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Channel: fundraising | Boing Boing

Library defender runs for City Council in Troy, MI

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Neil sez,
You may remember 2 months back when the Troy, Michigan Public Library faced closure due to declining revenue. It was particularly sad given that this libary only recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary. It is home to some amazing letters from some of the most prominent authors and people of the day when it opened in 1971 thanks to a very intrepid children's librarian named Marguerite Hart.

Residents of Troy sprang into action to ensure that no effort be spared to prevent the library from closing. This included reaching out on line to rally library lovers throughout the world. Thanks to Cory, and our friends at Boing Boing, we raised almost 3 times our goal of $1200. This meant not only could we pay for our last mailing but we could afford a small TV buy for our existing web video. We won in no small part thanks to you!

Now our city faces a new challenge. Half of the City Council is up for election, and no sitting members are running. To make matters worse the forces who worked against our compromise solution to keep the library open and funded, have a slate of candidates who are determined to undermine our recent victory.

So I decided I couldn't stand by and watch these people undo our hard work. Now I am asking my fellow happy mutants / hacktivists to lend my campaign a hand. I face a unique challenge because unlike a library which people have an emotional connection, I am just a person, and not nearly as creative as Sean Teavis. Can you please donate $5 or $10 or whatever you can afford and help pay for my big absentee mailer that goes out next week. My goal for the day is $2,700. I already have the first 10%, can you give what you can give so that my indicator may advance?

Donate « Vote Neil (Thanks, Neil!)

Tiny library raises money with tiny uke and awesome video

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Blackbeltlibrarian sez, "The Shutesbury Public Library in Shutesbury, Massachusetts is seeking funding in order to build a new building to replace their charming but woefully inadequate current one (which features no running water!). In order to get the word out staff and patrons created this cute little video in order to show the shortcomings of their current location, as well as what they could do with a new building."

Where would you be without your library?

Last day of fundraising for Parltrack - turning Parliamentary records into searchable databases

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Stefan sez, "Amelia Andersdotter Pirate member of the European Parliament and members of European Digital Rights call for support and donation on the last day of the Parltrack fundraising campaign."

Doc film on surveillance seeks fund to film Syrian activist subjected to state surveillance

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Charles Koppelman writes, "Zero Day (working title) is a documentary film being produced and directed by Charles Koppelman. BBC Storyville is co-producing and intends to air it. The film begins with the story of a single malware attack by the Assad regime in Syria using Skype as a platform. This targeted phishing attack used a Remote Access Tool (Xtreme RAT) to infect an activist’s computer. He was then tracked surreptitiously by security forces. He suffered very real physical consequences — detention, jail, and torture. His jailers showed him a file with hundreds of pages of email, web posts and surveillance reports on his movements. It is well-documented that he was the first Syrian activist to be attacked in the ongoing cyberwar conducted by the Assad regime. The Assad regime uses this same digital surveillance tool to compromise countless other activists and citizen journalists." (more…)

Help these young dames get to the Game Developers Conference

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dames

Toronto-based nonprofit Dames Making Games runs events and programs for women, non-binary, queer, trans and gender non-conforming creators who want to get into game design.

"We believe game-making can be an act of resistance, giving creators ultimate agency in the expression of their identities, politics, selves, genders and sexualities. Our work has the power to transform our communities, and positively impact industry policies and practice.

We believe that creating space and time to make and talk about games in an explicitly feminist context elevates the craft, amplifies alternative and diverse narratives, and supports the socio-cultural changes that are necessary to make game design accessible to all."

Currently DMG has just about a week left to finish fundraising so that some of its constituency -- mostly young students, freelancers and low-income folks -- can attend the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. They've already been granted pricey passes on scholarship, but the travel arrangements themselves are cost-prohibitive. Going to GDC could be a crucial learning and networking opportunity for these folks.

If you're interested in learning more about DMG and considering supporting, check out their site. It's one possible answer to that guy you know who's always saying "yes, sexism in tech is terrible, but what can be done?"

For disabled players, Twitch offers community and a second income

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https://youtu.be/nhnKRg9SBQ4

Simon Parkin has done an interesting profile at the Guardian of players with disabilities who have found a community—and a supplemental income—via online streaming service Twitch. He interviews Mackenzie, a young woman with severe epilepsy who plays games online for a select audience she is careful about getting to know.

Like Mackenzie, who sees her work as partially a way to promote understanding of her condition, streamer Stacey Rebecca plays the competitive digital card game Hearthstone, and shares some of her challenges with her fans:

Only a relative handful of disabled streamers earn their living from the service, but as well as providing a supplemental income, Twitch offers a support community. “Twitch gives me that feeling of being less isolated,” says Stacey Rebecca. “I have a lot of regulars, and it’s nice to have that kind of friendly group that I can essentially hang out with each day without having to leave the house. And because I’ve been open about my mental health problems, I attract a lot of viewers who are experiencing anxiety. It helps us both feel less isolated. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

The massive and growing online streaming community also has demonstrated the power to be a force for charitable causes, claiming to have raised more than $10 million for charities in 2014. On her own, Stacey Rebecca raised £6,500 for mental health charity Mind.

Here's your chance to play a dog in Wes Anderson's next film

University students raise £1500 to send much loved janitor on a much needed vacation

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This isn't a long story, but damn, it's a great one: students at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom recently came together to celebrate one of the best things about where they go to school: a Janitor named Herman Gordon. Running into Gordon on campus, by all reports, is a bright, shining high point in the day of many of the University's students. According to one individual, quoted by the BBC, Gordon "...is the epitome of happiness." Considering the fact that Gordon spends his days cleaning up after the thousands of folks that roam the university on a daily basis, his great attitude is just that much more amazing. My father was a janitor and he was a miserable prick. Anyway, one of the University of Bristol's students thought that it was time that those that know and appreciate what the cleaner brings to their lives on a daily basis showed their appreciation to him. So, a fundraising campaign to send Gordon and his wife on a vacation to visit family in Jamaica was launched. The campaign managed to raise £1500 – more than enough to send the couple on their way. From The Daily Mail:
According to an admin from the Bristruths Facebook page - an anonymous 'truth' page for Bristol University - the idea for Mr Gordon's trip came from a Facebook post. 'It all started with this post on the 19th May,' they said. The initial post called Mr Gordon 'the jolliest man I have ever met' and said 'if you wanna reason to smile, go talk to him for a min or two'. A day later, another anonymous Facebook user posted that they were starting a crowdfunding page for him. Within five days, they'd almost reached their target. Mr Gordon said that he was overcome with emotion when he received the money from the students.
Lovely. Image via Creative Commons Images

Help tell the stories of migrant families being detained at the border

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The news cycle isn’t kind to stories that take a long time to be told. Sure, no one ever stops talking about Trump and his uncle Vlad, but despite it all being a part of one two-year long shit show, there’s always something new and horrific to draw the eye. Not so with stories like the ones that are still playing on on the United States’ southern border, daily. Families are still being kept apart, kids barely able to talk are being asked to defend themselves in court, and individuals seeking asylum from the dangers of their homes are being turned away by customs agents or railroaded into custody with less than legal practices.

While much of the media has turned its focus to alleged Russian spies sleeping their way into influential positions, The Texas Tribune just keeps on keeping on: their reportage on the tragedies being played out on the U.S./Mexican border is has been absolutely outstanding. But, they’re a non-profit. In order to continue to do the sort of quality journalism that they’ve been churning out of late, they could use a hand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k_H1KfEMyo

Right now, the Texas Tribune is raising funds to open a newsroom in the Rio Grande Valley: an area of the state that, as it’s name suggests, lays along the Mexican border by the Rio Grande River. It’s where you’ll find McAllen and Brownesville – two of the cities where DHS has been splitting up families and stashing kids away in privately operated prisons. It’s ground zero for the Trump administration’s bigoted bullshit.

The Tribune accepts one-time donations, monthly installments or a chunk of change given on an annual basis. If you care about what’s being done to reunite families separated at the border and want to ensure that their stories are told, truthfully and in their entirety, you’ll want to follow this link and pony up whatever dough you can afford to part with.

Image via Flickr, courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

EFF is hiring a development director!

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EFF has just posted a job listing for a development director, seeking someone to "take charge of EFF's eleven-person Development Team in their efforts to raise over $13 million each year," starting late 2019 or early 2020.

We’re looking for someone with these qualities:

Experience and confidence managing a team of dedicated development professionals Experience working with major donors, planned giving and foundations, including making direct solicitations Demonstrated ability to inspire a team to reach ambitious fundraising goals while maintaining work/life balance Exceptional skill synthesizing complex concepts and ease communicating the profound importance of online rights for a lay audience, both in writing and in person Experience working in a collaborative setting, especially team writing projects Excellent judgement and strategic thinking A strong leader that colleagues can depend upon Comfort and interest learning unusual technical tools Joy building rapport with people across all manners of backgrounds, interests, and experiences

Development Director [EFF] Read the rest

Right now: Watch this rapper attempting to freestyle for 33 straight hours for charity

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San Francisco poet and musician Watsky is attempting to freestyle rap for 33 straight hours to raise money for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund supporting musicians and music industry workers affected by COVID-19. From the YouTube page:

how does watsky pee? - he has a mic on his shirt, continues to rap, and pees standing up.
how does watsky eat? - one of his cups is a strawberry smoothie.

Trump wants people to carry authorized Trump cards

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Donald Trump emailed his supporters yesterday asking them to give what little money they still have to buy "offical" (sic) plastic cards with his name on them.

"The card you select will be carried by Patriots all around the Country," he wrote. — Read the rest

Watch: A middle school sets record for most cereal boxes tipped domino style, and it's incredible

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This video is incredible not only for the skill and patience it took to successfully set up 6,391 cereal-boxes, domino-style, at Long Beach Middle School in New York, but also for the sheer size and layout of the school's building where the stunt took place. — Read the rest





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