Ha! Got your attention!
Now on to a topic near and dear to my heart *pulls out soap box and steps up*
As most of you know, NaNoWrimo is a "Not for profit" organization and exists solely through the donations of people, well, like you and me. It's not a corporate sponsor dropping a $5k check in that keeps the servers running and the lights on, it's 10,000 wrimos donating $10 each (that would be $100k, for those too caffeinated to do the math). Last year I think St Louis, with about 700 affiliates, managed to generate about $1000 in total donations. Pathetic. The minimum donation is $10. $10 is about as much as lunch at a fast food restaurant (twice if you don't eat much), it's less than the cost of catching the premier of the next Star Trek movie when you include munchies, it's about the cost of 2 of the half caf soy light Venti green tea double shot espresso latte thingamajiggers that we all drink during NaNo to keep the words flowing. In short, even most poor college students can afford a $10 donation. If you absolutely can't, then please do not, but many of us can and should donate. Besides, the halos are just too cool.
DONATE! please?
InjunJoe
----------
As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
37,512 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 06 16
Thanks for the reminder, Injun Joe!
----------Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. There’s only one rule I know of—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind. - Kurt Vonnegut
45,040 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 07 56
Right now we're standing at $460 donated for the region, with 175 wrimos, of whom 10% have donated something, averaging a shade over $25 a person. (Why yes, I AM a numbers and stats geek, why do you ask?) You can get an update by clicking on the Regional Info tab at the top of the forum index for St Louis, which lives here:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/161
Last year we donated $770. Total. For the whole month. For all of us.
Last year NaNo did not get the full amount of donations they needed, which is why the site looks EXACTLY like it did last year. No money for the site re-design. No money for a whole pile of other things they had planned either.
If you go to the NaNo front page at nanowrimo.org, and hover your mouse over the various targets for fundraising, you'll see what is associated with each goal. For instance, they need $75k for staff to work in a building with electricity, running water, and internet. They need $450k to cover costs for 2009. That's money they've likely ALREADY SPENT and are currently in the hole for. $600k gets them out of debt, I'm guessing they're carrying a little debt from last year. $825k gets us a web site facelift.
Once NaNo gets started, I'll track regional donations and wordcount over here:
http://alison.caffeinatedbliss.com/nano-challenge.php
That page will also keep track of progress against our word war opponents. (I know the images don't show up right now, NaNo Central has not hooked up the Word Count Widgets yet.)
As a region, we get several thousand dollars worth of entertainment, bandwidth, and time from NaNoWriMo. Let's give some back and get that web site facelift.
----------http://www.quantumtea.com/blog/
40,037 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 08 10
Thanks for the reminders, Jim and Allison.
I know a lot of you are saying, "But I can't donate! I don't have any extra cash!"
You're wrong.
See this page for ideas on donating when you are broke:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/donatingwhenbroke
I will have a donation jar at each official write-in. Give me your extra change or whatever you want to add and I'll send it to NaNo at the end of the month.
~j
----------Municipal Liaison for St. Louis, MO
Previous NaNovels: King Arthur, angels, dragons, the Forest Lord, and prostitutes. Apparently this year it's folks rising from the dead.
aspirations: http://etoiline.com
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 08 16
Perhaps whenever we're hanging out writing on our own we should just put a jar out with a sign that says:
"Will Novel for cash!"
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
82,070 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 08 35
Even though my novel idea is utter crap and I'm the least confident of any other year, I donated because I believe it's worth the $1.66 a day for the month.
I know, times are tough. I am lucky to have extra money. But I wonder if we can't put our heads together. The jar is a good idea. Maybe collecting can tabs?
Still scratching for ideas. Suggestions always welcome.
-mm
----------"Not a Rose but a Thistle" -- 2005 (Win)
"Welcome To Lamentation!" -- 2006 (Win)
"A Saint Nobody's Heard Of " -- 2007 (Win)
"Nympho-izing Love Goo!" (working title) -- 2008 (Win)
"Like Getting Honey From a Stone" -- 2009
37,512 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 09 04
Hm. Under The Arch and Writer Joy and I are planning Friday morning write-ins at the Crooked Tree... There's only one Friday that month that my kid is actually in school (the 13th), but maybe I could hold that one at my home (free wifi, coffee pot, microwave, etc) and we could pitch in a few bucks to donate to NaNo instead of spending it on expensive coffee & such at Crooked Tree? I would feel a little mean taking business from Crooked Tree, but I think they'll be doing fine as there's also a Saturday afternoon write-in there and now I think maybe talk of a late morning one Saturdays as well. :D And it's just one week.
We wouldn't raise much, but anything's better than nothing, right? I suppose this would only work if people weren't dog-allergic or dog-phobic, as I have a black lab. But it's a thought.
----------Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. There’s only one rule I know of—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind. - Kurt Vonnegut
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 18 14
bump
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
53,483 / 50,000
oct. 19, 2009 - 19 07
"Will Novel for cash!"
That reminds me of something I read once, I think it was from Natalie Goldberg. She was at a festival of some sort, and had a booth. People would pay a small amount of money (I don't remember how much, but we could all do something like this for a few dollars) then she would write a poem or something for that person, just free-flow in the moment type of thing. Yes, this would take away from our NaNo writing time, but it's a neat way to raise money for the cause. Or we could do this during the remainder of October. Or anytime throughout the year, and set the money aside for next November.
As a side note, and as evidenced by my halo, I donated $10. I'm flat broke right now, but when I bought my t-shirt and buttons I added the extra $10 to my cart. When I get my next paycheck and am no longer broke, I'm going to donate more. But I figured in case life throws a monkey wrench in my plans as it so often does, at least I'll have donated something.
And yes, having a halo by your name is super duper cool. :)
Jen
----------Reading and weeping opens the door to one’s heart, but writing and weeping opens the window to one’s soul. – M.K. Simmons
http://www.jenniferksights.com
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 20, 2009 - 04 48
Here's a thought....
Offer John Q. Public a minor supporting character role in your novel for a small donation.
As she flowed past in her gown, Jessica paused to introduce this evening's escort "And this is my friend, John Q. Public. He's a writer!" she beamed.
It also could help name some of those annoying minor characters that cause more hours trying to think of an ordinary sounding name than writing their parts takes. Just a thought.
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
36,056 / 50,000
oct. 20, 2009 - 05 17
Offer John Q. Public a minor supporting character role in your novel for a small donation.
My villain is already named for a guy I work with. Maybe I should offer to change it, for a donation. :)
36,056 / 50,000
oct. 20, 2009 - 06 04
I donated a token amount last year, thinking of it less as a donation and more out of a sense of obligation, to pay a fair price for something I really enjoy. We all pitch in to support the OLL and the website, and then we have a lot of fun. It's money that benefits me.
This year, I donated more, because I learned more about the young writer's program. (See the "More from OLL" link on the website.) That, to me, is a donation-worthy cause. It's getting kids to write, how cool is that? A few years ago I wondered how we would get kids to read again. JK Rowling managed to accomplish that, but I don't think she needs our donations. :) Last year there were 600 classrooms and twenty thousand kids participating. This year they hope to be in a thousand classrooms. And it's all done with free curriculum and lesson plans, provided by donations to OLL. The gods know the teachers can't afford to buy it.
Oh I also bought two shirts and a travel mug. And I've got my halo, because they don't offer devil's horns as an option.
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 05 07
Per Regional info tab:
10.95% of Wrimos in this region have donated 685.00 so far (thank you!)
That puts us at almost 3 times the number of donators as the overall average of 3.71% having donated this year so far. And before the start of November we have almost as many $ in donations as we ended the year with last year. Is it possible we could double our overall donations from last year? That would rock!
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
38,233 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 06 47
I donate at least once every year. Usually once near the beginning, and once near the end if I have a bit of extra income. Nano is so important to me that I cannot imagine NOT donating. Even if you can only do $5, it adds up.
----------"The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt it didn't matter." Edward Albee
Join the NanoWriter's Yahoo Group!
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 07 16
WOOHOO! Somebody donated!
Wrimos in United States :: Missouri :: St. Louis
* There are 211 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 24% are new to NaNoWriMo
----------* 11.37% of Wrimos in this region have donated 710.00 so far (thank you!)
* Wrimos in this region have written 0 words (0 per Wrimo with wordcount)
As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
33,152 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 10 37
I'm so proud to be a part of this region, but not so much when I look at our donation stats from last year. Especially knowing I donated several times last year so about $50 of that is mine. LOL Not so thrilling when you look at how many STL participants we have.
This year I have already donated $25 and a couple of days later I got a friend who said she wanted to donate to help. It was sweet and it was $15 cash. So I started thinking about it, and decided I'd hold onto it and send it in with my next donation. I was planning on donating another $25 towards the end of November - but now I am goaling for week 2. With her money, I have $40 and it would be nice if I could get one more $10 donation or two $5 donations or hell, even 10 $1 donations just because I know how much it takes to run NaNo.
If I can accomplish this (totally positive I can!) I plan to donate again at the end of the month. My goal this year went from donating $50 to donating $125 total collectively.
You guys could/should do that same. I am however, really happy to see our donation stats growing!!
----------Go StL!
My Writing Blog
Follow Me
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 23, 2009 - 05 26
Update:
Wrimos in United States :: Missouri :: St. Louis
* There are 220 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 25% are new to NaNoWriMo
* 10.91% of Wrimos in this region have donated 710.00 so far (thank you!)
* Wrimos in this region have written 0 words (0 per Wrimo with wordcount)
So we have upped our number of Wrimos but not our donations. If I recall correctly we pretty much planed out on donations as of Nov 1, 2008, then saw a small spike at the end of Nov/beginning of Dec 2008. If that pattern holds true then we need to boost this as much as possible before the writing begins.
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 24, 2009 - 16 46
WOOHOO!!!
We topped last year's donations and we haven't written a single word yet!
Wrimos in United States :: Missouri :: St. Louis
* There are 229 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 26% are new to NaNoWriMo
----------* 12.23% of Wrimos in this region have donated 780.00 so far (thank you!)
* Wrimos in this region have written 0 words (0 per Wrimo with wordcount
As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
40,037 / 50,000
oct. 25, 2009 - 20 26
Just as an update, there is now $32.02 in the St. Louis NaNoWriMo Donations collection jar.
Huzzah! Don't stop there, though. Wouldn't it be great if we could make it to $1k?
~j
----------Municipal Liaison for St. Louis, MO
Previous NaNovels: King Arthur, angels, dragons, the Forest Lord, and prostitutes. Apparently this year it's folks rising from the dead.
aspirations: http://etoiline.com
53,483 / 50,000
oct. 26, 2009 - 06 15
My writing group self-published a book of poems and essays (http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/in-the-moment---writing-from-a-spa...). We don't make a lot of money off it, and since there are 6 of us to split it between it's even less. I convinced 2 of the others (3 including myself, though I didn't need any convincing) to donate our latest cut to NaNoWriMo. One other may donate his, but I'm not sure yet.
A coworker of mine also bought a T-shirt. I know that's not a donation, but she doesn't even write, so I'm happy with it.
Jen
----------Reading and weeping opens the door to one’s heart, but writing and weeping opens the window to one’s soul. – M.K. Simmons
http://www.jenniferksights.com
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 28, 2009 - 12 49
Hmm.... we've been at $780 for 54 hours now....
*bump*
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 28, 2009 - 12 53
Hmm.... we've been at $780 for 54 hours now....
*bump*
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 29, 2009 - 03 37
Woot! The climb has slowed, but still continues!
Wrimos in United States :: Missouri :: St. Louis
* There are 275 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 32% are new to NaNoWriMo
----------* 10.55% of Wrimos in this region have donated 805.00 so far (thank you!)
* Wrimos in this region have written 0 words (0 per Wrimo with wordcount)
As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
42,933 / 50,000
oct. 29, 2009 - 06 32
Last year's NaNo was such a huge deal to me while I was unemployed, I donated what little I could afford. This year, I can afford a much bigger donation, but I wanted to see if I could do more than reach into my own pocket...
Borrowing from the NPR model, I'm gong to make a $10 matching donation for the next 10 StL Nano's who send me a NaNoMail stating that they've just donated (the halo next to your name will be my proof). So whether you can afford only the base $10 amount, or can go much higher, you can count on your amount increasing by an extra Hamilton.
This is a limited time offer... it expires when I've spent $100 or when November 1 rolls around; whichever comes first. So hurry and donate now!
----------- Robert
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 29, 2009 - 07 04
Quick! Call your parents/brother/sister/significant other or anyone else and ask them for a halo for Christmas if you don't already have one, but get them to do it for you before Nov 1st to take advantage of the extra $10 match!
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
50,058 / 50,000
oct. 29, 2009 - 16 01
I logged on to donate my $10 during my lunch break! Just catching up on my forums now :)
----------39,311 / 50,000
oct. 29, 2009 - 16 13
I have made a donation. Does an angel get his wings, or else make his word count for the day? :)
Jim
30,387 / 50,000
oct. 29, 2009 - 19 10
I did it! Me, broke college student on no budget. Why? Omegawolf's incentive. I can scrimp for a bit now instead of waiting. And who knows, maybe I'll find more later and give again. Why not? I like coffee. Why? So, so many reasons more.
Happy almost Halloween, all -- I'm going to go back to studying for my two midterms now.
-- Allie
42,933 / 50,000
oct. 30, 2009 - 05 52
Thanks to the five people who have donated and emailed me since yesterday, I'm $50 poorer! Thanks so very much. We just need 5 more of you to stop procrastinating and donate now!
----------- Robert
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 30, 2009 - 06 16
I just wanted to state for the record that Robert/Omegawolf absolutely rocks. I'm going to try that with my new region next year (I've moved to Columbia and will probably make them my home region next year). Right now they are sitting at $10 for the entire region. Not $10 per person... just $10.
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
52,334 / 50,000
oct. 30, 2009 - 08 04
I is officially doing the Happy Dance now!
Wrimos in United States :: Missouri :: St. Louis
* There are 290 Wrimos in this region (active and homed) - 34% are new to NaNoWriMo
* 12.07% of Wrimos in this region have donated 1010.00 so far (thank you!)
* Wrimos in this region have written 0 words (0 per Wrimo with wordcount)
If you want to see The Happy Dance live and in person, get the region to $1540 (double last year's total) by the TGIO Party and then attend the party.
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists