Asexual Outreach is looking for new board members!

[Heart]

Hey AVEN! (Edit to note: the application process for now is limited to those who have permanent residency or citizenship in Canada or the US, for technical and legal reasons... sorry if that doesn't include you :( )

I've only told the other staff so far, but a few months ago I was asked to be a part of the board for a new organisation, called Asexual Outreach and which I lazily abbreviate to AO. It is not associated officially with AVEN other than wishing to work together with the broader ace community, including of course AVEN! I'm acting right now as the treasurer but also as a communication link between the two organisations to help us help each other. Synergy is the name of the game for me! AVEN and AO are very different organisations, so I think they each have a lot to offer the other.

The main goal of Asexual Outreach right now is to supplement and support the existing ace community and movement. AVEN excels with flying colours at being a community and forum, and AO does not want to just add to this. Instead, AO has incorporated in Canada as a federal not for profit organisation (the rules here are a bit different, so we can accept any amount of donations on the only condition that we spend them, so we stay as a "not profitable" entity; if you've been keeping up with the AVEN incorporation notice a few days ago, that is not a concern for us thankfully), with the goal of providing materials and support in any way that it is needed to new and established ace communities.

If you want to know more about AO, there is a blurb at the beginning of the application that says things much better than I ever could.... multiple people worked hard on writing and edditing that blurb, and so it's much more graceful than what I've got here ;)

The point is, we're looking to expand our board. This time though, instead of hunting out specific people to invite, we're opening it up to the wider ace community. We want applicants from every background possible, with every view point possible, and with every identity possible. If you have anything you think you can contribute, I would recommend taking the time to fill out the application! We're looking specifically to reach out to areas of the ace community that we don't have as much communication with right now. That means minorities (race, ethnicity, orientation, identity, religion, (dis)ability, neurodiversity, etc), this means anyone with any skill(s) you think might come in handy to an organisation like this, and anyone who is just plain wanting to give it a shot.

The link is here for the application: http://ow.ly/zaep300IeoX

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask them! You can do so either by posting here, or by sending me a personal message.

NOTE: The deadline is June 12th. Please be mindful of that ^_^

The blurb to explain Asexual Outreach:

Asexual Outreach is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2014, and that works toward building structural and resource capacity for the broader ace movement. This includes providing resources and support to local community organizers and activists, providing structural support and resources for larger scale initiatives, building networks to connect local communities and activists, and building connections to and relationships with larger and more formal organizations and institutions.

Within its first two years, Asexual Outreach has hosted an international conference to support ace community development and connect local activists, has worked to build ace inclusion within high schools (supplying comprehensive ‘ace inclusion guides’ to more than 200 high schools), and has developed a set of informational resources to help ace community groups build local awareness.

Central to Asexual Outreach's activities and mission is an understanding that the intersection of an ace identity with other identities and experiences has very real consequences around interpersonal and systemic marginalization. Because many aces in our community face specific and heightened challenges as a result of systemic marginalization, Asexual Outreach is focused on centering those experiences in its advocacy, resources, and activities.

Asexual Outreach is currently looking to recruit board members who will contribute to overseeing the organization’s activities, determining a long term vision for the organization, and strengthening the organization’s commitment to racial, disability, and social justice.

[Sage Raven Domino]

I think you need to put somewhere in the first lines of the OP that the application is open to US and Canadian citizens and permanent residents only, so that people from other countries don't waste time reading.

[Sage Raven Domino]

On the bright side, it looks like AO is using a payment processor other than PayPal for credit / debit card donations and it's working quite smoothly. Could you please tell what the processor is or at least recommend it to michaeld (to use for AVEN donations) if you haven't yet?

[ItWasNiceKnowingYou]

I'll give it a shot ^_^

[Heart]

On the bright side, it looks like AO is using a payment processor other than PayPal for credit / debit card donations and it's working quite smoothly. Could you please tell what the processor is or at least recommend it to michaeld (to use for AVEN donations) if you haven't yet?

Is AVEN having trouble processing donations? I only just donated a few hours ago, and I think it went through all right. I think the only issue is that for legal reasons AVEN has to pay tax on donations over $5000, but because we're in a different country and incorporated under a different system, we don't have that restriction.

I admit that I'm not usually much of a technical person, so I'd have to ask how AO collects donations and what service it uses. I'll be back when I know.

I think Mic needs legal advice / help, not so much the platform, but I could be wrong. I'll go message him and see if I can help in any way ^_^

Update: It looks like we just use a straight up form page. The donations page is on the AO website itself, and it functions just fine. I don't know what backs it, but it works just fine *shrug*

[Lia]

Heart, can you explain a bit more in depth what sort of projects AO is working on currently, what the responsibilities of board members are, what sort of time commitment is expected, etc.? Thanks :)

[Heart]

Sure thing .Lia, I'll do my best here.

Examples of projects I know of that have been done in the past:

• Hosting a conference
• Making and distributing an "Asexual Inclusion Guide" for highschools, which basically aims to help integrate asexuality into the highschool experience just like other queer identities
• Fund-raising. The things the money will go to may include: pride parade fees for local groups that find the cost too prohibitive on their own, future conference, helping to fund speakers or workshop presenters that want to go to a broader audience (eg present to schools or at LGBT conferences); small grants to people who want to start vlogging, for example, or creating their own resources for asexuality (eg a webcam or something), etc (this is part of what the board will help to decide)

Examples of projects that have been suggested for moving forward:

• Updating the website in various ways
• Creating a comprehensive database that includes people: who are willing to give presentations, talks, or workshops and where they are located, so we can forward opportunities to them; who are willing to be contacted by the media to do interviews or whatever; who are able to help with the ace movement in any other way. We would also record their language proficiensies (eg can they interview in French? Spanish? Etc.) and whatever else might be relevant. Essentially, this is like AVEN's media team list, but expanded. The idea was to be a bit more thorough so that we can target emails instead of sending them out to everyone in a country, even if it's not an opportunity they would be interested in. I mentioned that we could ask Mic if he wanted to work with us on that, to supplement the AVEN media team idea.

An important part of all this though is to support the existing ace movement. That's the big reason the call for new members is open; we want to stay in touch with as broad a section of the community as possible, and part of the board's aim is to figure out what is needed out there, and how AO can help make that happen.

The time commitment would be a minimum of one online meeting a month (which runs from Saturday morning to Sunday evening, and you can pop in any time to put your thoughts about the discussion so far; I typically find that I check in two to four times on such a weekend meeting, and spend probably about one to three hours on it). On top of that, we sometimes have extra committees (I'm chairing the recruitment committee, for example, which is running this process). There are no other committees right now, but if a new member wanted to get something done, I think there is a lot of room for expansion.

I hope that helps, and I'll keep answering questions as they come

[Sage Raven Domino]

Update: It looks like we just use a straight up form page. The donations page is on the AO website itself, and it functions just fine. I don't know what backs it, but it works just fine *shrug*

The bold part is exactly what I was asking about.

I actually shouldn't have asked that but should have inspected the HTML code of the donation page. It's evident from it that the WordPress plugin for donations that is installed at AO (I haven't figured out yet which plugin it is) is using Stripe to accept credit card donations.

There's little difference between PayPal and Stripe for a US or Canadian or EU donor so AVEN is going to be fine either way because that's where the vast majority of its user base is, but fwiw, in some other countries, Stripe accepts some of the cards that PP declines because of complying too much to national regulations, e.g. those held by a Russian but issued by a non-Russian bank (and most types of cards issued in India to Indians, as far as I've read).

I'm not convinced that Stripe is the best processor for non-profits out there, but at least it doesn't charge the extra 1% cross-border fee for foreign donations and charges the same for AMEX card payments as for Visa and Mastercard ones, seems to have special rates for 501c3 charities (that it however doesn't quote publicly :().

And as you've mentioned, it provides a button that allows people to donate without leaving the site, whereas PP asks those who already have a PP account to log into it when it detects that the card they're trying to use is already registered in the system (and it imposes limits on transactions made without creating an account). I mean, logging in takes only a few extra moments, but it's a less pleasurable experience for sure than a one-click payment.

[Heart]

Wow, thank you! I had no idea you knew so much about this stuff. I'll point Mic here to let him know. It may be too late for now for AVEN to change right away, but if it's a big advantage, they can consider it in the future.

Thank you DiamondAce

[Sage Raven Domino]

I know barely anything about the subject, I just Google too much :P

I've actually already had a PM chain with Mic about it and he told basically the same as you. I was just curious about the way payments are set up at AO.and how smooth its experience has been (e.g. whether it has ever had the account frozen for a check, which shouldn't happen to a registered charity but who knows).

[Heart]

It's been smooth to the best of my knowledge, but I have only been with them for a few months now. It was set up before my time, so there may have been some hitches and glitches to work through at the beginning, there always seems to be ;)

[ItWasNiceKnowingYou]

I'm having an interview today.... Is that a good sign? I'm nervous af now *passes out*

[Heart]

It's a very good sign ;)

[ItWasNiceKnowingYou]

It's a very good sign ;)

Then YAY \(^▽^)/