Generate Kindness is an evolving experiment in creating a self-sustaining, mostly automated system to print and send Generate Kindness stickers anywhere in the world to anyone who asks for one. The project started in 2000 with one sticker on the back of a minivan. The project now gets up to several hundred requests a day from around the world for free Generate Kindness stickers.

Who knew kindness wasn't free?
I'm going to continue to pay for some of the printing of stickers so I can give away GK stickers. I think it's a kick, the whole thing, really. But you know what? Sending stickers to someone in Ukraine, or Canada or even here in the US, it costs money to send stickers. And the number of people who've asked for free stickers means I've been giving away free GK stickers, and have given out maybe a couple thousand? of them thus far. I currently pay for the printing, postage and hosting costs out of my own pocket. A gesture of kindness, but limited by my own budget. As we say in the technology/web world, "Doesn't scale".

So the Kindness Generator was born out of the intention to be able to Generate Kindness without limits. The question was: how do I send stickers to anyone in the world who asks for one? One thing I've learned from community (online and off) - many hands make light work.

All the requests are collected in a database. Some people kick in a couple bucks, or occasionally buy a messenger bag in the store, or something. That goes into a pool that pays for requests. When there are more requests than money, stickers are sent whenever there's money to send them.

I'm developing an open/transparent accounting system and a non-profit to record and manage the flow of money into and out of the website, which I hope is the final piece to turning on the Kindness Generator.