Lifeboats

Update

The funding campaign is going incredibly well. The total stands at something like £115,500 (21.00 GMT today) including PayPal donations. (Not sure of the exact figure now since the noon GMT today announcement from Blipfuture of the PayPal total of £696.). 
 
The increase in funding pledged and donated on (early) yesterday’s total is over £12,000. (This was greatly helped by what looks like a one -off pledge of £4,000 which is unlikely to be repeated. Please prove me wrong someone. And apparently the lottery was not won by a member of Blipfoto despite those extra ticket purchases).
 
The funding pledged and donated total of £115,500 is equal to something like 64% of the minimum funding target of £180,000.
 
Will that be enough to convince the owners of Blipfoto to deal?
 
I’m not sure but I would err on the side of caution.
 
The money raised has to do three things: meet the cash element of the Blipfoto asset purchase (which I estimate at £58,000), cover the start-up costs of Blipfuture and cover a large part of the Year 1 running costs of Blipfuture.
 
If you subtract the cash element of the asset purchase from the funding raised so far (£115,500 – £58,000) you are left with £57,000 to cover Blipfuture’s startup costs and Year 1 running costs.
 
The Blipfuture business plan estimates that £102,000 is required from the fundraising total of £180,000 in Year 1 to keep the company running before membership fees begin to carry the company.  So far we have only raised £57,000 of that £102,000.  That is a big gap.
 
It is, of course, possible to reduce the Year 1 running costs but I think at present the gap between money raised and that possible reduction is just too big.
 
So we need to push on and make sure the funding total (pledged funds plus funds donated via PayPal) continues to rise. Momentum is key now. Every penny and every pledge and donation counts.
 
There has been a terrific response to the latest Blipfuture posts, the email and the revised banner. But somehow we need to sustain this into next week.  Remember on Tuesday next (Jan 12th)  talks between the owners of Blipfoto and the Directors of Blipfuture CIC commence. These will decide the future of Blipfoto.



Invitation to donate

Dear Friends,

If you look at this journal and/or others in Blipfoto I invite you to help us in our fundraising efforts buy Blipfoto from its current owners and turn it into a community-owned photo-journaling site.

The minimum target is £180,000. So far we have pledged £114,585 plus maybe £1,000 in PayPal donations.

You can invest in or donate to the new company, Blipfuture CIC (a Community Interest Company) either by buying shares (if you live in the European Union, European Free Trade Area or Switzerland) or by donating if you live outside these areas.

By far the easiest way to donate small amounts is via our PayPal donation page here.

Please note that donations made via PayPal will be taken immediately from your bank account and be transferred to BlipFuture CIC. This differs for investments made via the Blipfuture crowdsourcing link here. These will only be taken from investor bank accounts when the minimum target of £180,000 is reached.

Thank you for considering making a donation. Blipfuture faces crucial negotiations with the owners of Blipfoto in the next few days and every penny will count in convincing the owners to agree to take forward the sale.

For more information go here. You can see my latest blog here.