AMDave
07-01-2014, 07:28 PM
PayPal and other options
Hello All, Many of you have asked about paypal and other donation methods. To address these concerns, Professor Heidi Newberg asked me to post the following on her behalf:I would like to answer some of your posts. I am aware of the problem with not having a direct Paypal giving option. I prefer to use Paypal myself. Until the university wakes up to this as an important option, the only thing I can do is offer my personal Paypal account as an option. I will donate all of your donations back to MilkyWay@home. It will not be US tax deductible, but that is not a problem for donors who do not reside in the US. You can send to Heidi Newberg, paypal@quantconsulting.com and put your username/userID and T-shirt info in the notes section if applicable. So far five people have taken me up on this option. I know it is not ideal.Regarding Kickstarter and other online donation sites, I did research these right after I was told that my grant was not renewed. These sites take a fraction of the proceeds (5% or more), and do not provide much (though they can figure out paypal better). I decided it was better to use the infrastructure provided by BOINC and by my university.I am having some trouble understanding GRIDcoin/BitCoin donations. In understand that I could take donations in these currencies, and then convert them to the cash that I need to pay students, etc. However, doesn't that undermine the value of the currency itself? Why are people willing to exchange their BitCoins for GRIDcoins, and then their BitCoins for US dollars? Is there anything I can buy now with GRIDcoins (except BitCoins)?And thank you for all of your help on my research project.Best Wishes,Heidi Newberg
More... (http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=3581)
Hello All, Many of you have asked about paypal and other donation methods. To address these concerns, Professor Heidi Newberg asked me to post the following on her behalf:I would like to answer some of your posts. I am aware of the problem with not having a direct Paypal giving option. I prefer to use Paypal myself. Until the university wakes up to this as an important option, the only thing I can do is offer my personal Paypal account as an option. I will donate all of your donations back to MilkyWay@home. It will not be US tax deductible, but that is not a problem for donors who do not reside in the US. You can send to Heidi Newberg, paypal@quantconsulting.com and put your username/userID and T-shirt info in the notes section if applicable. So far five people have taken me up on this option. I know it is not ideal.Regarding Kickstarter and other online donation sites, I did research these right after I was told that my grant was not renewed. These sites take a fraction of the proceeds (5% or more), and do not provide much (though they can figure out paypal better). I decided it was better to use the infrastructure provided by BOINC and by my university.I am having some trouble understanding GRIDcoin/BitCoin donations. In understand that I could take donations in these currencies, and then convert them to the cash that I need to pay students, etc. However, doesn't that undermine the value of the currency itself? Why are people willing to exchange their BitCoins for GRIDcoins, and then their BitCoins for US dollars? Is there anything I can buy now with GRIDcoins (except BitCoins)?And thank you for all of your help on my research project.Best Wishes,Heidi Newberg
More... (http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=3581)