Making Christmas Merrier VIII - BC Children's Hospital

[Jeric 46,835]

 

Introducing Making Christmas Merrier VIII

 

This topic will contain information found in every other topic for a single place to go to for MCM history, the charity, goals, prizes, donor links, and FAQ. If you are looking for a specific topic check on these links below. 

 

 

MCM Background and Charity

Each year around the holiday season, the entire Poniverse community rallies around one of our marquee events dedicated to providing a better Christmas to various charities. This year we return to our roots and will be supporting The British Columbia Children's Hospital again. This is one of our favorite organizations to support and one we have a strong relationship with. 

 

The young patients at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver Canada. The money raised will go toward their Christmas fund and an effort to ensure that each child will have a better holiday. For a family dealing with some of the medical conditions common in a pediatric hospital setting, a showing of generosity from a stranger can and does make a profound difference. It inspires hope and love. Hope that there is more than just struggling and concern about tomorrow. That is at the heart of this campaign. We aim to show, all of us together, that there are individuals out there that care.

For a great idea of what we can do as a community, check out the past MCM events.

2011 - The initial event. This started based on a simple status update from a member. Look where it took us. <3
2012 - We made $1810.00 and introduced some traditions that carry through to this very event.
2014 - Surpassed our goal of $3000.00! Also much much embarrassment was inflicted on the staff.

2015 - We surpassed $4000.00, and added the Ban a staffer element which has become a tradition. 
2016 - This is the year that we spread our wings and supported Charity: Water and raised over $4200. This is also a very personal year for me, as I will discuss at a later time. 

2018 - $3500 There was a lot of newer users who saw this for the first time, and it created one of the funniest moments in site history, namely me dressing up as Trixie at the final BronyCon. 

2019 - $2900 we started up slow but ended strong. Many of the rewards not finished due to the calamity of 2020 will be rolled into this year along with new ones. 

 

This year we have some new ideas, but I need to be real here. 2020 has been a trying year for many of you financially. We have lowered our goal as a response to that. If you are in a position to contribute financially, that is fantastic. If not, we understand and will invite you to join in on the festivities, and there will be festivities en masse. This year we will run this MCM for a full 30 days through until mid Jan. Thank you all for your time, patience, and jovial spirit. 
 

There will be special giveaways for those that donate for unique forum and fandom prizes, including a personal message from a voice of MLP Friendship is Magic. Stay tuned for that announcement. Also follow this forum to stay apprised on any updates. Happy Holidays to everypony. 

 

 

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About the Charity - BC Children's Hospital. 

These are the people your donation is helping to support. If you can spare seven minutes I would definitely give it a watch.

 

 

 

Donations

Just like our 2015 fundraiser we are continuing to use BCCH's direct site to donate to collect donations to go along with the MLPF's own system. Hosted directly on the event page of BC Children's Hospital, you can make your contribution via credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard and American Express only).

 

 

BC Children's Hospital Donations Page

 

 

IMPORTANT! To ensure that your donation can be credited to you individually for specific perks (hint hint), please disclose your member name in the field dedicated to announcing a pseudonym. Alternatively you can PM me to validate

Example of where to enter your member name when making a donation:

 

 

 

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FAQ

 

Q: What if I can't pay via credit or debit card, or my card isn't accepted by the hospital?

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A: Use our PayPal donation page: PayPal Donations

 
 
Q: What is the goal of this event?

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A: Making Christmas Merrier is about collecting donations to support the purchase of Christmas presents for the patients at BC Children's Hospital. We hope that a meaningful gift from Poniverse to BC Children's Hospital will make the holidays better for them and their patients. Besides, it's also a perfect chance to show the world how kind and caring bronies can be!

 
 
Q: How much money are you looking to raise?

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A: As much of it as we can!

There is no upper limit to the amount of money BC Children's Hospital will accept - like any other non-profit organization, they'll find a use for every last cent of it.

However, if you are looking for a number to attach to the event, with $2000 is the goal we are striving to hit this year, If we reach that, we have plans for later stretch goals. 

 
 
Q: I donated, what else can I do?

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You can still help us out by promoting it everywhere you can! Link to this thread in your signature on other forums, tweet about it, tell your Facebook friends, shout out in your personal blog - every little bit will help! If you see a message from @Poniverse or MLPForums ... please retweet.

 

 
Q: Can I donate the old teddy bear I had as a child?

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A: No.

We are not accepting physical item donations this year.

 

 

Q: Will MLP Forums/Poniverse keep any of the money I donate?

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A: No.
All of the money this fundraiser collects will go to BC Children's Hospital. This fundraiser is separate from the contributions we accept for Poniverse's upkeep. 
 
Please note: if you're donating via PayPal, PayPal will deduct a small processing fee, which will be reflected on our public donation page. USD donations will be converted to CAD at our bank's exchange rate when we deliver PayPal donations to the hospital.

 

 

Q: What about prior year events that were not completed. 

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A: We have a plan for that! Stay tuned

 
 

 

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Stretch Goals

 

While we would likely all agree that helping to bring a smile to an ailing child requires no reward or recognition, the MCM is also about celebrating the virtues of our community and saying thank you to all of those that participate. Bringing joy to others, celebrating the spirit of the season, and having fun in the process is an enduring element to this tradition. Last year we introduced stretch goals for certain fundraising objectives. Some were thank you's to the community, and others were designed to embarrass staff and give everyone but a victim a hearty laugh. I am pleased to announce that we have brought this back for this years fundraiser.

Below are the goals, hidden and ready to be opened as we reach each level. As we reach each goal, it may trigger other threads or events. As we will be using two platforms to raise money this year, the sum of both will count toward these goals. Have fun guessing what is in each present or ornament ... the hints are there if you look closely enough.

 

Stretch Scootaloo! You can do it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jedishy 3,542]

Oh man running into @Jeric dressed as Trixie at BronyCon was an experience. Namely that I did not recognize the Element of Snark and thought some rando was stepping in my way for no reason 

[Denim&Venöm 16,517]

12 hours ago, Jeric said:

2018 - $3500 There was a lot of newer users who saw this for the first time, and it created one of the funniest moments in site history, namely me dressing up as Trixie at the final BronyCon.

You still owe us a fashion show, Jeric. 

[Brony Number 42 9,932]

I donated. Will you be keeping a total here?

[Lord Valtasar 12,685]

8 hours ago, Merry Brony 42 said:

I donated. Will you be keeping a total here?

the total can be seen in the main page(on the right side)

[Jeric 46,835]

Some site glitches backed me up a little bit. Catching up now. Appreciate the donations all, and I’ll be updating the badges here momentarily 

[Jeric 46,835]

14 hours ago, Denim&Venöm said:

You still owe us a fashion show, Jeric. 

Yeah yeah yeah .... wasn't my fault. But seeing as we haven't been able to attend Everfree for last year, thats now two cosplays events that didn't happen so you may get your wish. 

13 hours ago, Merry Brony 42 said:

I donated. Will you be keeping a total here?

I'm adding the direct donations to the total here yes, and will be updating the main page total in a more prominent location.

 

[Will Guide 21,325]

I donated once. Is possible to donate again?

[Troblems 5,609]

9 hours ago, Will Guide said:

I donated once. Is possible to donate again?

Donate as much as you like, as often as you like, so long as it's within your budget and financially viable.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

Looks like the main donation form supports paypal now - which is good

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

And so our tradition continues once more with the 2020 edition of Making Christmas Merrier.

You know what? I should come up with a special 'Holiday Trivia' seeing as both MLP and Equestria Girls have had their share of holiday fun. Granted, there is Luna's special day coming up so perhaps a double-feature trivia is in order?

[Will Guide 21,325]

On this page, do I click on Donate Now, or must I first log in using the grey log in button for this to work? I want to make sure my donation is credited and goes through properly.

[Jeric 46,835]

12 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

On this page, do I click on Donate Now, or must I first log in using the grey log in button for this to work? I want to make sure my donation is credited and goes through properly.

Donate Now is what you want to click on. That login button is for the Poniverse contact of the BC Children's Hospital. 

[Jeric 46,835]

I will post the $500 Goal tomorrow. We are pushing close t0 $700 which is awesome! Thank you all who has donated. 

[Props Valroa 26,046]

That banner is very cute with the foal on the alicorn's back.

[Snow 5,305]

Oh ho ho what do we have here is it charityification time already?

[Props Valroa 26,046]

11 minutes ago, Snow said:

Oh ho ho what do we have here is it charityification time already?

Time flies, doesn’t it?

[Comp 84]

Thanks Jer! I just shared it on Canterlot Avenue. Hopefully it can amount to some more charity for the little ones.

[Will Guide 21,325]

That's weird. I donated $250 yesterday and yet looking at my transaction account it says only $196 were spent. I hope all my donation money is going to the right cause

[CypherHoof 26,479]

2 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

That's weird. I donated $250 yesterday and yet looking at my transaction account it says only $196 were spent. I hope all my donation money is going to the right cause

its in Canadian dollars - possibly your transaction account billed in your own currency?

[Will Guide 21,325]

27 minutes ago, CypherHoof 🐎 said:

its in Canadian dollars - possibly your transaction account billed in your own currency?

(Checks currency rate)

250 in Canadian dollars is 195.87 USD. Ah that would explain it. Thanks

[CypherHoof 26,479]

2 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

(Checks currency rate)

250 in Canadian dollars is 195.87 USD. Ah that would explain it. Thanks

Even so, 200USD is a generous donation, and I am sure they really appreciate it

[Jeric 46,835]

1 hour ago, Will Guide said:

That's weird. I donated $250 yesterday and yet looking at my transaction account it says only $196 were spent. I hope all my donation money is going to the right cause

As suggested earlier this is due to the exchange rate between US Dollars and Canadian Dollars. They still got $250 but it just cost you less.

[Venomous 18,813]

I just donated $5. This is the first time I have donated to this cause and I am glad that I had the opportunity to do so.

God bless these children and I hope they all have a good recovery 🙏❤️

[FirestormDangerDash 10]

I swear this is the first time I got an email asking to donate. Then again, it was in Spam. Cause Bronies are a charitable bunch >=T