I'm just reading this now. Did you try to reach out to influential people/potential sponsors or did you just hoped they would see the challenge out of luck?
I browse steem 4-5+ hours a day and I'm just stumbling upon this post (and you know I've read your posts since I've voted some of yours every now and then with this account), so perhaps actions speak louder than words but if nobody knows about said actions, it will be hard for them to support them.
There are hundreds of people trying to lead here on steem and very few willing to join other people's initiatives (it even happens to me with 12k followers that some of my ideas get zero traction) so I wouldn't blame it on the community but more on what you could've done better or different.
If you ever come up with another idea reach out to me. Have a great day Matt.
Att anomadsoul