YO fundraising ideas + Marketplace subforum

[afkbottle]

Hi, guys. Here's some ideas for YO's fundraising:

 

Fundraising Marathon

• Fundraising in limited time slot
  
• Members can join by donating to YO (run in the marathon) or giving prizes for the winners (making lemonade stands lmao idk)
  
• The winners are those who accumulate the highest donation within that allocated time
  
• Member-sourced prizes can be things like artworks, fanfictions of their favorite pair/series/kink/etc, translation for raw title in YO at the winner's request, graphic skins, anything really
  
• Extra: it can also be sprint instead of marathon---but my brain is currently too sleepy to think of how
  
• Extra2: It's best to be paired with a special event, like YO birthday (which I don't know when by the way, sorry)
  

 

Patreon Touch-ups

Patreon is all about professionalism in passion, so the more polished it looks, the higher people's trust to donate. At least that's what I've seen so far, so here's what I think needs touch ups from YO's patreon:

• The banner resolution needs to be HQ. It's best by using original art and YO logo for stronger branding
  
• The video is better to directly plead for pledge instead of just introducing YO
  
• The reward tiers can be less forum-related and more service-related, maybe voting on next scanlation project of YO? Or other things that garner most attention for the members that's uniquely YO.
  

 

Marketplace Subforum

Actually it's similar to

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's suggestion about Promotion area, but I feel like being specific here and to make a connection of the existence of this subforum to YO's fundraising.

 

So the reason why I think it'll benefit YO's fundraising is because money is about give and take.

 

Right now, YO is attracting members who's used to free stuffs. That's a good thing for the mass, but that doesn't exactly make money circulate here. I refuse to believe that among tens of thousands---even hundreds of thousands---of members in YO, there are no one who makes a living at being yaoi-related creators. By giving these creators to provide their services here at "home", that means they also have the funds to give back to YO and we appeal for them to do so.

 

Of course, there should be some basic rules. Here's some:

- The post owner has to be the service provider, no promoting someone else's;

- The service provided has to be clear enough in the post instead of just linking out. That means details must be included in the post: Type of service, Price, How to order, How to pay, etc. Commission post, basically.

 

Also, don't put it down on the very bottom of the site please sobs. The positioning and having to dig deep to before someone gets attention is a bit disheartening. Or do it, but give chance for creators to pay to have "ads" in the more eyecatching places in YO. Discreet side banner? Promotion in the homepage? Let it be known that YO provides such space for the creators.

 

OK I think that's all for now, wow, I write this post for like two hours? o)---( Thanks for your considerations!

[Key]

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First of all, thank you for the suggestions. I will take them in turn and talk about each. (:

 

Fundraising Marathon

I honestly don't want to make our members 'compete' against each other in terms of how much money they have to spare. Some have more money, some less, but we treat everyone the same, and I like to think we can all escape, for a while, on YO from the real world, where one can buy/do anything with money. I mean, for example, giving someone the advantage to decide what our next project will be just because they have more money, isn't really how we like to do things, as we have a section where all members can request titles and we take them in turn, no advantages for anyone. So I'd honestly feel bad to make a member who requested a longer time ago wait even more just cause he/she doesn't have money. As for giving the 'winner' an artwork, well, they can request it for free in the GFX shops already. (:

 

Patreon Touch-ups

Thanks for the feedback, we will work on improving the appearance of the page. ;D

 

Marketplace Subforum

We already offer the possibility to advertise in the sidebar of the forum homepage as well as in threads (such threads are marked with the word 'Sponsored' in their title - examples of such threads:

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and

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- actually the only 2 sponsored threads we have). So I don't think we need a sub-forum for that, as we place the sponsored threads in appropriate sections, plus I am sure they get more views this way instead of all of them being placed in an 'advertising sub-forum' which most likely a lot of members won't want to visit, thinking it's spammy. But as you suggested, we should create a sort of thread where we let people know we have these advertising options and give details about them. (:

 

So, once again, thank you for your suggestions, really appreciated! ;D

[afkbottle]

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Thanks for the reply ^^

 

For funding marathon ideas, I took it from two sources. First is nanowrimo.org's fundraising strategies on November each year. Nanowrimo is also non-profit, community-based event, so while I see it as not something for every member, I can see the even to specifically target members who will donate in the first place... Just some fun stuffs to celebrate what we're already doing and maybe inspire to walk further : )

 

Second is how deviantArt members seem to usually hold an art contest of their OCs while gathering other dA members to provide winning prizes. What I meant here is that YO staffs don't have to be the sole prize providers. All of the examples of the prizes I mentioned above was by members for members.

 

As for artworks, what I meant is original artworks---drawn per request by the artist member who donates their service as a prize. Scanlation is the same, I didn't mean the "official" YO scanlations, but maybe there'll be members who would donate their translating and scanlating skills for the winner. (Me, for example, I totally would participate and open my own lemonade stands for YO cause if there's this kind of event.)

 

 

As for 3, I only realized that whoops, really sorry. I made a quick search too just now, but I haven't found the ways to actually have a sponsored thread or how much I have to pay. I'd really appreciate the quotes.

 

I respect the staffs' wishes. Thanks for listening in the first place!

 

However, would it be at all possible for an ordinary member like me to do that kind of fundraising event without any relations whatsoever to the staffs---and put it as sponsored thread? : D Will it go against TOS? If I were to gather member-based prizes like that, I don't think I could post it in Gallery thread, so where should I post it?

[Racheal]

 

Fundraising Marathon

I honestly don't want to make our members 'compete' against each other in terms of how much money they have to spare. Some have more money, some less, but we treat everyone the same, and I like to think we can all escape, for a while, on YO from the real world, where one can buy/do anything with money. I mean, for example, giving someone the advantage to decide what our next project will be just because they have more money, isn't really how we like to do things, as we have a section where all members can request titles and we take them in turn, no advantages for anyone. So I'd honestly feel bad to make a member who requested a longer time ago wait even more just cause he/she doesn't have money. As for giving the 'winner' an artwork, well, they can request it for free in the GFX shops already. (:

 

All this year I have been talking to you, and see the way you treat our members, I am already bewitched by such a gentleman you are, but Key... I am head over heel by your kindness and consideration now. I cannot even describe how appreciated I am for your patience, your kindness, and your dedication. Thank you so much for making "Our home" the way it is.

[voide]

wait, guys. YO has patreon?

 

also, seconded

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. thanks to Key & all YO staff. when i said YO is important to me, i mean it. at least for now. i didn't feel any pressure being here. YO helps me even in a small way for me to cope w the issue i've been having atm. thanks again.

[Lemur7]

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; ..do you think in the future YO might have it's own t-shirt like Boxtorrents , Demoniod had..???

or a tiny shop of mugs ,keychains,bookmarks..all with YO art work( like using the banner art on something?)

[Key]

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Yes, we did think of it a while back, but it's pretty complicated, as YO is not a commercial site (so with the implementation of GDPR it would be pretty tough), also handling all the shipping and everything. Plus we'd need original art, not downloaded images which have copyright and we'd need to find a company to actually print the banner on key chains, t-shirts, mugs etc. All these would require quite some time and investment.

[Lemur7]

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Yes, we did think of it a while back, but it's pretty complicated, as YO is not a commercial site (so with the implementation of GDPR it would be pretty tough), also handling all the shipping and everything. Plus we'd need original art, not downloaded images which have copyright and we'd need to find a company to actually print the banner on key chains, t-shirts, mugs etc. All these would require quite some time and investment.

 

Thank-you for they reply...yes very true,,now that I think about it both Box and Demonoid had people that actually had connections with people that did those things..making things super cheap all around...but it was a thought ..XD