It's September 1 - and that generally means we're all heading back to Hogwarts, even if it's only virtually. We're celebrating at FictionAlley, and also commemorating the major milestone that we reached this summer - our ninth anniversary! Unfortunately, we were still suffering from the unexpected and prolonged downtime so we couldn't celebrate - but as you know, we're back now, and it looks like things are stabilized!
Alas, we are not sure whether our current ISP/server situation will allow us to make it to our tenth anniversary.
The company that had graciously and wonderfully hosted FictionAlley for years, allowing us to be mostly ad-free and enabling us to focus our fundraising efforts on projects like the Katie O'Brien Memorial Scholarship, has been purchased by a larger company, and while they are able to give us a discount on hosting fees, we've gone from paying nothing to paying about two hundred dollars a month.
The staff of FictionAlley has been able to underwrite this for the last few months, but we can't continue doing so without two changes, a request, a question and a project.
First, the changes:
1. There will be more ads on FictionAlley - Google ads on the front page and what we hope will be unobtrusive and noninvasive ads in FictionAlley Park. We will, at this point, not put banner ads on pages with fics, although if we don't get enough donations, that may have to change later on. If you see an ad that you're interested in, please click on it!
2. We are going to send occasional emails reminding our registered users to purchase iTunes downloads and apps via our iTunes link, and to purchase items on
Amazon - if you want to buy the new Harry Potter LEGO game, for example, or pre-order the next series of GLEE or get Naomi Novik's new novel, it would benefit FictionAlley and all of us if you did so using our links. When the
Deathly Hallows films are released, you'll be able to buy tickets via our links, and support FictionAlley while enjoying the films.
The Request:
Please, donate to support FictionAlley. Anything donated above and beyond our immediate needs for hosting fees will go into our Buy Our Own Servers fund, which will give us more control over our servers and lower prices for monthly hosting costs.
Donate via RAZOO and help us get $1000 in matching funds by December 31, 2010:
Donate via PayPal
We are enrolled in Matching Fund plans at Google, which would result in a doubling of your donation's value. Other companies also have matching fund plans, and we are happy to supply whatever information is necessary so you and we can utilize that. Let us know if you have any questions or need more information.
At this point, $800 will cover our hosting costs for the rest of the year, and $4000 will cover new servers so that starting in 2011, we can be independent and not worry about unexpected ISP fees. In other words, if about 350 people give fifteen dollars each, we are all set. Anything above and beyond that will go to revamp the site, modernize and upgrade the art and fic submission and review process, and create a system that will allow us to host larger-scale group projects.
Can you help? Can you send five, ten, fifteen or fifty dollars via PayPal to SupportFA@fictionalley.org this month, or donate $5 every month? You don't need a PayPal account - if you don't have one, you can use a major credit card.
(Or if you're with an ISP that might be able to underwrite some or all of our three-server configuration, please email me!)
Also, if you're planning on shopping through Amazon or other stores, please use the links at
this page or shop via
iGive. A portion of every dollar you spend at those stores is donated by the store to FictionAlley.
Thank you so much for all your support.
Best,
Team FictionAlley
PS - Remember, FictionAlley is a 501(c)(3) - we were one of hte first fan-groups to ever get that designation. In other words, all this means that contributions to FictionAlley, as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, may be eligible for deduction when computing your income taxes in the United States; please check with your tax planner, attorney or accountant if you have any questions or for specific information, or if you are from a country other than the United States.
