PayPal Set up for legal fees

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

icecreamempress has been kind enough to set up a paypal donation bucket for legal fees. The email is: friendsofdavissquarelj@gmail.com.

(I removed the button because Paypal is fussy about these things- see comments)

There is also a Go Fund Me bucket here: http://www.gofundme.com/2u9m6o


She has also offered to set up a PO Box at the Post Office, if people think it's a good idea. Thoughts? EDIT: We will be doing that.

Edit to add: I am meeting with Ron later today to hash out some details of how to manage this money, we will keep everyone updated. We thought it would be a good idea to start the fund now.

We haven't incurred legal fees yet, but it's pretty much a guarantee that we will, even with pro bono counsel. If a miracle occurs where we don't, we will be keeping track of who donated how much so we can refund.

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I think it's a good idea, myself. Some people aren't comfortable with PayPal but do want to help Ron, and while I suspect any attempts to legally mess with the PayPal account would be rebuffed, it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility that Jonmon will try it. PO Boxes, not so much.

[ifotismeni]

normally I'd be fine with paypal but given what's been going on, I think I'd rather go with a PO box so I can send cash.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Who will this money go to? There are a lot of defendants — more every day, it seems.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I'm working with Ron to find an attorney- while pro bono would be nice, we haven't had much luck yet. I'm meeting with Ron later today and we'll have a plan to go forward.

We will be keeping track of who sent in money so we can refund if we end up not needing it.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I'm meeting with Ron later today so we can hash that out specifically.

[jikamens.livejournal.com]

Have legal fees been incurred? I thought efforts were underway to find pro bono representation for the defendants. Has Ron or any of the other defendants explicitly asked for financial help at this point. I'm happy to contribute if he's asking, but it seems like it may be premature.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

People have been asking where they could donate, so it seemed prudent to set something up in response.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

while an attorney may offer their services pro bono, my understanding is that wouldn't cover court costs, filing fees, that sort of thing.

[csbermack.livejournal.com]

Is this fund "cash being handed to Ron"? Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, I am just wondering.

Has anyone started coordinating Does or is that going to wait until they start getting legally discovered?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I think Ron needs to get a lawyer in place before that can happen.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

My thoughts are that any money that comes in will be used for court fees, deposition costs (even with pro bono representation, those things add up) and attorney fees if any, for anyone dealing with legal action resulting from their participation in davis_square LiveJournal. Right now, that's Ron. It might eventually be other people as well, but it might not.

And that we would refund money if it turns out the fund wasn't necessary. Any anonymously-donated money would, if the fund isn't necessary, be donated to Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services. (If the fund is necessary and there is leftover money, I would probably want to donate it to Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services rather than try to calculate percentages for partial refunds.)

Also, since I'm administering this, I will be paying any costs I personally incur out of my own pocket to avoid conflict of interest. My goal here is to be 100% transparent.

I'll get the post office box up and running today, since it sounds like people would find that helpful.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I am happy to financially assist Ron and Deb as the named defendants and others as necessary. I STRONGLY URGE YOU, however, NOT to use a PayPal Donate button, and to remove it before you lose your donations.

This is not based on some abstract like or dislike of PayPal, but on the basis that PayPal has repeated frozen assets for charity fundraisers. Without a valid 501c3 aperwork, you cannot use this feature.

See especially http://www.regretsy.com/2011/12/05/cats-1-kids-0/

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

Thank you, done.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

The page has been editing claiming that info is wrong. That you can use Paypal button for anything.

http://www.regretsy.com/files/2011/12/466860922.jpg

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure the problem is the Donate Button, per se, but that does seem like part of the problem. Good practice would probably be to make sure to pull the money out of the PayPal account and into a bank account nightly.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Yes. There is a "Friends of Davis Square LJ" bank account specifically for these donations.

[greyling.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say - I really appreciate the work that Ron puts into moderating this group.

[ron_newman]

Thanks! (Though there are three other mods who deserve equal credit.)

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

For people who would prefer to use WePay rather than PayPal, I've created a GoFundMe account here: http://www.gofundme.com/2u9m6o

[sprrwhwk.livejournal.com]

Donated

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

I've donated to the paypal page before it was taken down, is there any way to move the paypal donations over to the "go fund me" page? I like the new page because everyone can see how much has been raised.

Thanks!

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I'll talk to icecreamempress about it and we will see. The Paypal still exists, just in the email form.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Let me see what I can do about that.

I just set up FriendsofDavisSquareLJ.com and am going to keep a running total there of all donations (some have already come in in cash as well as through PayPal and WePay) there. All donor names will be redacted in public postings at this time, so you'll see things like "Individual Donation/WePay/$25".

Post office box is set:

Friends of Davis Square LJ
Box 441997
Somerville, MA 02144

Please send correspondence to that address as written, without including individuals' names.

[ilai]

Thank you for setting up the PO box!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Just a note: where donor names are not redacted, that is the donor's expressed preference. Privacy is our current default, but we want to honor the wishes of those who prefer to be identified.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

You have not included the magic words, "Make all checks payable to XYZ." It probably won't matter much in practice (banks aren't picky about the payee names on small checks, since it's cheaper to assume that everything is OK), but if someone writes a large check, it could matter.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

Well....since the need for the fund no longer exists, and the most current post is "how are we going to handle this money" this comment is unneeded.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

this comment is unneeded

Uh, what?

(1) By the last accounting I've heard, the Fund does not have enough money to compensate everyone to the degree that is desirable (in my opinion). Because of this, I am sending off a contribution to the fund today, and it would be useful to know how to write the check.

(2) Whenever soliciting money by check it is important (in theory, if not always in practice) to specify the right name for the "pay to the order of" blank. icecreamempress seems to be unaware of that; I am attempting to educate her in this matter.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Added the PayPal donations and the individual cash donations to the GoFundMe count! Thanks to everyone who has donated so far. We'll keep you posted about how your gifts are being used.

[beowabbit]

Thanks so much to you and icecreamempress for all this work! I’m about to go donate via PayPal, since that’s what I already have set up. (I agree that since PayPal isn’t very transparent, it’s a good idea to move the money someplace else as early as possible. They’re very convenient, though!)

[crschmidt.livejournal.com]

Thanks for setting this up, I've donated to the WePay account since apparently my PayPal account doesn't want to let me send money (at least to the DavisSquare email?). Best of luck to all involved.