Let’s close the funding gap for the WisCon Member Assistance Fund!
Short version of this post: Please help people attend WisCon by donating to the Member Assistance Fund! I will match your donations!
Longer version:
I love WisCon, the annual feminist science fiction and fantasy convention in Madison. I've been going since 2000 or so; it has flaws and problems sometimes, but overall it's my favorite convention. I love the smart and interesting and thoughtful and funny and political discussions there; I love the shared sense of purpose and sense of fun and sense of wonder; I love the Tiptree auction and the dessert salon and the Guest of Honor speeches; I love the chance to get together with old friends and make new friends.
And I would love for everyone who wants to attend to be able to attend, but sometimes people can't afford it. (Attending conventions can be expensive!) Which is why there's a Member Assistance Fund to provide financial aid.
But this year, the Fund got a lot more requests than it ever has before, and even after last week's great fundraising effort, the Fund ended up $5000 short of being able to help everyone who qualified.
So let's fix that. This week, I will personally match every donation to the Member Assistance Fund, dollar-for-dollar, up to $2500. In particular, that means that if y'all collectively put in $2500 by the end of the day on Saturday the 27th (only five days from now!), then I will put in the other $2500, and together we can provide financial aid to everyone who qualified.
To donate, visit the WisCon blog and click the Donate button. We'll be posting progress updates as the week goes on.
Donations of any amount are welcome. And WisCon's parent organization is a 501(c)(3), so donations are tax-deductible in the US.
Even if you can't donate, you can help by spreading the word; please share this post!
(By the way, this matching donation is in addition to the amount that I was already planning to donate, not instead of.)
