October 2024 Membership Drive: Thanks for your Support

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2024-10-21 00:01:34 UTC

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OTW membership drive, October 18–20

The Organization for Transformative Works's October membership drive is over and we are delighted to say that we are finishing with a total of $214,698.86 raised. We are particularly pleased that 6020 donors chose to either take up or renew OTW membership with their donation, far exceeding our goal of 4,500 members.

These donations came from 6,955 people in 86 countries: thank you to every single one of you, as well as to all of you who posted and shared the news about the drive! The OTW would not exist without its users all around the world, and your continued support for us is our absolute pride and joy! We are so glad to know that our ongoing mission to support, protect, and provide access to the history of fanworks and fan culture continues to resonate with the people that matter most of all: the fans themselves.

If you were intending to donate or join and haven't yet done so, don't worry! The OTW accepts donations year-round, and you can always choose to become a member with a donation of US$10 or more. Memberships run for one calendar year from the date of your donation. If you donate now, you'll be able to vote in next year's OTW Board election, which will take place in August 2025. Our exclusive thank-you gifts are also available whenever you donate!

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

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Kaanbaltla Mon 21 Oct 2024 01:05AM UTC

"These donations came from 6,955 people in 86 countries" Oh that's so nice, to see how far this Archive and Fanlore and the other projects are important for people around the world!
Glad that this drive managed to surpass the goal again.

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1. gaysnroses Mon 21 Oct 2024 07:12AM UTC
  
  Off topic but that profile picture is iconic as hell xD
  
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2. 1. Kaanbaltla Mon 21 Oct 2024 10:29PM UTC
    
    Thanks! I really love that icon XD I couldn't resist to use it here.
    
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Clexaalways64 Mon 21 Oct 2024 02:39AM UTC

Hi, I would like to send a donation but I need to send it by mail if I could. What address can I send it to? Thank you.

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1. TheRazorsEdge Mon 21 Oct 2024 03:06AM UTC
  
  If you follow the donate link above, then click through to the actual donation form, there’s a “Questions” section. The mailing address can be found under the heading “Can I donate via cash or money order?”
  
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2. OTW_News_Post_Moderation (Official) Fri 25 Oct 2024 07:29PM UTC
  
  Hello Clexaalways64,
  As TheRazorsEdge said, you can donate via physical mail. The address to mail your donation to is:
  
  Organization for Transformative Works, Inc.
  228 Park Ave S #18156
  New York, New York 10003-1502
  USA
  
  As a note, cash and money order donations will only be accepted as non-membership donations. For membership purposes, we need to be able to connect your payment with a bank account or credit card so that we can verify that you’re a real person and an individual when we hold elections.
  Thank you so much for your interest in donating!
  Best,
  Safa
  OTW News Post Moderator
  
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magicwonderdreamfantasy Mon 21 Oct 2024 05:19AM UTC

Great to see so many people becoming members.

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1. grommile Mon 21 Oct 2024 09:06PM UTC
  
  I think maybe you meant to leave this comment on someone's fanfic or essay, not this news post?
  
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2. 1. Fortheloveoffanfiction Mon 21 Oct 2024 09:33PM UTC
    
    Oooops!!! Yes, was responding to a comment from a fanfic writer. Thanks for drawing my attention
    
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mia_the_lia Mon 21 Oct 2024 11:25PM UTC

Absolutely adore how much this community cares about the site, it’s kind of funny how often times other companies struggle to meet donation goals but people would pay literally thousands for their fanfics.

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1. Sheba_Al_Hurra Tue 22 Oct 2024 01:26AM UTC
  
  I was just thinking the same thing. It's so heartwarming to see people invest and give back to the communities that bring them joy. Particularly since fanfiction writers don't make any money, it's wonderful to see how people are so willing to contribute to the site.
  A little math I did, but the average person donated $30. Crazy how just a small group of committed people can fund a whole enterprise.
  
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stormy1x2 Tue 22 Oct 2024 07:32PM UTC

Any chance now that there was such a successful drive, can we maybe put updating the search function on the list of things to do? It's ridiculous that I can easily search for fics between 2 fandoms on ffnet and yet the supposedly superior AO3 can't narrow it down without including irritating authors who post a dozen fics from a dozen fandoms under the same fucking name (which to those of you who do thus - you are Irritating. Annoying. I am so glad the 75 limit was put in on keywords, it's helping to limit some this).
I repeat. Ffnet has a better search engine than AO3. Why?

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1. sharp_edges Tue 22 Oct 2024 07:37PM UTC
  
  dude just mute those authors.
  
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2. Ficgate Wed 23 Oct 2024 09:40AM UTC
  
  You can exclude them with the search function or even code a skin so they don't show. I do agree with that the money ao3 gets it should be adding features but your issue is easily fixed by things you can currently do
  
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3. 1. stormy1x2 Wed 23 Oct 2024 01:44PM UTC
    
    excluding up to dozens of fandoms at a time gets irritating since you can only exclude so many at one time. I did say I could do it, but the fact that FFNet has such a simple solution and yet is INFERIOR to AO3 is ridiculous.
    Also, if you exclude too many fandoms, eventually you can't continue - either it freezes or locks up or whatever but if I exclude over 2 dozen fandoms and suddenly I can't anymore well that sounds like a bug to me.
    I am entitled to air both my compliments and my grievances as is anyone else and since my grievances include the search function, that is what I will post here. And many of us have been complaining about the impracticality of the search function as it pertains to finding and narrowing down crossovers, so don't be surprised to see it pop up again. And again. And again. Until I no longer have to resort to FFNet to find decent xovers and then armed with titles try to find them HERE because the search function can't even MATCH FFnet and as you pointed out, considering the funds they raise, they could actually consider looking into it.
    
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  2. 1. Ficgate Wed 23 Oct 2024 03:05PM UTC
      
      No don't get me wrong, I understand your frustration and others, I had it but fixed it with a site skin so it no longer an annoyance to me. Unlimited and doesn't freeze on yoi.
      It's just I understand the code ao3 uses and to implement what you want the site would have to go offline for days and given if this site goes down for an hour people have break down I cannot see them ever implementing this suggestion
      
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    2. 1. MalcontentCatboy Mon 28 Oct 2024 01:45AM UTC
        
        There is no need for a site to be down to change its software. In the absolute worst case, where data needs to be reprocessed (like say, mass renaming tags), it may need to be put in read-only while a prewritten script is run on the database, or while a server switch is performed.
        However, given how many people have issues with the AO3 search system, it might be worthwhile for some of them with technical knowledge to create a third party search system. Preferably under an open source license which would allow AO3 itself to switch to it if it proves superior.
        
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      2. stormy1x2 Tue 29 Oct 2024 11:26PM UTC
        
        I apologize for sounding so frustrated. I don't even know WHAT I want - I just wish there was a better way to search for crossovers that eliminates the fandom stacking. I adore crossovers and I hate FFNet - so it's annoying to have to stay with FFNet anyway so I can hamfistedly find them here instead of there being a nice, sleek little fix-it option here. I'd love to live here permanently. :D I adore AO3 - I just want some old-school updates as well as all the nice new shiny ones.
        
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      3. Chantress Wed 30 Oct 2024 01:34PM UTC
        
        Possibly a silly question, but have you tried filtering your search results with the tag "Crossover" or "Crossovers & Fandom Fusions"? It may not show every fic you'd be interested in since it depends on authors explicitly using the tag, but it would at least eliminate all the anthology-of-five-dozen-unrelated-fandom-drabbles works.
        
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      4. stormy1x2 Tue 29 Oct 2024 11:34PM UTC
        
        Also, you say skins, I say 'magic' and well, there you go. >.<;; This is on me, I'm not bitching, but I don't know how to do 'skins' and while I'm not saying I'm too old to learn, I *am* saying i'm also very stupid when it comes to computers. And websites. I don't post a thing without the richtext editor because without it everything I write will be plain text only. XD
        So I will be here on the lawn waving my cane and snarking about the days when it was easy to find a crossover without needing a coding specialist. ^^;
        
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      5. Ficgate Wed 30 Oct 2024 10:35AM UTC
        
        You know what is fair. I
        
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Silly_sweetslover777 Wed 23 Oct 2024 01:49PM UTC

lmaoooo love ao3 readers and how much money they pay for their favorite site!! wish I would also donate but my bank account is a bit empty rn.. *Sigh* but love ao3 for being the best fanfic site where they don't have any restrictions on ships!! its all or none ROFL o((*^▽^*))o

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gravityboysshieldgang Wed 23 Oct 2024 04:48PM UTC

$214,698.86 to an organization who’s volunteers shit talks every single person who’s dared to be critical of it or the actions of those acting on behalf since its inception.

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1. dreamfluffs Wed 23 Oct 2024 04:57PM UTC
  
  And yet you still have an account.
  
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2. 1. ashkazora Thu 24 Oct 2024 02:43AM UTC
    
    At this point I’m inclined to believe gravityboysshieldgang is a troll. They always comment similar things on every news post.
    
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  2. 1. dreamfluffs Thu 24 Oct 2024 03:05AM UTC
      
      Don't get me wrong, I'm aware of some of the issues people have with AO3 and OTW. But comments like this will always be silly. "I hate this service I am registered for and using."
      
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    2. 1. ashkazora Thu 24 Oct 2024 07:50AM UTC
        
        Oh 100%. AO3 has its flaws, sure, but so does every other site. It’s pointless bitching and moaning without offering any sort of constructive feedback.
        
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      2. SparklinTwilightMoon Thu 24 Oct 2024 01:36PM UTC
        
        maybe they got inside tea, ynk
        
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        (3 more comments in this thread)
  3. gravityboysshieldgang Fri 25 Oct 2024 04:50PM UTC
    
    "we should change society somewhat"
    "then why do you participate in it?"
    
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3. Smaelstrom Wed 23 Oct 2024 09:21PM UTC
  
  Whose***
  It’s WHOSE volunteers. WHO’s is a contraction consisting of “who has”, or, “who is”. Using who’s in that way is grammatically incorrect.
  
  Last Edited Wed 23 Oct 2024 09:22PM UTC
  
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4. 1. MalcontentCatboy Wed 23 Oct 2024 11:27PM UTC
    
    Doing gods' work.
    
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  2. 1. Smaelstrom Wed 23 Oct 2024 11:30PM UTC
      
      Why thank you. I try.
      
      Last Edited Wed 23 Oct 2024 11:30PM UTC
      
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    2. 1. JKFic Fri 25 Oct 2024 02:17AM UTC
        
        Agreed, what you did was good.
        
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      2. Smaelstrom Fri 25 Oct 2024 02:29AM UTC
        
        Again, thank you. It’s tough going around a writing site and seeing all of these misspelt words.
        
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  3. gravityboysshieldgang Fri 25 Oct 2024 04:51PM UTC
    
    Grammar police fallacy
    
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  4. 1. Smaelstrom Fri 25 Oct 2024 06:38PM UTC
      
      You forgot the period at the end of your sentence. Just saying, but it’s not there.
      
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    2. 1. gravityboysshieldgang Fri 25 Oct 2024 10:35PM UTC
        
        img src="https://i.ibb.co/yV8CJfS/you.png" alt="you" border="0"
        
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JKFic Fri 25 Oct 2024 02:17AM UTC

Congratulations and good work everybody who contributed.

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StarCoyote Mon 28 Oct 2024 05:33PM UTC

Just joined A03 this month, and I already have gotten a lot of hits and kudos even though I've just joined. I feel so welcome in this community!!

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B4bydollz Fri 01 Nov 2024 05:49PM UTC

This website has so many members

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