Put the fun in fundraising.
Your event picks the cause. The money, minus card fees, goes there. Then we show you the receipts, because “trust us” is not an accounting system.
Community support has to be sustainable
Community events survive because people give. They give money, time, knowledge, labor, and attention. They volunteer, teach, judge, vend, organize, carry boxes, solve problems, stay up too late, wake up too early, and somehow continue smiling while answering the same question for the seventeenth time, but sustainability requires more than repeatedly asking good people to give more. It has to be enjoyable for the people doing the work, too.
Fundraising should be connecting. Volunteering should feel meaningful. Supporting the community should create moments of fun rather than becoming one more obligation somebody has to drag themselves through.
slave molotov is a neurodivergent hedonist, if something is tedious, joyless, and unrewarding, there is an excellent chance it will fall out of her brain. So instead of fighting that, we built around it.
The Kink Dispenser is our attempt to put the fun in fundraising. People get Kinks, weird little prizes, and reasons to talk to one another. Volunteers get recognized. Events raise money. Master Malcolm gets to build and design cool new things. slave molotov’s environment remains enriched as packages get delivered. Everyone benefits.
We believe in showing the receipts
Fundraising should not require trust exercises, you should be able to see where the money went. The Kink Dispenser uses a Nayax credit-card payment processor for purchases made directly through the machine. That’s also the name on your card statement: Nayax, not Kink Dispenser.
…And because “trust us” is not an accounting system, we provide the participating event with detailed transaction and fundraising records showing money collected, processing fees, and the amount generated for its designated cause.
Master Malcolm, slave molotov, and Parallax Mental Health purchased the Kink Dispenser outright and provide the labor involved in operating, maintaining, transporting, sourcing prizes, making prizes, recruiting donations, and shamelessly wandering around asking vendors and community members, “So… got any swag?” Prizes may be purchased, handmade, recycled, or donated by community members, vendors, events, businesses, and other delightful enablers.
The Kink Dispenser does not deduct the cost of the machine, prizes, travel, labor, maintenance, or our questionable life choices from the event’s proceeds. The money collected, minus credit-card processing fees, belongs to the participating event for its designated cause.
That is the deal.
The fees, since you asked
Nayax charges 2.50% plus 10¢ per card transaction. That is the only thing that comes out before the money goes to the cause, and you never pay it on top of the price.
| You pay | Processing fee | To the cause |
|---|---|---|
| $5 (1 Kink) | $0.23 | $4.77 |
| $9 (2 Kinks) | $0.33 | $8.67 |
| $13 (3 Kinks) | $0.43 | $12.57 |
| $20 (5 Kinks) | $0.60 | $19.40 |
That 10¢ gets charged on every tap, so one $20 tap for five Kinks costs the cause 60¢ in fees. Five separate $5 taps cost it about $1.13. Buy the bundle. The cause thanks you.
Every event’s numbers go up on Where the Kinks Went.
Who chooses the cause?
The event does! The Kink Dispenser doesn’t roll into somebody’s community and announce we selected their priorities for them. Participating organizers identify the cause or community need they want to support. These details will be posted on the website or other Kink Dispenser materials so purchasers are able to make informed decisions about whether they want to support that particular cause.
We may ask questions. We need enough information to describe the beneficiary accurately and account for the funds. We also reserve the right to decline involvement with something inconsistent with the project’s values or that we cannot responsibly account for.
But fundamentally, your event, your community, your cause. We bring the Kink Dispenser. You decide where the money goes.
What kinds of causes can the Kink Dispenser support?
Community need doesn’t arrive with an IRS determination letter. Depending on the participating event and the agreed arrangements, the selected cause may be a registered nonprofit or another identified community need.
Titleholder and contestant travel funds
Being a contestant or titleholder ain’t cheap. Travel, hotels, registration, wardrobe, leather, boots, transportation, and meals all add up, and apparently nobody has yet invented a sash that generates airfare. An event may designate proceeds to help titleholders or contestants represent the community without personally financing every mile of the journey.
Community scholarships
Sometimes money is the thing standing between someone and an event, class, conference, or community experience. Scholarships help with admission, registration, travel, education, or other participation costs. “You belong here” works considerably better when people can afford to get through the door.
Community mutual aid
Sometimes somebody in the community needs help. An event may identify a mutual-aid fund or support effort for housing, food, emergency travel, medical expenses, funeral or memorial costs, or another established need. Not every act of community care needs to come with a gala and a branded tote bag.
Nonprofit organizations
Events can designate nonprofit organizations whose work aligns with their community, including causes involving HIV/AIDS services and history, LGBTQIA+ support, sexual-health education, housing, mental-health access, harm reduction, or community history and preservation. Projects such as the AIDS Memorial Quilt are examples of the kinds of work an event might choose to support.
Education and accessibility
Want to bring in an educator, subsidize a workshop, help fund interpreters, or support the practical things that make participation possible? Those are community investments worth talking about. Sometimes the difference between “everyone is welcome” and “everyone can participate” is whether somebody funded the necessary resources and assistive technology.
Community infrastructure
Not every good cause is glamorous, sometimes community care looks like buying twenty folding chairs, educational supplies, shared equipment, or a box of condoms. We respect that and see the event as best equipped to understand the needs of that specific local community.