Fandom Trumps Hate

What is Fandom Trumps Hate?

FTH is an online fanworks auction, designed to raise money for nonprofit organizations that help and protect those who are being targeted by the current administration.

In the past three years, hundreds of fans have joined forces to raise nearly $75,000 for a range of progressive organizations. This year, we’re hoping to break $100,000.

Can/should I call the fanwork I create or receive a commission?

Please do not call your fanwork a commission! Neither the creator nor FTH are receiving any money at any point, and the word "commission" implies that they are. In particular, calling a fanwork a commission on AO3 can cause them to take down your work. A fanwork made for FTH is a gift, made to thank the bidder for their donation to a good cause.

When can I sign up to offer fanworks? When can I start bidding?

The full calendar is available on our stickied post. Signups have closed for the year, but there is still time to participate as a bidder! The auction opens on the morning of February 24th and closes the evening of February 28th. Take a look at the calendar for precise times.

What types of fanwork can be offered?

You can offer any type of fanwork that can be delivered digitally, including:

• fic 
  
• digital art, which includes but is not limited to gifsets, manips, moodboards, etc.
  
• podfics
  
• fanvids
• fan labor, which includes but is not limited to betaing, brit/japan/america-picking, etc.

Each of these categories is intentionally broad, so that the auction can encompass as many kinds of fanworks as possible. When participants sign up, they will be asked to describe their offering not only in terms of one of these five categories, but also in terms of the relevant subcategory (e.g. someone who signs up to offer fan labor will be asked to indicate whether they are offering beta work, -picking, or translation, and to add any other necessary information in a comments box.)

We’ve also added an “other fanwork” category this year. We encourage you to use the five categorie listed above to make your auction offerings easier for potential bidders to find, but if your fanwork really doesn’t fit into any of these categories (but is still digitally deliverable), you can use this option! You will need to describe your offering carefully, since bidders won’t be able to rely on familiar categories to find or classify it.

Why can creators only select three fandoms per offering?

This year, we’re changing things up a little bit: you’ll select a max of 3 fandoms per fanwork you decide to offer. We’ve done this for two main reasons:

• To make your offer easier for bidders to find
• To make things easier for the Mods to track

Can I offer more than one thing?

Yes. Each creator can offer up to three (3) auctions. We’ll ask you to fill out the signup form separately for each fanwork you offer. Please be mindful, though, of how many assignments you can actually fulfill. If you over-promise and cannot come through for your bidders, that is not helping the auction over the long term. It’s okay to offer only one fanwork.

I’ve already started a work similar to my bidder’s prompt, or I’m planning on writing a work similar to it for a big bang or other challenge. Can I just use that to fulfill my auction?

Unless your bidder expressly says that this is fine with them, no, your fanwork needs to be an entirely new creation created only for this auction. This is so that your #1 priority is creating something to your bidder’s tastes, in a timely manner. If you’ve already laid out plot points that aren’t what your bidder was looking for, need to wait to post the finished product until another deadline, etc etc, your bidder becomes a lower priority.

What about fan crafts? Why can’t I auction off fan crafts as part of the auction?

Because of the added complication of shipping costs and the possibility of objects getting lost in transit, we are not able to take on the added responsibility of overseeing their exchange. This auction project is big enough that we can’t responsibly agree to take that on.

If you are interested in offering or receiving physical crafts, check out our Fan Crafts Bazaar.

So I sorta flaked on my bidder last year. Can I still offer something at the auction this year?

Sorry, but no. While we cannot absolutely guarantee that every bidder will receive the item they bid for in a timely fashion, it’s our goal to get as close to 100% success as possible. If you failed to come through for your bidder last year, we don’t want to ask this year’s bidders to risk similar disappointment.  

You are still very welcome to participate in the auction as a bidder.

What causes/nonprofits are you supporting this year?

You can see the full list here!

All of the groups linked here are national-level organizations. But if you want to donate to a local chapter of one of these groups that’s fine too, so long as your creator agrees.

I’m thinking of offering a fanwork in the auction this year. Can I ask bidders to donate to a different group instead?

While we encourage you to consider donating to the supported nonprofits, creators do have the option of listing one additional nonprofit of their choosing. You can read our policy on outside organizations here.

Is it legal to sell fanworks like this?

The legality of selling fanworks is a big grey area that depends highly on the individual work and the details of the sales transaction. Luckily, that doesn’t apply to us, because we aren’t selling fanworks. We are asking people to donate directly to charities, and fan creators are promising to create a work as a gift for that person to thank them for this donation. No creators are getting any money for this (and neither are we!).

So who are you guys, anyhow?

We are a motley ragtag crew from many fandoms, though we mostly come from Sherlock and Supernatural fandoms. (Or at least we did in late 2016; it’s been a big couple of years.) You can read more About Us here.