UPDATE!!! PROJECT FINISHED!Since this is an old project, some of you might not even know what this is about, but those who do, here's what happened.
We managed to collect about $600 as donations for Elements' birthday present. I setup a secret forum section where we decided what to buy. I then bought those items and sent them to Zanz.
This seemingly easy project was a HUGE time sink with insane amount of problems. It was basically a nightmare. Luckily it's now done and we can rest at least until next birthday comes up.
Here's what we got for Zanz:
- Wacom Tablet (main gift)
- "Hourglass" executive gift statue thing with custom inscription: "Thanks for a great game! - Elements community" (we had a better one planned but unfortunately there was no space)
- Elements calendar that used Elements graphics. Ideas came from everyone but Xinef did the actual calendar.
- about $130 in donations
Zanz already said thanks in that other topic where he also posted art he made with his new Tablet.
The picture below is my PayPal account which shows the spending.
That's it basically. It was a rocky road but we got there eventually. Thank you for everyone who chipped in.
************************************ Below this is the original postIdea for this came from this thread (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,4230.0.html) where CB! asks the community whether or not they will donate. Time of talk is over. It's time for action.
Giving money is lame. Giving an actual present chosen by the community is super cool. This is why I thought we should
raise money to buy Zanz an Elements birthday present!
Our goal is to raise $600 by May 10th.You can check more details and names of donators on:
Go to "Happy Birthday Elements!" Campaign Page (
http://pledgie.com/campaigns/10008)
How to donate?
OPTION 1 - PAYPALThis is the easy option. Just click the widget below, enter an amount below the "Make A Pledge", and follow the instructions.
OPTION 2 - CREDIT CARD (NO PAYPAL)Follow the same steps as in OPTION 1 but when you get to the PayPal login page, look for this on the left:
Click "Continue" and insert your credit card and other details.
OPTION 3 - ASK A FRIEND WITH A CREDIT CARD (NO PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARD)If you don't have a PayPal account, ask a friend do the donation for you using OPTION 1 or OPTION 2. You can always pay him/her back using cash, or better yet don't pay back at all!
OPTION 4 - MONEYPAK (US RESIDENT WITH NO PAYPAL, CREDIT CARD OR FRIENDS WITH CREDIT CARDS)The following was posted by Essence. I've never used it myself but it looks good.
- ScaredgirlMoneyPak is basically a prepaid debit card available all over the US (and possibly other countries, IDK). You can get a MoneyPak at almost any Walmart,Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, KMart, Kroger, Meijer, Ralph's, WinnDixie, or 7/11 in the USA.
Once you've loaded up your MoneyPak card, you can PM ScaredGirl with your MoneyPak number and the amount you wish to donate. As long as it's less than $250, that's all you need to do. I can't imagine anyone donating more than that, but if someone does, they'll have to give a bunch of personal info to MoneyPak, I think for tax reasons.
Then, ScaredGirl would go into her PayPal account, go to Add Funds (at the top of the page), and select "Add Funds From GreenDot MoneyPak", and put in your MoneyPak number and the amount you selected. The cash then vanishes from the MoneyPak and appears in SG's PayPal account.
Now, the downside to all of this is that the MoneyPak costs $4.95 or so. The upside is that, once you have it, you can basically use it like a (prepaid) debit card for the rest of your life with no additional costs.
More information:
https://www.moneypak.com/OPTION 5 - MYSTERY OPTION (NO PAYPAL, CREDIT CARD OR FRIENDS WITH CREDIT CARDS, NON-US RESIDENT)I don't know any other options to be honest, but I'm not very experienced in these things either. I only use PayPay myself. If someone knows alternative ways to donate, please let me know.
Main present - Wacom Intuos4I need feedback on whether or not middle sized Wacom Intuos4 is too big. We could go with a smaller one and just buy some extra stuff with money saved.
PLAN A: 
| + | 
Case | + | ? | $550 |
PLAN B:
| + |
Case | $379 |
PLAN C:
| + | 
Case | $254 |
Any money left over will be given as cold hard cash or as a personalized gift Planplan suggested.
Hm.. seems like PayPal takes a small cut from the donations. I'll have to look into that and adjust the prices a bit.
From PayPal website:
How much does PayPal cost?
PayPal offers low transaction fees for nonprofits. Fees are applied only when you accept a contribution. If you don’t receive donations, you don’t pay. You will not be charged setup fees or recurring monthly fees.
Nonprofit transaction fees are 1.9% + $.30 per transaction for organizations with over $100,000 monthly volume and 2.2% + $.30 per transaction for organizations with less than $100,000 monthly volume. To be eligible, you must have documented 501(c)(3) status or you will not receive the reduced nonprofit transaction fees.
What do you think would be a good gift to Zanzarino for giving us 1 year of awesome free fun with Elements?
Important!!!The widget uses
my PayPal account so I understand if some people are uncomfortable with basically giving the money to me first, but I can assure you that I have
very high morals when it comes to money. Besides if I wanted to "take the money and run", I would go for more than $100-200.
However if this is a problem to some people, I'm open for other suggestions. I tried to look for a widget/system that would send the product automatically once the price has been collected but I couldn't find one. If someone knows one, let me know.
I was thinking that if everyone gave $5 or $10 dollars (depending on your level of coolness) we would get that $200 relatively fast. I'm planning on giving $10 because I'm cool.
Also keep in mind that the idea here is not to replace regular donations. This is just a bonus for Elements' birthday.
Anyways.. I'm really exited about this. What do you guys think?
