Citizens of the Universe (COTU) is building a real-world launch pad for our professional theatre, touring series, original works, and story IP. 
 
This fundraiser covers the 'unsexy-but-essential' startup costs: 

our website, admin systems, base supplies, and core operations. 

All so we can launch our first major run for our show campaign while making theatre more fun and accessible for everyone! 
 
Normally, I wouldn’t do this here. But public arts funding is getting less reliable and can disappear with the swipe of a pen. We saw this in Florida in 2024, when $32 million in state arts and culture grants were vetoed. In times like these, it’s time to take matters into our own hands. If we want the work to exist, we have to build the engine ourselves. 
 
I’ve put in my own financial support, and I’m asking you to come aboard. 
 
Your donation gets us off the ground: paying the people who help build and maintain the site, run communications, and keep the engine running while we build. 
 
So space cadets, let’s light the fuse and get the rockets moving! 
 
P.S.- 

If you can’t give, sharing this helps more than you think. 
 
Cartee here, and I run Citizens of the Universe (COTU), an arts project built to create original theatre and story worlds (shows, books, comics) with a long-term goal: a touring network that makes bold, weird, heartfelt work sustainable again. 
 
Right now, we’re in the “launch pad” phase. That means building the infrastructure that lets the art actually happen: a working website, basic office/admin setup, and the initial costs that unlock fundraising and production logistics. 

This GoFundMe is intentionally timeboxed. It’s not “fund our dreams forever.” It’s: 

Build the launch pad → show weekly progress → then launch the first show. 
 
What your donation pays for (Launch Pad Budget): 
 
Website + hosting + domain + build tools 

Office/admin setup: basic equipment, supplies, storage, printing 

Production infrastructure: insurance, registration/admin costs, initial deposits &amp; prep 

Communication tools: email platform, project management, file systems 

Marketing basics: initial promo assets (graphics, small print runs) 
 
Transparency promise- 

I’ll post weekly updates with screenshots, photos, and clear “what happened this week / what’s next” so you can see your support turning into visible progress. 
 
If you believe art should feel like a mission, not a gamble — help us build the launch pad. 

Thank you for being part of the crew. 

— James 
 
“How much should I donate?” 

Well, we will take any donations, but if you want here's a quick idea... 
 
$10 — fuels the weekly progress updates (yes, seriously) 

$25 — website/hosting + comms tools 

$50 — office/admin supplies that keep production moving 

$100 — printing + promo foundations 

$250 — meaningful production infrastructure (insurance/admin/deposits) 

$500+ — “Founding Crew” support 
 
All donations get a Citizen Code which goes onto our webpage.

James Dracy

David Tumarkin

Thomas Ollis

Sudhir Jain

Susan Rothman

Michelle Presley

COTU Launch Pad Fund (60 Days to Liftoff) Build Starbase 23!

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just $200$ to go! Make an impact.

COTU Launch Pad Fund (60 Days to Liftoff) Build Starbase 23!

Just $200 to go!
Make an impact.