Our Story and Your Part
Hi! We’re Harmonious Elements, a 501(c)3 organization founded in 2014. While you probably don’t know us, you might know our annual event, BABSCon. It’s one of the longest-running My Little Pony conventions in the world. BABSCon isn’t just about My Little Pony, though. We have informative panels, concerts, art, games of all sorts, and other fabulous activities.
When you contribute to our campaign you’ll not only be helping set Harmonious Elements on more sound footing, you’ll also be giving us a chance to expand and meet more of our mission statement: We create communal events in which animation fans, fan-creators, and industry professionals can come together to educate and enrich each other's lives, and to nurture around fan culture and creativity.
We strive for the most inclusive, safe, and accessible possible events for all while raising money for worthy causes. We would accomplish this with year round diverse events and reaching out to the youth. As well as to provide the high quality events and merchandise that you have come to expect from BABSCon.
2023 is promising to be a big year for us with new and exciting participation events, new activities, and new merchandise.
Our Needs and The Perks of Giving
We tried very hard to recover from the effects of COVID-19, which caused us to lose both our 2020 and 2021 BABSCon events. Despite our best efforts, making the 2022 con happen required us to take on debts we wouldn’t have had to otherwise. And unfortunately, our income from BABSCon 2022 wasn’t enough to cover what we lost in 2020 and 2021, plus give us enough to make 2023 happen. That’s why we find ourselves having to reach out to you, just this once, to help us keep bringing you fun and rewarding events for years to come.
Along with the effects of basic inflation, our hotel has changed its normal operating procedure with us, and are requiring us to pay all convention expenses before the convention happens. This was due to our being in the red for 2022 and having to take too long to pay our bill fully. In years past we’d been able to pay the hotel right after the convention had happened, so they were happy to extend us some credit. But now, we have no leeway or negotiating room with them. So, if we don’t make our payments to the hotel and pay the hotel bill up front this year, we won’t have a convention.
The good news is that we have paid off all our debts from 2020, 2021, and 2022 and are no longer in the red but we need the community's help to meet this pre-paid hotel obligation and secure some operating capital for needed expenses—guests, A/V, etc. The $50,000 we’re asking for will cover all these expenses, plus those of running this campaign.
The perks we’re offering are as diverse as the events at BABSCon and we’re happy to share them with you. These range from a simple acknowledgment certificate to a 3D laser-etched crystal with a colored, lighted base. Each of our perks will come with original art designed by the artists of BABSCon design team, and some will even have customizable options. Many of these are exclusive to BABSCon, so this is the only way you’ll be able to get them!
Any amount up to the $50,000 requested that is donated to this campaign will be used to pay the hotel and other up-front costs for 2023. Any money raised that exceeds our goal will be used to create art scholarships.
We are committed and focused to meeting our current 50k goal, having a convention, making internal changes, and being better as an organization. Any donations past our goal, if they happen, we will evaluate where it serves itself and our community and attendees the best when we reach our goal.
The Impact
Our campaign will allow us to continue holding an event for years to come that raises funds and awareness for charities and underserved portions of our society, doing what we can to improve lives.
We help not only those in our community, but also those in areas and communities that may be overlooked by traditional charities and government organizations. We can research and find those that might not be getting the voice or spotlight that other organizations receive through local or national media.
This is our first crowdfunding campaign, and it will be our only one. That’s our pledge to you.
But, after having successfully put on a large event for 8 years—with an organization of 12 departments and 185–250 staff that serves 1,500–2,000 attendees and raises tens of thousands per year for charity—we hope you can find it in your hearts to get us through this unprecedented emergency.
So, please join this campaign and let us continue to bring adventures, experiences, and hopeful futures to many, many people.
Risks & Challenges
We might have delays in production schedules, and shipping times may be affected as they were in 2020-2021. All our shipping costs are estimates and may be subject to change.
We have contracted with known manufacturers with years of expertise and knowledge, many of whom are familiar with crowdfunding campaigns because they’ve run them themselves. They’ve weathered the pandemic that’s so dramatically affected worldwide supply chains.
Our artists are familiar with our mascots and how they can be positioned in different scenes. They are experts on creating artwork for any number of items with very short turnaround times.
To overcome these challenges, we’ve already started on many of the perks. Prototypes have been made, experiences have already been test-driven, and we’ve been in frequent communication with our manufacturers and you, our contributors.
Other Ways You Can Help
We understand if you are not in a spot to donate: We ask that you share on your various social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Discord, Mastodon, Hive, and any others you may use.
Indiegogo makes this easy! They have tools right here for you to use to share to your social media of choice.
