Last year we created the Colossal Fund to raise money for IFComp prizes. It worked great! IF enthusiasts donated over $7000; we distributed $5600 to the authors of 52 IFComp entries. The only stumbling block was that IFComp 2017 was bigger than expected — 79 entries, the largest slate in IFComp’s history. And that’s the kind of problem that we’re really happy to have.
Now it’s time to open the Colossal Fund for IFComp 2018. The donation button is live! See your name listed on our donor page. (Or listed as “anonymous”, if you prefer.)
We’re raising the stakes this year: our fundraising goal is $9000. The fundraising deadline is November 15th (the end of IFComp voting).
Just like last year, we are earmarking 80% of donations ($7200) to be distributed among the top two-thirds of IFComp finishers. The other 20% ($1800) goes to support IFTF and its operations, including IFComp.
What does this mean for authors? Because we’re dividing the money among the top finishers, the exact numbers depend on how many IFComp entries there are. Let’s assume that IFComp continues to grow, and reaches 90 entries this year. Then we will divide the money among the top 60 entries. If we reach our target of $9000, then the prize chart look like this:
| 1: $334.52 | 16: $191.52 | 31: $89.77 | 46: $29.27 |
| 2: $323.71 | 17: $183.46 | 32: $84.46 | 47: $26.71 |
| 3: $313.07 | 18: $175.57 | 33: $79.32 | 48: $24.32 |
| 4: $302.62 | 19: $167.87 | 34: $74.37 | 49: $22.12 |
| 5: $292.36 | 20: $160.36 | 35: $69.61 | 50: $20.11 |
| 6: $282.27 | 21: $153.02 | 36: $65.02 | 51: $18.27 |
| 7: $272.37 | 22: $145.87 | 37: $60.62 | 52: $16.62 |
| 8: $262.66 | 23: $138.91 | 38: $56.41 | 53: $15.16 |
| 9: $253.12 | 24: $132.12 | 39: $52.37 | 54: $13.87 |
| 10: $243.77 | 25: $125.52 | 40: $48.52 | 55: $12.77 |
| 11: $234.61 | 26: $119.11 | 41: $44.86 | 56: $11.86 |
| 12: $225.62 | 27: $112.87 | 42: $41.37 | 57: $11.12 |
| 13: $216.82 | 28: $106.82 | 43: $38.07 | 58: $10.57 |
| 14: $208.21 | 29: $100.96 | 44: $34.96 | 59: $10.21 |
| 15: $199.77 | 30: $95.27 | 45: $32.02 | 60: $10.02 |
The numbers add up to $7200, which is 80% of $9000.
As you see, this is not a winner-take-all plan. Our goal is to distribute prizes across a broad range of IF styles and ideas. Any game which does even moderately well should receive a decent prize.
Other details:
- How do I donate? Go to IFComp.org and push the big yellow Paypal button.
- Is my donation tax-deductible? Yes, to the extent allowed by law. (Consult a tax professional, that’s all we can say.)
- Does the Colossal Fund replace the usual IFComp prize list? No! These cash prizes will be in addition to the usual IFComp prize list. Please visit this page to donate objects and services as prizes.
- How will the cash prizes be distributed? Via PayPal. If you can’t accept PayPal, we can mail a US check to a US address. If that doesn’t work for you, or if you wish to decline the cash prize, we will roll the money into next year’s prize fund.
- Was any money rolled into this year’s fund from last year? Yes! Some of last year’s winners declined their prizes, and we also had some donations that came in after last year’s deadline. So we are starting the 2018 CF fund with $1100 already in the pot.
If you have further questions, please contact us at ifcomp@ifcomp.org. And thanks for your support!