FAQs - Questions and Answers Thread

[passionista23]

Here's where we're going to put ALL of the Q&A for this community.
Feel free to ask questions about anything and we'll try to help you out.

 
1. Where can I find more information on the current charity?

 

http://www.barriodogs.org/

2. Where can I donate for the charity?

 

Through their website: http://www.barriodogs.org/donations.html

 

3. Can I donate without being a part of the auction?

 

ABSOLUTELY! Please. Help in any way you can! I'm sure that the charity would love your help no matter when it comes to them.

 

4. What are the dates of this auction?

Posting of Offers Ends: 11:59pm EST January 31, 2014
Bidding Begins: 12:01am EST February 1, 2014
Bidding Ends: 11:30pm EST February 9, 2014

 

5. How can I link to you?

 

Brand new banners and ads are coming soon!

 

6. Can I post even though I don't have a Dreamwidth account?

 

Absolutely. Use open id to post - More Information Here! OR see cee's tutorial here.

 

7. When should items be delivered by?

 

No more than six months! Some things require a large amount of time to complete so if you think it will take longer than six months, put your timeline information in your notes to the bidder. Also, I will be setting up a special collective at Archive of Our Own for finished projects!

 

8. How does donation/confirmation work for this auction?

 

The bidder is responsible for going to the site and donating whatever your winning auction price is. Then you would email your confirmation email/screenshot (with all the important info. like account numbers blacked out!) to Daphne (the head admin of this project) here and I will let the maker know you have gone through with the donation. Then the fun part begins! Where they make you whatever you asked for - be it a fan fic, icons, other graphics, et al.

 

9. You didn’t make a lot of money last time. Why should I sign up this year?

 

Simply because every little bit helps! Seriously, it does. But this year we are mass spamming everyone, asking anyone and everyone to help out. We have set our goal to raise $500 at least. Please help us meet our goal.

 

10. Who’s running this program?

 

Passionista23 and her good friend Sharon! J

 
11. I thought this auction was going to support "The Willie-Coppee Fund". What's "Barrio Dogs"?

We were going to send all donations to "The Willie-Coppee Fund" and still believe in the cause BUT at this point, it is not a 501C-recognized charity which means it’s not tax-deductible. You may still donate to the program yourself but please know those things in advance. For now, we will be supporting "Barrio Dogs" which is a similar program but is more wide-spread. It focuses on giving proper animal care in low income communities. “Because there is a huge animal overpopulation problem in these inner city communities more emphasis on spay and neutering is vital."

Thank you for understanding the change and know that "Barrio Dogs" is indeed tax-deductible and recognized as a 501C organization.

 

Any further questions, comment below and we'll answer ASAP!

Comments

[akamine_chan]

I have a couple of concerns about the charity you have selected.

The first is that the Willie-Coppee Fund is not a registered 501(c) nonprofit organization, which means donations are not tax-deductible. But this also means that the Willie-Coppee Fund is not required to be accountable to anyone.

There's no way to see how much of donations are going directly to animal care, versus paying for administrative costs, salaries, etc.

The donations (according to the Willie-Coppee Fund website) are sent directly to the Sherman Oaks Veterinary Group. There's no indication of how decisions to spend the money are made. The vet's website has no indication that they have funds available for use in helping pay for animal care/emergency situations. There's no application, so how do they decide who gets money? Do they have a process for determining that? What is it based on?

The second issue I see is that the Sherman Oaks Veterinary Group is located in a fairly affluent section of Los Angeles. And while I'm sure there are instances where pet medical bills are difficult for people in Sherman Oaks to pay, I would be happier to see a charity that wasn't so narrow in scope.

To me, it'd be a bonus if the animal charity worked with the poor or inner city residents (like Barrio Dogs). Other excellent animal charities that I know about off the top of my head include Best Friends Animal Society and Red Rover.

All three of these organizations are registered 501(c) nonprofits and both Best Friends and Red Rover have their financial reports available for anyone to read.

[passionista23]

Oh wow. I thought this was applicable. I will look into Barrio Dogs. Thanks for letting me know and announce it ASAP. Thank you.

[passionista23]

You're right. I looked into Barrio Dogs and that seems like an awesome program. I changed the details. People still can donate to Willie-Coppee but that's a separate thing. Barrio Dogs will be our pick. Sorry for that confusion I caused.

[passionista23]

Thanks again to akamine_chan for pointing this out early one so we could fix it. Please see FAQ #11 for explanations.

[crookedspoon]

Is it possible to give bidders a buy-it-now option for microfic (or, buy it after Feb 1)?

[passionista23]

That's actually a good idea! You can put the option in your post that it's on a "Buy It Now" basis. So the first person who responds gets it! It can be bought during the regular sale which begins on the 1st. Thank you for asking. I hope this helps everyone!

[crookedspoon]

Thank you! If I was then willing to write about 5 microfic, should I make 5 seperate posts or can I say "the first 5 people who respond to this..."?

[passionista23]

The "first 5 people" sounds perfect. Thanks a bunch!