Fan Funds
Another consequence of pre-television, pre-Internet,
print-oriented fandom was the fan fund, a travel fund instituted so that a
well-known fan – when fans could be well-known outside their fandom, or their
region – could see and be seen by fans who knew his or her fanwriting,
fanzines, or convention work. This made a lot of sense, when most fans read the
same things (including the same fanzines), and shared the same activities – and
especially, when intercontinental travel was usually out of the reach of
average fans. The first such travel fund was set up so that the well-known Walt
Willis, of fabulous Irish fandom, could visit fanzine fans in North America.
Since that time, several fan funds have been operating over
transcontinental and intercontinental distances (viz.):
CUFF (the Canadian Unity Fan Fund): the “Canadian
Unity Fan Fund provides for an Eastern Canadian or a Western Canadian science
fiction enthusiast to attend CanVention. CanVention is the annual convention of
the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. Traditionally, the
location of CanVention alternates between Eastern and Western Canada. The CUFF
delegate is chosen from nominees residing in the opposite region of Canada.
“CUFF was established in 1981 to help bridge the distance between science
fiction enthusiasts from Eastern and Western Canada. Due to organizational and
geographical barriers, the eastern and western regions of the country operated
in relative isolation from each other. By bringing science fiction fans from
opposite sides of Canada together, an opportunity is provided to learn from the
experiences of different fan bases and regions. Finances are raised through a
series of fund raising efforts, as well as donations from prominent science
fiction individuals and organizations.” (from the CUFF Facebook page)
CUFF has had a rocky history, about as rocky as the very early Aurora
Awards. Until a few months before the 2018 Canvention, in fact, some people
wondered if this travel fund was moribund. But the supporters distributed
flyers at VCON 42, so once again, supporters are resuscitating the enterprise.
DUFF (the Down Under Fan Fund) DUFF, founded in 1972 and supported by donations from SF fans all over the world, sends a delegate from Australia/New Zealand to North America, and vice versa, in alternating years. The successful nominee, after voting has taken place will then become the DUFF delegate. Delegates are chosen as active members of the SF community whom fans on the other side of the Pacific would like to meet. The delegate travels as much as possible, makes friends, radiates goodwill, and becomes the administrator until replaced by the next delegate. There is an expectation (not always fulfilled!) that delegates will write a trip report during or after their trip. Delegates’ trip reports are sold to support the Fund. The current administrators of the fund are Paul Weimer in North America and Clare McDonald-Sims in Australia. Five nominators (3 Australian/New Zealand nominators and 2 North American nominators) are required for each nominee. A written platform of about 100 words should be submitted by the nominee providing some information about themselves in a fannish context. Nominees are also asked to provide a bond of at least 25 Australian or New Zealand dollars. DUFF voting is done by secret ballot, and is determined using the instant runoff method. https://downunderfanfund.wordpress.com/
GUFF (the Get Under/Get-Up-and-Over Fan Fund) “GUFF was created as The Get Up-and-over Fan
Fund in 1978, to complete the triangle whose existing sides were TAFF (the TransAtlantic Fan Fund,
which sends sf fans between Europe and North America) and DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund, running between
North America and Australia). Of necessity, the name changes to Going Under Fan
Fund for southbound trips. (See
ballot for more.) This page is maintained, irregularly, by David Langford.” https://taff.org.uk/guff.html
SEFF
(Scandinavian-European Fan Fund) “was an organization that was founded in
1984 to provide financial contributions
to Nordic SF fans to go abroad. Originally, the
fund was supposed to be called SUFF (Scandinavia-UK Fan Fund). 1984 won David Nessle, 1985 won Jim Barker ,
1986 won Maths Claesson and 1987 won Anders Bellis . The controversies after the
1987 election round became the end of SEFF.” (Trans. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEFF )
TAFF (the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) “The
Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds
to bring well-known and popular [science fiction] fans familiar to those on
both sides of the ocean across the Atlantic. Since that time TAFF has regularly
brought North American fans to European conventions and European fans to North
American conventions. TAFF exists solely through the support of fandom. The
candidates are voted on by interested fans all over the world, and each vote is
accompanied by a donation [...] These votes, and the continued generosity of
fandom, are what make TAFF possible.” (TAFF ballot form; https://taff.org.uk/)
There have been some joke funds, of course, such as the
Mid-Atlantic Fan Fund, a hypothetical fund to send some infamous fans halfway across the Atlantic. I once
mooted the CisLunar Fan Fund, with the purpose of sending Certain People
halfway to the Moon.
There is a “FanFundAdmin” email group: [email protected].