2016 is almost over: We've made it to December.

When I sent out the October newsletter, I was extremely hopeful we'd be incorporated. October turned out to be a pretty challenging month in terms of my personal life, and then the first half of November hit me pretty hard (as I imagine it did for many of you). I recognize that there are many folks, especially people of color, who have been suffering longer and struggling much harder than I have. I'm trying to use the privilege that I have in some areas (as a white, educated, relatively well-off person) to help other people, while spending time within less-privileged communities I'm a part of (as a non-binary/trans, queer person with a chronic illness) to take care of myself.

Happy October, Foundation followers!

Our story so far: After realizing that I wanted to raise money for sex-positive projects, I've been trying to build the Foundation of the Effing Foundation for over two years. I've hammered on budgets, wrangled strategic plans, recruited board members, and picked apart bylaws. I didn't want to commit to incorporation until we had as many ducks in a row as we possibly could. Now, finally, October will be the month in which we become a Real* Not-for-Profit Corporation.

Salutations, super sex-positive supporters!

I'm sure some of you are wondering, like me: How did it get to be September already?

August was a bit of a mixed bag: Slow on the Foundation-building front, but full of cool people and events. We've been waiting on feedback from our tax lawyer on the Effing Foundation bylaws and articles of organization, so we're almost ready to incorporate.

Speaking of cool people, I got to spend time with the fabulous Kate McCombs, MPH, the sexuality educator who founded Sex Geekdom!

August, ahoy!

This past month has been a whirlwind of trips for me. It's been great to see old friends and meet new ones! (Speaking of which: Welcome, new subscribers!)

The highlight of my month was presenting "Hacking Sex: Toys, Tools, and Tips for Empowerment and Pleasure" at HOPE XI in NYC. I covered a broad range of topics, from broadening our definition of what "counts" as sex to crowdfunded sex toys, the sex toy patent troll, 3D printing, and working with silicone. You can watch my talk, skim the slides, and find lots of resources at http://toymakerproject.com/hope-xi/ .

Whew, it's July already.

Foundation building continues: I've got a complete first draft of our Bylaws ready to go out to the Board and our tax lawyer. I'm also reviewing feedback from the Board on our budget and fundraising plan. Plus, we have a couple of events coming up for folks on the East Coast:

Happy June, everyone!

Foundation building for the Effing Foundation proceeds apace: Bylaws! Articles of Incorporation! Fundraising planning! (Adding exclamation points makes things more exciting, right?!)

Our board of directors and our nonprofit tax attorney Jon have given their votes of confidence to our updated mission and strategic plan. This means it's much more likely the IRS will classify us as a 501(c)(3) organization, the magic nonprofit designation that means our donations would be tax-deductible. Here's our updated pitch, in a nutshell:

A Merry May to you, my marvellous mates!

After the umpteenth time going into therapy and saying how the Effing Foundation is going soooooooo sloooooooowly, my therapist gently pointed out, "Every building needs a foundation. That's what you're doing: building a foundation."

Suddenly, I felt a lot better. Building the foundation of a building isn't glamorous, it takes time, and once the building is completed most people won't notice it. But your building won't last very long without a solid foundation.

Happy April to you all!

This past month, progress has continued to feel slow --nothing like Tax Season and a severe cold to put a damper on things -- but I've been steadily working on our new Terms of Service and updating the master to-do list for launching our grantmaking program.

Ahoy, sex-positive supporters!

I've spent the past month reworking our mission statement and strategic plan to be more IRS-friendly, and I've started discussing those updates with our Board. It's not finalized yet, but here's the current draft:

A fabulous February to you, Foundation followers!

I hope your 2016 is off to a good start. My research into payment processing led me to questions about nonprofit tax law that Google and my own reading of Internal Revenue Service documents couldn't answer, so I ran our strategic plan by a nonprofit tax lawyer.