The yard stick

How we decide

We give because we understand the cause and can see the impact. That is the whole product. Feelings can come along. They do not get the check.

Principles

Impact over feelings. A good story still needs a line-item and a 30-day result.
Small and specific beats big and vague.
We care about animals, farms, working people, land, a fair shot, and underdogs who showed up. The pack helps pick the next project.
Temporary projects are allowed if they say what phase one is and what success looks like.
Private giving is fine. A community gift needs a story the pack can read without guessing.

Private person vs charity

Private

Name, town, and country. We can blur a last name in the public story if we have to. We cannot skip the place.
A photo of your face with the work. Not a download. Not a cousin’s farm.
Today’s short video if you are a private person. Talk to us from the tank, the stall, the yard.
A shopping list with prices. Line by line. What phase one is. What success looks like in 30 days.
How you will report back: photo, shopping-list receipt, short video. Temporary projects are allowed if you say what phase one is.

Charity

Real org with a public site, a place, and work we can describe without guessing.
The gift can be general if the work is specific. We still write a story the pack can read.
We do not need a patient’s face. We do need to say who they serve and what $50–$200 actually does.
When the work is done, the pack may cut a collector card to commemorate it. That is a keep, not the gift.

We pass on

No town, no country, no way to find the work
Only stock footage or someone else’s clips
The story keeps changing
“Bless me” with a round number and no shopping list
Pressure to send money now

Gallery story template

Short. Plain. Respectful. Same shape every time so gifts can be compared.

[Name], [place]. He built [X]. [What broke]. $[amount] bought [items]. In 30 days [result]. The pack cut the card. The pack showed up.

Who / where
Name and town. Country if it is not obvious.
What they built
How long they have been doing it.
What broke, and when
The hit. Not a novel.
Who depends on this
Household, animals, a crop, a kid in a bed.
The money
Exact amount. Line items. What it bought.
30 days
What “it worked” looks like. Visible.
How they showed the pack
Photo, short video. Or still waiting. The collector card comes later, as a keep.
Updates
Pack note. Donee follow-up. Keep adding.

Evaluator

Score what you can see. If a hard stop is on, we pass even when the story is warm.

One page. Not a grant manual. Score what you can see. If a hard stop is on, we pass even when the story is warm.

Clarity

3 / 5

Do we know who, where, what broke, and what the money buys?

1: Fog. Round numbers. No place. · 5: A person, a town, a list.

Proof

3 / 5

Can we see the work today, not a story about the work?

1: Stock clips. No face. No video. · 5: Face with the work. Today’s video. Receipt later.

Fairness

3 / 5

Is this the need, or just the loudest ask?

1: Pressure, guilt, pile-on. · 5: Quiet, specific, already working.

Leverage

3 / 5

Will $50–$200 change the next 30 days?

1: A drop in a vague bucket. · 5: Phase one gets done. You can see it.

Pack values

3 / 5

Family, land, animals, working people, kids in a hard spot, fairness. Underdogs who showed up.

1: Does not fit. Or it is marketing. · 5: This is our pack.

Scam / reused clips

3 / 5

Could this be someone else’s photos, a moving story, or a rush job?

1: High risk. Walk away. · 5: The place checks out. The clips are theirs.

Report back

3 / 5

Can they show the pack what happened?

1: They will vanish. · 5: They already said how: photo, receipt, video.

Human note

Score 21 / 35

Hold

Ask for the missing proof. Do not send yet.

Fund is 28+. Hold is 21–27. Below that, pass. Hard stops always pass.

Ready to share a project? Post on X. Want to see the work? Open the gallery.