Solicit for Charitable Donations?
 

My wife and I are walking in the Susan Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day at the end of August.

I wanted to post a link to our website and solicit donations. 100% of the donation goes to the cause, none to us.

Before posting the link, I wanted to know where the correct place (if any) would be.

I was thinking Other Forum, but if there's a preferred place, or it's not allowed, pls let me know.

Thanks,
--rick

I actually don't know what the DVDTalk policy is on this (if there even is one)... but I'd recommend just putting a link to your website/donation request in your sig.

I think that's a lot more appropriate than having members start up threads for various donations, which could clog the forum, result in spams/scams from new members, etc.

Just my $.02. I'm sure others will chime in with something better or more official.

I believe the policy is to not allow solicitation of donations. I'm not certain though.

I'd wait until Geoff comments. You could send him an email.

I checked the "rules" post, and it only mentioned things "for profit" like auctions, etc.

I will wait to hear.

I hope this is allowed because I need all the help I can for "Groucho's Home for Unwed Mothers." You know, helping them get their start.

I really think it should be left in the sig. Or should all of us turn this into a solicitation forum?

I mean, the cause is good, but it could quickly overwhelm the forum. And who decides what charity is acceptable or not? I like to support the human fund, and the clothe neo-nazi children fund. Are those ok?

So, to sum up: Bushdog is against clothed children. :eek:

So can I make a post with the topic "Read my sig"?

;)

no, you can't

but you can use 72 point fonts in your sig and then respond to every single thread in the forum by saying things like:

-- I agree

-- Michael Moore is a communist nazi bastard

-- pics?

-- that's funny!

they won't be all that different from 75% of other posts on the forum and attention will be directed not to your response, but to your sig. And be prepare to be banned if you do it too many times in a single thread.

/me waits patiently for an answer.....

Well, you didn't exactly wait patiently... ;) (Yes, I saw your short-lived "Support the Breast" thread.)

Did you e-mail Geoff? That should get you an answer in pretty short order. But I imagine it'll be pretty much what you've heard from the consensus here... put it in your sig. Don't pad threads to get attention. No individual solicitaiton thread.

I'd have to say this is a bad idea. No one wants to see the forums flooded with solicitations, and there's no way to really tell if solicitations on an internet board are real, or just a front for fraud.

I see no problem with in sigs though.

Yeah, I'd much rather see these meaningful threads:

Do you floss before you brush your teeth?
Killer Kanagroos on the loose!!!!
Anybody born on March 23rd?
New hot and sexy Britney pic! *fap* *fap*

;)

Yes, I did email Geoff and I still haven't heard from him. I posted what I thought was a good topic that informed people of a good cause. It just so happened to be the same cause I reference in my .sig :) (The "waiting patiently" comments was posted after that thread was pulled)

Maybe Geoff could make a "Charity" forum? I just think of all the good that the DVD Talk Community can do, for all charities.

That being said, while I still believe that my post did not violate any posted DVD Talk rules, I will refrain from directly referencing this great charity and just limit it to my .sig until I hear otherwise.

Rickerone... It is a great charity, I support it every year. My wife does more than that, she either walks it or works it every year.

But I think that it is a bad precedent because it opens the door to problems. Such as competing charities. What if we have 10 different people involved in the 3day walk? It could get pretty weird. Is it a slippery slope? I don't know.

I can see other potential issues also. We could end up having threads on what constitutes a just charity (savekaryn?). Maybe not.

I solicited 3 day on local and smaller forums. For some reason, I did not on DVDtalk because I did not think it was right.

Just my 3 cents. You have my personal support and gratitude for being involved.

By the way, of course I am not speaking for Geoff. He may feel very differently. When dealing with Geoff, you have to be very patient.

And don't make any sudden movements. Or call him at late hours.

At least that is what I have been told.

Oh I agree, good charitable threads would be much better than the regular crap in Other (which I haven't set foot in in a couple years).

But there's just too much risk for fraud IMO, and most people wanting to make donations already seek out websites and causes on their own.

I did post a ;) after that comment, indicating a bit of sarcasm.

As for the fraud possibility, yeah it exists, but *most* people with common sense will take a good look at the website before putting in a credit card number.

I could be wrong though.

I don't read it, but it sucks!

:)

I do grant you, some things are truly consistent on DVDtalk.

Yep. The examples he just posted showed me nothing much has changed. :D

The tough thing about this is that there's NO WAY for us to verify people's solicitations.

So even though I'm sure a majority of people would be doing this out of the goodness of their hearts I have to protect the members from the small percentage who could use it to take advantage of forum members...

Sorry :(