Whenever there is a major crisis or world event, I typically get at least a dozen emails from compassionate people seeking advice or guidance on how to run a successful charity bundle. I try to answer as many as I can but, as time goes on, many of the same questions keep coming up, and I figured this blog post was a long time coming anyway. So, if you are one of the kind, compassionate people who messaged me and I sent you here, please do not take offense. I’ve done my best to give an overview of what I did, answer commonly asked questions, and share lessons I learned when I ran the Palestinian Aid Itch Bundle.
A Brief Summary of What Happened
In May of 2021, a video of a little Palestinian girl cowering from Israeli air strikes while her dad was trying to play a game to distract her went viral on Twitter. Palestine and Israel have a long history of conflict, so this was nothing new, but I have PTSD and saw a lot of myself in that little girl. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I couldn’t sleep or eat. So, I asked a few of my friends in the game industry who participate in bundles often if they’d be interested in creating one with me. I never made a bundle before, so I learned as I went. Damien Crawford (https://cannibalinteractive.itch.io/), in particular, walked me through the process of creating an itch bundle and very kindly answered all my questions. It took an entire day, but I had created a lovely bundle of 20 games for $5. I intended on raising about $500 USD. And this is a good time to explain how itch bundles work.
How Itch Bundles Work vs My Itch Bundle
Typically, bundles on itch benefit the devs that participate. The devs agree on a certain cut of the money raised, usually equally split among everyone. This then goes into their individual accounts and is seen as profit, both by itch and by their government. As in, you get taxed on this income. So, charity bundles are unique because the devs agree to have all the funds go to one source, and that source agrees to be responsible for any taxes due and to donate the funds to the appropriate place after it gets deposited into their account.
Once all the games are added to the bundle, the devs then need to confirm their participation. This is where my bundle had its first hiccup - one of the devs pulled out at the confirmation stage. You cannot just edit the bundle if someone wants to be removed. You must create a new one. So, I had to cancel the bundle and recreate it, minus that dev. No problem, but I was tired, it was the end of the day, and there were two or three devs that were disappointed they missed the deadline to join and wanted to participate. So, I made a Google form for those handful of devs to fill out so that everyone’s information would be ready for me to recreate the bundle quickly the next day, tweeted it out, and I went to sleep.
And woke up to thousands of game submissions.
If you remember the BLM bundle, it was set up with a forum post that had a rolling submission. This is because that bundle was run by itch.io and they can, of course, do whatever they please on their website. But I, believe it or not, am not itch.io, I’m just a little indie game dev. So I have to follow the bundle protocol, which means I was going into each individual submission on my poorly put together Google form (more about that later), and manually adding it to a bundle. And then individually reaching out to every single developer to have them confirm their submission. So two things happened -
People were confused as to why I wasn’t just doing the ‘simple’ thing of having a forum post, rolling submission set up like the BLM bundle. Frustrating, but fine. Lesson one learned: anticipating questions and setting realistic expectations before people make assumptions is key to a huge movement staying organized and in the public’s good graces.
I was well on my way to breaking itch.io’s bundle submission process. Apparently there is an upper limit of how many games can be part of a user created bundle and I surpassed that. So even if I did get through adding every game manually, which thankfully I was saved and spared before I got even half way through, it wouldn’t have worked.
So, my bundle was officially out of control and I think my fear and desperation came through in some of my SOS tweets. Remember, I was also keenly aware of the legal and tax responsibilities of charity bundles and I had a lot to lose if the US government thought I became an overnight millionaire. I also kind of hated that when people were searching for information about a Palestinian Aid bundle, an Irish American woman’s information would pop up first. It felt wrong, like I was somehow using this crisis to market my games.
Enter Rami Ismail and Spencer Hayes
Rami saw my SOS tweets and contacted me asking how he could help and graciously listened to all of my concerns. He got me in contact with Spencer Hayes at itch.io, who then kindly assured me that itch will take care of the paperwork and money side of things and will do what they can to help me stay on top of the massive amount of submissions that were still pouring in, as long as I understood that the lion’s share was still my responsibility. Rami then got me in contact with Palestinian game developer Rasheed Abueideh, who created Liyla and the Shadows of War, which tells the story of a little girl who lives in Gaza during the 2014 war. In fact, Rami and Rasheed brought this game to itch.io specifically for this bundle, working tirelessly to get the game ported and working in time.
So now, when people searched for the bundle, Liyla and the Shadows of War was the highlight. I made sure to set the expectation that the bundle was pay-what-you-want (above $5 USD) for Liyla and the Shadows of War, and you will receive hundreds of additional games, assets, and soundtracks donated by game developers and media creators around the world for free. So, a week later, when a game was pulled from the bundle and a group of redditors who didn’t really care about the cause and just wanted the deal got upset, I was able to point to Liyla and reiterate that this is the game that’s guaranteed with the bundle, the rest are free. Some may disagree, but I think this was one of the smartest things I did while organizing the bundle.
I cried from stress and relief, had a cookie, took a shower, and got to work. The following happened in a messy sort of way over the next month, so forgive me if things are out of order.
First thing I did, and the first thing you should do, is research your charity of choice and contact them. For me, this involved calling the United Nations to reach UNRWA and explain that I have a possible large donation. They told me I can donate on the website. I then explained that it could be $5 but more likely, if past bundles are any indication, it could be a million dollars and so I don’t think the online donation form would be the best approach. After both of us wrapped our minds around this idea, I had UNRWA contact Spencer and Leaf at itch to discuss how they can best get the money. In the end, UNRWA had to make an itch account, just like an indie dev would, and the money went straight to that account. Whether there were other considerations like different tax forms filled out, I don’t know since itch very kindly handled the money side of things. All I know is that it went directly to UNRWA. I was able to see their itch account as the only recipient of the funds, since I was the creator of the bundle, and I’ve since reached out and was assured everything went to the appropriate places.
Of course, I tried to make this information as public as possible and still was accused of stealing a million dollars. As if someone could do that and not get caught. If this happens to you, I’m sorry. That sucks. If your charity bundle is the type to go directly to you, it is a good practice to show the receipt of your donation. However, if it gets as big as this did, for reasons explained above, you won’t have that receipt. I recommend suggesting to the skeptical that they reach out to the itch team or to the charity - both Spencer and those at UNRWA are more than happy to reassure everyone that the money was sent properly.
As submissions roll in, it is up to you to moderate them. It’s your bundle so you decide the rules. Will you allow violence? Nudity? For me, I tried to allow as many games as possible, only removing those that felt insensitive to the cause or that were broken. If I or my team of volunteers couldn’t open the game and get it going for 30 seconds, we removed it. Yes, this means that every single game was downloaded and played for 30 seconds, every playbook was read through, every submission was combed over, and yes, this took forever. I had a shared google sheets file that I would add to, and my friends and volunteers would do what they could in their spare time. We had about 30 people working on moderating the games at any given time. Those same volunteers were also DMing and messaging and emailing all of the devs at various stages. Why, you ask?
That Google Form
Mistake #1: I asked for social media handles. Before itch stepped in and made the forum post (more on that in a minute), I was individually adding and confirming devs. Which means contacting them via social media. I should have asked for their emails, specifically their itch.io account emails. Twitter eventually gave me warnings about the amount of DMs I was sending so I had to have others risk the same. Don’t ask for social media - it’s useless.
Mistake #2: I guess I was feeling sassy cause I put a question on the form that said something like “Do you consent to your creation being part of this bundle and understand that it cannot be removed after you fill out this form?” AND I PUT A NO OPTION. Why. Why would I have no option? Hindsight 20/20. Don’t be sassy or cute when organizing a charity bundle.
Mistake #3: At first, there was no stated deadline. Then the deadline was pushed. Then we were waiting for UNRWA, so the deadline was pushed again. Then, I made the forum post and there was confusion as to if you needed both the Google form and the forum post. Then, I said it would be up by Friday but it wasn’t up for another week after that. Being a small studio, I’m kind of used to being on my schedule but this bundle was a huge wake up to how long things take when we’re waiting for other parts to line up. I was confused, so the message was confused, so the people were confused… I don’t know how I could have prevented this but I do know I could have communicated better.
Itch Forum Post: Autobots, Stay Put
Remember how I said I had too many submissions for the traditional bundle submission protocols? Well, around this time, Leaf at itch.io graciously allowed me to do what the BLM bundle did - create a rolling submission forum post. These still needed to manually be put into that Google Sheets form to be moderated but at least with the forum posts, we now had the added bonus that a bot will check if the person submitting the game has the right to. (Another failing of the Google form: Someone could have said they were Miyamoto and submitted Mario and I have no way to prove their identity. With the forum submissions, we could check that the email matched the game submission.)
However, that’s what the bot was doing. It was checking identity. It wasn’t auto-adding games. We were manually moderating it. We gave that moderated list to Leaf, who then cross referenced it with the bot-checked identity list, and then uploaded new games in batches every few days. (Remember, I didn’t ask for permission to make this bundle. This was extra work on top of their already loaded plates. They were allowing this forum post setup as a kindness.) This caused more confusion, as devs would submit their game under the forum post, refresh the page, and be upset they didn’t see their game added. I tried tweeting out an explanation, but only a handful of people followed me so most didn’t see it. I also tried explaining in blog posts, but many people don’t read such things.
But now we had a process. I’d copy the newly submitted games from the forum post to our moderation sheet. I’d ask for volunteers and we’d go through each game. I’d send that list at the end of every day to Leaf, who then cross referenced it and uploaded the new games to the bundle in batches. I posted that as long as the game passed moderation and was in the forum post by the deadline, it would be included, even if it wasn’t showing in the bundle just yet. I also reminded everyone of why we were doing this in the first place and reminded everyone to play Liyla and the Shadows of War.
At this point, the bundle organizing was a full time job. I took the month off from work and literally only focused on this. That’s how much work it took.
Then the bundle went live. I made the goal $500k USD. I didn’t know what to expect and didn’t want to come off as over-confident but I was advised that was a good number. I knew that I was learning as fast as I could but I also knew that this was probably one of the most unorganized charity efforts in the history of the universe and I felt the pressure of the world on me. And then we hit our goal in a weekend. So I raised it to $1,000,000. We ended just short of it, but wow, that’s a lot of funding.
Once it was all over, I was lamenting at everything I did wrong and everything I could have done right. I was upset with myself for not doing better and I was burnt out, not to mention my DMs and emails have never recovered. I still get flooded with messages, although most of the ugly and hateful ones have died down now, almost a year later. It was Rami that put it into perspective for me:
“Did you know $600K can help 1000 Palestinians start a little business via their microgrant program? That's just one thing they could do with the money. It can also fund 2% of their full education budget, or 20% of their infrastructure program, or 15% of their relief and social services program. . .”
I asked about mental health, as that’s why I started this.
"It says, “In 2018, the Agency began to implement the UNRWA mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) framework that is dedicated to enhance coherence, consistency and quality of interventions to improve the mental health and psychosocial well-being of Palestine refugees. During 2018, 92,795 Palestine refugees were provided with MHPSS support across the Agency’s five fields of operation." It seems MHPSS is... 4,2 million? So we'd have funded... 1/7th of that entire program?”
And that is what you should focus on when your bundle is all done. Sure, you’ll make mistakes. But like, look at all that good. And all the people that played Liyla. Remember your goal, and it’s all worth it.
Here’s some advice for those who want to run their own bundle:
Mine was a happy accident. If I knew how big it would get, I would have absolutely included itch.io from the beginning. I would have been more organized. I would have put together a team to help with moderation and running the bundle, and I would have been more clear about updates and expectations. I recommend really getting your ducks in a row before starting a charity bundle. I would have asked for itch.io account emails as their main contact. And I don’t recommend going to sleep with an open ended Google form as your submission process, particularly if it's a cause a lot of people feel strongly about. Or do. I mean, we made almost a million dollars. And absolutely research and be in constant contact with your charity of choice. It’s most important that funding gets to where it’s needed.
What I’m Most Proud Of
I kept the focus where it should be - on Palestinian people. If you’re raising money for elsewhere in the world, PARTICULARLY if you are American, get those you are directly helping involved. Don’t focus yourself at the center. Ask what would be most helpful, according to those you’re trying to help. You ever have a toddler try to help you do the dishes, and it just leaves you frustrated and with more work because their ‘help’ was entirely unhelpful? Imagine that feeling but for something that matters, like hunger or war. It doesn’t matter how much you meant to help if your efforts aren’t actually helpful.
Another Interpretation of “The Road to Hell” Pavement
There’s an idiom in English that says, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” It usually means that it isn’t enough to say you wish to do something, you must follow through; that good intentions don’t mean anything without action. I’ve started to think of this idiom often, but with a different meaning: All the good intentions in the world won’t save you from judgment, things going wrong, and ugly behaviour. You’d think running a charity bundle, particularly one that was chosen with care to be for food and mental health aid, would be universally seen as a kind action. But if you’ve been on the internet long enough to find this blog post, I don’t need to tell you the amount of hate mail, backlash, complaints, and other vitriol I needed to navigate while doing this.
If you’re a white cis guy, you might not have to worry about this. But if you aren’t, I’m sure you already understand what I’m getting at. Make sure you keep yourself safe. Take time away, an hour or two to have lunch and go for a walk without your phone, particularly when it feels like everything is life or death. Don’t check your email/social first thing when waking up. Remind yourself that the people commenting on how you’re doing an awful job don’t know you or your intentions and please do not feel the need to defend or explain yourself to them, beyond that initial announcement blurb. You know why you’re doing this. It’s a huge undertaking and it comes from a good place. You’re doing your best. Plus, often when people post, they genuinely think they are being helpful, particularly when it comes across patronizing. They believe they are doing a kindness by keeping you accountable or bringing up things you might not have thought about. That said, when you hear the same things over and over, it’s very easy to snap or get defensive. Careful - it’s best to take some time to yourself and ground yourself. Internet fights are never worth the energy, and you need that energy.
And, if you can, please create a team. Doing something like this with a small, dedicated group will be better for your well-being, mental health, and overall goal than taking it all on yourself. The goal isn’t to look like a good person, the goal is to help people you felt moved to help. So who cares what some strangers online say? Keep your goals and priorities clear and the rest is noise.