jennypinky

Donation struggle (Update)

Published: April 19th 2021, 4:15:01 pm

Hello everyone,

I’m facing some problems regarding the donations, as you know, the donations are unfortunately on pause right now. 

First of all, I’m very proud and grateful that we could make these big donations every single month for about a year. Many organisations and shelters were very sweet about them and relied heavily on donations, especially during covid and lockdown/s.

Using my art for something charitable and something I believe in, was always a goal of mine.
Sadly, due to Covid and the lockdowns here in Germany, I became even more depended on Patreon and the webshop as my only source of income. And since all of the proceeds from my comic books are donated to German shelters too, I hardly earn any money from them. While I personally make these donations, the IRS offsets these numbers as if it was all income, which it isn’t. Hence my tax contributions are correspondingly high. Additionally, I am not able to write off the Patreon-Donations because all of them go abroad, and the IRS does not allow me to write off foreign donations. During the last year I did not bother too much about this, since it was all about giving and doing good. Right? Maybe I was a little too enthusiastic.

Now, however, my taxes are getting higher and higher, the student loan I had to declare three years ago is also due now. Not to mention rent, food, insurances, my pet, my family and other incidental expenses I also have to take into account, which I am sure you all know the feeling.

I am not willing to drop the donations entirely, since I always wanted “Loving Reaper” to stand for something good, something charitable, something that hopefully inspires people around the world!

On the other hand, I sadly have to plan around the fact, that I still need to survive the current crisis and reduce the debts that have accumulated over the last few years.

However, I’d say we keep making donations but a bit smaller ones, in a different frequency?
I thought I could do some smaller donations every 2-3 months and go about it as usual. For example, I donate about $500-700 while continuing to feature the randomly generated animal shelters, some of you have supported the featured organizations yourself outside of my donations (which is really amazing).
I don't know, would that be okay for you?

Since you all are a huge part of all this and I would not be able to do as much good without you, I would like to ask your opinions about this. At the end of the day, YOU are the ones who make it possible for me to make my comics and make donations. Without you, I could not do any of this, so I think it is only fair to include you in this issue.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and ask all the questions you might have. I will do my very best to clarify any concerns or inconsistencies!

If you have any clever ideas/thoughts, please let me know too!