The Fandom Fund

[highd.livejournal.com]

This has been on my mind since Across the Pond needed donations a few months ago.

I have been thinking about starting a Fandom Fund. An organization that would be there with not only funds but information to help fans that run sites dedicated to their chosen fandom. I am thinking about using our fandom as a pilot program, then spreading out as people find out about the fund.

Over the last few years a few of the QAF fan fic sites have had to reach out to the fans for help to keep our archives alive. It's been awesome seeing us come together in this way. I was also thinking about other fandoms and if they had these issues sometimes, and that we all could benefit by having an organization to go for help. So I was wondering if anyone would be interested in helping with this project.

I don't think a lot of help will be needed at first, but let me be honest help is always good to have. Knowing it's a fandom effort would make it an even stronger force for help. I can generate the Pay Pal link myself and create the community, some graphic help would be great. I am concerned about some issues such as the law behind donations, taxes and how to distribute the money, even though I am just starting out with QAF donations philosophy needs to be taken seriously.

If someone is donating from the Buffy fandom do we make sure those funds go to specific Buffy projects? Do we do the same if someone from the QAF community donates? Or do I set up the fund to collect donations into a big pile and divvy it up as requests come in? Those two paths are very different, and I would want to get that question answered first.

I love Queer as Folk and it's fandom so much.  I also know that people in our fandom fan other things just as hard, if that is possible :)  If you would like to help or think that this is a good idea please comment here.

If you have suggestions or would like to contact me through PM feel free.

I would like to thank the mods of this site for allowing this post! Thanks guys.

Comments

[lougenessis.livejournal.com]

I think that's a brilliant idea and when ok'd by the mods, I'd be happy to donate. I would never want this site or any others to not exist. I'll be watching to see the outcome.

[kat-us.livejournal.com]

Great idea! I could donate a pittance, but would be happy to help out with the comm if you like. (Sorry, but my graphics skills are limited to rudimentary icon making)

I think the easiest way to distribute the funds would be on a first come first served basis. Otherwise the logistics of trying to keep of the dollars for specific fandoms would be a nightmare.

Or you could have funds for QAF only and then bundle the other fandoms into a collective fund.

[fraserette.livejournal.com]

I think that is an awesome idea!!!

[court1429.livejournal.com]

This is what I typed to Red and Sid last night after Red directed us to the post in your LJ:

I understand highd's impulse, but I'm not sure it's very practical. I'm sure this is legal to do, but just to have any and all fandom members send cash to sit somewhere in an account for archive maintainers to request "grants" from just doesn't sound like a good plan, IMO. There'd have to be a lot of rules about how much could be requested and there should be more than one person determining who got the money. And it seems like there would be a lot of hassle tracking whether a person's donations were available to any fandom or just to her/his specific fandom(s).

But quite frankly, I have no interest in contributing to a fund that would keep a HP or Star Trek or Highlander or whatever archive or site active if it was going belly up. If the specific site is popular and frequently used, I'm sure there are general comms for that fandom where the word could be passed that funding help was needed. But it should be up to each fandom to make the effort to keep their own archives or graphics or other share sites up and running depending on their worth to that fandom.

I think there's nothing in the world wrong with archive owners going farther than just having a Paypal donate button on their site, and ask fandom directly to help foot those costs.

In fact, I think it's completely appropriate for fandom to help with hosting costs whether it's a fic archive or a personal hosting site. I can only think of three instances this past year, but they were all generously responded to. Especially in precarious financial times, if many people can chip in a little bit, it adds up to big help.

Look at what the QAF fandom accomplished:

1. Donated enough to keep Queer Eyes online for the next 8 or 9 years after the new maintainer lost her job (way to go, fandom!),

2. Donated enough to ATP to help them catch up on their back charges and pay for the year ahead, and

3. Helped fund qafmaniac's annual renewal costs for her share sites after she accepted a better, more fulfilling job, but at a lesser salary. Everyone is welcome to help themselves to Tita's graphics and videos, and she jumps in to make headers and icons for people at the drop of a hat, including the beautiful header gracing this community and our default icon.

getithere had a fairy godmother give this community a paid account last fall. I just extended it by one year last week. Someone else may gift us with another year at some point. And I mentioned to vlredreign and sidhe_arien the other day that if LJ ever offers permanent accounts for sale, I thought we should ask for donations to ensure this community is here as long as LJ exists. Last time around, permanent accounts were $150; I have no doubt we could find 30 members to kick in $5 in just a few hours! :)

All of this is fandom taking care of its own. I just think it should be by fandom for their fandom. JMO.

[eileen-donovan.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you're saying, Court, but especially this:

But quite frankly, I have no interest in contributing to a fund that would keep a HP or Star Trek or Highlander or whatever archive or site active if it was going belly up.

I'd be more than happy to help and/ contribute for QAF. That's my fandom. I'm sure other comms would do the same for their fandom. That's how I see it working.

[court1429.livejournal.com]

Particularly because if you're not a member of a fandom, you have no idea of the value the financially troubled site adds to fandom.

Not all sites are worth saving, but how would I have any idea about a LOTR archive? I'm not a member of that fandom. And if it's a useless site and the contents can be found in other places, why bother keeping it going?

As with any charitable organization, I expect to be able to determine what value my contribution would bring. I have, at the least, a subjective way to know the worth of the various QAF archives and sites: I've looked at them and I know what I'm looking at! lol

[eileen-donovan.livejournal.com]

As with any charitable organization, I expect to be able to determine what value my contribution would bring. I have, at the least, a subjective way to know the worth of the various QAF archives and sites: I've looked at them and I know what I'm looking at! lol

Again, a very salient point and one I agree with! You haz smarts, Court, lol! :)

[highd.livejournal.com]

That is why I posted this. I wouldn't start this without having the money question answered. I was talking to a few friends last night and my husband and they told me that most likely people wouldn't want to cross contribute.

I tried to use my new Canadian attitude with them thinking that there would be people that wouldn't mind knowing that their help was going to other fandoms in the spirit of fandom but I had napkins thrown at me and quotes from Wall Street quoted to me, and they reminded me I wasn't a socialist but a Democrat from Pittsburgh Pa.

Again this is just a feeler post and input like this is great.

[eileen-donovan.livejournal.com]

:):):) I think people need motivation to give money and the more concrete it is, the better. Even "the archive is going to close" might not be enough until they belatedly go there and find it gone. You may want to consider marathons like they do on PBS or similar to the things they've done here on LJ with disaster relief. People pledging money for personalized fics or graphics work.

Speaking of graphics, you definitely need some top notch graphics people, because the look of your comm will also motivate people.

This is my way of saying I support you 100% and would be glad to write/research/pimp whatever you spearhead. I love QAF and it's the only fandom that's ever taken such a huge chunk of me! New people come into this fandom all the time and they are heartbroken when they can't find a fic they've heard about in so many places. With a little work, it doesn't need to be that way. ♥

[highd.livejournal.com]

This is the type of feed back I was hoping for actually. I want to have opinions likes this to see if the idea was even feasible. I can understand down the road if it would become bigger that some people wouldn't be happy about their donations going to other fandoms that's why the money question has become the am I or am I not going to pursue this further. As a person who has been in the QAF fandom since before the show even aired on Showtime ( I was hooked from ads) I just wanted to find a way to give back to my fandom and maybe help others fandoms too. This was just a feeler kind of post. So it's not like I am trying to step on the spirit of our fandom.

One of my main hopes for the fund was to hopefully help Cael get bjfic.net back up. To help get funds together so maybe she could find some help. The hole that has been made by that site shutting down is still felt almost weekly, sometimes daily here. So I don't know again this is just a feeler post. Something I have been thinking about. Thanks so much for your response.

[court1429.livejournal.com]

I never took from your post that you were trying to step on the spirit of fandom. Just the opposite, in fact. I think the idea is generous, but not easily implemented across fandoms.

I'm not sure Cael needs financial help. She's never asked. It's always sounded more to me that she doesn't have the time to maintain it and she can't find a host that will allow NC-17 posts. Both of those issues are fixable. She could, and should, IMO, offer the archive up to someone else to maintain as the original owner did when her circumstances changed and Cael stepped in. It's not a big deal to say that RL is demanding more of you and you don't have the time for fandom activities you once did.

There are hundreds of fic archives all over the internet that have sexually explicit fics, so I don't understand the difficulty in finding a host. Granted, I've never tried to host an archive and don't want to, but it's been a year. I just think it's ridiculous that it's dragged on this long when there are others who would certainly volunteer to step up and run it.

And, to be blunt, I'm not even sure bjfic.net is an archive worth saving. The only reason I'd like it to be available is all the now-broken links in this community and other rec and reading communities would again be active links.

But getithere members are doing a bang-up job posting alternate links for fics or uploading them to the share sites members have generously made available.

And with the advent of AO3, which looks to be a tremendous multi-fandom site (which allows NC-17 fic), I'm hopeful more and more people will move their fics over there and make it an excellent go-to resource. So far, only 280 fics (http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Queer%20as%20Folk%20%28US%29/works) are posted there, but it's early days, yet. ;)

[vlredreign.livejournal.com]

That's cause I haven't loaded my fics. Then there will be 281. lol Okay, not really. I have about 30.

[vlredreign.livejournal.com]

I think the idea on the surface is a good idea. What I disagree with is one central donation fund. As we do here in QAF, if a site, such as ATP or Queer Eyes needs help, we step in and help. If an HP comm needed help, they'd post that at one of the HP comms, and I'd donate to that, because I also belong to that fandom.

Most people tend to belong to one fandom. They're not going to want to donate to a multi-fandom comm because then the dispersal of funds comes into question. If we're talking about a multi-fandom archive, such as Skyhawke, then that would be a totally separate issue. If people from the QAF fandom read fics there primarily, then they might feel inclined to donate to that site. So for now, I'd let the other fandoms and/or archives take care of themselves.

[netlagd.livejournal.com]

hi,

while you don't want to go through the process of becoming a non-profit, and I'm not even sure you would qualify for a non-profit.

Regardless, I just want to comment on keeping funds separate.

In the non-profit world, if you take money for a specific cause it is known as a DIRECTED GIFT, and the money must be used for the cause the money was given for.

You may remember the Red Cross getting in trouble over donations given in the name of 911 that ended up funding a new phone system.

So while you are not a non-profit, there is an expectation by those who are giving money that the money will be used for their specific cause.

Regarding hosting issues, there are many hosting services that prohibit sexually explicit content.

Those that are willing to host sexually explicit content, often have a caveat regarding hosting. Here are some examples:
"Am I allowed to host adult content using Super Green Hosting?
Yes, as long as the material does not infringe on any copyright laws. "

"Do you allow adult sites?
Yes, we allow adult sites. They must be legal in the United States of America."

And here are some examples of hosting companies that do not allow "adult content":

"Prohibited Offerings. No Subscriber may utilize the Services to provide, sell or offer to sell the following: ... pornography, nudity, sexual products, programs or services; escort services or other content deemed adult related."

[vlredreign.livejournal.com]

While the hosting bit is somewhat true, it doesn't explain why sites such as Skyehawke, The Silver Snitch, The Hex Files/HP Fandom, Forever Fandom, and Adult Fan Fiction dot net have ginormous archives that have NC-17 fics posted. It seems to me that the issue has to do with people outside the US trying to host sites. I know for a fact that the old PSA (Potter-Snape Archives) site was taken down and switched over to a US maintainer because the original maintainer was in Australia, and had to remove it when they re-instituted the Blue Laws.

[netlagd.livejournal.com]

I can't really speak to other fan fic sites, I'm only following QAF, and we know what's been happening with our archive sites.

Hosting sites are virtual for the most part - the actual data centers can reside if countries other than where the hosting company manages the site - thus is the way of the world.

Regarding the Australian example - mileage varies from hosting company to hosting company. Quite frankly, I'm betting that they are probably not worrying much about a fan fic archive and are likely to turn their head. That is until someone kicks up a fuss and management has to oil the squeaky wheel, or otherwise contend with what might be perceived as bad publicity or something that may threaten their business.