ADMIN: Nimbus - 2003 :: HPfGU Fundraiser (Info + Update)

[heiditandy]

Hi all --

Before we repeat our fundraising appeal message, the HP4GU Admin 
Team would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has 
contributed so far to our Nimbus - 2003 fundraising efforts. With 
your help, we've raised $400 in the last two months. There's still 
time before the June 15 deadline to secure a higher level of 
sponsorship for HP4GU, so if you are thinking about contributing, 
please, don't delay. We can sponsor about four programming panels 
now; every dollar gets us closer to an event or item sponsorship. 
See below for information about how to make your donation: it's 
quick, it's easy, and it means so much to the fandom.

Over the last four years, HP4GU has been the best online source for
in-depth, mature discussion of all things Potter. The list has
burgeoned to 7,000 members, more than twelve sister and regional
lists, and the finest collection of Fantastic Posts essays about HP
that one can locate on the web. Regional meetings are no longer so
regional. In New York City, Chicago, London, Germany and all over the
world in fact, we have met, sometimes in handfuls, sometimes in large
numbers.

And now, this summer, Harry Potter fans take the next step. More than
400 fans will converge on Orlando, Florida, to create the single
largest gathering yet, at the *first ever* symposium centered solely
on Harry Potter. But you know all this - or you do if you've been
around lately. What you might not know is that Nimbus - 2003 needs
HP4GU's help. And HP4GU needs your help.  This vitally important 
first
year's symposium - and therefore future symposia - depends on your
support.

Many people have said things like, "Well, I can't afford Nimbus this
year, so I'll wait for next year."  We certainly understand if you
can't attend this year.  But, if you can't go this time, there's an
easy way you can help ensure that there is a next time.

When the Nimbus - 2003 team formed in June of 2002, they envisioned
an event that would set the tone. They saw the groundwork for future
events, perhaps even eventually large enough to rent our own castle 
in
Scotland for a long week-end. If event after event can prove our
sincerity and our integrity, then perhaps we will win the respect of
WB, JKR's agents, and even JKR herself. We could position this chain
of symposia to become the official convention for adults, and 
possibly
even become the preferred symposium for pursuit of the books. But
without fan support, none of that can happen.

Corporate sponsorship, which the event's organizers believed would
be a natural source of funding, has not materialized as anticipated.
Even corporations with significant ties to HP merchandise have been
uninterested. The Nimbus - 2003 team attributes this to changing
relationships of licensees to WB, the struggle of an unhistoried,
untested event, and of course the general economy and world 
situation.
Despite their hope that they would be able to supplement 
registrations
with corporate contributions and lift the burden from the fans, the
team finds themselves in need of grassroots assistance.

Since Nimbus is the event that HP4GU inspired, they have turned to 
us,
as well as the corners of the fandom, for that help. That is why, in
addition to lending its reputation and support to Nimbus - 2003, we 
at
HP4GU would like to make that support financial and be an official
Nimbus "Symposium Sponsor."

Nimbus - 2003 has various kinds and levels of sponsorship 
(http://www.hp2003.org/nimbushelpsp.html) - sponsorship of the 
entire symposium is set at $15,000. Yes, that sounds like a lot of 
money, but this list has about 7,000 members - if only half the 
members of HPfGU donate five dollars each, the list will raise 
enough to cover that sponsorship level. 

Since we started this drive, a number of people have made that five 
dollar contribution - and others have given even more. A few people 
have also asked about "Matching Gifts", which are programs that many 
companies offer, to support charities supported by their employees. 
You can check with your personnel or human resources professional 
today to see if matching gift forms exist at your place of business, 
and if it does, you can fill out one of their matching gift forms.  
Generally, your employer then donates directly to HPEF. Let us know 
offlist (sponsor at hp2003.org) if you need address information for 
such a form. 

The Symposium Sponsorship would pay for:

** Internet cafe, so that attendees and presenters can connect with 
HP fans around the world who are unable to attend Nimbus - 2003.  
Cost includes computer rental and internet access costs.  [$5,000] 

** Coverage of honoraria, hotel, and airfare for the Special Guests, 
including: Judith Krug, Connie Neal, John Granger, Philip Nel, and  
Roger Highfield [$3,500]

** Coverage of the Judith Krug Keynote Luncheon (Judith Krug is the 
Director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom for the American 
Library Association and will speak on the subject of censorship and
book banning, with reference to Harry Potter in particular) [$3,000]

** The Farewell Breakfast on Sunday [$2,500]

** Welcoming Feast and Meet-and-Greet on Thursday night [$1,000]

Moreover, for those of you who are U.S. taxpayers, your donation to 
the HP4GU Nimbus - 2003 sponsorship may be tax-deductible. HP 
Education  Fanon, Inc., the company created to oversee these 
periodic recurring  symposia, has been granted tax-exempt 501(c)3 
status as an educational organization. That means your contribution 
carries the same advantages to you as a donation to your local 
charity of choice.

We hope you will be part of the only event to grow out of the 
excellent, deep, shocking, and hilarious conversations you've enjoyed
online. Be part of the vision shared by list member, elf, geist, and
moderator alike.  Even if you can't attend - even if you will - you
have a chance to help make Harry Potter history. With your help, we
can continue to prove that HP4GU is one of the best HP communities
around - on the Web, or in person.  With your help, that reputation
will only be heightened, through the contact with and exchange 
between fans and academics and professionals who are equally 
enamoured of the books and all they represent.  Plus, you'll be 
helping to create an amazing reality which for some will reinforce - 
or *create* - longstanding friendships and new communities.

To make a donation, simply send funds via paypal to:

hpfgu-donate at hp2003.org

Or, if you prefer, you may send your donation (whether in US funds 
or other currency) to:

Harry Potter Symposium - 2003
PO Box 18769
Rochester, NY 14618-0769

We hope that whether you can join us or not, you will consider 
making a contribution to show your support - not just for this year's
event, but to ensure the future of any other similar conferences
brought to you on behalf of *your* email list: HPforGrownups.

Yours in anticipation of Nimbus - 2003,

The HP4GU Moderators

P.S. Don't forget, only $5 from you will do the trick! Follow this
link (http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/nimbus-2003) to contribute to a 
Nimbus - 2003 Symposium Sponsorship today! We're only collecting 
through June 14, so if you're planning to donate, you only have a 
few days left! Checks received after that will be considered 
contributions to Nimbus - 2003, but might not be able to be included 
in the HPfGU total.