# Let's make a rat calendar (for charity)!



## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

I recently had the idea that we, as a website, could make a rat calendar. We could collect our cutest rat photographs and put them together into a calendar. I know that Goosemoose has a rat calendar, but that doesn't mean that Rat Forum can't have one, too. I'd like for the proceeds from this calendar to be donated to a charity that helps rats, whether that is a general animal shelter or a dedicated rat rescue.<br><br>Now, there are a few ways this could work.<br><br>1. It's a free calendar. You download the images and print them out. There would be an option to donate via paypal (that would go directly to the chosen charity), but it's technically free.<br><br>-Pros: This is great if you have a color printer. You can choose what you want to pay. It could be any size of donation. If you can't afford to pay, then you don't have to pay at all.<br>-Cons: If you don't have access to a color printer, it could be very expensive to get it printed at a print shop. <br><br>2. It's available over a website like CafePress, where you order a calendar and it arrives at your door.<br>-Pros: You can get a pre-printed calendar sent straight to your door! No fuss with printing.<br>-Cons: May be expensive (The base price of the 12-month calendar is $20. Shipping can be very expensive for global members.). To collect any profit, we would have to sell the calendars for over $20.<br>-Other: Not sure if the profit can be sent directly to the cause.<br><br>3. Why not both? If you want to print and donate (Or not), you can. If you'd rather order a calendar, you could do that.<br><br>I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. <img src="images/smilies/smiley.gif" alt="" title="Smiley" smilieid="1" class="inlineimg" border="0"><br><br>Now... for the fun part. Photos! There are also options for this.<br><br>1. Themed photos! Your rat(s) with something themed for the month you're submitting the photo to. Your rat in an easter basket, next to some holiday decorations, with some flowers...<br><br>2. No themes. Any cute photo can be submitted.<br><br>Personally, I think that themed photos would be more fun and calendar-ish. However, we all know how hard rats are to wrangle for a photo... <img src="images/smilies/smiley.gif" alt="" title="Smiley" smilieid="1" class="inlineimg" border="0"> I'd also like to hear opinions on this. To sort the photos, a voting system could be set up (Maybe with Google Forms, to eliminate double-voting and other shenanigans).<br><br>Also, there could be a little blurb about the rats in the photo... something about their personality, quirks, or possibly favourite foods or toys. <br><br>And of course, there will need to be charity suggestions <img src="images/smilies/smiley.gif" alt="" title="Smiley" smilieid="1" class="inlineimg" border="0"><br><br>So... ideas, questions, worries...<br>I would like this to be a community thing! So please share your voice if you have any comments or concerns.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

For now, until it gets edited by a moderator, here is the readable version.

I recently had the idea that we, as a website, could make a rat calendar. We could collect our cutest rat photographs and put them together into a calendar. I know that Goosemoose has a rat calendar, but that doesn't mean that Rat Forum can't have one, too. I'd like for the proceeds from this calendar to be donated to a charity that helps rats, whether that is a general animal shelter or a dedicated rat rescue.

Now, there are a few ways this could work.

1. It's a free calendar. You download the images and print them out. There would be an option to donate via paypal (that would go directly to the chosen charity), but it's technically free.

-Pros: This is great if you have a color printer. You can choose what you want to pay. It could be any size of donation. If you can't afford to pay, then you don't have to pay at all.
-Cons: If you don't have access to a color printer, it could be very expensive to get it printed at a print shop. 

2. It's available over a website like CafePress, where you order a calendar and it arrives at your door.
-Pros: You can get a pre-printed calendar sent straight to your door! No fuss with printing.
-Cons: May be expensive (The base price of the 12-month calendar is $20. Shipping can be very expensive for global members.). To collect any profit, we would have to sell the calendars for over $20.
-Other: Not sure if the profit can be sent directly to the cause.

3. Why not both? If you want to print and donate (Or not), you can. If you'd rather order a calendar, you could do that.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. 

Now... for the fun part. Photos! There are also options for this.

1. Themed photos! Your rat(s) with something themed for the month you're submitting the photo to. Your rat in an easter basket, next to some holiday decorations, with some flowers...

2. No themes. Any cute photo can be submitted.

Personally, I think that themed photos would be more fun and calendar-ish. However, we all know how hard rats are to wrangle for a photo...  I'd also like to hear opinions on this. To sort the photos, a voting system could be set up (Maybe with Google Forms, to eliminate double-voting and other shenanigans).

Also, there could be a little blurb about the rats in the photo... something about their personality, quirks, or possibly favourite foods or toys. 

And of course, there will need to be charity suggestions 

So... ideas, questions, worries...
I would like this to be a community thing! So please share your voice if you have any comments or concerns.


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## Akarah (Sep 2, 2014)

I'm definitely in! However I can help!


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## Nic (Sep 19, 2014)

I'm up for this! I take lots of ratty photos!


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

This would be awesome! We could do a 365 days a year photo calendar (to include everyone's photos). =P


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

Akarah said:


> I'm definitely in! However I can help!


Great! 

I've made a google form that can help collect responses. If you (referring to everyone) are reading this, I'd really appreciate it if you could go answer the questions. It's only a few questions that won't take long to answer and will help me figure out what needs to be done next.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

Phantom said:


> This would be awesome! We could do a 365 days a year photo calendar (to include everyone's photos). =P


I'm not sure how a photo every day would work, or where 365 rat photos could possibly come from... but this is a good idea! If you can figure it out, it could work. And, again... why not both?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

We could do a different sort of calendar. We could do those small tear away ones that are quotes and pictures. We'd still need 365 cute photos and 365 quotes...


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

nanashi7 said:


> We could do a different sort of calendar. We could do those small tear away ones that are quotes and pictures. We'd still need 365 cute photos and 365 quotes...


The issue with this is that with online 'create your own product' sites, there is no option for a 365-page tearaway calendar, except for the ones where you have to buy in bulk (and by bulk, I mean over 300). If you were to print your own... well, first you would have to print 365 pages, and then it wouldn't be tearaway.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

Someone who answered the google form (The first person! Thank you!) submitted the idea that some (random days) have a small rat picture on them. I really like this idea because it means we can include more people's rat pictures. I just need to find out if it's possible with CafePress


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

Dinoclor said:


> Someone who answered the google form (The first person! Thank you!) submitted the idea that some (random days) have a small rat picture on them. I really like this idea because it means we can include more people's rat pictures. I just need to find out if it's possible with CafePress


I went to find out: it isn't. It also, unfortunately, isn't an option on competitors' sites. I really liked this idea, though: maybe the front cover can be a mosaic of different submitted rat pictures instead of one big picture, and the monthly pictures can be the top voted?


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

*Photo submissions are OPEN!

Submit them HERE

*This is open to monthly themed, seasonally themed, and non-themed photos. Monthly and seasonally themed photos will have a priority over nonthemed. For example, there is a highly voted December photo. This will go before a highly voted Winter photo (which can win the spot for November, January or Feburary), which will beat out a highly-voted non-themed photo (which can get basically any of the 12 months as long as there are no highly voted seasonal or monthly photos.)

But what if you don't have a themed photo?

That's OK!

The front cover of the calendar will be a mosaic of the photos that didn't get to be a photo for a month. So, your rat could still be on the calendar... and you still have a decent chance of winning a month that there isn't a holiday in.

Good luck, and have fun rat wrangling!

Edit: I would also like to suggest the Small Animal Rescue Society (SARS) of BC as a charity. 

This is their website:
http://smallanimalrescue.org/

And this is their page explaining what donations can pay for:
http://smallanimalrescue.org/donate/

​


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## Perocore (Jan 6, 2014)

Awesome idea!

And now is the perfect time of year to try for some lovely fall pictures! Time to use Isaac's photogenic nature for a good cause, haha.


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## madsnake (Aug 24, 2014)

Dinoclor said:


> Someone who answered the google form (The first person! Thank you!) submitted the idea that some (random days) have a small rat picture on them. I really like this idea because it means we can include more people's rat pictures. I just need to find out if it's possible with CafePress


 We could do a collage of photos that are themed for the month so we can include more photos D


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

madsnake said:


> We could do a collage of photos that are themed for the month so we can include more photos D


Probably all of the photos that did not make a month will be on the collage on the front cover of the calendar, so they will still be included. And I think months look better with one photo. But thanks for the idea


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## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

Well I like the tear away one still as you can get probably 4 photos/days per 8.5x11 sheet of paper but that is still alot of paper...anyway I sent in 2.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

Zabora said:


> Well I like the tear away one still as you can get probably 4 photos/days per 8.5x11 sheet of paper but that is still alot of paper...anyway I sent in 2.


Thanks for the submission 


If anyone plans to take a photo... take it soon! And send it in! I check the form every day


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Great idea, but please make it known that this is not at all a part of The Rat Forum. The admins and mods have enough to worry about as it is and we cannot oversee this, meaning that it cannot be under our name.

Thanks for understanding!


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

cagedbirdsinging said:


> Great idea, but please make it known that this is not at all a part of The Rat Forum. The admins and mods have enough to worry about as it is and we cannot oversee this, meaning that it cannot be under our name.
> 
> Thanks for understanding!


Okay! That's very reasonable. I will remove anything referring to the Rat Forum in my forms, except for where it asks for the username (I need to know who submitted what). Now we need a new calendar name. xD

PSA: This is _organized_ in Rat Forum, but the calendar itself is not connected to Rat Forum at all.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

Photo submissions are still open! So if you have a photo you want to send in... send it! 
They will only close when there is a variety of photos!


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## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

I was thinking you could use photo shop to kind of make holiday themes. Ya know put jack-o-lanterns and little witch hats on the rats for October...Just an idea.


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## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

This was done on paint and i am no expert but I thought it would give you an idea.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

Zabora said:


> This was done on paint and i am no expert but I thought it would give you an idea.


If other people want to photoshop their rat pictures and submit them, they can. But I'm also not an expert and I think that any changes I made would be ugly and unwelcome


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## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

Dinoclor said:


> If other people want to photoshop their rat pictures and submit them, they can. But I'm also not an expert and I think that any changes I made would be ugly and unwelcome


 lol yep same here...I will ask my roommate she is good with da photoshop...


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

'kay, so this is basically a bump. There are a lot more people who said they would submit than people who have submitted  So, if you said you would take a picture... it would be great if you could take it at your next opportunity! Thanks.


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