March at the OTW is an exciting month — we’re far enough in to 2010 that we’ve had time to evaluate our goals and examine our tasks with a fresh eye. We’re excited about what we’ve done so far as an organization and in service of fandom, and we’re exhilarated by the possibilities that are just around the corner.
So now, from 9-15 March, we are calling on you to donate. Any amount above US$10 will extend your membership to one year from the most recent donation — that means if you donate today, you’re a member until a year from today. Membership is a way to take part in the work and to accomplish our aims, and anything more you can give helps make our dreams a reality — our fanworks hosted on servers controlled by fans, on software created for fans, and using fan-created policies. The donations made last March allowed us to buy those servers! \o/ It’s an amazing accomplishment, and one we intend to make ever stronger and more sustainable. And we can’t do it without you — your suggestions, energy, hard work, and financial support.
While our members support us, we also want to be clear that we are the sum of our parts — we are you. The OTW isn’t just member-supported; our members are the OTW. We, as fans, want the OTW to reflect our diversity, our globalism, our many voices. Please join us, and bring your friends. Bring the fannish world.
We know we didn’t get a chance to represent everyone, so we invite you to contribute “membership” in your language if it’s missing!
We’ve been accomplishing so much more than we can list for you in a single post! In fact, we’ll be posting every day during the drive to spotlight our projects and mission, and to tell you more about why you should help us to sustain our work. The Archive Of Our Own is flourishing in open beta! Transformative Works and Cultures is about to release a much-anticipated issue focusing on Supernatural! Fanlore, where we are recording our history, our (sometimes not-so) common language, our tropes, and our inventions! The zine collections of the Fan Culture Preservation Project! The rescued fansites that make up the Geocities Rescue Project! Advocacy for Vidders and remix artists!
During this drive, we’re also continuing to offer the option of premiums for donations: at a level of US$50 or more you can choose to receive an OTW sticker & iron-on pack, to proudly display your support; at a level of US$100 or more, we’re changing things up a little! For the first two days of the March drive (or while they last), we’ll continue to offer the OTW insulated travel mug — beginning 11 March (or as soon as we’re out of mugs) we’ll roll out an eco-friendly OTW stainless steel water bottle; at US$120, you can opt for either the mug or the bottle (whichever is currently active) along with a sticker & iron-on pack!
Hey guys, great job yet again! 🙂 I’m already reaching for my wallet. And while this is not the reason for my donation, I just wanted to clarify: These premiums will get shipped everywhere in the world, right?
they do! we’re happy to send you a premium wherever you happen to be! <3
Did you guys send out an email about this? If you did, you might want to rethink your subject line–It was completely nonspecific, and so I deleted it as spam. I suspect others may have done the same.
we’ll see what we can do about that. thank you for letting us know!
Wait, I have a $10 a month paypal subscription to OTW – that means I get to keep my membership, right? Dumb question, I know, but the post makes it sound like you have to donate more than $10 in March to maintain membership for another year….
Also, I am not greedy, but I would not mind having access to the premiums, even though I don’t donate during the drive in a lump sum. I donate an equivalent amount over the year – how does/would that work? I can always use more travel mugs…
you can be greedy! we’re working on a way to make premiums available to recurring donors!
and yes, that means your membership pushes out again every month. <3
I would love to donate and prolong my membership; alas, your nifty PayPal link includes only the pay-via-credit-card option, and I don’t have a credit card. Where’d my usual bank account option disappear to (I’m going to assume the problem is located on your end, as PayPal continues to work fine for me on other sites)?
Hey lavvyan, not a DevMem person myself, but the PayPal bank account option (“Lastschrifteinzug”) is working fine for me (German PayPal account with a verified bank account as well.) …not sure if that helps, though :/
hi there lavvyan!
i’m really sorry you’re having trouble — we’re trying to replicate your problem and correct it.
when not logged in to my paypal account, i could opt to pay by credit card, but the bank account option was also missing for me. when logged in to my paypal account, i was able to draw from my bank account. it’s a bit mystifying!
thank you for letting us know, and i’ll update you as soon as we find out more. <3
I think it might be tied to me trying to set up a recurring donation. When I deselected that option, everything worked fine. I was also directed to a different login screen for that one.
okay, that makes a ton of sense! thank you for letting us know.