[Euchre]

I think the t-shirt idea is a good one, and is not easily compared with the uF branded items because game specific content is more compelling and ephemeral in most cases. You can always buy a uF shirt, but not so many would buy a Why So Serious fan art shirt now - but would have when the game was going on. I've also noticed that the idea to make shirts for both Super 8 and Flynn Lives have stalled, because there isn't a store to go ahead and set them up on. If uF hosted the shirts in its store, there could be a faster implementation of ideas and a better chance of actual product being made and sold, and would probably be more open. The Super 8 idea to make We Must Party shirts in part stalled because whoever decided to host the store was pretty much going to decide which design(s) were 'winners' and 'losers' by what they were willing to carry. A uF store could support user contributions with less concern over choosing one fan art design over another.

I'll work on more ideas, but I have some old ones to discuss with the Spacely one too.

[October]

I'm not trying to be discouraging to you. And I don't have any say in how the fundraising goes down, so don't mind me. Thank you for helping us brainstorm this!!

[ljm]

I wasn't suggesting you use IG IP. If you look at the Super 8 t-shirt thread, almost all of the artwork is original and is suggestive of what's IG without taking the Rocket Poppeteers logo, for example. It was just an idea, apparently not a popular one. Just trying to help out!

[October]

The problem is that those games are someone else's IP - I mean, some PMs might give uF permission to do that, but we would definitely have to have permission from the creators before producing something to sell for uF that uses logos/images/content from a game.

[ljm]

Rogi Ocnorb wrote:

ljm wrote: T-shirts! Not necessarily uF branded shirts, so much as game specific shirts like what were being designed for Super 8. Your wholesale cost on a t-shirt screen printed with two colors should be under 4 dollars, and most people are happy to pay $15. There are the obvious sites out there that prevent you from having to put the costs up front and instead collect revenue... Spreadshirt, CafePress, etc. Just a thought. I'd be happy to do some shirt design if that helps at all, I have quite a bit of experience with it. points to that randomized link in the upper right corner

Points to the part where I said NOT uF branded shirts, but more game specific ones that are already happening.

[October]

I second the yearly (or twice-yearly) fundraiser drive idea suggested upthread. The fund-raising event should be widely advertised here on the site so that people could be aware of it. An ARGN article on the fundraiser would also be helpful.

The "this week sponsored by" recognition is only for donations of $100 or more (as it should be), and I think some people might feel that if they can't afford to donate $100, their donation wouldn't help much. We know that's not true - every little bit helps. Because of this, I think a site-wide fundraising donation drive would be very helpful. Make everyone aware that even five bucks will help. Put the donor names or aliases (if they so choose) on a special recognition page regardless of the contribution amount during the fundraiser. I think you'll see a good turnout. We have a lot of members; even $5 from half of them would be a good thing for unFiction, and I think you would see even more than that from several.

I do want to point out that having a dinner or any activity of that sort would be counterproductive - organizing events costs money like whoa.

If we do a fundraiser, here are some "rewards" to consider, sorted by different levels of contribution.
-- Everyone gets their name on a contribution page, regardless of the size of the donation.
-- Contribution badges for our signatures would be a nice "thank you" and would cost nothing to make (I or anyone with some graphic arts experience could make them).
-- Order of the Trout recognition (with or without buttons - it would depend on cost) and maybe a special Order of the Trout gathering during ARGFest?
-- Put donors at a certain contribution level into a rotating "member of the day" recognition spot, perhaps? I am *not* suggesting that we do away with the "sponsored by" recognition - this is something that would be in addition to that.
-- We could also have a prize drawing at the end of the fundraiser: separate drawings for different levels of contribution, with prizes being historic swag (I have some to donate!), a drawing for a chance to win an invitation to a private ARGFest event during the 'Fest, etc.

We do something like this on another site that I belong to, and we gather in enough annually to support the site and two official annual events, as well as offering a small annual memorial scholarship. If you'd like some details about how this is organized, I'd be happy to get them for you!

(edited a million times because I keep thinking of stuff to add.)

[FilmEdge]

Re: fundraiser with a little extra

[notgordian]

What about having more location-specific events popping up in the Social Interactions section, with suggested donations for attendance to go to Unfiction? ARGFest comes but once a year, and there are increasingly becoming ARG/transmedia-centric hubs of conversation (I'm thinking of NY, Toronto, and LA in particular, although there are a number of other growing hubs) with periodic meet-ups.

I was planning on seeing who would be interested in getting together in the Philadelphia area this fall, and would not be opposed to giving the fundraiser aspect a try.

[Caseys_Mom]

Instead of actual advertising, you could get a reseller account for webhosting. Ideally the PM's could then get their hosting plans from you, and you could earn the money for that.

[ladywyntir]

fundraiser with a little extra

[diszaster]

Uhm... the no advertising thing is killer, quite frankly.

Why not make the sponsorship thing ("This week sponsored by") bigger? Then it might be easier to sell sponsorship to some of the bigger production companies.... If the space was bigger, you could raise the bar to get into that space.

Maybe stick the bigger sponsorship thing in the hot upper-right corner. Or even a banner. (banners are yucky, nvm)

But... really, isn't that advertising too?

(edit: or possibly, still keep the small middle space for private individuals and their avs, but add a bigger space in the hot corner for bigger sponsors.)

[Tenshi Akui]

I missed that one. Sorry my bad. I'd self-trout but I dont know if that applies here

[natas]

Tenshi Akui wrote:

Wait what about "Offical" Unfiction email addresses? You know for a fee you get usernameSPLATunfiction.com email for all your ARG needs? I knwo whith having all the free mail services it may be pointless but there has to be someone out there who would be interested in having a unfiction.com email.

Already discussed above.

[vapor]

Maybe an annual fund-raiser/sweepstakes. We could make it fun. Maybe give prizes/badges for donations. It would not be a steady stream of income but I bet if done proper it could pad the coffers nicely. Give the forum a chance to not only survive but also to grow.

Whatever is decided I know that uF will have the support of the many people that cherish it.

[Tenshi Akui]

Oh well it was the only thing I could think of that didn't involve advertising.

Wait what about "Offical" Unfiction email addresses? You know for a fee you get usernameSPLATunfiction.com email for all your ARG needs? I knwo whith having all the free mail services it may be pointless but there has to be someone out there who would be interested in having a unfiction.com email.

The only other thing I can think of is subdomain web hosting. But that can be a pain.