You know the drill! Or maybe you don’t, in which case we’ll explain the drill to you.
Every year, the Colossal Fund raises money for IFComp prizes. (I can say “every year” because this is the third time we’ve done it.) Last year, IF supporters (that’s you) donated $9000; we distributed $7200 to the authors of 51 IFComp entries.
Now it’s time to open the Colossal Fund for IFComp 2019. The donation button is live! See your name listed on our donor page. (Or listed as “anonymous”, if you prefer.)
The fundraising deadline is November 15th (the end of IFComp voting).
This year we’re edging the goal up to an even $10000. As usual, 80% of the proceeds ($8000) will be distributed among the top two-thirds of IFComp finishers. The other 20% ($2000) goes to support IFTF and its operations, including IFComp, the IF Archive, the IntFiction.org forums, and other programs.
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. We’ve had about 80 entries for the past couple of years. Assume that remains true in 2019. Then we will divide the money among the top 53 entries. If we reach our target of $10000, the prize chart will look like this:
| 1: $424.89 | 15: $233.12 | 29: $100.35 | 43: $26.60 |
| 2: $409.24 | 16: $221.68 | 30: $93.13 | 44: $23.59 |
| 3: $393.88 | 17: $210.54 | 31: $86.20 | 45: $20.88 |
| 4: $378.83 | 18: $199.70 | 32: $79.58 | 46: $18.47 |
| 5: $364.08 | 19: $189.16 | 33: $73.26 | 47: $16.36 |
| 6: $349.63 | 20: $178.93 | 34: $67.24 | 48: $14.55 |
| 7: $335.48 | 21: $168.99 | 35: $61.52 | 49: $13.05 |
| 8: $321.63 | 22: $159.36 | 36: $56.10 | 50: $11.84 |
| 9: $308.08 | 23: $150.03 | 37: $50.98 | 51: $10.94 |
| 10: $294.83 | 24: $141.00 | 38: $46.16 | 52: $10.34 |
| 11: $281.89 | 25: $132.27 | 39: $41.65 | 53: $10.04 |
| 12: $269.25 | 26: $123.84 | 40: $37.43 | |
| 13: $256.90 | 27: $115.71 | 41: $33.52 | |
| 14: $244.86 | 28: $107.88 | 42: $29.91 |
The numbers add up to $8000, which is 80% of $10000.
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 blue 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. So we are starting the 2019 CF fund with $780 already in the pot.
If you have further questions, please contact us at ifcomp@ifcomp.org. And thanks for your support!