A very long rant about crowdfunding

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Rob MacLennan said:
That's not crowdfunding, it's a company being able to say. "Look how much money WE donated to the cause."
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Since I work for CT and agree with how annoying they can be (they hit me as an employee twice as much as the general public) but! there are a lot of good people here working for Jumpstart and they honestly care about the program and the benefits to the beneficiaries which are mostly kids.

I understand that it is easy to generalize and make big corporations the ugly beast but at the end remember that there are dedicated people running these programs.

And yes of course PR is part of the game but at the end it does help people.
 
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WoBblyCaT said:
That's just it Brian, there's no investment! It's basically a donation without the tax receipt. The company or whatever they are just has to make a compelling video, not a business plan.
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While I agree with the fact that there's too many shady 'companies' just trying to get money out of 'investors' IMHO the issue isn't really with the company that's asking for money….it's with the PEOPLE who CHOOSE to get rid of their hard earned cash for a t-shirt or whatnot. The only reason that these companies go to crowd funding is because they see it as free money…if people were more selective in what they fund, there would be no profit in bilking them.

My buddy put money into Pebble Watch and got it (a few weeks late) but at least got something of value for his initial investment. If I see something that a) interested me enough to pay into b) actually made sense financially I would gladly put up some $. I'm very wary of these types of funding schemes and would prefer to keep my $ in my pocket.

Like the old saying goes 'A fool and his money are soon parted' It will stay true to the end of time.
 
Guilty as charged.

I come from a more socialistic and artistic background where it is more common/accepted that wealth is shared within a community to help out someone with a project/need.

Obviously this doesn't fly with the majority of GTAM community members. It is clear from the political discussions we have here that the membership has a right wing leaning, and altruism is not a strong characteristic in such a group.

I'd like to make two points:

1) No one is forcing anyone to contribute anything. It's voluntary, so there is no need for upset. It's like an product sitting on a store shelf: if you don't want to buy it, simply walk by. It would be silly to be upset that the store is advertising an article that you don't want.

2) I'm not asking for charity. I am (pre) selling photographs that I will take on this trip. This is offered as a substantial discount from photographs I sell the conventional way. I'm an award winning photographer, and produce black and white prints in a traditional manner using film and wet darkroom. My link takes you to samples of my work.

In hindsight, had I known this GTAM group better, I would not have offered this. In the very initial stages, I was encouraged and supported by STB, a very strong personality on GTAM, so I thought it would be okay. Thank you to the people who did contribute. I purchased the film for my trip with those monies. You will be receiving some great photographs by the end of this summer.

A journey on a vintage motorcycle using vintage photo equipment may be of interest to some.

Flame suit on, so have at it.
 
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R1timmay should have another fundraiser. Paul to the dunktank.
Zx600 could cough up another $20
 
Schneller said:
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I come from a more socialistic and artistic background where it is more common/accepted that wealth is shared within a community to help out someone with a project/need.

.
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I'm actually a person who don't need help unless I absolutely need it.

I have an acquaintance who said he need to borrow some money while on holiday. Should I forward you his contacts?
 
Schneller said:
Guilty as charged.

I come from a more socialistic and artistic background where it is more common/accepted that wealth is shared within a community to help out someone with a project/need.

Obviously this doesn't fly with the majority of GTAM community members. It is clear from the political discussions we have here that the membership has a right wing leaning, and altruism is not a strong characteristic in such a group.

I'd like to make two points:

1) No one is forcing anyone to contribute anything. It's voluntary, so there is no need for upset. It's like an article sitting on a store shelf: if you don't want to buy it, simply walk by. It would be silly to be upset that the store is advertising an article that you don't
want.

2) I'm not asking for charity. I am (pre) selling photographs that I will take on this trip. This is offered as a substantial discount from photographs I sell the conventional way. I'm an award winning photographer, and produce black and white prints in a traditional manner using film and wet darkroom. My link takes you to samples of my work. A photographic motorcycle journey may be of interest to some.

In hindsight, had I known this GTAM group better, I would not have offered this. In the very initial stages, I was encouraged and supported by STB, a very strong personality on GTAM, so I thought it would be okay. Thank you to the people who did contribute. I purchased the film for my trip with those monies. You will be receiving some great photographs by the end of this summer.

Flame suit on, so have at it.
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And if people consider this sort of 'documentary photography' to be worth throwing their money into the pot, then so be it. That's the sort of thing that crowdfunding is for. (You'll not that I'm also a photograhper, from the link in my sig). As I mentioned previously I even considered it when I was making my first racing photobook, but decided against it.

As stated in my original rant it's the big players who already have conventional sources of funding, and personal fortunes, who really cheese me off. Crowdfunding isn't for people who just want free money. It's for people who have developed a project as far as they can, on their own, and need help taking that next step.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
As stated in my original rant it's the big players who already have conventional sources of funding, and personal fortunes, who really cheese me off. Crowdfunding isn't for people who just want free money. It's for people who have developed a project as far as they can, on their own, and need help taking that next step.
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^-- This.

I've contributed money to Kickstarter for something I got value out of. They were designing a piece of equipment that I thought was useful. By contributing a set amount I got the product upon completion of the project for 25% off. It's the people that are already rich and the scammers that I have problems with.
 
Geez, I had no idea large companies were doing this -___-

The only thing I've given $$$ to on Kickstarer was Mighty No. 9 because Capcom killed Mega Man. I am honestly surprised at the numbers you posted. Are people REALLY this retarded?!
 
WoBblyCaT said:
^-- This.

I've contributed money to Kickstarter for something I got value out of. They were designing a piece of equipment that I thought was useful. By contributing a set amount I got the product upon completion of the project for 25% off. It's the people that are already rich and the scammers that I have problems with.
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And this is similar to the model that Zombie Orpheus Entertainment is moving to with their "Phase II." They'll continue funding specific projects through Kickstarter but for day-to-day production upkeep, and to bridge between projects now that they've gotten big enough to have full time staff, they're using a subscription model. Subscribers get access to a weekly subscribers only webcast (it's tonight), access to production blogs, information onongoing and upcoming projects, and discounts on product. So far the discount has been 50% and I got two DVDs for something like $23.00, shipped to my door from Seattle. For the cost of a theatre ticket a month I think it's well worth it.
 
crankcall said:
Its a different source of crowdfunding but I'm really burnt out on Indigo/Chapters hitting me for a donation to there love of reading program and CTC needing a donation for the jumpstart program and the LCBO never stopping fundraising for sick kids hospital, Walmart needing funding for whatever they run. I get it, ALL charities are important and deserve funding, but I'm sick of getting hit up 3-4 times a day.
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the big problem i have with this is that the various companies get a tax receipt for the money you donated.
 
CruisnGrrl said:
the big problem i have with this is that the various companies get a tax receipt for the money you donated.
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The credit for the donation, that is actually made by someone else, and the possible tax deductions are two issues for me. A third issue is that where I can generally find out what percent of a donation to a registered charity actually goes to administration or the actual goal, I've never seen that information from these checkout line collections.
 
You gents' seriously dont believe that the "Charity" gives kickbacks to Walmart, CT, etc etc? Puhlease.

These companies fully know that badgering customers pisses them off and lowers their productivity they would NOT be doing this if it wasnt a monetary benefit.

Most of todays charities are nothing more than money making corporations selling good feelings to suckers.

Remember Haiti? The number of charities that came out of the wood work to ask for money was sickening.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
The credit for the donation, that is actually made by someone else.
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Also not completely accurate, CTC matches some of the donations made to their Jumpstart program, also they constantly do Raffles with employees and my favorite "wear jeans to work for 2 weeks" donation, most employees donate annually to the program etc, this is money given by CTC employees and believe me there are a lot of us :)

It is easy to generalize and call them "The companies" but remember that these companies are made of people and the ones that are involved with programs like Jumpstart are not because they got stuck there, they are people that believe in helping others, I have meet many of them in person and this is why I have to defend them
 
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Red_Liner740 said:
You gents' seriously dont believe that the "Charity" gives kickbacks to Walmart, CT, etc etc? Puhlease.

These companies fully know that badgering customers pisses them off and lowers their productivity they would NOT be doing this if it wasnt a monetary benefit.

Most of todays charities are nothing more than money making corporations selling good feelings to suckers.

Remember Haiti? The number of charities that came out of the wood work to ask for money was sickening.
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ZX600 said:
Also not completely accurate, CTC matches some of the donations made to their Jumpstart program, also they constantly do Raffles with employees and my favorite "wear jeans to work for 2 weeks" donation, most employees donate annually to the program etc, this is money given by CTC employees and believe me there are a lot of us :)

It is easy to generalize and call them "The companies" but remember that these companies are made of people and the ones that are involved with programs like Jumpstart are not because they got stuck there, they are people that believe in helping others, I have meet many of them in person and this is why I have to defend them
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I can reply to both of these, with a single statement. The lack of transparency, in these programmes, is the issue. You don't know if some, all, or any of the money is actually remitted. No, they can't all be lumped together, but lack of transparency means I don't know which are good, and which are bad. I prefer to make any donations directly.

*EDIT* I also don't give to charities that solicit by phone, for the same reason. In that case I already know that at least half of my donation is going to be eaten up by the corporate entity, that's used to solicit the donations.
 
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I've started asking if they would like to donate to RFS when they ask me. When they say no then I say likewise.

Xmas was retarded. Can't get thru a store without being solicited at the cash and then you get dinged again at the doors.
 
CruisnGrrl said:
the big problem i have with this is that the various companies get a tax receipt for the money you donated.
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Not to mention the interest that accrues on the funds while they hold it.
 
ZX600 said:
Also not completely accurate, CTC matches some of the donations made to their Jumpstart program, also they constantly do Raffles with employees and my favorite "wear jeans to work for 2 weeks" donation, most employees donate annually to the program etc, this is money given by CTC employees and believe me there are a lot of us :)

It is easy to generalize and call them "The companies" but remember that these companies are made of people and the ones that are involved with programs like Jumpstart are not because they got stuck there, they are people that believe in helping others, I have meet many of them in person and this is why I have to defend them
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I wont argue the point, I put in my first shot over the bow about funding a charity with my cash, that ALL charities are important. And I firmly believe there are lots of good people working for and with them. My Mom put 20+ years into the Salvation Army.
I'm just tired of being accosted in the parking lot, having the guy try and get me to subscribe to the Toronto Star, then the girl solicits me in an aisle to sign up for a CTC mastercard (she has no idea where the ginsu knife set on sale is) , the cashier wants some donation, then we have a kid in the exit door looking for funds, its pretty tiresome.
 
crankcall said:
I wont argue the point, I put in my first shot over the bow about funding a charity with my cash, that ALL charities are important. And I firmly believe there are lots of good people working for and with them. My Mom put 20+ years into the Salvation Army.
I'm just tired of being accosted in the parking lot, having the guy try and get me to subscribe to the Toronto Star, then the girl solicits me in an aisle to sign up for a CTC mastercard (she has no idea where the ginsu knife set on sale is) , the cashier wants some donation, then we have a kid in the exit door looking for funds, its pretty tiresome.
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Are you willing to donate to my New motorcycle Fund??

Sent from my tablet using my paws
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