Shirley's Mind Grapes

Together we raised $60 for NorCal Resist through Happy Home Fundraiser! :O) I’m very appreciative to those who donated and shared the fundraiser posts. The need for mutual aid support continues and every bit helps. It also really helps me personally to see the collective desire to support the mutual aid organizations that support so many communities.

When I set out to do the fundraiser, I wanted to make sure it was something that I could deliver on. Making Animal Crossing: Happy Home designs was something that I could do in my spare time regardless if it was an odd hour.

After getting over an initial hesitation on whether or not this was something people would want in exchange for a donation, I made a plan to get the word out, which I think could use some improvements. Some thoughts about the process:

Reach and Exposure

I decided to try using Instagram to promote this fundraiser. After I made my first post, I realized that I completely forgot to use hashtags which I think would have been helpful to include. I also think it might help to time the fundraiser with something like Giving Tuesday or another coordinated time to promote fundraisers.

Communication

In my future attempts, I need to be much more succinct. I put lots of text and rules into the initial post which can be overwhelming and create a barrier. So I’ll work on getting a better balance with that.

Sharing the Designs

While I can use social media, I wanted to share the designs on my website.

(This is big tangent regarding GIFs and doesn’t have to do with the fundraiser process. Please feel free to skip if it’s not of interest!)

At first, I wanted to share a 360 degree view of each of the rooms in the design via a video clip. I discovered that WordPress transitioned to needing a subscription to post an uploaded video. In trying to avoid using YouTube to embed video, I looked into making a GIF (which I haven’t done until now, haha!)

It’s a weird goal, but I wanted to make the GIF without the use of a third party app. That led me to see that I can make GIFs via Shortcuts which comes with iOS. This Reddit post informed that I can make a GIF that outputs the original ratio of the video.

That’s really cool, but then I remembered that most GIFs are huge in regard to file size, which isn’t great for a website. There are lots of third party softwares that compress GIF files, but the result is unfortunately low-quality and the file size remains pretty big. So I just decided to share as still images from multiple angles.

Overall, I think the important thing is to try, identify where improvements can be made, then try better the next time. Thank you for reading! :O)

I’m planning on doing a mutual aid fundraiser where I make Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise designs for people who donate at least $15 to a mutual aid fund that I’d like to support: Happy Home Fundraiser

I’m going to try posting about it on my Instagram and we’ll see how it goes.

If you’re interested in doing something like this, feel free to use the templates below to fundraise for a mutual aid fund that you’d like to support.

To be honest, I’m kind of nervous to try this because of general social anxieties, not knowing if there will be any response, worrying about making designs that people will enjoy, and doing my subpar attempt at website admin. But the need for mutual aid is always there, so I think the important thing is to just try what we can and hope it works and helps.

Thank you for reading! :O)

Post template:

Happy Home Fundraiser

Hello! :O) Would you like to donate $15 or more to ________ and then get a custom design by me in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise?

For the first TEN people*** to comment on this public post with “HHF”, I’ll request proof of donation via DM and then later post the image(s) of their AC Happy Home designs on my website for everyone to enjoy.

***You’ll know you’re one of the first ten if I heart your comment and you receive a DM from me requesting a screenshot of your donation receipt. I’ll lock the comments if/when the post reaches the max response.

You can donate here: _________

For this fundraiser:

—At least $15 donation = a one-room design

—At least $25 donation = a two-room design

—At least $35 donation = a two-room + outdoor design

After I get the screenshot of your donation receipt, I’ll send you an optional questionnaire to help inspire your design.

Please allow me through the end of this weekend before seeing it posted on my website. I’ll post an update here when they’re up :O)

(________you can describe a bit about the mutual aid of your choice here________)

Thank you for reading :O)

Donation Receipt Request template:

Hello :O) Thank you very much for donating to ________! Please reply with a screenshot of your donation receipt.

Questionnaire template:

Please see the optional questionnaire below. If you’re going to participate in the questionnaire, please send your responses within 24 hours so I can incorporate them into your design. I’ll be designing these throughout the week during my spare time, so I hope to get the images of your design up on my site by the end of the weekend.

Note: All designs will be posted publicly on my website.

1-Are you comfortable with your Instagram username being publicly posted on my website?

(If you’re not comfortable or don’t answer this question, I’ll just post it without a name. Then I’ll inform you which one is yours via DM.)

2-Favorite animal or AC character if you have one?

(I’ll try my best to accommodate with the animals and furniture I currently have unlocked in the game.)

3-Favorite color?

4-Favorite hobby?

5-Favorite season?

6-Favorite food/cuisine?