Paying It Forward

Being crowdfunded I know how hard it can be to survive out here and get the tools you need to succeed.

For that reason, I’ve decided to launch the “Paying It Forward” fundraising initiative.

What It Is & How It Works

Once a month I set aside a week-long period (7th @ 12:01am PST to 14th @ 11:59PM PST) during which one third of all new funds raised during that period will be donated on behalf of “Supporters of JohnHenry.US” to a selected charitable organization, independent activist, or other worthy entity as selected by me.

In order to avoid the appearance of capitalizing on someone else’s worthiness, I will not announce the beneficiary until the fundraising period is over and the presumptive recipient has accepted.

All contributions will be made in the name of “Supporters of JohnHenry.US.”

You’re probably thinking “dude you can’t even buy food half the time, how are you gonna give away what little you do have?” Simple: I believe if I put good into the world, it’ll come back to me and I’ll have more good to add. People have helped me stay alive for no reason than that they’re good people through many tough periods in my life, and even though I’m nowhere near where I want to be financially, I am far better off than I have been in a while, and I want to help however I can.

This is a way you can help me keep my work going AND help others do their own. Pretty soon you’ve got a whole community of folks all working together to elevate each other instead of scrambling for our own individual needs individually.

Disclaimers & Caveats:

• At the time of this publication there are no active “merch perks” available because the entire storefront is in a rebuild process that will ultimately take months. This text will change when that information becomes available.
• For the purposes of calculating the PIF incentive, existing recurring support does not count even if it pays out during the target period. For instance if I have $150 in previously existing Patron payouts that hit during that period, that doesn’t count toward the goal. However if new Patrons subscribe during that period, that will count toward the goal, for that month. If my subscriber base grows significantly to the point I can look at adding some of those funds to PIF, I’ll do so, but right now there aren’t that many of you. Join the Patreon or subscribe here using the paypal form on the Support page.
• Beneficiaries will not be required to engage in any quid-pro-quo or public acknowledgement. Obviously any shout-outs or what have you are appreciated, but they’re not required. All that’s required is they accept the gift. What the recipient chooses to do with it after that is up to them.

How do you select recipients?

Mostly by picking someone whose work I appreciate and want to support, just like the people who support me and my work do. While the first two rounds of PIF did go to established charities and registered 501(c) NPOs will likely figure heavily into the beneficiary list over time, I am also definitely keeping an eye out for “smaller” or “lower level” activists and content creators like myself to help.

I will not be making any contributions to any organization I have another direct relationship with, e.g. one of my other projects like Custode or what have you. I won’t be asking for ideas of people to help; I’ve already got a list in my head that’ll cover at least the next few years. That part is, I feel, important to the overall purpose of the program which also allows me to feature and publicize the worthy groups and individuals and expose them to the rest of my audience.

How do we know you’re actually donating the money?

I post screenshots of the donation receipt to my Facebook Page. There will also be a gallery of those screenshots linked here soon; this text will be removed when that’s available.

“This is just a scam” or whatever

This kind of criticism just never has a meaningful basis. No matter how I do things, someone who wants to undermine my work will claim I’m doing it wrong or for some undisclosed purpose. I hate to give it any airspace at all, I just don’t live on the planet that energy comes from, so to speak, but if you let such things go entirely unaddressed, they tend to fester and grow on their own. So let’s talk about that for a minute.

I make my living doing this work, and that’s true of all the work I do whether it’s political activism or writing or gaming or making memes or anything else, reaching out into the world and making differences is my job. I don’t apologize for not always being serious; I don’t apologize for whatever degree to which my personal and political values are apparent in my unrelated work.

At the time of this writing I do also have a “day job,” but that doesn’t diminish the value of my work nor my need for support in the least. I’m trying to build a multimedia “brand” that lasts beyond me, and I’m limping along on a ten year old computer and a burner phone. I need all the help I can get.

In recognition of my reality, in which I simply don’t exist without the help of those moved to support my work, and the great privilege I have in being able to exist under those conditions, I’ve committed to contributing on average 1/12th or so of my income (1/3rd of new contributions, one week per month) to helping other people, institutions, and endeavors I find worthy.

It’s important to me as a matter of transparency that my supporters know what I’m doing with at least some of their support, and that there is an ongoing tangible outcome from it.. This accomplishes that goal.

It’s also important when someone says “well what do YOU do?” like they’ve caught me throwing nickels at street orphans from my MacLaren, that there’s something more tangible than just running my mouth on the internet that I can point to. How am I making a difference? Bought some food for a food bank. Donated some money to a group that helps victims of human trafficking. Aside from the rest of what I do in terms of writing and activism and content related to politics and social issues, there’s also this. Real, tangible help, complete with two places to the right of the decimal.

Thanks for your help, and for choosing to make your contribution go further by participating in the Pay It Forward Initiative