Months ago, we didn’t reach our goal on our Kickstarter fundraising campaign. It goes without saying that we want to succeed from here on out, but we realized something: we don’t know nearly enough about our supporters. What makes you guys tick? What do you want from us? What issues are important to you, and how can we become the kind of organization you find worth supporting?

Please fill out our survey, so we can know more about you. Our supporters are our most cherished asset—you guys rock—and we want to get to know you better. It’s only ten questions long, but it’ll help us a lot.

Thanks!

We’re happy to say we’re finally a licensed 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Actually, that’s an understatement. We’re ecstatic.

Ten months ago, we sent in our application to become a nonprofit in the United States. We waited. In December of last year, we were finally able to get ahold of someone inside the Internal Revenue Service who knew about our case, but unfortunately it sounded as if they hadn’t even started going through our application yet.

We didn’t know what to do. We wanted to start fundraising as soon as possible, but would we be able to do that without our coveted 501(c)(3)? We didn’t know. We decided to plow ahead with a Kickstarter campaign without waiting for the government to approve our nonprofit application. But we were nervous about marketing our fundraiser. Would people expect us to already have our 501(c)(3)? Probably. We didn’t market the fundraiser as much as we should have, and with our high goal of $50,000, and low word of mouth, we didn’t reach our goal and received nothing.

A few days ago, though, a letter from the IRS arrived. We opened it with a mix of anticipation and trepidation, figuring the government probably had a few more hoops they wanted us to jump through. But to our surprise, the letter opened up with what you see up there: “We are pleased to inform you…” Terrific!

Several months ago, we applied for a nonprofit PayPal account to accept donations. Of course, not having a 501(c)(3) yet, a hold was put on the account. Yesterday, that hold was released and we’re now happily accepting donations via PayPal. You don’t need a PayPal account—they’ll accept all the major credit cards.

We also added a new goalometer over in the sidebar. That’ll keep track of how much money we receive, so if you want to see that needle raise, send in a contribution! (Note the needle’s slight bounce. I’m updating the graphic by hand every time it needs it, so that bounce gives me a little leeway to not update it for every single donation. So, if you want to see it move up, larger contributions will speed up the process.)

Anyone who donates at least $250 will get their name on one of the walls of our finished building, in beautiful three-dimensional letters. The larger the donation, the larger your name.

Thanks for your patience and generous support. The letters, emails, facebook messages, and twitter DMs all make my day.

We really wish we could be launching our new site under happier circumstances. I originally wrote this post a few days ago, but since then, Typhoon Ondoy has ravaged the Philippines; so much that the government has declared a “state of calamity” in Metro Manila and about two-dozen storm-hit provinces as more than a month’s worth of rain fell down in six hours. The most rainfall in recorded history.

I don’t feel there’s anything meaningful I can add to the news. People are dying. This is terrible.

Now seems like a terribly inappropriate time to launch a website for a Philippine nonprofit graphic design school.

But we’ve had this date set for a while now. I’m boarding a plane in a few days, headed back to the Philippines, after spending several months in Alaska preparing nonprofit documents for our launch.

A very ambitious Ferdinand fundraiser was supposed to launch today as well. It has been delayed. For now, please donate to The Philippine National Red Cross or the Kapuso Foundation.

BIG BOLD NOTE: This storm, and any future storm, has not weakened our will to start Ferdinand Center for the Creative in any way whatsoever. It has only strengthened our resolve—there are so many more people who need help, now, and we will do everything we can to help.

UPDATE!
DISASTER EMERGENCY HOTLINES YOU CAN CALL:

These are the hotlines that Filipino citizens can call for disaster emergency situations, especially urgent rescue and relief needs.

National Disaster Coordinating Committee
911-1406
911-1873
911-1906
911-5061
912-0984
912-2665
912-3046
912-5296
912-5668

Help hotlines:
734-2118
734-2120

Bureau of Fire Protection, National Capital Region
729-5166
410-6254
413-8859
407-1230

Bureau of Fire Protection, Region III (Central Luzon)
Hotline (045) 9634376

Philippine Coast Guard
527-6136

Red Cross
143
911-1876
527-0000

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)
136
896-6000

Taguig emergency hotline
1623

Meralco
16220
0917-5592824
0920-9292824

Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. emergency hotlines
for dumptrucks going to flooded areas for rescue of stranded people:
0917 4226800
0917 2414864
0927 6751981

Sen. Dick Gordon (Philippine National Red Cross)
Please send address of stranded friends/family to
09178997898
0938444BOYS