The final countdown
Running total (updated daily): £28,920 of £29,796 (97.1%).
Donations in last 24 hours: £886.
Our fundraiser has now been running for just over a month, and we’re into the last few days. We’re still staggered by the generosity of our wonderful readers, who have already secured the future of the site for some considerable time and funded the move to our shiny new internet home, as well as some other small investments to enhance the quality of our news coverage.
(We’re not sure if it’s a coincidence that our number of unique readers shot up by 25% overnight when we made the host switch, but many workplaces automatically ban sites with the word “game” anywhere in their URL – as our old address did – and it would be a remarkable statistic if the new domain name had made that much of a difference. If so, take a moment to marvel at the power of even the most modest donation, and thank yourselves again on our behalf.)
As we’ve noted before, our humbled amazement at the phenomenal amount already raised is tempered only by the fact that this incredible sum has come from just 2% of the site’s readership. But rather than nag the other 98% of readers some more, we thought this might be a good time to try to find out why.
Have you contributed to "One Pound For WingsLand"?
- Yes, I have. (75%, 403 Votes)
- No, but I plan to before the end of the campaign. (9%, 51 Votes)
- No - I oppose independence and only read it to monitor "the enemy". (7%, 37 Votes)
- No - I can't spare any money right now. (6%, 31 Votes)
- No - some other reason. (Please detail in comments.) (2%, 11 Votes)
- No - it's okay for free but I don't think it's worth anything. (1%, 3 Votes)
- No - other similar sites also want donations and I chose to fund them instead. (0%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 537
Loading ...As we’ve said previously, times are incredibly tough for a lot of people right now, and we absolutely DON’T want anyone sending us money they can’t afford. We’ve been in situations (and not too long ago) where even £1 was a big deal, and nobody who doesn’t have the cash to spare should feel the least bit bad about not donating.
There are countless other ways to help this site (and the cause of independence in general) that are every bit as valuable – spread links, post comments, tip us off about stories, submit articles for publication. Or just read what we post here and talk about it to people out there in the real world away from the internet. Because if we get the truth to people before autumn 2014, we WILL win.
For those less able, have another £10.00. Best investment I have ever made. Don’t agree with everything you say Wings – BUT AT LEAST IT IS ALWAYS HONEST.
Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted and all that but maybe you should’ve held a Wingsathon. You know, got some comedian pals to perform for nothing, made some moving films – say Alan Cummings visiting a family in Airdrie who only watch the BBC and are scared shitless – that sort of thing. You could have merchandised wee angel wings for sticking on your heid to signify your support for the good cause.
It came to me last night. Can’t think why.
Just a thought.
Hey, there’s still 10 days to buy a tin bath and a load of baked beans 😀
(Hmm, actually that might work as a threat – “SEND MONEY OR WE’LL POST PICTURES OF OURSELVES IN A BATH FULL OF BAKED BEANS”. Also, imagine poor Hamish trying to get tomato sauce out of his mane afterwards. WHAT SORT OF HEARTLESS MONSTER WOULD DO THAT TO A WEE LION?)
Hi Rev,a small donation courtesy of a wee win at the horses.Some more money if im lucky today,Farraaj 3.30 Lingfield is my banker.
This won’t help reach the target in time, but I’ve got a collection of short stories coming out via I-books or whatever they’re called. Probably late next month/early May. Still proofing, have to do all the tricky paperwork for US/IRS etc, but as and when it does see the light of day I pledge 10% of whatever I make, net, to WoS and BellaC. It’ll probably be washers, but you never know – might be the next 50-shades!
I had to tick ‘NO’ – other reason – which was that I donated using the Paypal button. I’m assume it all goes to the same place, but it wasn’t thru’ indigogo!
Currently unemployed, but I come here for news; seemed only fair to donate something.
Another £30 sent in your direction Rev – and thanks to Freddie on the ‘right on cue’ thread for highlighting Gardham’s latest BS and prompting the donation.
“I had to tick ‘NO’ – other reason – which was that I donated using the Paypal button”
Sorry, that’s my bad for not making it clearer. For the purposes of the poll you’re filed under “Yes I have” 🙂
We’ve already donated (my partner and I, who posts here sometimes) in the Hero category (she’s overpaid) but here’s another £10 anyway (on top of the monthly £2 donation). Good value for money though.
Still holding out for a higher-quality bribe, here. Wingsland logos on high-quality canvas frames don’t really do it for me. Wee lions might….
It does say ANY piece of WingsLand art – that includes Hamish pics. Am talking to Chris about how we should go about making posters available, it’s just a question of finding a suitable printer etc.
OK, last time I asked, you said Hamish belonged to Chris, and you’d have to ask him.
I like the balloon one.
[Morag goes off to check her bank balance….]
I chucked in another few quid today I wish it was more but the council tax “payment holiday” is over 🙁
Approximately 10,000 over 10 days is a big task. Perhaps a big benefactor is waiting in the “wings” to top up at the end 😉
I am surprised at what a small percentage of readers have contributed.
Come on stop lurking and donate. It is no more difficult than ordering something on line. A Paypal account is not necessary. It only takes a couple of minutes.
Donate!
“Approximately 10,000 over 10 days is a big task.”
Well under that – at this precise moment we’re £7,304 short of the target.
The appeal got close to £10,000 in its first 24 hours. That was the committed regulars showing their commitment.
RevStu is right, it would be best if a lot more individuals coughed up a small sum each to make the rest of the total. But if that isn’t going to happen, I suspect a lot of the committed regulars might pitch in again for a last-minute push.
I contributed £23 to the fund via Indiegogo on the 7th Feb ( 37 days ago ) but my name is not on ze list.
It was on ze list when we were on podgamers. If i donate another £46 do i become a Patron or a Triple Benefactor ?
?
ps. You should alter the Poll and add “Independence isn’t worth a pound” and “Too wee, too stupid, too tight.”
Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
It does say ANY piece of WingsLand art – that includes Hamish pics. Am talking to Chris about how we should go about making posters available, it’s just a question of finding a suitable printer etc.
My brother thought a cartoon on a mousemat would go down well and would be a subtle way to get Hamish into the workplace, and a few t-shirts of Hamish that we could wear with pride would also go down well.
“I contributed £23 to the fund via Indiegogo on the 7th Feb ( 37 days ago ) but my name is not on ze list.
It was on ze list when we were on podgamers. If i donate another £46 do i become a Patron or a Triple Benefactor “
WingsLand’s hosting arrangements should have no effect on Indiegogo whatsoever, that’s very weird. And donations are cumulative, but as I have no way of knowing without cross-referencing all 750+ donations for every single person (which would take about 10 years), people have to tell me if they’ve upgraded to a higher level to get the perk 🙂
You should have hamish things up for sale too. I can see them being nice to have.
I’ve donated a wee drop again. I know some of my fellow WoS readers have done the same and hope that they and more continue to do so. 🙂
For those who can’t spare cash and that pound could even mean the difference between going hungry or something like that – if you can spare time that is just as valuable too! You can spread the word about the site or the funding campaign or help out with the Yes campaign. This is a great help to our mutual goal too. Help encourage others in a friendly and informed manner and it can do wonders, even more good than any one of our pennies ever could!
# O/T but I can find no other way to comment on a Scottish Daily Mail story today. I saw it in the newspaper stand in Morrisons. Front page headline says that Scots middle class will be hit for higher tax in an independent Scotland. The basis of the piece is that John Swinney announced that he believed in progressive taxation. The Daily Mail therefore believes that the poor should pay proportionately more in tax. Desperate stuff.
John MacIntyre OBE has just appeared this evening on NNS. He has polluted the Herald for months. His only defence of the union is to call people names – we know them all but he dropped a new one with regard to 16/17 year olds voting. He said he didn’t want 16/17 year old “numpties” from Kelty and Cowdenbeath voting. A very nice man in his own view and he works hard but hopelessly for his OBE.
Do I get a print/T shirt for having the right name?
Please, please, please, grovel, grovel.
Will pay money. (lots of wee smiley things)
My tip Won mabey i should be The Wings Tipster,if everyone who reads had a pound on this horse.Then the total would over the top.I will donate another £23 pounds when the bet settles in my bank.I feel it is my duty to contribute,to obtain the information i recieve from wings so as im more informed to rebutt the [im drunk] rubbish i read elsewhere.
Why have only 2% of visitors contributed to your fundraiser?
I suspect you’d find roughly the same percentage would respond to fundraising from any site, say lallandspeatworrier or eurogamer.net or pandasthumb.org, or any other blog/website about any specific topic, political or otherwise.
Why are most people visiting those sites, and this one?
Entertainment, I suspect. Even those who agree with your views, most are likely just visiting for entertainment. Not for involvement, or activism. Just visiting a blog on a topic they are interested in. And many will not agree with your views on the topic. I visit and read blogs for entertainment every day, some by people who hold the same political views as me, and just as many by people who hold different views.
And I personally wouldn’t feel moved to fund any of them. I suspect I am typical of the majority of your readers, and readers of most websites.
It’s a little like the argument over software piracy. The software companies will always claim that every illegal copy represents lost revenue to them, but the fact is many of those people wouldnt have bought the software. Similarly, if a political blog were to be behind a paywall, the same 2% would probably pay, and the rest … probably just wouldnt bother visting any more. So total visitor numbers are no indication of how many might contribute.
Anyway, that’s my explanation for the 2%.
2% is considered a good response in most marketing campaigns. It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is.
OTOH, Rev, did you note the somewhat amazing result of Fiona Mactaggart’s (MP for Slough) Twitter endeavours last night? Between 8.25 & 9pm, she promised a £1 donation to comic relief for every RT, and ended up owing £14,268. See the @fionamacmp timeline for details.
Why not try the reverse ferret, and ask everyone who gives you an RT to donate a pound? Worth trying – you might pick up a few quid!
Just can’t resist those round numbers… (Comments on the fundraiser now seem to require a login – so I’ll just make one here)
“2% is considered a good response in most marketing campaigns. It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is.”
Indeed. As I’ve said a few times already, it’s actually about twice as good as you’d normally expect. Curious that very few of the 98% want to tell us why, though, even though it’s an anonymous poll.
That’s another £5 from me Rev. 😉
Just as a matter of interest. Where is this ‘list’ of supporters located? Try as I might, I cant find it.
OK, since you ask: I was going to contribute something, but almost immediately after your initial appeal you published this – http://wingsoverscotland.com/and-finally-12/ – which annoyed me on a number of levels, and made me reconsider. (Yes, he’s my MSP; yes, I voted for him.) But I might yet.
@ David McCann
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/one-pound-for-wingsland?c=pledges
Cheers Brian. Got it now.
Stu
Sorry to be a pest if this has already been explained, but why is there a discrepancy between the total on this page and the one on indiegogo? And will it affect how much you will receive through indiegogo?
I’ve already donated a tenner, but will donate further £13 to upgrade to the next level over the next couple of days.
“Sorry to be a pest if this has already been explained, but why is there a discrepancy between the total on this page and the one on indiegogo? And will it affect how much you will receive through indiegogo?”
Because some people can’t get Indiegogo or PayPal to play nicely for all sorts of reasons, so have donated by other means instead. If we fail to reach the Indiegogo target figure on Indiegogo itself, we’ll have to pay them 9% commission instead of 4%, so it’ll be a bit of a bummer, but it can’t be helped.
I’ve even stopped cleaning my duck pond house this month to help the cause.
“Indeed. As I’ve said a few times already, it’s actually about twice as good as you’d normally expect. Curious that very few of the 98% want to tell us why, though, even though it’s an anonymous poll.”
I suggest that those who wont donate and some that cant avoid this post. They prefer to walk on by. A bit like not looking as you walk briskly past the charity collectors at the door of the supermarket. As I have when skint. 🙁 Human nature I suppose.
cant you contribute the donations that didnt come through indiegogo to the campaign yourself? you would presumably pay 4% on these donations but if it is enough to meet the target then it might save you from paying 9% on the rest of the donations that did come through indiegogo.
I’ve donated again this month so hope you can meet your target.
A bit of a long shot this, but to keep money rolling in, why don’t you have a type of ‘raffle ticket’. It’s a pound a go. You place your money, you are given a number (between 1 and 300), and then at the end of the week, you announce the winning number. Winner gets say …£20.
It’s not great, but on a weekly basis, you might drag in say £50. It’s not a lot, but over 52 weeks, that could be worth £2,500. It’s not a lot, but if it is money that you don’t have …then it is a lot !!
Have made 4 donations – one for each member of my family. (At some relevant point in the future, I’ll explain it was part of their birthday present). That means we’ve all got the same level of “title”. I might need to donate further if I want to lord it over them, though.
Just donated ten quid again, sorry for the delay in doing so but came back from Benidorm last week and came back to the usual bills. I could only donate through google wallet so hope this counts towards your final total.
Encouraging to see your over the 20 thousand mark. Lets hope we can blow it over the finishing line as this site quite simply is a winner.
Ron: appreciate the comment, if nothing else 😉
As Ronnie Browne would say C’MON……. let’s reach that target
Another donation, keep up the good work.
A poor old deaf pensioner [ excepting Cross House”s very best cochlear implant] can donate a few cherished and kent by name bawbees can donate a few so W THE F can’t you?
Bugger the phsychofancy on ‘the voice of a person’, from which the following has been cut&pasted:
I (me) hereby pledge £100 to Rev Stu’s fund if the Ref date turns out (and there’ a clue) to be 30 Nov 2014, but if not then £50/£50 to whoever hereunder first numerates the right date and buys into it at the cost of their own chosing (sp?), provided he/she in turn donates the lot to Rev Stu anyway.
Yes, that’s right – all the winner get’s to celebrate is their judicious selection of guessing the right date.
And first-up next I invite the skirt who flirts. Yep, that’s you Jeannie! Pick your Date! Pledge your Price! And invite by name* the next-up to carry-on with a different or doubled-up date to share the glory of getting the date right first.
(*Suggest scottish-skier for the Beckham insult to kilted undergarments.)
Over to you Jeannie if you wish to be next-up. You’ve got ’til 23:30 before this game opens for all to play!
Jeannie says:
20 March, 2013 at 11:34 pm
@Indion
Sorry, just saw your post – have been away flirting shamelessly for the last couple of hours. Right, yer on. £25.00 says the referendum will be held on Saturday November 23rd and I challenge anyone at all out there, but especially Major Bloodnok, to better this. And in terms of undergarments, I thought Wings thongs were de rigueur?
Cut&Pasted by me from where I ko’d this, but then transferred here on thinking ahead (what else is it for but nodding home):
Jeannie says:
20 March, 2013 at 11:34 pm
@Indion
Sorry, just saw your post – have been away flirting shamelessly for the last couple of hours. Right, yer on. £25.00 says the referendum will be held on Saturday November 23rd and I challenge anyone at all out there, but especially Major Bloodnok, to better this. And in terms of undergarments, I thought Wings thongs were de rigueur?
Thoughtland – Thongland …. Aye that’s fitting for flirting around some more with. Meanwhile, now wer’e off, may much good come to you too because of it.
Major, you’ve been bugled to parade! (Memsab – give him nudge if he’s nodded off over his budget abacus again, especially if your anniversary or either your or his birthday might be a day worth nominating.)
The score is £125 and counting. Last chance to join in is before 2pm tomorrow!
(See previous if not keeping but stiil up.)
Och, I should have known you’d be ahead of me Jeannie!
Anyone know if any of the bookies have opened one on the Indy Ref date?
If so, please inform this post as my name is McBaldrick, who under a full head of hair has another punning clan!
Sorry Indion, I can’t come out to play today. Run out of pocket money. 🙁 Like your style though. 🙂
CameronB, apology unnecessary from any as you contributing your best.
I’m away this week, so if you get a mo in the morn, what odds/dates are the bookies offering at home?
Now’s not the day nor the hour we’ll make our mark on history, but after 2:00pm today we’ll know the date of our #Indyref about 18 months hence.
And – as at 6am this morning – the fundraiser for WoS stood at the impressive amount of £24,716 already donated towards the total of £29,796 needed to (get the commission back and so) meet the £30,000 target before midnight on 25 March 2013.
In short, there is 5 days to go to raise the remaining £5080: ie £1000 each day.
The connection between the two dates is your chance to more than double your money donated to the WoS fundraiser today before 2:00pm.
Pick the Date you reckon our #Indyref will take place and Pledge the Pounds to back it. If, that turns out to be the date, you and anyone else who chooses it too win half of all pledges, and the other half goes into the WoS fundraiser pot – provided you donate your winnings to it too!
This is called a win-win hustle: Rev Stu gets 100% of all pledged bets; you get the bragging rights due for getting the date right!
I kicked this off earlier by Picking Sat 29 Nov (a change to accommodate the full result being known by Sun 30 Nov / St Andrew’s Day and hence sure to get something right) and Pledged £100.
Jeannie responded to my challenge; her Pick and Pledge was Sat 23 Nov and £25 – and called on anyone else, but especially Major Bloodnock to better it!
That’s £125 for starters, the Major’s already late on parade and scottish-skier surely should stump up something for expecting The Voice of a Person from Bath to sound like Beckham.
So readers, Pick the Date and Pledge the Pounds and practice Making your Mark on History by entering your ‘bid’ for bragging rights below.
NB anyone called Salmond is disqualified from entry, but Alex will do.
It’s 7am already, so shake a leg and let’s be having you early burd’z and bloke’s entries to get a move on.
Feel free to tweet too:
“ Roll up to more than double your money! Pledge a Win-Win Bet on #Indyref Date at http://www.wingsoverscotland.com/the-final-countdown “ or 149 characters to that effect.
(PS Anybody. How do I delete my trial tweets so I can do so too?)
…an overdue donation made this morning via Google. I’ve only ever visited the site previously via links by Sneekyboy et al. on the Guardian’s CiF pages.
I admire the site, and its level-headed approach, so I have it bookmarked now and I’ll be a frequent visitor.
My PS sorted.
Indion, I don’t even follow half of that, and I don’t have any real opinion on the date. I do remember a lot of “he can’t have it on this date, or that one, because” flying around earlier, and I can’t honestly remember what the constraints are.
I’ll have 24th October, because it was my Mum’s birthday.
And it’s “United Nations Day”, for which in the dim and distant past we used to get a day off school. I don’t know if that’s a good omen or a bad one!
Morag at 9:56am
The short version is Pick the Date and Pledge £Pounds to the WoS fundraiser.
The win-win hustle is you get bragging rights if your date is spot on and the WoS fundraiser gets the all pounds pledged in any event.
You’ve picked Fri 24 Oct and – in the spirit of the ‘rules’ now need to pair that to a pledged amount by 2pm if you have not donated already today.
@Indion
Buggered up my bet – when I said the 23rd November, I was looking at a 2013 calendar! Whatamistakatomake eh? Can I change it to Saturday 22nd? 🙂
Indion, I did what Jeannie did! I looked at this year’s calendar. What are we like?
I withdraw, temporarily.
@Morag
Embarrassing or what? Can’t believe I did that!
I was kind of hoping nobody would notice…. 🙁
Nobody will notice – unless you turnout a day late 😉
Stu re Posters contact me got a guy who who can print and post for you, been working with him for years system sound.
Just increased monthly subscription impressed with many of the recent articles which the research for must have been very time consuming
De-lurking for the cause.
I’m willing to be a hero (£208) or a saint (£489) if there’s someone out there who’d match me..
Can I afford it? I’ve limited savings left before I have to declare my PhD efforts dead and try to find paid work (ha ha!); this would bring my deadline forward by 20 or 49 days but I think the splendid job WoS does is worth it.
So, anyone?
“Can I afford it?”
I really, really appreciate the sentiment, but as I’ve said before I don’t want folk sending me money they can’t afford. By all means kick a tenner in, but don’t leave yourself skint.
Doganon, srsly, don’t. This is going to get there without anyone having to go in for sacrificial giving.
I’ve been a PhD student. I know. It’s a time to let other people take that sort of financial strain.
@Rev Stu
Sorry Stu – I was trying to add some oomph to my arm-twisting and it’s all come over a bit pathetic:- I choose to afford it. I should have used smilies 🙂 See, that’s why I lurk and don’t post.
Go on, help make me a saint someone, please? Then I can go back to the safety of lurking.
Rev Stu,
There’s a not disinterested gathering this weekend who collectively should be able to help get the WoS fundraiser over the line past the last £3,076 to go as of 00:01 am today.
And what movement comes to mind that the overshoot usefully could be pledged to pass on to that most if not all donors to date and over the weekend might be pleased to help too?
How soon after midnight tonight will you be able to put up the running total at the end of today atop this post with what will then be 3 days to go?
Also, could the running total be put up at ever reducing time intervals so that all can see and be encouraged to donate during the final countdown to its being met; eg at 6am, midday, 6pm and midnight or the times best matching your w/e peak readership being directed to it by an new updated post tomorrow?
Or are you way ahead of me as usual in questioning everything that and everyone who should be asked to get a YES answer to?
Jeannie says:
22 March, 2013 at 11:34 pm
Now we’re into the last few days of fundraising I was trying to think of a fun way of raising a few more pounds. So, I’ve sent Rev Stu another tenner under the guise of Her Majesty The Queen. Thought it would be fun to see a list of famous people donating to the campaign. So, even it’s just a pound or two, think of a famous person whose name you’d like to see on Stu’s donation list and send the donation under their name. Doesn’t have to be a living person – could be a fictional character, a character from a film or tv or a historical figure. Would just be fun to see them on a list of donors. Anyone care to join Her Majesty?
I like that idea, and I shall be adding to the total for the third time tomorrow, when I’m a bit less drunk. If I did it now the campaign would be immediately successful. That is too easy. *hic*
Albert Herring at 11:54 on The Abstainer’s thread said:
” Jeannie, Brenda’s hubby’s just donated. ”
And so he should if he want’s to remain the Duke of Edinburgh!
And I’m sure the Stathmore’s could spare a pound or two from a pilot’s pay supporting their being best together from meeting in St Andrews! What about it Wills and Kate?
“Stu re Posters contact me got a guy who who can print and post for you, been working with him for years system sound.”
I’ve no trouble getting printing done, but what we really need is a custom printer who’ll handle the admin (ie sending them out) too. No luck finding one yet – I don’t want to be spending all my time writing addresses on cardboard tubes and trekking a mile to the one remaining Post Office in town, I’ll never get any posts done.
“Sorry Stu – I was trying to add some oomph to my arm-twisting and it’s all come over a bit pathetic:- I choose to afford it. I should have used smilies
See, that’s why I lurk and don’t post.
Go on, help make me a saint someone, please? Then I can go back to the safety of lurking.”
Well, we got one… 😀
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/one-pound-for-wingsland/x/2346389?c=pledges
But seriously, I mean this – don’t send money you can’t afford, or even think you MIGHT not be able to afford. None of this is worth making one person broke for, and it’d spoil everything. So think really carefully, and if you decide on reflection you should probably keep your cash for a rainy day, a quid’ll do fine 🙂
Well done and thank you from all of us.
I’d love to send you some money from the depths of Arbroath Abbey but I’m afraid our coffers are bare Stu. 🙁
Good luck on reaching your goal though. 😆
Rev Another donation made ‘ won’t be here to see if you make the target ‘ but good luck and keep up the good work . One piece of advice ‘ please please don’t burn yourself up ‘ we will need you at your best next year .
Yes, we realise that in a year’s time we’re going to have to raise enough to keep him going till 18th September.
We can do that. After that, he’s on his own….. 😀
Morag says:
We can do that. After that, he’s on his own…..
Would you please stop agreeing with me. 🙂
Another donation, second £23. I would be gutted if you didn’t reach your target, so it’s worth my ‘treats’ money for a couple of weeks. I probably drink too much gin anyway! Who am I kidding, I’m having to work too much at the moment, not getting out to socialise anyway!
“Another donation, second £23. I would be gutted if you didn’t reach your target,”
Much as I’ll be saying the opposite tomorrow 😉 it doesn’t really matter very much if we make the target or not. If we fall a couple of hundred quid short, that’ll still be about 97% of a figure I never dared dream of reaching, and a pretty incredible feat by this site’s amazing readers.
We are going to make the target (assuming you launder the off-system money through Indiegogo) because we do not approve of paying 9% commission. It is that simple.
What I don’t entirely understand is how NNS can get a full-time journalist for only £12,000. A part-time person doing a professional job while making up a salary by working part-time elsewhere, sure, and I imagine someone like that could do a good job. But who works full time for £12,000 p.a. these days?
“But who works full time for £12,000 p.a. these days?”
It’s below the national minimum wage for anyone 21 or over doing 40 hours a week (£12,875.20), so hopefully nobody.
I only do 37 hours a week, and they call me full-time….
Just bunged you another wee something Rev.
Must have been that panelbase poll and a couple of beers put me in a good mood.
😉
Agreed Morag, paying out 9% commission instead of 4% due to falling a few hundred short would hurt. Equates to circa £1500 penalty. And it doubly hurts that some who have given from very scarce resources would see their tenner or whatever lost to the penalty fee.
“Agreed Morag, paying out 9% commission instead of 4% due to falling a few hundred short would hurt. Equates to circa £1500 penalty.”
Well, in strictly Indiegogo terms we’re currently going to fall several thousand short, but we shall see what transpires.
What about donating to yourself what has already been given to you through other channels thorugh a third party?
In an unaccustomed burst of bonhomie, Father Jack Hacket of Craggy Island Parish has asked me to make a small donation on his behalf. He would like to point out that this amount is equal to the daily cost of his favourite DRINK – Toilet Duck, which he is willing to forego under the circumstances. Greater love hath no man.
A £10 from me to the kitty. I might be unemployed, but this site and the work it is doing is invaluable.
Every morning when I get up I log in to read whats being said, and I’ll do it later in the day as well. It’s the only place I know where I can read what like minded people are thinking and not feel so adrift on the ocean of bile directed towards independence. £10 for my sanity, it’s a no-brainer.
Thanks Stu.
Well, in strictly Indiegogo terms we’re currently going to fall several thousand short, but we shall see what transpires.
Hmmm, when? I haven’t followed up on my original donation because I don’t know what’s going to happen with the commission thing. If we’re gonna make the total in Indiegogo by pushing some more through at the end, I’ll chip in that way. If not, I’d rather put the rest of what I intend to give through off-system in some way that will minimise the commission due.
“Hmmm, when? I haven’t followed up on my original donation because I don’t know what’s going to happen with the commission thing. If we’re gonna make the total in Indiegogo by pushing some more through at the end, I’ll chip in that way. If not, I’d rather put the rest of what I intend to give through off-system in some way that will minimise the commission due.”
If we’re through the target, including everything, by midnight tomorrow (ie 28 hrs from now), let’s say I have a feeling we’ll be fine.
“What I don’t entirely understand is how NNS can get a full-time journalist for only £12,000”
Well, indeed. They also started their “fund raiser” mere days after the Rev started his. I thought the timing was *appaling* and was in danger of ‘splitting the vote’. I’m just very glad that the Wings fundraiser looks like a terrific success … but I do feel that I have to comment on the highly opaque and less-than-transparant way that NNS appeared to have conducted theirs. Where was the open, accountable process, the 3rd party processing site, etc? Eh?
I’m not suggesting for a minute that everything was anything other than totally above board and honest, but it did smack a bit of them trying to stifle ‘competition’ … or is that just my very cynical nature showing?
There is obviously room for both. We need a variety of approaches to appeal to the broadest range of voters. I choose not to support NNS any more, but I’m not miffed that they got their target. I read the articles sometimes.
I do agree that their timing sucked. If they’d started their appeal next week, I might even have given them something.
Silver linings:
We need someone who has the funds, to put up a loan to cover the shortfall, And we need to commit to repaying the loan if it is forwarded. At the outset I stated that for me cashflow is King ( Queen if you prefer). So if we commit to a monthly payment to Wings of say £10 per month then a loan could be re-payed in jig time. Is that 6/8 time Morag? Six to eight weeks?
Instance a £1500 loan – just 75 persons at £10/month – re-payed over 8 weeks is surely smarter than seeing £1500 of donations going down the cludgie as commission?
And think of it. Beyond paying back such a loan, even £1 per month income per person,as the Rev proposed, would enable Wings to commission articles and analyses. Over the past few years I’ve watched several earnest people fade from their resolve and their blogs stall, fatigue I suppose.I find Wings truly exceptional and urge you all to support as best you can.
Calm down, dear. There are still over 24 hours to go. That would be the last 24 hours. And only £1,000 to go now. I think it’s a racing certainty that a number of people have been holding off to see how things are looking come Monday evening. There have been several 24-hour periods in the past week that have made over £1,000. The last 24 hours is not going to fall flat in that atmosphere.
The figures at the top of this page suggest it is nearer £1800 that has to be raised, or am I missing something?
It’s like Christmas when I was five. Wanting to stay awake to see that wonderful event, but afraid it won’t happen until you go to sleep … that if you stay awake the magic won’t happen and you’ll be dissapointed. Mind you, when I was 5 I wanted a Mikey Mouse watch and I had already guessed that Santa didn’t exist … I was an odd, logical child 😉
Hold on a tick about Newsnet, lets not lose the plot.
I was disappointed, and like many felt slightly spurned when the new posting policies took over – it felt like we were losing our voice. But then I started thinking about why they would do this. Now, I’ve never met anyone from NNS and have only read the blurb at the bottom of the website that ‘they are a bunch of volunteers from Greenock’. With that in mind I’m not going to blame a bunch of unpaid volunteers if the moderation policy of the website becomes to much of a burden in taking up precious time and resource.
We’re also aware that all the media is rammed full of comment sections, and NNS was no exception. I had persuaded a ‘don’t know’ voter to start having a read of Newsnet and after a couple of days they got back to me and told me the articles were pretty good but they were completely put off with some of the comments.
So maybe it’s worthwhile that we do have a news site that we can direct people to, especially ‘don’t know voters’ that isn’t rammed with comments. Most of us post on sites every day, but we are still a minority of the population. I think a lot of ‘don’t knows’ are either wary of “cybernattery’ (thanks unionist press) and generally haven’t taken to getting their news on the internet as opposed to the TV. I think it’s as much about gentle persuasion, letting people decide for themselves while giving them a gentle nudge – and maybe NNS is a good place to direct people.
Douglas said:
The figures at the top of this page suggest it is nearer £1800 that has to be raised, or am I missing something?
You’re missing that the state of play as announced this morning suggests that the off system donations are lying at about £5,000. Basically RevStu was saying overall total £28,034 at a time when the Indiegogo total was sitting just over £23,000.
The current Indiegogo total is £23,723. It’s gone up by more than £700 since RevStu posted the score this morning. There’s only about £1,000 to go by that reckoning.
Tartanfever, I think NNS is doing a fair job, but I find their “out-Scotsman the Scotsman” style a bit irritating. I can’t trust them, because they’ll mis-report to favour the Yes side and then refuse to correct the error, and while they ape the style of a newspaper their standards of journalism are not all that professional.
But I guess they’re doing their best, and as I said we need a variety of styles, so good luck to them.
tartanfever,
A long, long time ago, I remember when Newsnet Scotland was the ‘go to’ place. I paid a standing order for £5 a month, IIRC, to them. And then it changed.
No-one has ever gotten to the bottom of it, but approx £14k was sort of spent with no apparent improvement on the site.
I queried that and I was banned. I cancelled my Standing Order.
Maybe someone will tell us the truth one day. I somehow doubt it.
Their comments pages were fairly bad, but I don’t think they improved them by banning a lot of sparky, intelligent people, and banning people for pointing out errors in articles.
Horrendous comments threads don’t seem to worry the Scotsman and the Telegraph and the Grauniad.
Morag,
Cool.
Where are you seeing these off system donations?
Oh yes, and they practically never provide links back up the information they publish.
That’s why I fell out with them. I spent an entire morning googling to find the source of some peculiar numbers, to discover they were wrong. It was in an article criticising the BBC for their spin on the local election results. The writer of the article had just done something very similar, but to favour the SNP score, in the very article that was complaining about dodgy numbers from the BBC.
It wasn’t just the error and the dodgy spin, it was the lack of link. The article said something along the lines of “google it yourself”, and I wasted hours doing that, to find the author was wrong. This narked me a little. If he’d linked to his sources in the first place I could at least have found he was wrong in about ten minutes (I count on my fingers).
I don’t trust a blog that makes assertions it won’t substantiate by linking to the source.
I found after a while I was going there to read Scottish Skier’s comments more than the actual articles. And then I didn’t have to do that.
@tartanfever-
Agreed.
It’s easy to forget that we’re all in uncharted territory.
What we write on here, NNS, BellaC, or anywhere else, is permanent. It’s also easy to get caught up in personal beefs and write something which one later regrets. I suspect we’ve all done it, or will as the debates get more heated.
We all know that politics is a filthy business, but diplomacy is an important part of it – the extent to which individual sites strike a balance is up to those tasked with making these debates available to us. It’s an unenviable job altogether, and we should be thankful we have any variety at all.
Keep it simple. Keep it civil.
The MSM-blogs are awash with headbangers, racists and nerdowells generally – they appear here rarely because they know they’re not welcome, and are quickly put-right if they think otherwise.
To those who meekly, flippantly accept the challenge presented by the McCluskey/Leveson recommendations: please specify what is so amiss about the current ‘self-regulation’ of so-called ‘cybernat’ sites.
Douglas said:
Where are you seeing these off system donations?
In the morning, when RevStu posts his update, compare his total with the current Indiegogo total. His total includes the donations he has received directly, from people who couldn’t get the Indiegogo system to work for them. This morning RevStu reported £28,034 while the Indiegogo total was just over £23,000. This indicates to me that the total he has received off-system is around £5,000.
According to this morning’s update, the shortfall was £1,700-odd. Since then, the Indiegogo total has gone up by about £700, from £23,000 to £23,700 (approximately). So the current shortfall is only about £1,000. Or look at the Indiegogo total and add £5,000. Again, that indicates a shortfall of £1,000 or so, no more.
Last I checked, offsites were £5,097.
It was early days in being a cybernat. I used to get very very angry at Unionists.
Nowadays I try, honest, to take a more forensic approach. I am not in Scott Minto’s class, but that is what I aim for.
I looked on NNS as a sandbox back then, where we, mostly, learned how to conduct ourselves and this site as where we graduated.
We can enter into a debate anywhere without embarrassing ourselves or the movement we believe in.
Because we are armed with both a degree of an (irrefutable?) arguement and a god aweful belief that we can convert folk by being civil.
It is worth remembering that more people read posts than write posts.
The more rabid unionists probably lose their side votes if they are answered in a, relatively, civil way. Brcause both posts are read by neutrals.
I seem to recall that a cerain unionist was allowed a guest post here. I can find no trace of it now. (Just saying)
It is all educational in a good way.
£23,733 + £5,097 = £28,830
£29,796 – £28,830 = £966
In 24 hours (and a bit). Easy money.
Rev Stu. morag,
Great news!
I hope some of your richer readers plug the gap.
Someone else has donated. Only £906 to go now.
I hope you’ve worked out the balance of costs and when it is best to stick the off-site into the kitty to avoid the biggest slice coming out of it all. Might save you a few pennies.
Rev Stu,
URGENT – FINAL COUNTDOWN TODAY
At 6:00am this morning, the indiegogo site running total read £23,803 and the clock read 26 hours with 18hrs to go!?
Does this mean:
A £23,803 as of 26 hours to go: ie at 10pm on Sunday night, or
B The clock should have read 18 hours to go at 6:00am this morning.
Which? And if B, will it be fixed and by when if today?
And good morning on a day that’s going to fly by on Wings!
Good start to the day – twenty quid thrown in from the President of Argentina! Wonder if she can get the Pope to sell a few paintings for the cause too?
Good luck for the rest of the day and, if you haven’t contributed but think this site needs to succeed to hold others to account, chucking in a mere pound will be more than worth it!
“and the clock read 26 hours with 18hrs to go”
Huh? Where are you reading the second number?
The actual time the appeal closes is 8 am on 26th March, GMT, as far as I can make out. (OK, 7.59 am.)
The Indiegogo site is using US Pacific time, as far as I can gather, which is 8 hours behind us. I think. I’m not good with this but something like that,
Indion, I don’t understand your confusion. Which part of “This campaign will receive all of the funds contributed by Mon 25 Mar 11:59PM PT” don’t you understand?
PT, as far as I can make out is “Pacific Time”, which is the most westerly of the US time zones, which is 8 hours behind GMT. Or thereabouts, I’m not sure whether they have switched to daylight saving time yet or not. If they have, perhaps it’s only a 7-hour difference.
Try this page here.
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.co.uk/time-zone/usa/pacific-time/convert/index.htm
It seems from that page that they are already on their “summer time”, so that my original calculation of 07.59 am on 26th March is now wrong, the closing time is 06.59 on 26th March, GMT (as we are not yet on “summer time”).
Does that explain it?
Morag @ 12:13 pm 25 Mar
Which part of “ This campaign will receive all of the funds contributed by Mon 25 Mar 11:59PM PT” don’t you understand? ”
And answer came there none, as there was no part i did not understand. It was simply a nudge to donate early so we could celebrate getting over the line before midnight here.
Indeed, ’twas yourself who had earlier that evening put surpassing the target beyond doubt, the redirected transfer of donations via RevStu over to indiegogo completing formalities during the minutes before 2359L.
As you said, the longtitude difference [at 15 degrees per hour] between London (Greenwich @ 0 degrees E/W) and the US West Coast (120 degrees W), they having gone earlier to their local summer time at the March equinox then we did later at the end of the month, did/does explain it: 120/15 = 8 – 1 = 7 hours.
‘Twitter US inc’ time is based in California too. ‘Expand’ any current twitter message and see the local time difference (as it has been since end March) is 120/15 = 8 hours.