Interview: A Model (Citizen) Fundraising Partnership, Part 1

By providing these kits to the less fortunate, our ultimate goal is to increase the recipients’ overall confidence and belief in their fellow man, and self-esteem. The result is to give them a better chance to improve their lives in a way that they may not have had before. Personally, I believe that the moment you give a homeless person our backpack, it changes two lives forever. More often than not, the donor sees the look in the recipient’s eyes when being handed a backpack, and the emotions simultaneously overcome both parties. That kind of good will you can’t buy or script — it’s truly an unforgettable experience. I find the success of any nonprofit lies in the ability to benefit both the donor and charity’s beneficiary, and to date, Model Citizen has done just that.

FS: How did your partnership with the Karma Foundation form?
DF: I was originally introduced to Karma Foundation by one of their partners, Marvin Epstein. Through Marvin, I quickly learned what Karma was all about — successful entrepreneurs and executives who are a community of people looking to enhance their lives and their network, all while being able to benefit and support remarkable causes.

As soon as I heard about Karma, I was immediately interested. I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a teenager and hold a record for being the youngest founder of a publicly traded company in history. Business strategy was always on my mind, even at a young age. In high school, I started a licensing company and went on to sign a licensing deal worth $9.5 million with STARTER apparel. Then in my early 20s, I went on to launch "Who's Your Daddy" energy drink and shortly after created Victory Poker in 2010. I’m very passionate about poker and am proud to say that Victory Poker is the third largest team of professional players out of the 550 poker sites on the market today.