Alin, the founder of Dreamers, initially planned to donate part of the earnings from an entrepreneurial venture to a well-known foundation. Before making the donation, he wanted to understand the foundation’s operations better and decided to apply for a job there, intending to “go undercover” to evaluate its effectiveness.
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Unfortunately, his background as an engineer resulted in his application being rejected.
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Despite this setback, alin refused to give up. Driven by the idea of “innovative technology-driven philanthropy”, he established the Dreamers.
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With the mission of "Becoming a Supporter of Micro NGOs," Alin led Dreamers to visit over 3,000 Micro NGOs across Taiwan, gaining a deep understanding of their challenges and needs.
The Origins of Dreamers
Before founding Dreamers, Alin launched GOMAJI, an online group-buying platform, in 2010.
Initially, Alin had intended to donate his startup capital from his previous venture to a foundation.
However, after his efforts to join the foundation failed, he decided to return to his expertise in computer programming and invested the funds into building GOMAJI. Guided by the mission “to create the greatest positive impact and help as many people as possible”, GOMAJI grew rapidly, riding the wave of internet adoption and smartphone usage.
Despite GOMAJI’s success, Alin never forgot his original philanthropic intent. He decided to use GOMAJI’s successful business model as a foundation to create a simplified path for doing good. The concept was straightforward yet innovative: place charity fundraising projects alongside regular products on the GOMAJI website, allowing online shoppers to discover and easily donate to these causes.
Additionally, GOMAJI implemented a system where customer e-receipts were “defaulted” as donations to Dreamers. Any winnings from these receipts lottery were used to support Dreamers’ operations. This approach enabled Dreamers to maintain its no-fee fundraising model, ensuring that 100% of donations went directly to those in need.
Thus, the Dreamers was born, built on a foundation of technological innovation and business thinking for philanthropy, to empower and support Micro NGOs.