Mastodawn

My goal is to raise $10,000 and split it into 4-5 microgrants.

Ideally I'd like to have at least one be a person who hasn't started a project yet, so that this is the boost they need to get going.

Jan Lehnardt

@evan might be worth putting that in the fundraising description. Also a note about how the grantees are chosen.

Tim Chambers Jul 17, 2023

@evan Evan if it isn’t on your radar, check out @eveiswurzig and their efforts with their Wibblur server… very promising… 😀

@tchambers @eveiswurzig yes, we talked this morning, and I'm already a Patreon patron!

Tim Chambers Jul 17, 2023

@evan @eveiswurzig

👏 👏 👏

@tchambers @evan @[email protected]

FWIW people like me need LAWYERS as well if not more than just the money

1. IP lawyers to help secure trademarks, logos & domain names; that understand the dynamics of getting them and how difficult it is to secure that from squatters/extortionists. know too many black folks like me who lost domains due no $ nor lawyers

2. lawyers to incorporate; especially with COOP experience.

and with that

3. we need coop mentors; to help structure the work & sustainability

@blogdiva OK, these are good asks.

We just went through the process of incorporating a Canadian coop for cosocial.ca, so this stuff is fresh on our minds!

The BC coop association contributed some pro bono consulting time, which really helped.

@jai led our incorporation and could probably answer questions.

And I know @DickHardt did something similar with hello.coop and answered some questions for @J12t recently.

@dawn also has been really instrumental in organising our plans.

@blogdiva @jai @DickHardt @J12t @dawn

Also @ntnsndr founded social.coop and gave us advice and suggestions. He's really nice and would probably love to help you out.

Jai Djwa Jul 17, 2023

@evan @blogdiva @DickHardt @J12t @dawn @ntnsndr yes happy to share info about coops

Bee🐝Jul 17, 2023

@jai @evan @blogdiva @DickHardt @[email protected] @dawn @ntnsndr Are you talking about worker coops or something else?

Old Tom Jul 17, 2023

@evan
Good reference. @ntnsndr CO-founded social.coop with several others. Nathan’s Colorado crony Jason Wiener is a topnotch co-op & platform co-op atty who might could share some wisdom on the US corp & liability legal system. I can share advice as well.

@blogdiva @jai @DickHardt @J12t @dawn

Nathan Schneider Jul 17, 2023

@beckett @evan @blogdiva @jai @DickHardt @J12t @dawn totally happy to compare notes, and I am very happy to hear about this!

@evan @jai @DickHardt @[email protected] @dawn

🗣️ 📣 AM ALREADY EXCITED!!!

dragfyre Jul 18, 2023

@evan @blogdiva @jai @DickHardt @J12t @dawn Keeping a watchful eye on this thread. We've also been discussing coops for #Pinetta.

James M Branum - יעקב מתתיהו ☮Jul 19, 2023

@blogdiva @tchambers @evan @eveiswurzig I occasionally do legal work for a coop in Oklahoma so have a limited amount of experience with a variety of coop law issues.

I think coops have a tremendous possibility for social good, so If anyone is looking to set up a progressively-minded #coop under #Oklahoma law, I am willing to donate 2 hours of pro Bono time to help with the startup process.

your auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Jul 19, 2023

@jmb @tchambers @evan @[email protected] this is what am talking about! thank you. was just thinking about what the next steps would be. i'll follow up tomorrow with some ideas.

@blogdiva @tchambers @evan @eveiswurzig

Will 🌹🏴Jul 19, 2023

We found a great coop mentor and coop lawyer for Immers Space that helped us develop our cooperative model, write bylaws, and get incorporated.

Are you US-based?

Nemo_bis 🌈Jul 21, 2023

@datatitian I didn't know or I forgot you were a coop. Is Immers Space LWCA your legal name? Are all coops LLC in Illinois?
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_il/LLC_08241783

Will 🌹🏴Jul 21, 2023

@nemobis there are a few different ways to organize a coop under more general business types, but the LWCA is the only one just for worker cooperatives. It's only been available for a few years

Nemo_bis 🌈Jul 21, 2023

@datatitian Interesting, thanks!

https://www.gofundme.com/c/terms

GoFundMe shut down this fundraising campaign for violating their terms, in particular "Prohibited conduct".

I don't have any more details from GFM, but my guess is that the description wasn't clear enough, or just didn't vibe with their work.

In the setup for a campaign they say you can raise funds to distribute to others, but I guess this particular case rings alarm bells.

Anyway, please check below for ways to help out!

UPDATE: they don't allow giving grants.

GoFundMe Terms of Service

Read GoFundMe's Terms of Service

GoFundMe

These are great fediverse projects led by and for Black people. Please support them with your $$$!

https://www.patreon.com/Wibblur/ is Social Media by the people, for the people

https://www.patreon.com/andcomputers is making blacktwitter.io

https://blackqueer.life/ is a welcoming community for all Black queer, trans, and gender nonconforming people

https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-new-way-to-social-media Ro is making a new way to social media

Patreon

Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

Patreon

Here's what I sent to GFM:

So, can I talk to someone about what happened here?

I’m an Open Source software developer and community leader. I was trying to raise funds to support some of the great Black-led projects in my area of software development (federated social networking).

At sign-up, it said I could find people to give funds to; it didn’t have to be defined at the beginning.

I was surprised to see the fund shut down.

[cont'd...]

[...]

Is there something I could change to make this campaign suitable for GoFundMe? Or am I banned from the platform now?

Here's what they sent back!

'GoFundMe cannot process payments for "annuities, investments, equity or lottery contracts, lay-away systems, off-shore banking or similar transactions, money transfer services (including currency exchanges, check cashing or the like), debt collection or crypto-currencies."'

[cont'd]

This includes using GoFundMe for investors to contribute to a business or for any venture that offers a return on investment.

Additionally, GoFundMe donations cannot be treated as loans and organizers cannot offer to pay back their donors.

The only thing I can think of is that the last two paragraphs of the description (same as the start of this thread) are like: give some money if you have it, ask for money if you need it.

That might have triggered their idea that this was some kind of sneaky financial scam.

Hippy Steve Jul 17, 2023

@evan I suspect they think its to fund a for-profit business venture due to a lack of understanding regarding federated social media. perhaps it would have been less suspect if couched in terms more similar to say a public radio station for an underserved community.

Emelia 👸🏻Jul 17, 2023

@evan yeah, funding sites are particularly difficult to deal with in this way, for a variety of reasons.

You're probably better off finding existing funds (e.g., @Are0h's campaign) and amplifying those, rather than to act as a middle-person between funders and fund recipients.

Kevin Teljeur ❄️Jul 18, 2023

@evan That’s very unfortunate. This is a wonderful hoisting/rebalancing initiative to help people who are finding it hard to get a foothold in this space.

Evan Prodromou Jul 18, 2023

@kevinteljeur thanks. We'll figure it out!

Kevin Teljeur ❄️Jul 18, 2023

@evan 👊

Rob Bos Jul 18, 2023

@evan That sounds like a plausible interpretation. To them it might have read like "we're trying to fund our social media business". I don't doubt they have to deal with a lot of scams.

This is a very copypaste answer, I doubt any thought went into it.

OpenDNA⚙️Jul 19, 2023

@evan Frame your GFM as raising donations for a grant-making fund dedicated to increasing racial diversity in the fediverse. Then you can list "projects we support". Even better if you can find a sympathetic non-profit to hold the bank account.

I expect you'll need to get the text tight because it's 100% going to get reported by some bullet-head.

@evan maybe this is an opportunity to ask around about open collective and see how they fit as service or even a partner?

Boris Mann Jul 17, 2023

@blogdiva @evan yep, Open Collective is good for this, including being able to directly have sub-projects, if so desired.

It's mostly about finding a fiscal host to accept you.

@boris @evan interesting, thanks. so they don't do the fiduciary thing? they're just a middle people? or like a bank?

Boris Mann Jul 17, 2023

@blogdiva @evan or depends ;)

They are a full stack software platform. They have several fiscal hosts of their own in different countries, focused on open source.

Fiscal hosts can sign up use the platform and serve groups of people who don’t even need an org or bank account, or, if you’re an active organization with a bank account, you can just use the tools directly.

O! ver

@evan Do you mention that the money is dedicated mostly to host free services on a web server?

@olireiv you saw the previous post that had the content of my email right?

O! ver

@evan Yes, but GoFundMe (or the poorly paid Global South moderator) doesn't necessarily know what Mastodon is.

Nemo_bis 🌈Jul 17, 2023

@evan Maybe it fits an #OpenCollective "project" (if #CosocialCa is over there)?
https://docs.opencollective.com/help/collectives/projects

Projects | Open Collective Docs

Stephen Michael Kellat Jul 17, 2023

@evan I was wondering what the refund e-mail was about. That’s too bad.

toxtethogrady Jul 17, 2023

@evan The only conduct that should be prohibited is raising money to arm an insurrection. They should themselves GoFuckYourself...

Jürgen Hubert Jul 19, 2023

@evan What the fuck?

@evan welp... this would be helpful indeed. i'll check it out.

@BegoniaArizona Jul 17, 2023

@evan “some” of the donated money??

@BegoniaArizona yes, I set a goal of $10K on the fundraising, and I was hoping to distribute it to 4-5 different projects.

All of the money will go to Black-led projects on the fediverse, but each project will only get some of the money.

Does that make sense?

@BegoniaArizona Jul 17, 2023

@evan yes thank you for being explicit. Transparency is important. I remember donating to Tamil Rice’s mother after her child was murdered by Cleveland police. Sean King raised $25000 and Samara Rice never received a penny. Very cautious about white folks (like myself) collecting money on behalf of people of color. To assume “they” need “our” management or supervision is another form of so-called white supremacy (sic).

BlackPixelDust: Art

@evan
I'm confused. This sounds like a decent idea but where are the Black people in your project? Who are you working with to oversee these funds and the distribution of these funds to a Black fediverse instance?
Are these starter funds? Or will it be continuous donations?
Your mission is a bit vague and you need more Black input.

Can I direct you to @BlackMastodon because some people already have Black masto instances.

@jtphillipsmnr Absolutely, thanks.

My hope is to use whatever juice I have in the fediverse to get funds directed to Black leaders and builders then get out of the way.

I have talked to a couple of people about funds oversight. I will ask if they're OK with me putting their name on the project.

I didn't want to trade on anyone else's reputation to raise funds.

This would be 4-5 one-time grants, around US$2K. Helpful for people's time and server costs for small or medium-sized projects.

@jtphillipsmnr most of the grantees I have in mind already have GoFundMes or Patreons set up, so it'd be a pretty straightforward transfer of funds directly to the grantees.

I'd also love to see at least one person who hasn't started a project before get some money to start it.

Pax Ahimsa Gethen Jul 17, 2023

@evan

Link says "Campaign Not Found" for me.

@funcrunch it got shut down

the people's eva Jul 17, 2023

@evan I am interested in this! My instance is still small and quite new, but I think we are a good fit. We are currently in the process of setting up a payment fund to allow for easy donations.

Gaëtan Perrault Jul 17, 2023

@evan I'm getting a 404 from Canada.