Campaign

I spent time on and off yesterday on the Blipfoto Friends Facebook page trying to drum up support for the Blip challenge. I was surprised how many Blippers did not take part who blipped a 1st Jan blip - maybe 40%.

It feels like the timetable for our fundraising is being very much set by the owners of Blipfoto. Christmas and New Year being hard on the wallet, the head and the heart.

I've put the 'slider bar' barometer of our fundraising efforts on today's photo (a screenshot from the Blipfuture page cut and pasted onto the photo). As of now (7pm-ish) we are at £84,193 - less than half the required sum but a huge advance on where we were.

I do wonder how much more gas is in the tank and I will be upping my pledge.

I've seen people saying we need to get out to a wider photographers' community and spread the word but I can't see people who are not invested in Blipfoto investing in Blipfuture.

I've wondered about seeking donations from all those people who visit the site but don't Blip (close on 120k visits a month). But I can't see a way of donating on the Blipfuture site for people in the EU.

I'm not sure this would raise much cash but friends and family might help us out. Particularly if it was easy and quick to give. But as we are not a charity that seems to be a problem.

I dislike intensely the idea that Blipfuture's directors are going to meet with the owners of Blipfoto in ten or so days time to determine the blipping future. At this meeting the owners will decide if they think there is enough cash on the table to start detailed negotiations of the sale.

I suspect the cash amount to be paid over is not more than £60k (in the first year of operation Blipfuture is predicted to have a 'loss' of £100k plus a cash buffer and small loss in year 2 that can only be met from the start up funds included in the £180 funding target) but the deal as outlined is one of cash, a chunk of shares in the new Blipfuture, and a commitment to make long-term payments to the current owners of Blipfoto should Blipfuture ever make and distribute profits.

If £180k is the minimum Blipfuture needs to go forward will the owners of Blipfoto not also take this as their benchmark for a sustainable operation that will give their share-holding some meaning and at least hold out the distant prospect of those long-term payments?

Any ideas out there of further fundraising or challenges or campaigns?

On a more prosaic note I went to the sales in Canterbury. It rained and the wind is blowing. The fire is burning and there is food in the oven.

I see that the Blipfoto Hogmanay gifter has brought us  100 new extras to play with. Which is nice.