Hi everybody,

Update: The Bug Smash Fund campaign has been live for a little more than a week now. So far, we’ve raised $15,539 from 397 donors through the website! 

This time in the campaign last year, we had raised $8,302 from 294 donors, meaning we’re tracking about $7,237 higher than this time last year, with an increase of 103 donors. Great progress! Thank you for amplifying this effort, it makes a big difference.

We’re still working against the reality that donations at DEF CON brought in $40K donations last year, and that opportunity just isn't possible this year. Please continue to share and spread the word so we can do our best to make up that gap!

I’ll send another update before the end of the campaign. 

Cheers,
Al
Al Smith (they/them)
Fundraising • Communications
The Tor Project
On 7/31/20 8:10 AM, Al Smith wrote:
Hello Tor!

Today, the Tor Project is launching our second annual Bug Smash Fund,[1]
a month-long fundraising campaign (7/31 - 8/31). The goal of the Bug
Smash Fund campaign is to raise unrestricted funds that we allocate to
finding and fixing bugs / doing maintenance / and addressing issues that
aren’t flashy or exciting for most funders, but totally necessary for
the health of Tor and all of the third party apps that rely on Tor to
provide privacy, security, and anonymity to their users.

Unrestricted funding, like what we’re raising for the Bug Smash Fund, is
key for the Tor Project to improve our agility and stop relying on the
slow, piecemeal process of grant funding in order to accomplish our
goals and respond to emergent issues.

Last year during our first Bug Smash Fund campaign, we raised $86,081
that we used to close 74 tickets.[2]

In 2019, we were able to allocate all of the donations we raised
in-person at DEF CON to the Bug Smash Fund. That was about $40,000. As
we all know, this year is different, and it will be a big stretch to
meet or exceed the amount we raised last year without this event. So
your help to amplify this campaign could really help make this campaign
a success.

How to help:
-- Tweet about the Bug Smash Fund using the #TorBugSmash and a link to
our launch blog post. Here are some suggested posts.[3]
-- Quote tweet @torproject posts about the Bug Smash Fund with your own
take about why unrestricted funds are so important for the health of Tor.
-- Forward this email to those who might be able to amplify the campaign.

Activities in August to support the Bug Smash Fund campaign:
-- Hosting a second PrivChat event featuring stories about smashing bugs
in software development on (date tbd)
-- Sharing regularly on social media and engaging our friends to amplify
the campaign
-- Sending two emails to previous donors who have not made a donation in
the last 90 days
-- Promoting a new cryptocurrency campaign on Blockchair:
https://blockchair.com/donut/tor-project

If you have any questions about or ideas for the Bug Smash Fund
campaign, please email me or Isabela or grants@torproject.org, we would
be happy to talk about it.

Happy Friday,
Al

[1] https://blog.torproject.org/tor-bug-smash-fund-2020
[2] https://blog.torproject.org/tor-bug-smash-fund-2019-final-update
[3] https://pad.riseup.net/p/OiWVPFGPw7I9vnX7MnN2