Stonemaier Games 2020 Charity Auction: What’s Different This Year?

From 2013-2019, Stonemaier Games raised a total of $55,788 for 63 charities selected by some of our favorite bloggers, podcasters, and video creators. We do this both to share those content creators with the gaming community and to expand joy beyond the tabletops of the world.

This year’s charity auction is currently underway, and it’s on target to increase Stonemaier’s direct charitable giving for 2020 to over $40,000. Earlier this year, Stonemaier Games also donated $7,439 to WIRES (a wildlife rescue organization in Australia, assist in the wildfire recovery efforts), over $14,000 in direct relief for fans who lost income due to the coronavirus, and close to $6,000 in support of BIPOC content creators in the gaming industry. We’ll add at least $5,000 to that total via the charity auction (in addition to winning bid amounts), which will go to Arch City Defenders, an advocacy group that largely benefits the BIPOC demographic in St. Louis.

In fact, as part of our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color declaration of action–and our ongoing principles of diversity and inclusion–many of the content creators featured in this year’s auction are BIPOC, minorities, or underrepresented. Of the 19 people (10 total channels/podcasts/blogs), 11 people are minorities and 7 are female. These are some amazing creators to follow, so even if you’re not interested in the auction, I highly recommend checking out the links to their channels on the auction page and subscribing to their content.

Speaking of which, every year I try to find a way to engage people in the auction even if they’re not interested in bidding. This year, the content creator whose auction garners the most thumbs will receive a copy of the Wingspan Oceania expansion, and Stonemaier Games will also donate $1 per thumb to their selected charity.

What do you think about this addition? I know that every year a few people have asked for us to add a raffle option, but due to lottery laws and out of respect for those who are paying over $500, we can’t consider a $10-per-person raffle for the same rewards.

I also want to thank Elizabeth for signing the 10 advance copies of Wingspan Oceania, Fulfillrite for matching the highest winning bid, Meeplesource for providing 10 sets of custom Oceania bird meeples, and BoardGameGeek for waiving the auction fees.

UPDATE: The auction has ended, and the total charitable donation this year will be $16,485 (a new record for our auction)!

Also read: New Strategies and Methods Used for the Wingspansion Launch and 2019 Charity Auction

***

If you gain value from the 100 articles Jamey publishes on this blog each year, please consider championing this content!

• Tweet