As I start typing this, It’s around 10:30 on Dec 17th. It’s the final day of the 11th annual Worldbuilders fundraiser.
We are rapidly closing in on three-quarters of a million dollars.
And that’s excellent. I’m over the moon. I want to talk about that. So much.
But here’s the thing: I have news…
And rather than work up to it slowly like I normally do, I’m going to switch it up an little and jump straight to it. Imma gonna spring the news, then go back and tell you the why and the wherefore.
You ready?
(Bam!)
Or, for those of you who prefer more info in your info-graphic:
Simply said, tomorrow, December 18th, I’m going to be streaming for 14 hours straight to celebrate the success of this year’s fundraiser. We’ll have guests stopping for discussions, I’m going to play Minecraft with Oot, we’re going to show off videos for the stretch goals we’ve achieved, tell some old, beloved stories…
…and talk about the amazing things Heifer does, like give away goats…
Here’s the schedule:
(All the times [except the multifarious midnights] are CST.)
And, since we’re doing all that, it only seems to make sense to leave the doors open for people to donate throughout the day.
The reasons we’re doing this are manifold, but here are the main two:
1. Tradition.
Those of you who have been following Worldbuilders for a while know that our end-of-year fundraiser used to look a lot different than it does now. For one thing, it used to be exclusively run off of my blog, and it used to run for an entire month.
Except it didn’t. For years and years, we ended up extending the fundraiser out past our initial ending date. Sometimes it was because we had a last minute sponsor we wanted to showcase. Sometimes it was because some chaos or catastrophe threw us off schedule. Once it was because we got offered some matching money and we couldn’t bring ourselves to say no to that. Once things got so out of hand we extended *past* Christmas and the whole fundraiser spanned over seven weeks…
And some times we did it just for fun, or because we’d gotten into the habit.
This year, we’re deciding to continue the tradition in a different way. We’re taking one final day just to appreciate how lovely this community is. To put a bow on it. To show off some of the lovely things people have done. To relax and have fun and enjoy our success.
And, of course…
2. To give the latecomers one last chance.
What usually happens the day after the fundraiser is that I go into a deep, healing Odinsleep. When I emerge, I peek on social media and I invariably see dozens of people saying, “Oh no! Worldbuilders is over?!? Did I miss it? Can I still donate?”
And I get that. This is a busy time of year. Finals. Holiday planning. Family travel. Or maybe you’re just like me and tend to put things off to the last minute and then kinda forget about them.
But still, it breaks my heart to see those messages.
So. One extra day. If you were meaning to donate. Now’s your chance. If you were going to tell your friend about us, you’ve got a few more hours. If you were going to spread the word on social media, now you can use this amazing gif to do just that.
(Ooontz Ooontz Ooontz Ooontz Ooontz.)
* * *
So yeah. C’mon over and take one last chance to win fabulous prizes while making the world a better place…
Every $10 you donate still gets you a chance to win all manner of coolness. And if you donate on my team page, you’ll be eligible to win even more.
Look forward to seeing many of you over on the stream tomorrow.
But for now? I sleep…
pat
Later Edit: I meant to ask this last night, but forgot because I was tired.
If any of you have stories about worldbuilders, I’d love it if you shared them in the comments below. Here’s an example from a previous year:
“I started a new job as a barista for an Independent cafe in Philadelphia this year. I saved up all the change that people tipped to me. I was so surprised at how much i had when I counted it up! Thanks for all that you do!”
It warms my heart to hear those stories, and I might share some of them on the stream.
