I've been meaning to write this up and publish this for a while. Though much has evolved in the past couple weeks since we started our MicroDrive, I feel our tale still holds value as a demonstration of one way that individuals who can't join the occupiers 24/7 can both raise funds amongst family and friends for material donations to the occupations while simultaneously raising awareness and creating dialogue around this movement.
The Short Version: My wife and I wanted to get involved. Our myriad responsibilities make it impossible to occupy the camp 24/7. But we believe strongly in what the protests represent. So we decided to do a donation of warm long sleeve shirts with a fun, playful but pertinent and graphic phrase printed on them. The cost of these shirts was outside our budget. So we held an impromptu fundraiser amongst family and friends in effort to raise at least $800. We more than exceeded that in 3 days and delivered and distributed our donation within 7 days of getting the idea.
This diary is our way of saying "I am America. And so can you."
More below the fold including the long version and a list of tips we feel are important for any microdrive supporting the #OWS movement. Please feel free to use the comments section of this diary to brainstorm ideas, discuss strategies and share your own stories of successful acts of charity to support the movement. We need the protests to last the winter. And the unification that will require will likely change the culture of this nation for at least a generation.
The Long Version: On day 15, my wife and I decided to get involved and send some material support down to Liberty Park. We thought a donation of some warm, sweatshop free longsleeve shirts with the playful phrase "I AM A REVOLTING CITIZEN. #OccupyWallStreet" would be a great start for our involvement. We were able and prepared to spend $200 of our own money.
When we started pricing bids with small local shirt printing businesses, we learned that our budget was far too low. 100 shirts of this type would cost around $800. (The price by the shop who donated all their labor was later downward adjusted to just under $700, but the bid was a good starting place for us to work with.) Not to be deterred, we decided to go out on a limb and sent an email to select members of our closest circle of family and friends outlining what we were doing, how much we were giving and our goal of raising $800. By the time the weekend was over, we had raised $871 dollars in pledges.
The shirts were printed over the course of that week, using made in America American Apparel guaranteed sweatshop free heavy longsleeve T's at wholesale cost by indie Brooklyn screenshop BQTshirts. We went down to Liberty the following Friday, one week after sending out our initial email and distributed these shirts with the help of several regular occupiers. Based on a quick consensus decision, about 50% went to peoples camping in the park and 50% went to passersby with the stipulation that we'd give them one if they promised to wear it and spread the word. When the shirts ran out, several passersby pressed cash into my wife's hand with one imperative: "Make more."
As the initiators of this, we have not and will not make a penny from these shirts. BQT has placed the shirt in their store with an option to either buy for oneself or "donate a shirt." The cost of $12 is there to accommodate shifting expenses: wholesale costs of the shirts, shipping, replacing damaged screens, applicable taxes, etc. At the end of each month, we are working with them to calculate any profit from these donations or purchases and then taking them as a cash donation to the NYC Liberty Park General Assembly donation boxes. The anticipated overage currently ranges from $3 to $5 per shirt.
As of today, between late arriving donations from our initial email, the overage on the initial bid, cash that was donated on the spot by strangers and some donations come in via the website, we have over 50 more shirts to be printed in the queue. Similarly, one of our donors, a couple, was so inspired by our drive that they are currently in the first phase of organizing their own drive for winter wear or other comfort needs for the protestors.
Image of the shirts
I know that the spirit of charity here on DKos runs deep. As does the sympathy for this movement. I bet some of you reading might now be feeling the desire to donate to us. Or to our friends winter drive for the Liberty Park encampment. And if you MUST get one of the shirts we printed for yourself or feel compelled to donate a couple, by all means, go to the BQT website and do so. BUT... I am not writing this diary to advertise merchandise. Instead, I want to encourage all of you reading to consider organizing your own microdrive amongst family and friends. Why?
Advantages of a MicroDrive:
* It is adroit and flexible. The needs of each encampment are changing weekly. Some may need socks. Some may need first aid gear. Some may have had media equipment destroyed or damaged by inclement weather. Go visit the encampment you wish to support and talk to the various stations to find out what may most be in need or anticipated in need in near future.
* Many of the material needs for sustaining each encampment are more expensive than any one person can afford from the disposable portion of their income. But often not by much. Pulling together in small groups makes many of these material donations feasible. We received donations as large as $100 and as small as $10. It all counts and it permits everyone to help as much as they can and as much as they feel comfortable.
* Not everyone trusts larger fundraising efforts a few degrees removed. Not everyone trusts organizations to do the right things with cash. But your family and friends (hopefully and rightfully!) trust you! This is a great way to get those that are on the fence involved in the movement without feeling like they are throwing their donation down some untested blackhole.
* A MicroDrive helps lend ownership to those that participate. This is just like an owner operated coop. If you raise support for the purchase of several sleeping bags for example, and the police come and sweep an occupation on orders from on high, everyone that helped buy those 3 or 4 sleeping bags is now involved. This is our country. This is our movement. All of us in the 99%.
* And on a similar note, our MicroDrive initiated a lot of dialogue. There are those in our circle of family and friends who are nowhere near as active online and are therefore quite removed from the citizen journalism that has proven to be the primary and most reliable coverage of this movement thus far. TALKING to friends, neighbors and family IS THE MOST RELIABLE MEANS of short circuiting the MSM blackout of this movement. Plus it only serves to further undermine the already declining national credibility of these corporate news organizations.
* This is one means to circumvent any interference from credit card processors or online payment services like paypal who have been rumored to be slowing some donations to the movement. Also this avoids the % fees taken by online fundraising tools like kickstarter and the like. Those services have their place for sure and overall are great innovations. But I personally don't think that now is the time and place for them. Cash and personal checks between friends. Yes it is not tax deductible. But is that what this is really about anyways? This strategy keeps material supply lines to the occupations flexible.
* This is also one means to help short circuit any shadow organizations that will inevitably pop up around this movement. Most shadow organization scam artists prey on goodwill but also a degree of anonymity. Anytime a significant amount of cash starts moving around, scam artists sadly do move in. This guards against that somewhat. Unless you already do (and shame if you do!), you are unlikely to rip off members of your own immediate social network. This is one way to KEEP FUNDRAISING LOCAL while continuing to go national with the movement!
Some Tips We Feel Useful For Starting and Running a MicroDrive:
* Establish your seed money. How much will you spend out of pocket to kick it off? We started with $200
* Price bids from local businesses. We were very open about what we were doing and why. The business we ultimately went with made it feasible to do more with the money we raised because they too were sympathetic with the cause. Small businesses are part of the 99%
* Try to avoid big box stores and corporations though that pull money out of local circulation and ultimately go to the 1%.
* Try to stick with American made, cruelty free and fair labor produced items. Even if slightly more expensive. We need to put our money where our mouth is as we try to change the economic culture of this country.
* Once you have your budget, set a reasonable goal. If you only are starting with $100 seed from yourself, and you have a rough idea of your immediate family and friends economic position and overall sentiment towards this movement, how much can you raise? $400? $500? Keep it reasonable. Symbolically, it is better to raise too much than too little.
* Be prepared to carry the cost of your material purchase while cash and check donations come in to you from your network of family and friends. We received about 50% of our pledged donations within 3 days of pulling the trigger on our purchase. But several lagged by a week or two. This is just a reality.
* And though we received 100% of the pledged funds eventually, anticipate not getting 100% of everything pledged. Overcommitment is just part of being human. Anticipate at least one random person who pledges $$$ to your drive will likely not come through. Try to hold no malice and again be prepared to carry a little bit of the costs. If your drive pledges OVER the amount you were targeting, don't overbuy. Buy up to the initial pledge goal or if you have cash in hand OVER, buy up to that amount. For example, we waited to move on our surplus pledge of $71 until we had all the funds in hand, just in case.
* Keep your drive amongst your first circle of family and friends. Do not ask people to pass stuff along as a chain letter. As stated in the benefits of a MicroDrive listed above, this can help guard the movement against too many scam artists. We Americans have been ripped off enough already. Time for us to get each others' backs. And circles of social trust, tapping into what Dmitri Orlov calls the "gift economy" is one way to do just that.
* Use this as an opportunity to calmly and clearly articulate why you believe in this movement to those you approach in your circle of family and friends. Remember not to speak for the whole movement. Speak for yourself. Encourage people to attend a local General Assembly if they want to know more of what this is about. Again, this proved to be an amazing means to simply have some real citizen to citizen conversation about what's going on in the country. And we've learned that since engaging many members of our friends and family, they've gone on to engage those in their immediate circle of trust.
* If you organize a drive, expect at least some of those who donated to you to come back in the coming months asking for similar help. So after you carry the initial cost of your purchase and compensatory pledged monies come rolling in, might want to think about squirreling at least a little bit of that away to reciprocate when you in turn are asked for a donation!
* And lastly, don't overextend. Do what you can, as you can. If you need to after your action, back away a little. That's okay. There are a lot of folks supporting this movement. This is going to be a long winter for all of us. And we ALL need to approach it with the pacing of a smart marathon runner.
Okay, that's it! Peace and solidarity to all. Thanks for reading!