Ausdroid’s 2012 Christmas Appeal — Ongoing

Update: We raised $150 in just five hours on Sunday night. We’re blown away. A few readers have emailed us asking if they can contribute now, even though our initial target has been met, and our donation of $300 to Variety has been made. The short answer is YES, if you want to help out, we’ve set a more ambitious target of $500 (including the already raised $150).

If YOU would like to help out, please do. Ausdroid cannot match dollar for dollar beyond what we’ve already done, however, if we reach our target of $500, Ausdroid will donate another $100 to Variety, together with whatever you, our readers, tip in. It seems you’re a generous bunch, and we’re proud as can be to have you as our readers!

Background

Every year since Ausdroid has run, we’ve tried to do our bit for the community. We do our bit regularly – through bringing you news, reviews and opinion – but we also try to do our bit financially as well. Ausdroid has never operated to make a profit – we sell what advertising we need to cover our operating costs, but inevitably we end up a with a little left over here and then.

For the last two years, we’ve donated money at Christmas to a worthy charity, and this year is no different — except for one thing. This year we’re talking about it and making it known. We’ve been saddened by the news out of America over the last couple of days, and this has influenced our decision of a charity to support this year. We’ve decided to support Variety, the Children’s Charity. For those unfamiliar with Variety’s work, have a read:

Variety-the Children’s Charity is a national not-for-profit organisation committed to empowering Australian children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs to live, laugh & learn. By giving practical equipment, programs & experiences, Variety helps children in need to overcome whatever obstacles they face & live life to the fullest.

This year

Ausdroid would like to donate $300 to Variety this year, and we’d like to do it like this. We’ve set up a widget in our sidebar (you can see it now, over there), asking our readers to get together and contribute up to $150. For every dollar that Ausdroid receives, we’ll donate a dollar from our own funds, with a goal of donating $300 all up. We will absorb all costs associated with running this exercise, including PayPal fees and associated tax.

Ausdroid isn’t a charity, and we don’t usually engage in any form of fundraising, but we think this goal is achievable. We’ve set a one week period for this, so we can pass on whatever we collect (plus our part) to Variety on Christmas Eve, 24 December 2012. In the interests of transparency, we will report back here all funds received, and confirmation of the donation made.

This is a bit of an experiment for us, but we think it’s a good thing to do at this time of year. If you don’t want to contribute, that’s perfectly okay too — we’re not like the chaps in koala suits at your local shopping centres trying to guilt you into saving gum trees or something.

First round

Well, it seems Ausdroid reached its target within the space of five hours, and on a Sunday night. Well done to those who donated. We didn’t seek your permission to disclose who you are publicly, but once we’ve done up the reports, we will show the records of receipts and the donation here.

Funds received:

Donation made:

Second round

We managed to raise a further $370 for Variety, and this was donated on 26 December 2012.