SitePoint's Australian Bushfires Relief Effort
Friday, February 13, 2009Update 2
The boss has send us all an email about the early closing of the sale. We're a victim of our own success!
The reason we had to close our sale early is because we were contacted by Consumer Affairs in Australia who told us we can't proceed with our fundraising efforts any longer without completing a formal process to become a registered fundraiser. The amazing success of this offer has unfortunately been our undoing - under a certain amount raised you don't need to be registered.
The process to become registered is not necessarily arduous, but unfortunately it takes 28 days to be approved. We risked hefty fines and/or imprisonment if we didn't remove the offer immediately, so we had no choice but to close it down. I know you're disappointed but you can imagine how the SitePoint team feel - we've been working hard all week raising hundreds of thousands of dollars only to be shut down early.
Next week we'll sit down with PWC (an independent 3rd party auditor who are also generously donating their time) to audit the final figures and donate all the proceeds to the Red Cross. We'll also consider our options, but I don't like our chances of having this offer back online anytime soon. I hope you understand.
Thanks again for your support.
Of course you can still donate directly to the Australian Red Cross
Update
It's over folks! DOH! Thought we had another 12 hours or so... oh well, we raised a veritable shitload! It's being audited by the accountant and then we'll be allowed to announce the total.
SitePoint (where I work) is holding a " 5 books for the price of 1" sale and 100% of money raise will be donated to the Australian Red Cross, to help victims of the Victorian Bushfires.
When the plan was formulated we thought being able to raise US$50,000 would be an ambitious goal. Well the response from SitePoint customers has totally blown that figure out of the water.
We've so far raised more than US$150,000. It's staggering. And there's still one day to go. I can't wait to see what the final total will be. It's so fulfilling to work for a company that employs such dedicated staff, and has such generous owners and shareholders.
So if you haven't done it yet, go pick up 5 books for only $29.95 and know that you're also making a donation for people need.
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