Author Topic: March 2011 DonationCoder.com Fundraiser Celebration -- Ideas for Special Events? (Read 55535 times)

MilesAhead · « **Reply #25 on:** February 11, 2011, 06:49 PM »

my autographed pics
-MilesAhead (February 11, 2011, 04:08 PM)

You pogoniate devil, you!
-cranioscopical (February 11, 2011, 06:34 PM)

My sesquipedalian attributes have atrophied. Now you gonna' keep making me use FARR define alias!! Sheesh!

worstje · « **Reply #26 on:** February 11, 2011, 08:36 PM »

I'd be willing to split the proceeds from people buying my autographed pics at $10 a pop:

Me

-MilesAhead (February 11, 2011, 04:08 PM)

Judging by the hat, I assume that's actually worstje?
-timns (February 11, 2011, 04:17 PM)

I shall announce that I feel absolutely no compulsion not to lie and thusly admit that is indeed me.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #27 on:** February 11, 2011, 10:32 PM »

My sesquipedalian attributes have atrophied.
-MilesAhead (February 11, 2011, 06:49 PM)

Not to worry, half a yard is better than no yard at all

mouser · « **Reply #28 on:** February 12, 2011, 08:40 AM »

Keep the big ideas coming.. would be nice if we came up with something uniquely clever and fun to do.

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #29 on:** February 13, 2011, 02:33 AM »

It seems sensible to focus on the unique aspects of DC, which I think community features pretty high.

It would be great to have a Coding Snack a day, Mini-Review a day, and other ??? a days... organising it could be a bit of an issue... maybe we could just open threads and members can post and a moderator can select to publish?

I also like something simple like "a buck a day"...

Then it can all be packaged at the end of March in a Newsletter (it'd be pretty huge)...

Keeping it simple is key (I think)... "31 Days of Snacks, Reviews and News" type thing?

nosh · « **Reply #30 on:** February 13, 2011, 04:39 AM »

mahesh, check this out.
http://www.axisbank....easy-credit-card.asp

I believe there are a couple of other banks that also issue similar (FD based) credit cards. Your credit is limited to 80% of your FD amount. As you probably know, Paypal won't let you deposit funds into your a/c, but making an overseas payment shouldn't be a problem.

mahesh2k · « **Reply #31 on:** February 13, 2011, 05:40 AM »

Thanks a lot nosh.

I've IDBI/SBI bank accounts and debit cards from those banks are useless for online usage. Unfortunately there is no FD card facility with these two banks. SBI don't even allow 'auto debit rebill facility' for credit cards. I verified my paypal using VCC so never had payment issue earlier but from now on due to policy changes, i need to get card for overseas/online payments.

Thanks a lot of axis bank link. I think this will solve my problem because FD limit is low and and i can also use 'auto debit rebill' for credit card spending online.

40hz · « **Reply #32 on:** February 13, 2011, 11:29 AM »

Should we primarily focus on techy type stuff or open the doors to anything?

40hz · « **Reply #33 on:** February 13, 2011, 11:33 AM »

ok...I spent some time trying to think of something that could be non-goofball fun; but also be in keeping with the coding roots of DC.

I'm thinking maybe a small contest to see who can come up with the absolutely smallest program in (lines of original code) to do something that is unambiguously and generally useful. If you need an example, think of something like Steve Miller's PureText which weighs in at 12kbytes..

It could be broken into two groups to keep it fair: programs that are coded in a traditional language, and script language based programs.

I don't think you should penalize for taking advantage of a runtime or framework since the ability to leverage an available resource or existing codebase is the trademark of a professional programmer.

Groups could be further subdivided into "most useful" and "smallest size." Ideally, the "best" program would win in both categories.

Anyway, that's my suggestion.

mahesh2k · « **Reply #34 on:** February 13, 2011, 11:44 AM »

I'm fan of solving real world problems that are bugging others. In this case, why not take coding snack idea to next level and solve some typical problems to raise fund ?

40hz · « **Reply #35 on:** February 13, 2011, 11:50 AM »

I'm fan of solving real world problems that are bugging others. In this case, why not take coding snack idea to next level and solve some typical problems to raise fund ?
-mahesh2k (February 13, 2011, 11:44 AM)

Wouldn't that fall more under the heading of contract coding as opposed to fundraising?

Might not be a bad paid service to offer on an ongoing basis, although how you'd square a pay-for-requested-code system with the donation model espoused by Mouser is anybody's guess.

timns · « **Reply #36 on:** February 13, 2011, 12:02 PM »

A while back, we (my company) attended charity auction. Our bid won one of the services on offer: the designer offered 10 hours of design work in exchange for our donation.

If anyone here has services that they are willing to offer in return for a decent contribution to the DC fund, that might appeal.

mahesh2k · « **Reply #37 on:** February 13, 2011, 12:20 PM »

Wouldn't that fall more under the heading of contract coding as opposed to fundraising?

Might not be a bad paid service to offer on an ongoing basis, although how you'd square a pay-for-requested-code system with the donation model espoused by Mouser is anybody's guess.

No. I mean just take coding snack up for the event. If someone just posts only idea but don't think for donating then no worries. Like any other coding snack ideas, we just code for the idea we think are possible. Others can blog about this and based on that more donations and traffic/member is possible. It's not paid contract or like that. Same coding snack but chance of producing more apps in one month.

40hz · « **Reply #38 on:** February 13, 2011, 12:23 PM »

^ok. Now I get it.

mouser · « **Reply #39 on:** February 14, 2011, 07:34 AM »

Perhaps for the fundraiser we could have a special mug or tshirt for those lucky and generous enough to be able to afford a large donation, that shows Cody's banker-looking Uncle (never before seen on a DC mug) sitting on top of a huge pile of his gold coins, thumbing through his bank book.

Cody's Uncle:

Ath · « **Reply #40 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:07 AM »

Perhaps for the fundraiser we could have a special mug or tshirt for those lucky and generous enough to be able to afford a large donation, that shows Cody's banker-looking Uncle (never before seen on a DC mug) sitting on top of a huge pile of his gold coins, thumbing through his bank book.

Cody's Uncle:
-mouser (February 14, 2011, 07:34 AM)

But you said earlier that the amount of donation doesn't matter...

so this 'reward' should IMHO be a buy-only 'donation'-order?

I do like (to imagine) that image on a mug though

mouser · « **Reply #41 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:17 AM »

It would just be a mug available for purchase at that very high markup, so people who wanted to "donate" by buying it could. Just another funny way to donate.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #42 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:39 AM »

that shows Cody's banker-looking Uncle (never before seen on a DC mug) sitting on top of a huge pile of his gold coins, thumbing through his bank book.
-mouser (February 14, 2011, 07:34 AM)

Isn't that the image of everything we stand against...?

What if the existing donations system was leveraged to work both ways. So that donations between members are split (say 50/50) with the DC. So if say I gave 40Hz a $10 donation, he would actually get $5 and the other $5 would go to DC.

Granted it would have to be time limited and made very (very) clear as to why/what was happening. But it could be an interesting way of greasing all the wheels at one time (so-to-speak).

Ath · « **Reply #43 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:41 AM »

It would just be a mug available for purchase at that very high markup, so people who wanted to "donate" by buying it could. Just another funny way to donate.
-mouser (February 14, 2011, 09:17 AM)

Oh, OK, then I'll prolly be aiming at that one

mouser · « **Reply #44 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:46 AM »

Isn't that the image of everything we stand against...?

Well i thought it would be a kind of funny alternate reality mug, but perhaps it was in poor taste. i withdraw the idea. i didn't really see it as against spirit of the site -- it wasn't about giving treating people differently based on how much they give and giving the impression that the more you donate the better you are -- that's the real thing we want to always avoid. It was just an idea for a special private thank you that would make financial sense only for large donors.

Regarding donating-by-buying items like cafepress mugs, etc. -- this is an idea that has always been attractive, but has real drawbacks. One major one is that if people buy a $20 DC mug feeling like they are contributing financially to the site, and DC gets $1 of this and cafepress gets $19, its not much help

So the only way it works is if this kind of donation-by-purchase is done on a huge markup item, like a $200 mug. The cafepress shop was initially set up for that purpose, but in effect we never used it for that and instead used it to give away mugs for special events rather than having people buy things directly.

As for donations between members and taking a portion of that for the site -- when the donationcredits systsm first went live -- some portion of donations always went to the site and the rest into the users account to do with as they please.

But what was found is that people so rarely get involved in giving their donations to specific people, that the far better and simpler solution is to just say that anyone who is willing to specifically donate to a specific user on the site, should just be allowed to do that purely, and no need to try to take some portion of those donations. People who are involved enough in the site to be making donations to specific people will already donate to the site if they feel like it.

Ath · « **Reply #45 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:48 AM »

What if the existing donations system was leveraged to work both ways. So that donations between members are split (say 50/50) with the DC. So if say I gave 40Hz a $10 donation, he would actually get $5 and the other $5 would go to DC.

Granted it would have to be time limited and made very (very) clear as to why/what was happening. But it could be an interesting way of greasing all the wheels at one time (so-to-speak).
-Stoic Joker (February 14, 2011, 09:39 AM)

Great plan SJ, That would be a nice addition to the standard toolset of DonationCoder

This 'split-the-money' option could be a checkbox or percentage-slider (with a loud and clear label describing it's function), so anyone making a donation could split his/her money between the direct beneficiary and DC, where the slider would normally be at 100% user, 0% DC, and for the fund-raiser at 50/50.

tomos · « **Reply #46 on:** February 14, 2011, 10:13 AM »

that shows Cody's banker-looking Uncle (never before seen on a DC mug) sitting on top of a huge pile of his gold coins, thumbing through his bank book.
-mouser (February 14, 2011, 07:34 AM)
Isn't that the image of everything we stand against...?
-Stoic Joker (February 14, 2011, 09:39 AM)

the image, as is, - without the pile of gold coins - has a bit of a look of a leprechaun about it ;-)
Could make a nice mug with a hazy rainbow (or maybe rainbows are a bit overused these days...)

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #47 on:** February 14, 2011, 11:37 AM »

As for donations between members and taking a portion of that for the site -- when the donationcredits systsm first went live -- some portion of donations always went to the site and the rest into the users account to do with as they please.

But what was found is that people so rarely get involved in giving their donations to specific people, that the far better and simpler solution is to just say that anyone who is willing to specifically donate to a specific user on the site, should just be allowed to do that purely, and no need to try to take some portion of those donations. People who are involved enough in the site to be making donations to specific people will already donate to the site if they feel like it.
-mouser (February 14, 2011, 09:46 AM)

Understood, but if it's a fundraiser/for-a-good-cause folks tend to get more involved ... Because there is now a something to be a part of taking place. There are some folks that don't have anything to work with/funds to donate for various reasons from the obvious economy to just being to scared to stuff their CC info into a webpage.

Hell if I had to take money out of the house account right now I'd have to either skip a few meals or walk to work a few days next week. But! I do have a schekel or two in donations that could be moved around a bit without effecting household financed (or the wife's permission...

) in the slightest. So...

I could either (say for example) donate $50 directly to the site, or I could donate $10 to each of 5 members and the site would get ($25) half of the transacted funds. But by doing it this way, it now allows the 5 members in question to "Get Involved" in the "Game" because they now have a string-less stake of $5 each to play with.

It has been said that the key to the economy is to get-the-money-moving ... So we just make a game out of it.

timns · « **Reply #48 on:** February 14, 2011, 11:43 AM »

Totally +1 to Stoic Joker there.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #49 on:** February 14, 2011, 12:06 PM »

Totally +1 to Stoic Joker there.
-timns (February 14, 2011, 11:43 AM)

I'm in!