First Fundraiser wrap up and thoughts

I didn’t do a proper blog post on Friday, just a promo for a spur-of-the-minute fundraiser inspired by discovering TipJoy via Twitter. I will return to regular blogging shortly, but I wanted to discuss what I did right and wrong during this first cyber-push.

I confirmed some suspicions I had about fundraising, people and Project Pastiche itself these last few days. I had a feeling that this would be great for Project Pastiche’s visibility, and I was absolutely right. I gained new members for the Project, and got donations from absolute strangers thanks to a key set of awesome people. It also confirmed my personal opinions that positive language is the best way to go, and that no matter how positive you are, people will help you out with what you can do better.

For example, some of the things I say on my site make me uncomfortable. The specific quote is

“The surgery is life-preserving and very necessary.”

It’s kinda sketchy, but I couldn’t think of a better way to say it. I knew that at some point, someone would criticise it, and they did:

I have a problem with his claim that this surgery is “life-preserving and very necessary”. The only “risk” is that he might get depressed and commit suicide if people don’t give him money for a sex change.

That’s just juvenile. Lots of people want things really, really badly. Unless they’re under the age of 12, they don’t threaten to kill themselves if someone else doesn’t buy them what they want.

I responded with backup evidence (including a statement from the AMA) and asked the commenter what he would say. Unfortunately no response has been offered, so I’m opening this up for you, gentle reader. How would you say it?

Other things I did right:

• Repeated requests for retweets
• Keeping people updated on the status of the drive (on Twitter and Facebook alike)
• Keeping these posts minimal–counter-intuitive to many Twitterers, but quite frankly, I don’t want to see 5 posts on the same thing in a row. I’m likely to unfollow or leave an email list because that person starts to look like a greedy gus to me. I’ve got my own bills and so do you.
• I have to hat-tip to Save Karyn once again, because $1 is not intimidating. Some give less, some give more, but no matter how little people do or give, it means a lot.

Things I could have done better:

• Made sure I knew TipJoy’s technology before I tried to use it, but I got a laugh out of my own shortcomings!
• Done some kind of warm-up to let people know this was coming.

Some things that surprised me:

• Just how effective this was for publicity and funds
• TipJoy’s fee for service? 1.05%. Paypal is nearly double that, so I may transfer everything over.
• I really need to up my comprehension before I do that.

Either way, I came away from that event really excited for the future of the Project… it only reinforced my belief that Project Pastiche will succeed. As always, I would love your feedback and suggestions… and by all means, the donations still coming in to my TipJoy Account are still welcome!

Transsexual Metaphor

Imagine being a record player, and everyone that ever interacted with you tried to get you to play CDs. Depending on who your friends and family are, they may get the message and adjust their expectations… or not. Whether or not it’s intended as abuse, it can have that effect.

Even if your friends and family stop, there’s still strangers wandering by putting CDs on you (bosses, coworkers, teachers, classmates, random public). You can stop seeing who you are. You can stop knowing who you are. Stop believing in yourself. Transition is a recognition of this disconnect and a start to approaching the truth.