Dear friends of the OTW,

Thank you. Your generosity over the last eight days has made this the most successful membership drive in OTW history.

Between April 18 and 25, we received 1,256 individual donations totaling US$35,744 — numbers that will grow once we've had a chance to count the donations sent via postal mail. On top of that, you successfully secured for us a $2,000 matching grant from our anonymous donor, bringing the current grand total for the drive to $37,744. And on top of that, more than 120 people have come forward to offer their time, energy, and skill as OTW volunteers (and 150 more have joined a waiting list).

These numbers are astounding, and they're all thanks to you. We are tremendously grateful to each and every one of you who donated, volunteered, or helped spread the word to make this drive such an enormous success.

Thank you, too, to all the OTW staffers and volunteers who supported the drive by writing and betaing posts, responding to donor inquiries, designing graphics, sending e-mail blasts, mitigating server traffic, monitoring donation receipts, contacting new volunteers, and myriad other tasks. This was truly an organization-wide effort.

Although this membership drive is over, it's never too late to contribute to the ongoing work of the OTW. In addition, our OTW Community Survey remains open through May 2 and is a great way for you to share your feedback with us. We also encourage you to check out our Strategic Planning Roadmap to learn about how we're working to enhance the long-term success and sustainability of the OTW and its projects.

Like all fan creations, the OTW relies on fans for its existence — and in the last eight days, your support has been inspiring. Because of your generosity, the OTW's efforts to preserve fanworks and fannish history, advocate for fans' legal rights, and promote positive representations of fans in academic and mainstream media discourse will continue to thrive.

On behalf of everyone at the OTW, we thank you.

Aja, Alex, Anna, Kat, Kristen, Lesann, and Liz
OTW Development & Membership Committee