Add new post

components/mdx/page-components.js

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import dynamic from 'next/dynamic'
 // NOTE: This is a dynamically generated file based on the config specified under the
 //       `components` key in each post's frontmatter.
 const components = {
+  'ftx-donation-return': {},
   'compliance-users-v3': {},
   'kerchunk-climate-data': {
     Table: dynamic(() =>

posts/ftx-donation-return.md

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+---
+version: 1.0.0
+title: We’re returning our unsolicited donation from FTX
+authors:
+  - Jeremy Freeman
+date: 02-07-2024
+summary: Two years ago, we received a donation we didn’t ask for. Last month, we were asked to send it back.
+card: ftx-donation-return
+---
+
+In the summer of 2021, we received an unsolicited donation of $200k from the charity arm of the now-disgraced cryptocurrency firm FTX. It was unsolicited both in the sense that we did not ask for it, nor did we agree to accept it. A [story in Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2022/11/22/this-climate-change-nonprofit-didnt-ask-for-ftxs-moneybut-got-200000-anyways/) covered the bizarre incident well.
+
+After much consternation, we decided to keep the money, which we considered the best of several bad options. While the donation had no specific project or terms associated with it, we used the money, in large part, to fund [our research](https://carbonplan.org/research/toucan-crypto-offsets) on the problems with migrating carbon offsets to the blockchain, and we acknowledged the funding when publishing our research. We thought that was the end of the story.
+
+But as soon as we, with the rest of the world, heard about the collapse of FTX, we began to wonder when the other shoe would drop. Sure enough, at the end of December 2023, right before our holiday break, we received an email from the lawyers representing FTX’s debtors. The debtors wanted the money back. And other nonprofits, including Stanford University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, had already decided to voluntarily return the donations FTX gave them.
+
+After counsel from both our lawyers and our Board, we agreed to return the money.
+
+As a small nonprofit, losing $200k right at the start of a new year was painful. But we’re fortunate to be in a financial position where the impact on our work and plans was minimal. Many nonprofits were not so lucky. Some also likely received, and are now returning, much larger sums of money. My heart goes out to those that are struggling to deal with the fallout.
+
+It’s an unfortunate reality that so many of our public support systems today rely on a network of underfunded nonprofit organizations and the donors that support them. But that system, at least, operates according to a set of norms — and in some cases, laws — around the giving and receiving of donations. Those norms include intentionality, integrity, veracity, and transparency. Those norms allow the nonprofit community to operate effectively and do good work. In this instance, FTX violated those norms.
+
+We were lucky to come out relatively unscathed, and our work will continue in full force. But I expect the consequences will continue to be felt by others for years to come.