Crowdfunding: Trial By Error [David Tuller]: Reporting on ME, CFS, ME/CFS, "medically unexplained symptoms," and related stuff, Fall 2020

Ditto.

 

@Invisible Woman and @dave30th - I agree, I found the recent mailing, to 'commemorate', or something, that I had donated over the last 3 years - really quite annoying. High grade card and paper stock, together with probably non recyclable stickers - probably sent a third of the way round the planet - for what?

Completely pointless waste of money, resources, etc.

Berkeley seems not to have any conception as to why such wasteful practices are a bad thing, for many people.

ETA - the paper/card went straight into the recycling, the stickers, unfortunately, probably aren't recyclable - so that is probably more plastic waste.

Things may work differently in the US, this may be seen as a valid form of marketing, but I do not live in the US, and TBH even if I did, is it really an appropriate use of resources?

I do fully realise that this is Berkeley doing this, probably a general marketing policy, to go along with the several emails a week they love sending me, seemingly specifically designed to defeat spam filters, and not down to you @dave30th, but such behaviour has the opposite effect to that probably intended - it makes me not want to have anything to do with Berkeley.

 

Well, I guess some might see it as "you have to speculate to accumulate" and a nice letter might make you put your hand in your pocket more readily next time round?

Some people might only be able to donate a fiver (& they all add up) so rather annoying to thing they might be spending as much on the letters as a person donates.

 

Backing you all the way dave.

Would it be possible to link this thread or the fundraising webpage in a banner notice at the top of the S4ME webpages for the last week of fundraising ? Like the banner for the "news in brief" currently at the top of my page. Just for a week.

 

Sure, let's hope so, because what I was obviously doing was calling another patient a miser

 

Donated. It means so much that you are doing this @dave30th. Seeing your work and knowing that we have someone like you that cares about our situation has been such a comfort for many years now.

 

yeah, I get this. it's an automatic thing. I have had a number of people complain about it.

What I can do is ask the support folks to remove the names/e-mails of specific people who ask me not to be contacted with unnecessary updates and want to be unlisted.

The thing is I'm really the only one of all the campaigns who gets significant donations from outside the US--and even from outside California. Most donations are local because most of the projects are local--on or near campus. So I suppose it makes sense for Berkeley as a promotional thing despite the waste of resources.

I wish there were more I could do about it. I realize that many people don't want to receive this meaningless stuff.

 

It would be far better if Berkeley could stop all the emails and letters to all your donors, and put a couple of percent back towards your salary! Especially as those people donating towards you are extremely unlikely to support Berkeley in any other way....

 

Now at 54%, $32,661 out of $60,000 target, 12 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/22602

 

Donated.

Not sure I would be able to this time, but luckily I overestimated some expenses this month and it turned out I had more wiggle room then I thought

 

I hope there are many more like myself who haven't yet donated. I fully intend to and will do tonight or tomorrow. When the fundraiser is coming close to the end I want to feel I still can do something and that is why I wait. I cannot imagine what it would be like if we did not have David Tuller doing the job that he does for us. We couldn't replace him,and I think we need him more than ever.

 

I just donated and shared it around in various places in the hope it might also help.

 

People could share it around whether they donate or not.

Here are tweets that the link is included in that could be liked and/or retweeted.
https://twitter.com/search?q=https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/22602&src=typed_query

 

Jennie Spotila: David Tuller: Making Progress Together
http://occupyme.net/2020/10/20/david-tuller-making-progress-together/

https://twitter.com/user/status/1318618332627697670

 

Donated I'm immensely grateful, @dave30th, thank you so much!

 

me too i think it is a marketing programme you know for those you can afford to give larger donations in their wills possibly .

 

Now at 60%, $36,387 out of $60,000 target, 10 days left

https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/22602