Who We Are
The Harry Potter Alliance turns fans into heroes. Our community of activists, nerds, avid readers, and pop culture enthusiasts has tackled all kinds of important issues, from marriage equality to ethical cocoa sourcing. However, few issues are closer to the heart of our community than literacy and education access. After all, a shared love of books brought us together in the first place, and the morals of the stories we love have guided our campaigns and priorities since 2005.
This campaign will fund our annual international book drive, Accio Books. Funds raised will allow us to coordinate a book drive spanning several continents, provide essential resources to our members and chapters, and plan book giveaway events at Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City, Missouri, and Borderline Books in the Netherlands.
Join the Friends of the Apparating Library and support our work in literacy and education.
Since our first Accio Books campaign in 2009, the HPA has:
Raised over 200,000 books for schools and communities in need.
Built libraries in Brooklyn and Rwanda.
Created the Apparating Library, a progressive, community-generated library built by HPA members across the world over the course of several major fandom events.
Organized the first Apparating Library book giveaway event in Detroit in 2014. Thousands of books were distributed to families at the Brightmoor Community Center.
HPA chapters led the way in 2014, raising over 43,614 books for local communities in 15 countries across the world.
Here’s what we have in store this year:
During this year’s Accio Books, we plan to crush last year’s record of 53,009 books raised! We’ve set a goal of 60,000 books raised by our chapters, members, and strategic partners.
We are planning not one but TWO Apparating Library book giveaways. One will be held at Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City, Missouri, and the other at Borderline Books in the Netherlands!
We are expanding Accio Books to include an advocacy component. We will be supporting the American Library Association during their National Library Legislative Day on May 4-5, 2015.
We will engage our community of chapters and members in an ongoing discussion about the importance of books in education, personal growth, and identity.
We are very unique in that 90% of our funding comes from our members, many of whom are part of literature-based fandoms. We don’t rely on the Malfoys for big donations. We are built from the support of everyday fans like you.
Magical Perks
What we can do with your support
This fundraiser will cover a variety of costs associated with running a global book drive and advocacy campaign. Weeks of staff time will be dedicated to coordinating the book drive itself, the creation of resources for chapters and members, communication and promotion, and the planning of two or three local book giveaway events in the US and Europe. We will also use funds toward the creation and maintenance of a new Apparating Library website so that we can continue to track our expanding, global library of magical books. While handling shipping for all books raised during Accio Books is a logistical impossibility, we will be offering grants to the 20 HPA chapters who raise the most books to help them pay for shipping.
Founding Friends of the Apparating Library
The following individuals became Founding Friends of the Apparating Library with generous donations to our matching fund:
-
Andrew Slack
-
Becky Havens
-
Colin Barrow
-
Elizabeth Siron
- Julie Barton
-
Marlynn Baldo
-
Matt Maggiacomo
-
Melissa Anelli
- Michael LeDoux
-
Paul DeGeorge
- Seth Soulstein
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are you legit?
A: Yes! Read all about our financial transparency and check out our gold rating on Guidestar here. We are SO legit.
Q: Is my donation tax deductible?
A: Yes - mostly! After donating, you should receive an email from FirstGiving confirming the tax-deductible status of your contribution. The tax-deductible portion of your contribution depends on the value of the perks you've received.
Example. You pay $40 for a Grangr. t-shirt. Your entire $40 contribution goes to the HPA. The Grangr. t-shirt has a value of $22. When you buy your t-shirt, you know its value is less than your payment. To figure the tax-
deductible amount of your contribution, subtract the value of the perk you receive ($22) from your total payment ($40). You can deduct $18 as a charitable contribution to the HPA in this example.
Q: Does international shipping cost extra?
A: Yes please. IndieGoGo doesn’t allow us to add any extra shipping to the perks, so domestic shipping (within the US) is included in the suggested donation price. However, international shipping costs our organization considerably more, so we encourage donors outside the U.S. to add $2-25 (as noted in the perk description) to their perk to help us defray these additional costs.
Q: What is included in Registration for GLA?
A: Registration includes all official programming and activities at the conference -- but you will be responsible for getting yourself there (via plane, train, or flying Ford Anglia) and covering your own stay at the Crowne Plaza - Providence Airport.
Q: I forgot to add international shipping. Will I still get my perk?
A: Yes, you will. And if you're a super nice person, you can still donate your additional shipping costs by going to thehpalliance.org/donate. Thanks!
Q: I donated for one of the shirt perks. When do I give you my shirt size?
A: We will email you shortly after the conclusion of the campaign. At that time, you’ll be asked to provide sizing details for you shirt. Please add info@thehpalliance.org to your address book to ensure that you receive this important email.
Q: I’m outside of the US and having trouble getting IndieGoGo to accept my donation. Help?
A: IndieGoGo only accepts international credit cards, not bank or debit cards. If you do not have a credit card and still wish to donate to our campaign and receive perks, email donate@thehpalliance.org to make sure the perk you want is still available, and donate instead directly through thehpalliance.org/donate.
Q: I have a question.
A: That’s a statement. Questions should be directed to donate@thehpalliance.org.