I originally never intended to set up a donation system because I thought it would be a futile effort. Since I’ve created Civil Protection and Freeman’s Mind however, I’ve actually received multiple requests from people interested in giving me money for free. To me, this is like something out of “The Twilight Zone,” where something is wrong with reality as I understand it. While I intend to keep making videos with or without money, I’m definitely not too proud to accept donations if people want to give it to me. I am not a rich man. My income currently puts me below the American middle class by most definitions. I am very frugal however, so don’t think that I’m going hungry as I write this. But also don’t think that I’m buying gold rims for a limousine either, I don’t even have a car.

While I will accept everything donated to me, I also don’t want anyone to feel obligated to give me money. If you’re a cheapskate who tries not to spend any more than absolutely necessary on most things, I come from your ranks; so no worries. I care much more about manifesting some of my ideas than earning a lot of money. I might change my mind if I ever end up in a gutter somewhere, but for now I’m okay. I’m not asking anyone to donate money (unless you’re friggin’ loaded), but if you want to give it, I’ll take it and try to put it to good use. I’ve also been advised to say there will be no refunds. Asking for a refund on a donation is kind of like trying to break into your friend’s house and steal back his birthday present.
In the short-term, any money given to me will probably just sit in a pile to grow and not do a lot. In the long-term, I intend to use it to try and create my absolute best video ideas. My best video ideas haven’t been made yet because they’re so ambitious that I haven’t had the resources available to make them. If you’ve seen slivers of an episode before you thought were done exceptionally well and really enjoyed, my best ideas have a higher concentration of that than I think anything I’ve produced so far; in my mind anyway. My guess is that money donated to me will end up in the hands of an animator, modeller, or somebody else doing something extremely tedious in order to get the top-level videos made. Rigging models, weightmapping, keyframing, debugging code, stuff like that.

One thing I want to emphasize is that there is NO guarantee that the videos will come out any faster if you donate money. If that’s what you’re expecting, don’t send me money. Unless I’m homeless on the street, it won’t help with that. What it will hopefully do is allow me to make ambitious videos that I think will blow peoples’ minds, or be so memorable that they can be enjoyed for many, many years.

The main exception to this rule will be if I’m ever in some sort of emergency. So for example, if I was in a chainsaw juggling accident and my hand was cut off, and the surgeon wanted all my money before he would reattach it, I think I would pay him and not care where the money came from.

On the flipside, If I ever receive a ridiculous amount of money (something I’m not worried about happening), I will use it to set up some sort of mini-studio to make many more videos at a faster pace. I have NO shortage of ideas.

Finally, whatever happens, I give you my promise that no money you give to me will be spent on coke and hookers; which I think is a lot more than can be said about most big-budget movies.

Ross Scott

While I’m not too proud to turn down any amount of money, Paypal keeps the first dollar + 3% of all donations. So if you plan to donate a dollar or less, just keep it, you’d only be giving money to Paypal and they already have enough money.