Maintaining the Tower 2015: .GIF OFF!

[Aryawnah Federov]

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It's that time of year again when we hold our annual Maintaining The Tower Fundraiser. This is the one time, all year, where we ask you- the members of this fantastic community- to chip in what you can to keep us going strong. We've had a stellar year since last summer when we held our Fundraiser Against Humanity and now is the time to do it all again. I am excited to announce our 2015 fundraiser is a .GIF off!
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Why Donate? Whether you have donated before or if this is the first time that you are donating, it's good to know where your money goes. Our server, our RL events, our annual awards, the Robert Jordan Memorial Scholarship, these fantastic vBulliten boards- they're all funded by you. The membership. Anyone who still remembers our days on EZBoards can attest to how far we've come! Our growth and the advancements that have made this community so wonderful has always been funded 100% by our membership. We offer a fantastic service, a community of like-minded Wheel of Time fans who establish friendships, make connections, and even families through an absolutely free membership with TarValon.Net. We have never had advertisements on our boards and we have never charged a fee for any sort of premium service. It is our annual Maintaining the Tower fundraiser that keeps us not just alive, but indeed ad-free and thriving! Now is the time to think about what this service and community is really worth, and what you are able to contribute to keep it growing. Any amount helps and is invaluable to us! Plus, any donation above $5 USD will get you entered to win some really awesome prizes, read on!Based on our foreseeable needs we have set our annual Maintaining the Tower fundraising goal at $3,500 USD. This should be a very attainable goal and it is my belief that as a community we should be easily able to meet this goal and surpass it! Read on for more information on stretch goals and prizes for our .GIF off, running from now, July 1st to August 12th!

How Do I Donate? Well, I'm glad you asked! Big or small, any donated amount is truly appreciated and here is the details on how you can donate!
There are two ways for you to donate: online via paypal or using the regular old mail by cheque or money order.
Remember with either option to include:

1. Your Tower Name
2. A note indicating that this cheque/donation is for the fundraiser!

To Paypal your donation to TarValon.Net please send fund to payable@tarvalon.net and remember to include in the notes section a little blurb saying who you are and what this is, i.e. A donation from Aryawnah for the Maintaining the Tower Fundraiser!

To mail your donation please make your cheque or money order payable to TarValon.Net, Inc. and mail to:
TarValon.Net, Inc.
C/O: Ashley Morgan
3611 University Drive Apt 13O
Durham, NC 27707
USA
Please remember to include a note with the same information requested above: a blurb that this is for the Fundraiser and who you are!

Why do we ask who you are? In addition to tracking our donors annually (as seen in our annual reports), there are also those nifty prizes that we hand out! If you wish to remain anonymous but still want to participate, just specify in your donation note, and we will happily hide your good deed!


Wait, if I'm not in the US, can I donate in another currency like last year? You betcha! We'll be tracking the totals just in US Dollars this year, to make things clean and simple, but if you're interested in donating in pounds, euros, whatever... please feel free! We'll appreciate your donation in any currency!


Prizes: For our fundraiser, we will be offering several wonderful prizes in a prize ladder!!

$250 - Personalized Signature - 3 winners

$500 - Custom Title for Specified Event, ie Shaoman

$1000 - $15 gift card to our Cafe Press Store

$2500 - Choice between Lan, Egwene, or Thom print signed by artist Ariel Burgess

$3500 - Wheel of Time card deck from Taveren Tees
$5000 - A Memory of Light Signed by team Jordan

For each goal met, we will add that item to the pool of prizes to be randomly awarded at the end of the fundraiser! As an added bonus, if we reach $3500 by the end of July, we will add another free week for the upcoming year!

Here are some lovely buttons and sigs you can wear to advertise our fundraiser!

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1.../man%20gif.png

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...girl%20gif.png

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1.../buffgif_1.png

Signatures!!

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...%20sig%202.png

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ser%20sig3.png



So hey, Ary!? What's going on with the Avendesora Tree to celebrate all our donors?

This was an immense project that we have altered a tiny bit to better suit the community, but that should be hitting the library and member's Who's Who pages very soon! As with every year, any donation of $5 USD or more will earn you either an Avendesora Donor's Leaf for our tree, or a color upgrade to your existing leaf! I'm super excited that we are at long last ready to unveil these leafs and get them in the library. Our donors are one of the critical pieces that have kept this site going for these past many years and celebrating them is something I believe all of us will be excited to see! In fact, I'm so excited I'm even going to give you all a sneak peek!

Any personal questions or concerns about this fundraiser may be directed to me via Outreach@TarValon.Net. Any questions about your donation please direct to the Shatayan via shatayan@tarvalon.net.


Stay tuned and donate!

 

[Mendo Cath]

Donated.

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

Please note: If you're really on the ball and have your check written out, the mailing address has changed! Checks should be sent to me, not Cassie, due to problems with the bank.

 

[Aryawnah Federov]

Thank you Rhed!

 

[Cassie Dainar]

It's not so strange to accept a donation from myself, but when I have to thank myself for that donation...



And I know, I gif poorly. But I tried.

 

[Alyccea Nymaessene]

:joy Awesome!!

I have a few questions:

1. What happens if you forget to note that your donation is for the Fundraiser? Does the money still get put toward the Tower?

2. Is there a set target amount for what is needed to maintain the Tower at the same level as this year? What happens if we don't hit that target - will services need to be cut or scaled back? What happens if we exceed that target significantly - are there extra goals that you'll be able to implement with the extra money (you don't need to necessarily say what they are if it's secret squirrel) or would the surplus just be put toward next year's budget?

Thanks!

 

[Aryawnah Federov]

Thanks for your questions Alyccea! Some of these things are great to know! Our annual budget for the site is always changing depending on things such as real life events, our scholarship, servers, the new and beautiful back up server, legal council, etc. Our usual goal is $3500, but can vary depending. We always shoot for higher if possible as this gives us wiggle room and allows us to give back in other ways. This year, instead of a single scholarship, we are giving two $500 scholarships. This also allows us to purchase and add new prizes to our prize cache for prizes for online and real life events, as well for several other reasons. Shooting high also helps cover us in the event that at some point we don't raise enough money that we've left a little cushion for the following year. I hope that answers your questions. If not, feel free to email me at outreach@tarvalon.net.

 

[Alyccea Nymaessene]

Thanks Aryawnah Sedai, that's great to know!

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

1. What happens if you forget to note that your donation is for the Fundraiser? Does the money still get put toward the Tower?

It will! Any money received by the Tower is used for the Tower (unless noted that it's for an event ticket or otherwise). It will also very likely be counted toward the fundraiser amounts if donated during our fundraiser

If you forget to leave a note on it, you can email Cassie at shatayan@tarvalon.net and let her know. Probably the biggest concern with this one is if you want to be entered in the drawing for the prizes, and if you want your Avendesora leaf up to date -- we need your Tower name for that.

 

[Aryawnah Federov]

I apparently missed that question.....

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

 

[Cassie Dainar]

I will also most likely e-mail you back asking what it was for if I get one that doesn't say it's for anything if I have the time. Just because I'm really really picky about verifying details.

 

[Alyccea Nymaessene]

Thank you all!

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

 

[Aryawnah Federov]

 

[Tree]

It's not so strange to accept a donation from myself, but when I have to thank myself for that donation...



And I know, I gif poorly. But I tried.

I liked it.

 

[Alyccea Nymaessene]

How is the fundraiser going? Do we know where we're up to on the prize ladder yet?

 

[Cassie Dainar]

I told Aryawnah that I wouldn't steal her thunder for updates, but if she hasn't posted an update in a few days I'll share where we are. We still have a long way to go to get to our goal.

 

[Rhed al'Tere]

I donated this weekend. :joy

 

[Rehtaeh al'Navi]

I donated several days ago...Cassie thanked me! OMG