The Making of The Gaia Wish Foundation®
Before reading: These were my thoughts as I was putting this epic charity together. You will see how brutally honest, dedicated, and a bit "OCD" I was to seeing this charity come to florescent. I am not a writer and these chronological journal entries will most likely reflect that. Some of the entries will be in past tense because I’m reflecting back during that time and some will be in present tense as it represents the current time I’m editing this journal to include the entries.
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7/12/2012: Today was the day I thought, once I complete my devil tail (d-tail) quest, what else will I do here on Gaia? I surely won’t be questing again as there’s no item I want more than the d-tail. Well, there are a few items I would love, but the d-tail tops them all. Opening a charity would be a great way to give back and it's something I always wanted to do. Questing the d-tail was proof I was capable of saving up 30+ million gold, so I knew I could take on this new challenge. My original plan for this new charity was to open it for only one month out of the year. During that month I would give away obscene amounts of gold to deserving questers. "What should I name this charity," I thought to myself. “The Big Fat Mega Charity,” no. “The Mega Charity,” maybe. As I struggled to think of a name, I immediately thought to get inspiration from real-life charities. Then it finally came to me, “The Gaia Wish Foundation.” YES, that’s it! I quickly went to search if such a name existed on Gaia and was happy there was none. Some came close, but not exact. It was the confirmation I needed that it was the best name for the charity.
With the name “The Gaia Wish Foundation,” I felt it had to stand out differently among the plethora of charities on Gaia. But how was I going to accomplish that? I don't want to compete against other charities because any Gaian who starts a thread dedicated to giving back to other Gaians is a commendable act of kindness.
7/29/2012: After laying out the details about the charity in the test forum, I needed to get a thread layout. I remembered a very good thread layout artist who did a layout for a charity that donated to me and decided to contact her. I was lucky enough that she had decided to take on my order. I was willing to wait about a month or so to give her time, since she had other layouts to do ahead of mine.
8/14/2012: Decides to brainstorm ideas to make the charity stand out among the other charities. Let's start with what I DON'T want to include in this charity: 1. Make generic "Mod/Moderator" titles 2. Add secret passwords within the rules requiring applicants to post them in their applications or in their first post 3. Force applicants to have a certain amount of posts within the thread before submitting an application 4. Have a huge list of obnoxious rules 5. Make a White/Black list 6. Determine the donation amounts based on how "active" applicants are within the thread 7. Ignore new posters in the thread. 8. Ask people in the donation application if they "liked" the thread. Avoiding these "pet peeves" of mine will help in shaping the Foundation's mission.
How about a website? But I don't want the website to be outside of Gaia. Why not get a profile to mimic a website? Brilliant. Anatagonizing would be the best artist to do it. Now, what about making a Twitter account, Facebook page, or other social network media? NO, this is Gaia and everything should be kept on Gaia. Silly.
An Artist Corner is needed for this charity, but as I looked at other Artist Corner areas of charities, it doesn't really showcase different artists. I'm not an artist, but I admire them. They have shared their real talents with us. My artist corner is going to be very different. It's going to actually feature as many artists as possible. I want the charity to partner with these artists.
8/16/2012: Decides to start a private guild to store some of the thread layout and do all internal affairs for the charity. There are way too many peekers who are watching what I'm doing in the test thread. LOL.
8/25/2012 - 10:20am: Layout artist bails on me. -No Damn Surprise- I feel frustrated because all of the ideas and the back-and-forth with her about the layout have now gone down the drain. If I hadn’t contacted her with the status of my order, she wouldn’t have told me she’s too busy to do it. I have to move on in search of another layout artist and start this process all over again.
8/25/2012: - 6:30pm: Happy I found a replacement thread layout artist who isn't requiring a million gold to do the layout!
9/1/2012: I need to get a launch party for the opening night planned. So much to do today. Maybe some cupcakes for our guests, but I don't want to sell the "baked goods" to them. What artists will make custom desserts and allow me to distribute them among the guests? After much searching, I found the sweetest art baker who was more than happy to do custom cupcakes!
9/8/2012: The application process decision. As a fellow quester, I have filled out many many many applications. Not all applications I filled out I got a donation, which is fine. It's impossible to award everyone. If so, charity funds will deplete quickly. As stated previously, I didn't want my Foundation's application to be solely based on how active others are in the thread. I personally love filling out the Hit and Run applications because I'm too busy to hang around everyone's charity while trying to keep my own quest thread active. If there are 20 charities requiring you to stick around and chat for a donation, that means I won't have time for myself. Besides, there's no guarantee you'll actually receive a donation for chatting for a while in the thread. I can now count how many times I've contributed many conversations to a thread and received NO DONATION! It's not guaranteed people! There are few charities that also require you to join their guild. Why? I've been here since 2005 and have been invited to more than a dozen guilds that I hardly participate in. Now, I have to join the guild to get donations? Some say for the purpose of sending out mass announcements. Just announce it in the thread.
T.G.W.F.'s application is inspired by college and scholarship applications where applicants write an essay. It's easier and they aren't forced to stick around in the hopes they are chosen. Applicants can write as little or as much as they desire. In addition, all PM'd applications will get an "automated" response that their application was received, similar to applications submitted via a website. Yes, that's an added touch of professionalism and another way to set us apart from others.
9/19/2012: Donations to the charity. As a quester, I have gotten wonderful and thoughtful donations and a few times I've gotten really crappy trash items. Either way I have never refused a donation. I believe it's disrespectful to pick and chose who you accept donations from based solely on the value of the donation. A few charities have included a disclaimer in their thread why they take this path, they "don't want to take from the less fortunate." If I have 100k and want to split it between 5 charities, you think I'm the less fortunate solely because I'm giving each charity 20K? I know this is Gaia, but real life charities will never turn down a donation, whatever size they receive. If a kid wants to donate his savings just to help a charity, the charity is going to appreciate that donation and use it to help others. At T.G.W.F. we will not turn down any size donation. We appreciate them all, including the 25g tippers. We also do not force anyone to donate and will not accept bribes for donations. Bribes includes "liking" the thread for potential donations from us. I've personally filled out several applications with the last question asking: "did you <3 this thread?" If I say "No" to that question, I most likely won't get a donation. Charities who do this, including asking people to submit print screens of them "liking" their thread for a donation is considered bribery in my book and shows desperation.
10/1/2012: I am beyond frustrated. We are now in October and still no thread layout. Been searching for a replacement but no luck. Why can't I get my damn layout completed? I've been wanting a layout since July and my charity is still without one.
10/13/12: Yes, finally my thread layout is complete. Not exactly what I wanted but happy it's done. But what really made me smile is the layout was offered to me for free! I am relieved and grateful.
10/25/2012: Yesterday I searched for a replacement layout artist since I wasn't satisfied with my free layout. Luckily, I find one that just opened her shop. After looking through her samples and the current works she completed, I decided to take a chance on her. Well, that bet paid off because in one day she had my beautiful thread layout completed! I am happy with how it turned out. I wished I had her from July.
11/24/2012: Just when I thought I would have to start the charity while still questing for the devil tail, I end up completing and purchasing my tail!! So happy and relieved my questing days are over. *smiling from ear to ear*
11/27/2012: After that high of getting my d-tail, I can't move up my charity date from January 1st to December 1st because the charity's profile isn't complete. I don't want to open this charity with the profile link being down. All this trouble for a charity! I'm feeling bummed that my charity is still sitting in the Test Forum, waiting for this profile to get completed.
11/29/2012: Finally heard back regarding the status of my charity profile and it's almost done. Just minor changes and hoping I can get the final product with the coding tonight. Seems like I can make that 12/1 deadline to open the Foundation.
12/1/2012 - 12:00am EST: Yes, it is officially launch day! Profile is complete and ready to launch later today. A lot of hard work was put into making this charity what it is.
Special thanks: Only Mildly Insane, Kappuke-Ki-Chu, Antagonizing, and the many Mini Shop and Personal Graphics Artists who did custom art among other things for the Foundation.
