Why MakeCFHistory.com?

I remember very distinctly in 1998 sitting on plane heading for Amsterdam and writing in my Day Runner all the things I want to do before I die. As an uncle of 2 young nieces born with CF, I knew I wanted to be an active participant in the effort to find a cure for CF. My initial thought was to create a non-profit organization geared towards raising money for CF. But since there were so many of those, I thought it would be better to work with them rather than to compete against them. So, I chose to participate in various annual events organized by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as well as other privately sponsored events. But something was missing...I wanted to do something BIG, something WAY MORE than just asking friends and family for sponsorship dollars for a walk or a climb up stairs. But I was not quite sure where to begin...

Should I organize a 10K? Or maybe a nighttime fund raising event? But none of these were resonating.

Then, in 2005 I saw the news about an aspiring high school student who raised $1 million for college tuition by selling the pixels on his website as ad space for $1 per pixel. His website (The MillionDollarHomePage.com) was 1,000 x 1,000 pixels in size, hence, he raised $1 million (actually more because he auctioned off the center square on eBay - brilliant!). Then it occurred to me:

If someone can raise $1 million dollars for college by selling ad space, can't we raise $1 million dollars for a worthy cause such as research for finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis?

At first I thought about "The PageWithAPurpose.com" - a spin-off of the million dollar home page, but for a "purpose". Then, being a U2 fan, I joined the ONE campaign which is geared towards the fight against extreme poverty in the world. Their goal is to "help make poverty history", as in a thing of the past. And that was it - "make CF history"!! And so MakeCFHistory.com it would be.

So, in no way am I claiming to have invented the idea of using the internet to raise money, but I am trying the leverage to good ideas before this one to do what I have always wanted to do - raise $1 million for CF research. And with that, I am heading to blog-o-sphere for help.

Now, in the last year or so we're seeing politicians leverage the internet to raise millions of dollars in a day for their campaigns! Again:

If someone can raise millions of dollars over-night for a political campaign, why can't we raise $1 million dollars for a worthy cause such as research for finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis?

We can - and we will! And I hope you join us!