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New data on Occupy Wall Street funding
Published 2 hours ago
More than a month into the Occupy Wall Street protests have many media outlets and political pundits wondering about the movement’s funding. Where do all these unemployed, so-called smelly hippie-types get their money, any way?
WePay, which is more or less an online payment and donation site, is about to shed some light on that mystery, and no -- it still isn’t George Soros.
WePay is releasing donation data related to Occupy Wall Street tomorrow, in a handy infographic, and according to data shown via e-mail to the Daily Dot, the results are surprising.
To date, WePay has been used by Occupy Wall Street to collect more than $380,000 dollars, through a total of 363 groups. Donations grew by 301% in a 17 day period, at 17.72% average growth per day.
“We’re excited to see people raising money for causes they’re passionate about,” said Bill Clerico, the CEO of WePay, via phone interview.
“I've seen this type of growth before, in a lot of our donation campaigns,” said Clerico. He said similar spikes occured when causes proliferated over social media -- an undeniable advantage for Occupy Wall Street, which is more popular on social networks than in mainstream media.
WePay allows users to create groups, to raise funds for specific purposes, but it’s also handy at breaking down how the money is being used.
The Occupy Wall Street funding groups break down as such:
According to average donation sizes by state, Connecticut had the largest pockets, giving $65.15, while North Dakota donated the least, at $16.25.
Occupy donations didn’t just come from the United States: 37 countries donated to Occupy Wall Street-related groups, including Canada, Finland (which had the highest number of donations per capital), and Mexico.
Other highlights of the data include the disclosure that three campaigns collected money to power their campsites with renewable energy, a la wind mills and solar panels.
Mass arrests and alleged police brutality tend to generate a spike in donations; on the day 141 demonstrators were arrested in Boston, WePay saw a spike of more than 400% in donations in Massachusetts.
After Scott Olsen was critically injured in Oakland last week, two more Occupy groups sprung up in Oakland, and 98.66% of all Occupy Oakland donations raised came in after Scott Olsen’s injury.
Males were almost twice as likely to donate than females, and people whose highest level of education was High School donated the most, at 42%.
Folks making between 50K and 75K a year made up the largest percentage, at 25%. The top two income brackets making over 200K a year, combined, donated less than the income bracket below 15K. A telling statistic; the rich do feel antagonized by the Occupy movement.
Clerico, who said he was a banker on Wall St but left because the work wasn’t “fulfilling,” finds himself in an unintentionally ironic situation: as the head of a site channeling funds to a movement dead-set against his old job. Just a happenstance, Clerico assured me. (WePay was also founded in 2008, well before Occupy Wall Street was even an idea.)
Clerico says he hasn’t “taken a stance” on Occupy Wall Street, though added he is personally excited about the growth in donations, saying “we encourage raising money for social activism.”Comment
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2011
Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg outsmarted at every turn by smelly, unemployed, directionless kids
The 99 Percent has once again outmaneuvered Mayor One Percent.
Last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg hoped to use an unannounced "health and safety inspection" to shut down #OccupyWallStreet once and for all. With cold weather coming, the NYPD and FDNY raided Zuccotti Park and seized the fuel and generators used by the demonstrators to power their media center and kitchen, among other necessities.
To many, it looked bleak for the movement. But the Occupiers are a resourceful bunch. Not inclined to surrender, a group of them drove up to Boston where they acquired a bunch of bicycle-based generators.
A cycling advocacy group called Times Up, helped out the demonstrators, doing an energy map of the park and determining that it would take 11 stationary bicycles pedaled continuously to keep everything humming. The bikes generate batteries which can last up to 100 hours and take care of all the Occupier's electricity needs. But it will take a lot of pedaling:
"It can take up to two hours of uninterrupted pedaling to reach 12.5 volts," said Ben Tevelow, an electrician from Brooklyn. He decided to join the project and put his skills to use when he heard about it in General Assembly.
We understand that there are about six bicycles hooked up right now, with several more to be assembled and put on the grid in the next few days. According to #OccupyWallStreet, it takes continuous pedaling of three bicycles to keep the media center running.
The bicycle generators give the saying "Power to the people" a whole new meaning.
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No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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Portland PD posting mugshots and details on Occupy Portland Arrestees on Facebook.
The police are in significant danger of having this turned around on them and having pictures of them (and personal info) and details of their actions posted up on sites like facebook for everyone to see (and for people to react to -- and you know there are some real nutjobs out there that WILL take it too far)Comment
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Pretty good in a nutshell explanation of why the economic crash happened and who is responsible and what can be done about it.No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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ignore this.Last edited by Unchainme; 11-01-2011, 04:43 PM.Still waiting for a relevant Browns TeamComment
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Ignore what?No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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Dedicated to the fascists in Oakland, Denver, and elsewhere......
Eternally Under the Authority of Satan
Originally posted by SockfuckerComment
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