How come ao3 allows donations for itself, but not for anything else e.g stuff about Palestine?
because even as a non-profit organization, ao3 still needs money in order for it to function. a non-profit organization does need money in order for it to run and operate.
being a non-profit organization does not mean "we don't need money to run it yay". it does not mean "we pay everything out of our own pockets, so we don't need any donation" — that's not how it works.
as for palestine, the site doesn't "forbid things that are related to palestine only". it forbids "anything and everything that 1. is not fanwork 2. involves money" — which happens to include palestine-related stuff.
ao3 is a site for fanfiction (and original works, which according to them, counts as fanworks). the only things ao3 allows are fanfiction and original works — aka FANWORKS ONLY. NOTHING ELSE.
palestine-related posts are not fanworks, therefore they are not allowed.
political statement is not fanwork, therefore it is not allowed.
anything that is not fanwork (fanfiction or original work) is not allowed.
as for your question about donation — a non-profit organization can (and they do) ask for donation, because a non-profit organization cannot function without the donation money keeping it going.
"so why don't they allow users to earn money through their site too? why don't they allow users to raise money for palestine too?"
be it the money you earn and keep for yourself or donation money meant for other organizations, to a non-profit organization like ao3, that is the same thing. it's still "users earning money through their site" or "users using their site to promote ways for other organizations (someone else) to earn money". intention or who gets the money doesn't actually matter here. anybody or any other organizations earning money through ao3 is NOT allowed.
"people donating to ao3 to keep the site going" and "fanfic writers monetizing works about other people's copyrighted characters" are NOT the same thing.
"people donating to ao3 to keep the site going" and "fanfic writers using ao3 to promote ways for other organizations to earn money" are NOT the same thing.
but "fanfic writers monetizing works about other people's copyrighted character" and "fanfic writers using ao3 to promote ways for other organizations to earn money" ARE the same thing.
"people donating to ao3 to keep the site going" is allowed because... without the donation money, ao3 would not have existed in the first place, it would not have existed today, it would not have been able to continue functioning.
"fanfic writers monetizing works about other people's copyrighted character" and/or "fanfic writers using ao3 to promote way for other organizations to earn money" are NOT allowed because fanfiction is already in a legally grey area. the only reason ao3 and fanfic writers are not being sued by companies like disney or netflix is because "no one is monetizing fanfiction, and ao3 is not used as a tool for users — or any other organizations — to earn money in any way, shape or form".
that's the only reason ao3 isn't being forced to shut down by companies like disney or netflix, the only reasons it's not being bombarded by lawsuits. "no money is involved because the characters belong to their respective studios". fanfic writers just have fun with them. but they are NOT being monetized. NOTHING that is posted on the site can be used to earn anybody — be it the writers or any other organizations — any money.
so no "please donate to xyz". no "commission is open". no "here's my patreon".
be it directly or indirectly, if it involves money, it's against ao3's terms of service.
"but what about original works? they are the writers' original characters. can we monetize our own original works on ao3 or can we promote ways for people to donate to xyz under our original works on ao3?"
no, you still cannot mention or even imply donation or commission on ao3, even if it's your own original works. why? because ao3 doesn't differentiate original works from fanfiction — since it's impossible for them to do that. now I know it's super easy to distinguish between fanfics and original works. but the real issue is that ao3 is KNOWN AS A SITE FOR FANFICTION. it allows original works, yes. but its main purpose is still fanfiction. it hosts millions of fanfiction about other people's copyrighted characters. so basically the entire site is "fanfiction site" — therefore, for legal reasons, anything that involves money cannot be allowed.
the measure ao3 takes to ensure nobody can sue them and force them to shut down is to forbid any mention or implication of money on their platform. it's like them telling companies like disney and netflix "hey, I'm cool here. no one monetizes anything on our site / our site isn't being used as a tool for anybody or organization to earn money." which is the main reason it's not being sued left and right by these companies.
their rules are very simple:
they're a non-profit organization. they're run by people's donation.
they do not allow any monetization or any mention/implication of money on their site, this is how they avoid lawsuits.
anything that isn't fanwork is not allowed on their site, as their site was made only for fanworks.
respectfully, ao3 is NOT a social media platform. it is an archive meant to host fanworks.
if you want to talk about palestine or any other issues that are important to you, you can absolutely do that on your own social media platforms. but a fanfiction site is NOT a place for social justice, human rights or real-world issues.
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