Furfunding Highlights 9.27.15

Wherein Kickstarter makes a promise to do more good…

Illustration from “Air Dragons and Other Sky Creatures” on Kickstarter

With politics, war, and terror in the news 24/7, it’s a rare thing for me to turn up the volume on the car radio, but the sentence “Kickstarter Inc. is no more” kind of stood out. And, yeah, that wasn’t the whole story, or really the story at all. Kickstarter will continue funding cat-based card games, minimalist wallets, and Baby’s First Vampire Novel until doomsday, but the company has a new mission, and legal responsibility. It’s become a Public Benefit Corporation.

What’s that mean? I’m a little hazy on the precise consequences of this decision (and the subject is a little hazy, too), but to the best of my understanding, a standard corporation’s primary (but not exclusive) duty is to provide financial benefit to its shareholders. Does this mean “maximize profits for our owners at any cost?” Well, no, not technically, but anybody that’s been laid off to make a company’s apparent profit higher will tell you that profit is king, and any decision that lowers the company’s financial returns had better be looked at very carefully. Nobody wants angry shareholders.

A Public Benefit Company has more than one bottom line. Part of their company’s stated purpose is to provide a material, positive impact on society and the environment, and may be further refined by committing to serving low-income communities, promoting art and science, or any other benefit to society as a whole. And legally, a third-party group will review them, and make sure they’re making the kind of positive difference they committed to. By making this kind of positive change a powerful part of the company’s structure, the company ensures that they must put their funds and effort toward the greater good of society and the world, and won’t be torn apart by angry shareholders for this sort of behavior.

You can read about Kickstarter’s new business model on their blog. Amazingly, there were no “nays” on the vote to reincorporate under this new structure (I can’t say it was a unanimous decision, because “abstain from voting” is a thing). I’ll be curious to see if Indiegogo follows them down this path–Indiegogo’s already very pro-nonprofit, and it wouldn’t be out of character for Indiegogo to follow suit. I’m actually surprised that they didn’t beat Kickstarter there.

Reviews this week:Two loooong articles about the new 2D fighter Them’s Fightin’ Herds that used to be “My Little Pony, Fighting is Magic,” and a ramble about three virtual novels funding on Patreon, each with a strong sci-fi theme.

For a “complete” list of furry/fur-friendly crowdfunding projects, check out the Project Page

New Projects

Art

Air Dragons and Other Sky Creatures (Ends: 10/14/2015)
A book, art set, and illustrated card deck of colorful dragons, griffins, and other flappy things.
Way over goal!

Fantastical Creatures Discovered By the Airship Dracwyn (Ends: 10/18/2015)
A quirkly clip-art derived world of bizaare fictional animals, and the neo-Victorian voyage that discovered them.
Confession: I have a thing for Victorian clip-art.

Comics/Graphic Novels

Aww, Feathers! (Ends: 10/22/2015)
A young feathered lizard thing goes to college in the ‘Mormon Bubble’ of Provo, Utah. Slice of life comic.
Oddly, this is the second Mormon furry webcomic I’ve stumbled across in this gig.

Tabletop Games

Burrows and Badgers (Ends: 10/5/2015)
A new line of anthro miniatures for the skirmish game Oathsworn

Little Pig (Ends: 10/22/2015)
Tabletop card/board game in a fairytale world, wherein pigs defend themselves from the Big Bad Wolf. Nice storybook illustrations.

Wild Skies: Europa Tempest (Ends: 10/31/2015)
A story-driven dieselpunk tabletop RPG with anthro animals fight in the skies over 1930s Europe
Sky pirates! This really is a gritty version of TailSpin, isn’t it?

Video Games

Them’s Fightin’ Herds (Ends: 10/21/2015)
The 2D My Little Pony fighter nixed by Hasbro and resurrected by Faust herself comes to Indiegogo!
There’s a lot here, check my article for more of the story.

…Causes

Silicon Valley’s Gray Foxes (Ends: 10/18/2015): Building a wildlife corridor for California’s gray foxes. This is a cause DESIGNED for the furry community!

…Just for fun

Gig Bridge (Ends: 10/13/2015): A fun social networking site connecting DJs and mixes, venues and gigs, dancers and party-goers. A LONG way from goal though.
DustyZahrt NES Metal Arrangements (Ends: 10/23/2015): A project from the world of video game remixes, album-length metal soundtracks to classic 8bit games.

 What’s Corbeau Backing This Week?
Patreon projects are like radiation in your body, you just keep acquiring. I added two Patreon pages to my monthly money disbursement this week–the e-book Laika Doshi and GeekDad, the parent organization for the nerd-music podcast, Hipster, Please. I need to clear out these monthly payments, they’re starting to add up, but…what to cut? :(