So, I'm pretty committed to this project, but it will go slower instead of going fast.
One possibility is having a more formal structure, like some kind of lightweight non-profit, with more engagement from more Black people on the fediverse.
So, can I talk to someone about what happened here?
I’m an Open Source software developer and community leader. I was trying to raise funds to support some of the great Black-led projects in my area of software development (federated social networking).
At sign-up, it said I could find people to give funds to; it didn’t have to be defined at the beginning.
'GoFundMe cannot process payments for "annuities, investments, equity or lottery contracts, lay-away systems, off-shore banking or similar transactions, money transfer services (including currency exchanges, check cashing or the like), debt collection or crypto-currencies."'
The only thing I can think of is that the last two paragraphs of the description (same as the start of this thread) are like: give some money if you have it, ask for money if you need it.
That might have triggered their idea that this was some kind of sneaky financial scam.
@evan That’s very unfortunate. This is a wonderful hoisting/rebalancing initiative to help people who are finding it hard to get a foothold in this space.
@evan I suspect they think its to fund a for-profit business venture due to a lack of understanding regarding federated social media. perhaps it would have been less suspect if couched in terms more similar to say a public radio station for an underserved community.
@evan yeah, funding sites are particularly difficult to deal with in this way, for a variety of reasons.
You're probably better off finding existing funds (e.g., @Are0h's campaign) and amplifying those, rather than to act as a middle-person between funders and fund recipients.
@evan That sounds like a plausible interpretation. To them it might have read like "we're trying to fund our social media business". I don't doubt they have to deal with a lot of scams.
This is a very copypaste answer, I doubt any thought went into it.
@evan Frame your GFM as raising donations for a grant-making fund dedicated to increasing racial diversity in the fediverse. Then you can list "projects we support". Even better if you can find a sympathetic non-profit to hold the bank account.
I expect you'll need to get the text tight because it's 100% going to get reported by some bullet-head.
I guess I doubt that an open system like the fedi can avoid the casual racism etc that pervades life AFK. same with sexism homophobia etc. is there anywhere that does this well? I worry it's being used as an excuse for not joining us here when they actually have other reasons, not because it's actually worse here. but like AFK, our best tool is probably more ownership and power in the hands of those routinely biased against. that's not something big social can do.
@wjmaggos@evan worldwide communist revolution would ensure the end of racism and make it stick. I don't think you can avoid problem people a decentralized system in any meaningful way, people that say you can are selling you a bridge. all you can do is mute them and hope they don't grow.
I'm trying to set up a system that people can donate money to, that will get funds to Black leaders and builders. I think it may be part of a larger non-profit for the fediverse.
@evan I’m straying close to the line on my Circular 230 obligations. That said, you may want to consider where your donors are if deductibility of donations is a concern. US persons can’t deduct donations to Canadian charities unless they also have Canada-sourced income. If deductibility isn’t a concern then don’t worry about it. Publication 526 can be found with full details at https://www.irs.gov/pub526
@erlend@evan I can only afford to donate a little bit to that Patreon right now, unfortunately, I was laid off a few weeks ago, but I absolutely love the idea.
@evan@erlend I couldn’t help myself, Roland’s GoFundMe sounded really cool. But yeah, thanks! And thank you for calling attention to all these projects!
@Loukas There’s a clear difference here. I’d like to interact with people regardless of race, you’d like to have white people on one instance and black people on another.
Next up: black people need their own water fountains and a nice section towards the back of the bus, because they have different “needs” than everybody else.
@evan yes thank you for being explicit. Transparency is important. I remember donating to Tamil Rice’s mother after her child was murdered by Cleveland police. Sean King raised $25000 and Samara Rice never received a penny. Very cautious about white folks (like myself) collecting money on behalf of people of color. To assume “they” need “our” management or supervision is another form of so-called white supremacy (sic).
I'm trying to use my privilege and position in the fediverse to direct funds and energy to Black leaders so they can do their work.
I've privately asked Black leaders on the fediverse about this plan, and they have had positive responses.
One potential grantee noted that this is introducing a level of indirection between donors and projects, so we'll need to work to make sure to close that gap.
@evan I pondered this when you first posted. It's great you using your position to kick off the fundraiser. Maybe some of that funding could be used to develop resources to deliver more diversity and better moderation skills across all instances? A subtly different approach targeting people and developing their interpersonal skills rather than infrastructure......
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