One World, One Book, One Heck Of A Difference

We're on a mission from God. - Jake Blues.

In 2007, business writer Peter Economy decided that it was time to make a difference in the world. A big difference. Something long-term and significant, that would leave the world a better place.

Peter chose to do what he does best - to write.

Each year, starting in 2008, he would write a book, for free, with a co-author, and donate the proceeds to charity. Each year, he would invite proposals, have a selection committee choose the one with the potential to make the greatest difference, and ask that co-author which charity they would choose to receive the donation.

For ongoing updates on the progress of the project, register using the link on the right.

Peter's first blog post about The Free Book Project was in August, 2007.

Current activity around the book project is the Cash-Smart Kids YouTube Video Competition. Two entrepreneurs under 16 will be profiled in the book, alongside celebrity entrepreneurs like Ben Casnocha. The full Cash-Smart Kids YouTube Comeptition Rules can be found on the blog at RaisingEntrepreneurs.org.

Entrants make a 2-minute video and upload it to YouTube, tagged "cash smart kids". Peter and Jenny will select the winners after the closing date (yet to be announced).

The winning proposal in 2008 came from Jenny Ford, an expert financial educator from Australia.

Jenny holds an Honours Degree in Psychology from the University of Sydney, a Diploma in Training and Assessment Systems, and an Advanced Diploma in Business Management. She is one of the founders of Cash-Smart Kids, and a member of Raising Entrepreneurs.

She proposed a book for parents who want to teach their kids about money - a book which would explain business and personal finance concepts in language simple enough that even elementary school children could understand, and would also suggest games, stories and activities to help consolidate that understanding.

"The traditional education system doesn't do a great job of teaching kids to be self-reliant and entrepreneurial," said Jenny in her proposal. "It tends to be more geared toward making kids into good employees."

Financial literacy is a matter of increasing urgency, as populations age in the Western world, and the proportion of the population working (and paying taxes) steadily declines. Governments all over the world are scrambling to teach their citizens to save for retirement, to reduce consumer debt, and to invest wisely.

Some authorities are also awakening to the need for a new generation of young entrepreneurs, to produce innovative new businesses to provide jobs for the next millennium.

The President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, spoke out on favour of the entrepreneurial spirit recently, after hearing the results of a survey of young people in India, which concluded that very few kids wanted to become employment providers or entrepreneurs. It seems that parents in India are encouraging their kids to grow up and get a respectable job in a good company on a fixed salary, to avoid the risks involved in owning a business.

"We need such entrepreneurs in large numbers in our country for developing and transforming our village clusters into sustainable economic units," said the President.

Jenny's selected charity is microfinance.

Microfinance charities make small loans to entrepreneurs living in poverty. The loans are used to start or improve their businesses, and with the increased income, they repay the loan.

This enables a single donation to be used again and again, over time helping dozens of families to rise above the poverty line.

At the launch of the International Year of Microcredit in 2005, Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the United Nations, said, "Let us be clear: microfinance is not charity. It is a way to extend the same rights and services to low-income households that are available to everyone else. It is recognition that poor people are the solution, not the problem. It is a way to build on their ideas, energy, and vision. It is a way to grow productive enterprises, and so allow communities to prosper."

For more information about microfinance charities, visit the Hub titled "Best Value Places To Donate Money".

This project is designed to increase financial wellbeing across the globe.

Where they can afford to buy the book, people of all ages will be learning vital financial skills, and parents will be able to spare their children the struggles caused by a lack of financial education.

In the parts of the world where people can't afford to buy the book, the funds raised by sales of the book will provide microfinance for education and start-up capital, to enable thousands of struggling families to get ahead of the daily struggle to put food on the table, and start building a life for themselves.

If you can help to promote the book when it is released, please let Peter and Jenny know through the contact page at Raising Entrepreneurs.

And if you're possibly interested in buying the book when it comes out, please register using the link at the top of the page, and Peter or Jenny will let you know when it's due to be released.

The more people pre-registered, the more money Peter will be able to get from the publishers when he's negotiating the terms of the publishing contract - which he's doing right NOW!

So please scroll up and register, and then pass the information on to anyone else you know who may be interested.