Donations on my blog?

[Raekai]

I don't know if this would be an appropriate place to ask this question, but I figured that the people here would have an answer, or at least have me moved to the correct place.

Let us say that I have a site that I accept donations on, but I want to talk about GURPS there and my GURPS games and try to entice people to play GURPS. Is this fair? I would not be selling anything, but I am trying to bring in donations. It is a little blog that I have and I mostly talk about the novels that I am in the process of writing, but GURPS is a huge part of my life, and I also use it as a tool to help me write (in the way of balancing characters and doing what I can to make things realistic). So I like to talk about GURPS. I like to share my own custom creations, my own characters, and my own adventures/campaigns concerning GURPS. Am I in the legal right to do so? If so, where is the line drawn? And is that a universal thing that as long as I'm not selling it, I can talk about it, and accept donations? I would rather just be safe than sorry.

That is the email that I just sent to the online policy support. I am really impatient so I am asking here as well. If I do not get an answer here or there, I will be calling my uncle tomorrow to see if he can shed any light on my situation.

Thank you all so much!

[apoc527]

IALBCGYLA*, and I would say that as long as you are accepting donations on your blog for your own creative work that is NOT GURPS-related, it's probably not an issue to simply discuss GURPS as part of your blog. I would say what you cannot do is to accept "donations" for or sell anything that could be considered "GURPS material."

*I'm a lawyer, but can't give you legal advice--yes, I just made this up. :-) Thus, the above should not be considered legal advice, but rather just my personal, non-professional opinion.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by Raekai

That is the email that I just sent to the online policy support. I am really impatient so I am asking here as well.

Our office is closed until January 2. You won't be getting an answer before then, and maybe not for a few days after, depending on the email backlog.

[trechriron]

Not sure about the legal stuff, but there's something else to consider. Do you have an existing business model to base this idea on? Are people going to make donations? For what?

My suggestion - build a following first. Then think of offering advertising on your site. Also, offering your own creations. GM helpers and adventures are still popular, and a great place to establish a niche in a cottage industry.

I personally feel the donation model is a tough one. Especially in this economy. People generally want something for their cash.

Look at how online web comics people work. I think that's a good start.