[MOD] FUNDRAISER FAQ
This is the FAQ compiled for Fundraising for Japan--Fandom-style. The following are some of the most common questions we have come across over the past few days since starting this fundraiser, and I sincerely hope this will be of help to some, if not many of you!
IMPORTANT: As of March 27th, drastic changes have been made to the FAQ. Please PM me if you have any questions that do not appear below. In addition, changes have been made to important questions from the Technical/Legal section. Please refer here for more information.
DONATION QUESTIONS
These are questions regarding the donating process itself, as well as general questions about the fundraiser.
What is this fundraiser for?
On Friday, March 11th, a 9.0 rated earthquake and a tsunami hit Sendai and caused massive amounts of damage as well as a catastrophic loss of life. Following the success of the Haiti fundraiser we had previously held, we decided to once again raise money to help those in Japan whose lives were affected by the earthquake.
How do I donate?
We no longer accept donations as of March 31st, 2011. Sorry, and thank you for your interest!
Is there a minimum amount I have to donate?
Not at all! The whole point of this fundraiser was to give everyone a place they can donate to, no matter how small the amount, and send the donation as one collective sum.
Can I donate without buying anything?
Of course! Many people have already donated without specifically purchasing anything. Any donation that you would like to make would be greatly appreciated.
How do I know what the current total is?
The current total is displayed on a sticky post in arashi_on, and will be updated at least once a day so you can refer back to it.
Why does it still say 'Fundraising for Japan-- Arashi-style' in the donation pages even though you say it's inter-fandom now?
Since this fundraiser first began with the arashi_on community, the name still reflects its origins. I can no longer change the title in the donation buttons since they have been shared in other communities and would require asking each and every place to replace it with new coding, so I'm afraid it will stay that way! The name will definitely be changed, however, when the actual donation is made-- probably under the name "Johnny's Fans on Livejournal" or something along those lines.
How long will this fundraiser last?
This fundraiser will last until March 31st, upon which we will donate all money collected to Direct Relief International.
FUNDRAISER/GARAGE SALE QUESTIONS
These are questions about the actual fundraising activity (ie. selling and buying of fan services) and the garage sale.
I paid for something but there's no notification to the seller yet! What should I do?
If it's been over a day (ie. 24 hours) and I still have yet to notify the seller of your purchase, please PM me (at acidae) and let me know! Chances are I missed your donation notification by accident, which is something I am entirely at fault for and will amend ASAP.
I made a mistake on my offers comment. What do I do?
Please do not delete your comments and then repost them, especially after you've been added to the masterpost. In order to avoid having dead links on the masterpost we would ask that you reply to your original comment with your corrections, or if you have a paid account, to edit your original comment instead. If you delete your comment and repost it later with corrections, it creates unnecessary work for us and will make it harder for interested buyers to find your offers.
Can I pay for multiple items at once or do I need to submit separate donations for each item?
Paying for multiple items at once is perfectly fine! Please just be careful to notify us of the amount and the names of all the sellers who you are buying from so we can notify them of your payment. Also, please also tell us whether you bought this from the garage sale or the main fundraising post to make things easier for us to find your comment.
Are fans of other Johnny's groups allowed?
Fans of other Johnny's groups are more than welcome! I would suggest that you look at the masterpost of people who are offering services for groups like Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, NEWS and others which can be found here. The garage sale being held is also a great place for other fans to go to as there are many items being sold and auctioned off that span multiple fandoms; and you can, of course, make offers or start sales threads of your own even if they have absolutely nothing to do with Arashi!
Why are the lists separated between Arashi and non-Arashi?
This is mostly due to time constraints. Maintaining the lists is time-consuming and while we would love to start a separate list for each group (or alternatively, each service) offered, the amount of work required would be enormous. As this started out as an Arashi fundraiser, most of the offers include Arashi in some way and on the Arashi masterpost everyone who has offered a service (regardless of fandom) has been featured there. In order to make things easier for those who are not part of Arashi fandom, we have separated everyone who was offering services for other Johnny's groups into a separate list. So far, we have heard that Kanjani8 fandom has started compiling a list of links pertaining to Kanjani8 offers and a list has also been compiled on the KinKi Kids main community. If you would like help with the coding or have questions about the list, please don't hesitate to PM lullabyeforyou.
How often are the masterlists updated?
The masterlists of offers for the bazaar and the garage sale are updated as often as time allows. Sometimes, if lullabyeforyou is not around her computer or is in school, it can take awhile for her to get to your comment. If after 24 hours, your comment isn't featured on the masterlists or if you have been skipped, please PM lullabyeforyou and she'll get to it as soon as she can.
TECHNICAL/LEGAL QUESTIONS
I'd like to preface this section by saying that I'm not a law student, and I'm not a trained law professional either. Most of these answers are compiled by zomboid and I after doing research and asking for opinions from her friends who are knowledgeable in these matters (as in real lawyers, university professors, and people who work for established NPOs).
zomboid has kindly offered to field questions about this section of the FAQ for me, so please send her a PM with any questions or concerns!
Which organizations are you guys intending to donate to?
We will be donating to Direct Relief International-- please refer here for more information!
Charity Navigator is a good resource for charity ratings and the do's and don't's of donating. It also provides a break down on the charities listed and where they spend their money, along with their annual revenue.
Can I suggest a NPO to donate to?
It has already been decided via a community poll that we will be donating to Direct Relief International-- please refer here for more information!
(note: We have had several inquiries and suggestions regarding donating directly to the Japanese Red Cross through Google. Unfortunately, they do not allow donations larger than 50,000 yen and as a fandom we have raised much more than that, so we will be looking into other options.)
Why don't we donate to the Japanese NPOs directly?
This is a question that we've discussed a lot in private, and we've actually considered the possibility and looked into the legalities of it. The truth is that the logistics are just too complicated, and when such a large sum of money is involved in an international transaction, officials might look into the matter and actually hold up the money to make sure we're not money laundering. Also, fees are charged for such exchanges, so we've decided to donate to a charity that we can easily transfer money to without the incursion of such fees so that the money can reach to those in need.
We'd also like to stay as transparent as possible with where the money is going. In order to transfer to a foreign bank account we would first need to transfer the money to a personal bank account. And while we pledge not to take a cent out of the donations total, it is still best to keep the money in a single place so that we do not have to show multiple receipts later.
Why only monetary donations?
While it is tempting to send supplies to the affected areas, that is simply not feasible or helpful in this situation. The Japan Post in many areas was affected and many local post offices have not been able to deliver mail since the wake of the disaster. Money is a liquid commodity that can be easily transferred internationally. Not to mention many charities can get large amounts of supplies at a discount, while the same amount of money will not be able to trade for the same amount of goods if we personally went out and bought it ourselves (even at large discount bulk retailers like Costco.)
Charity Navigator and The Canadian International Trade and Foreign Affairs Agency have a more detail explanation on the situation.
Why are you collecting money in USD and not yen?
The reason why we're not collecting in yen is because the Japanese currency will be subject to erratic fluctuations following this disaster. There is no universal currency we can use, but it is easiest and safest to donate in a currency that has a pretty stable rate. Since US dollars is basically considered the international currency anyway, we decided to stick with it when fielding all donations.
Do you or anyone else get tax credit for this?
Nothing except pride generated by the immense generosity of Johnny's fandoms. We do not, and cannot get any tax credit for this fundraiser. This is a question that has been asked again and again. In order to claim any tax credit for charities (in Canada and the United States, where we live,) the name on the check will have to match the name on the tax form. Since the donation will be made in the name of "Johnny's Fans on Livejournal", no one involved in the process will be able to claim tax credit for this donation.
And if you are still doubtful, the provided links provide a detail explanation and a list of criteria required in order to be eligible for tax credit in both Canada and the United States.
Canada Revenue Agency's FAQ on this matter
United States Internal Revenue Service's FAQ on this matter
Can I get tax credit for this?
You will not be able to get any tax credit for donating to this fundraiser because we are not a registered, legitimate NPO so we cannot issue receipts for your donations. If you'd like to receive tax credit for donating, then the best choice is to donate under your personal name and maintain all the receipts of your donations so you can file for tax credit in the upcoming fiscal year in your respective country/state/local city. Of course, you are free to donate to this fund or donate directly to a charity of your choice. A donation is a donation and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you're doing it as a Johnny's fan or as an individual because the money will go towards someone in need. We're not asking you to just donate here, and we don't want to make you feel like you're obligated just because you're in the fandom. We just thought it would be a nice gesture and a collective show of support towards a country that has provided us many hours of joy and entertainment.
Can I contact my local press about this fundraiser?
It might be tempting to contact your local press about the fundraiser, and in all honesty, we're also very proud of how much this fundraiser has grown since we started it. However, since we are sharing fansub materials as incentive and milestone celebrations, they fall under copyright violations. We'd like to discourage you from contacting any press about it because we do not want to get into any legal trouble for anything that we do here.
For all intents and purposes, we're sharing media from Japan, and the country is a member of the WTO. Since this fundraiser is organized within the realms of North America, and both Canada and the US are members of the WTO, we are in direct violation of this trade agreement and can come under legal fires for such. For more information regarding international copyright infringement, please refer to the WTO's outline of Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
If you have any other questions concerning the fundraiser that has not already been answered, please feel free to PM me or leave a comment below! I'll try to answer the questions to the best of my abilities and in a timely fashion. Again, we would like to thank you for your kind generosity towards this fundraiser. It has quite honestly grown exponentially and far surpassed any of our original expectations thanks to you all. You guys are absolutely amazing!
IMPORTANT: As of March 27th, drastic changes have been made to the FAQ. Please PM me if you have any questions that do not appear below. In addition, changes have been made to important questions from the Technical/Legal section. Please refer here for more information.
DONATION QUESTIONS
These are questions regarding the donating process itself, as well as general questions about the fundraiser.
What is this fundraiser for?
On Friday, March 11th, a 9.0 rated earthquake and a tsunami hit Sendai and caused massive amounts of damage as well as a catastrophic loss of life. Following the success of the Haiti fundraiser we had previously held, we decided to once again raise money to help those in Japan whose lives were affected by the earthquake.
How do I donate?
We no longer accept donations as of March 31st, 2011. Sorry, and thank you for your interest!
Is there a minimum amount I have to donate?
Not at all! The whole point of this fundraiser was to give everyone a place they can donate to, no matter how small the amount, and send the donation as one collective sum.
Can I donate without buying anything?
Of course! Many people have already donated without specifically purchasing anything. Any donation that you would like to make would be greatly appreciated.
How do I know what the current total is?
The current total is displayed on a sticky post in arashi_on, and will be updated at least once a day so you can refer back to it.
Why does it still say 'Fundraising for Japan-- Arashi-style' in the donation pages even though you say it's inter-fandom now?
Since this fundraiser first began with the arashi_on community, the name still reflects its origins. I can no longer change the title in the donation buttons since they have been shared in other communities and would require asking each and every place to replace it with new coding, so I'm afraid it will stay that way! The name will definitely be changed, however, when the actual donation is made-- probably under the name "Johnny's Fans on Livejournal" or something along those lines.
How long will this fundraiser last?
This fundraiser will last until March 31st, upon which we will donate all money collected to Direct Relief International.
FUNDRAISER/GARAGE SALE QUESTIONS
These are questions about the actual fundraising activity (ie. selling and buying of fan services) and the garage sale.
I paid for something but there's no notification to the seller yet! What should I do?
If it's been over a day (ie. 24 hours) and I still have yet to notify the seller of your purchase, please PM me (at acidae) and let me know! Chances are I missed your donation notification by accident, which is something I am entirely at fault for and will amend ASAP.
I made a mistake on my offers comment. What do I do?
Please do not delete your comments and then repost them, especially after you've been added to the masterpost. In order to avoid having dead links on the masterpost we would ask that you reply to your original comment with your corrections, or if you have a paid account, to edit your original comment instead. If you delete your comment and repost it later with corrections, it creates unnecessary work for us and will make it harder for interested buyers to find your offers.
Can I pay for multiple items at once or do I need to submit separate donations for each item?
Paying for multiple items at once is perfectly fine! Please just be careful to notify us of the amount and the names of all the sellers who you are buying from so we can notify them of your payment. Also, please also tell us whether you bought this from the garage sale or the main fundraising post to make things easier for us to find your comment.
Are fans of other Johnny's groups allowed?
Fans of other Johnny's groups are more than welcome! I would suggest that you look at the masterpost of people who are offering services for groups like Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, NEWS and others which can be found here. The garage sale being held is also a great place for other fans to go to as there are many items being sold and auctioned off that span multiple fandoms; and you can, of course, make offers or start sales threads of your own even if they have absolutely nothing to do with Arashi!
Why are the lists separated between Arashi and non-Arashi?
This is mostly due to time constraints. Maintaining the lists is time-consuming and while we would love to start a separate list for each group (or alternatively, each service) offered, the amount of work required would be enormous. As this started out as an Arashi fundraiser, most of the offers include Arashi in some way and on the Arashi masterpost everyone who has offered a service (regardless of fandom) has been featured there. In order to make things easier for those who are not part of Arashi fandom, we have separated everyone who was offering services for other Johnny's groups into a separate list. So far, we have heard that Kanjani8 fandom has started compiling a list of links pertaining to Kanjani8 offers and a list has also been compiled on the KinKi Kids main community. If you would like help with the coding or have questions about the list, please don't hesitate to PM lullabyeforyou.
How often are the masterlists updated?
The masterlists of offers for the bazaar and the garage sale are updated as often as time allows. Sometimes, if lullabyeforyou is not around her computer or is in school, it can take awhile for her to get to your comment. If after 24 hours, your comment isn't featured on the masterlists or if you have been skipped, please PM lullabyeforyou and she'll get to it as soon as she can.
TECHNICAL/LEGAL QUESTIONS
I'd like to preface this section by saying that I'm not a law student, and I'm not a trained law professional either. Most of these answers are compiled by zomboid and I after doing research and asking for opinions from her friends who are knowledgeable in these matters (as in real lawyers, university professors, and people who work for established NPOs).
zomboid has kindly offered to field questions about this section of the FAQ for me, so please send her a PM with any questions or concerns!
Which organizations are you guys intending to donate to?
We will be donating to Direct Relief International-- please refer here for more information!
Charity Navigator is a good resource for charity ratings and the do's and don't's of donating. It also provides a break down on the charities listed and where they spend their money, along with their annual revenue.
Can I suggest a NPO to donate to?
It has already been decided via a community poll that we will be donating to Direct Relief International-- please refer here for more information!
(note: We have had several inquiries and suggestions regarding donating directly to the Japanese Red Cross through Google. Unfortunately, they do not allow donations larger than 50,000 yen and as a fandom we have raised much more than that, so we will be looking into other options.)
Why don't we donate to the Japanese NPOs directly?
This is a question that we've discussed a lot in private, and we've actually considered the possibility and looked into the legalities of it. The truth is that the logistics are just too complicated, and when such a large sum of money is involved in an international transaction, officials might look into the matter and actually hold up the money to make sure we're not money laundering. Also, fees are charged for such exchanges, so we've decided to donate to a charity that we can easily transfer money to without the incursion of such fees so that the money can reach to those in need.
We'd also like to stay as transparent as possible with where the money is going. In order to transfer to a foreign bank account we would first need to transfer the money to a personal bank account. And while we pledge not to take a cent out of the donations total, it is still best to keep the money in a single place so that we do not have to show multiple receipts later.
Why only monetary donations?
While it is tempting to send supplies to the affected areas, that is simply not feasible or helpful in this situation. The Japan Post in many areas was affected and many local post offices have not been able to deliver mail since the wake of the disaster. Money is a liquid commodity that can be easily transferred internationally. Not to mention many charities can get large amounts of supplies at a discount, while the same amount of money will not be able to trade for the same amount of goods if we personally went out and bought it ourselves (even at large discount bulk retailers like Costco.)
Charity Navigator and The Canadian International Trade and Foreign Affairs Agency have a more detail explanation on the situation.
Why are you collecting money in USD and not yen?
The reason why we're not collecting in yen is because the Japanese currency will be subject to erratic fluctuations following this disaster. There is no universal currency we can use, but it is easiest and safest to donate in a currency that has a pretty stable rate. Since US dollars is basically considered the international currency anyway, we decided to stick with it when fielding all donations.
Do you or anyone else get tax credit for this?
Nothing except pride generated by the immense generosity of Johnny's fandoms. We do not, and cannot get any tax credit for this fundraiser. This is a question that has been asked again and again. In order to claim any tax credit for charities (in Canada and the United States, where we live,) the name on the check will have to match the name on the tax form. Since the donation will be made in the name of "Johnny's Fans on Livejournal", no one involved in the process will be able to claim tax credit for this donation.
And if you are still doubtful, the provided links provide a detail explanation and a list of criteria required in order to be eligible for tax credit in both Canada and the United States.
Canada Revenue Agency's FAQ on this matter
United States Internal Revenue Service's FAQ on this matter
Can I get tax credit for this?
You will not be able to get any tax credit for donating to this fundraiser because we are not a registered, legitimate NPO so we cannot issue receipts for your donations. If you'd like to receive tax credit for donating, then the best choice is to donate under your personal name and maintain all the receipts of your donations so you can file for tax credit in the upcoming fiscal year in your respective country/state/local city. Of course, you are free to donate to this fund or donate directly to a charity of your choice. A donation is a donation and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you're doing it as a Johnny's fan or as an individual because the money will go towards someone in need. We're not asking you to just donate here, and we don't want to make you feel like you're obligated just because you're in the fandom. We just thought it would be a nice gesture and a collective show of support towards a country that has provided us many hours of joy and entertainment.
Can I contact my local press about this fundraiser?
It might be tempting to contact your local press about the fundraiser, and in all honesty, we're also very proud of how much this fundraiser has grown since we started it. However, since we are sharing fansub materials as incentive and milestone celebrations, they fall under copyright violations. We'd like to discourage you from contacting any press about it because we do not want to get into any legal trouble for anything that we do here.
For all intents and purposes, we're sharing media from Japan, and the country is a member of the WTO. Since this fundraiser is organized within the realms of North America, and both Canada and the US are members of the WTO, we are in direct violation of this trade agreement and can come under legal fires for such. For more information regarding international copyright infringement, please refer to the WTO's outline of Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
If you have any other questions concerning the fundraiser that has not already been answered, please feel free to PM me or leave a comment below! I'll try to answer the questions to the best of my abilities and in a timely fashion. Again, we would like to thank you for your kind generosity towards this fundraiser. It has quite honestly grown exponentially and far surpassed any of our original expectations thanks to you all. You guys are absolutely amazing!