes, as it is an obvious use-case. The STEEM voting system makes sizable donations possible at ease without anyone having to spend any money like in the traditional way of donating. A win-win-win situation. Yet, nobody was able to get a system in place to enable this function effectively.

The ADRA proposal

We want to join steemians who’re interested and willing to support charities and good causes with a click of a button. The start is done through the @adra STEEM account and blog. If we are selfish and only promote ourselves, we do not value the gift and utilize the full potential this new technology inherits. Potential activities are are not limited to but can be the following:

the # ADRA-University. In this section/tag of the @adra blog we can post educational articles about the NGO-world for all interested steemians. By following this tag everyone receives profound in-depth information about the NGO world. Maybe you’re interested to work for an NGO as well in the future. Here you get a lot of the basics needed for your job interview. Even if not interested in a job, you will understand NGOs better and find your way of supporting others.
ADRA has contacts all over the world. When time allows, we can provide individual advice for people looking for a way to start their career with an NGO.
reports from the work of ADRA Germany.
guest blogs, commentary and stories from other authors of the ADRA network, giving a wider view of what is happening globally.
some content will also be published under the tag # deutsch (German).
identifying other charities already on Steemit and promoting them.
supporting interested NGOs and charities with a guideline about how to join Steemit.
identifying and supporting individuals on Steemit who need support. @darthnava is an exceptionally successful example and demonstrates impressively the power of joining forces. There are many other Steemians in dire need with little chance to get noticed. Often, because there is doubt about their credibility.
introducing badges steemians can use to demonstrate support for charity. The badge comes with the obligation to donate author rewards or upvoting of proven charitable postings.
introduce reward badges steemians receive when upvoted 10, 100 or even 1,000 charitable postings.
initiating a guild (e.g. via Streemian), which combines STEEM Power to make identifying and supporting charities easier.
promoting STEEM. We cannot estimate the media response to this step, joining the blockchain and dealing with cryptocurrency. If this project is successful we will spread the word, raising awareness about STEEM and the Steemit platform.

What happens with the STEEM earned?

There are many ways and nuances how the STEEM, STEEM Power and SBD can be utilized. The most likely scenario, TBD:

Liquid STEEM and SBD from posting and curating will be converted to fiat and transferred to ADRA’s bank account. From there it is utilized to support emergency response and development projects. ADRA is regularly reporting about transfers and use of the funds, preferably before they’re allocated, so steemians can voice their feedback and we can adjust if necessary. If several projects exist where the money can be utilized, we can publish all options and let steemians vote for the preferred utilization.
STEEM Power could be accumulated in the @adra account. Long-term goal: @adra becomes the charity whale vote. This sounds like a smart thing to do assuming STEEM will be $10 in 10 months. However, whenever there is high need for liquid funds (e.g. to support an important project we could otherwise hardly realize) powering down for a limited time is an option.

And many more options and possibilities. Obviously, we have to develop this together. Please comment below. We’re more than interested in your feedback, opinion, support, suggestions and criticism. This can become something big, making a positive impact for countless people in need.

Please keep in mind @dinoo is starting this project as a test, aside of the normal every-day work (currently consisting of emergency relief projects in Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Greece and many other things). If you feel it’s not worth progressing from here and the majority of steemians prefers to not see a charity movement thrive on Steemit, or rather someone else should do it, we could end this. We believe it will be a success story and @dinoo gets the opportunity to dedicate more time for STEEM.

Stay tuned, many more things to come.