FAQ

Yes, Random Acts, a division of The Art Department, Inc., is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. Our EIN, also referred to as a tax ID number, is 04-3276521.

On December 3, 2009, Misha Collins, who currently portrays the angel Castiel on Supernatural, used Twitter to ask his followers (affectionately termed “minions”) to come up with ideas for a “minionstimulus” project. The goal was to obtain U.S. government stimulus money (funding to aid endeavors to stop an economic recession) for non-profit “minion” initiatives.

The pursuit of government funding was soon abandoned in favor of morphing into a privately organized charity group, formerly known as MinionStimulus. After visiting our fledgling website, Misha appointed Lisa Walker his Director of Charitable Affairs and provided her with some initial direction. Together, Misha and Lisa began marshaling the forces of good at their disposal.

Since that auspicious beginning, our organization has gone through several changes, including our name. We’ve come a long way and now have non-profit status through our parent organization, The Art Department, Inc. With Misha and Lisa’s direction and leadership, and the daily attention of an extraordinary administrative team, we have an organization poised to conquer the world, one random act of kindness at a time.

There are quite a few people involved in making this organization run smoothly. As Misha’s appointed Director, Cinde heads up the Administrative Team.

Working tirelessly behind-the-scenes are our wonderful volunteer staff. The forum moderators, also known as “The Modsquad,” keep our forums fun, safe and interesting for all of our members. Playing a critical role are the Regional Representatives who organize the random acts at the community level all around the world.

With five continents falling quickly under Misha’s initial domination plans, rest assured that Random Acts is truly a global organization. Though many of the active members of this group are American, we are dedicated to committing random acts of kindness all over the world.

Regional representatives accept nominations for random acts in every country within their regions. Each nomination will be given equal consideration regardless of location. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail the administrative team.

Get involved! You can do that in several ways.

1. Register on the forum. This is where you can meet and interact with other members of the Random Acts community.
2. Brainstorm. Combine your brainpower with that of other members of the Random Acts community on our forum and think up new ways to be randomly kind.
3. Act up. Have the perfect random act in mind? Submit your proposal to your regional representative and join us in conquering the world!
4. Help others. Don’t have time to commit to your own project? Volunteer in your local community at an organization that needs your help now. Walk dogs waiting to be adopted at your local animal shelter. Weed your elderly neighbor’s garden. Spend a weekend sorting clothes at your local family services store.
5. Donate. No time for any activities at all? Put your money to work for you. Send your donations to a worthy cause. Random Acts can always put donations to great use but there are other great causes out there as well. Find something that you love and support it.
6. Raise funds. Help fund our mission to conquer the world one random act of kindness at a time.

Official Random Acts are performed quarterly, and you must submit a project idea through our project proposal form. You can check our calendar for submission dates and deadlines (the calendar is located at the bottom of every page on the website). Information regarding the official act process can be found on the Act Up! page.

You are also welcome to brainstorm your ideas in our forums. If you have a project that you would like to pursue, but it doesn’t fall within the confines of an Official Random Act, contact you Regional Representative. “Unofficial” Acts of kindness can be performed at any time, but we do require that supporters ask administration for permission to use any Random Acts material in their projects.

As of the time of writing these FAQs, we have not had a table at any Supernatural convention. However, we do plan to have tables at some future conventions. If Misha is a guest, look for a Random Acts table. Chances are good that we’ll be there. All Random Acts events will be noted on the website calendar. Also, don’t forget to monitor Lisa’s blog for up-to-date information.

We accept online credit card and PayPal payments through our website. We also accept checks and money orders, payable to Random Acts, which can be mailed to us at the following address:

Random Acts
P.O. Box 2039
Denver, NC 28037
U.S.A.

(When mailing checks or money orders, please include a note stating your name and email address. We will issue tax receipts for donations of over $5 USD. No cash, please.)

At this time, Random Acts is not set up to accept non-monetary donations. If you have supplies you would like to donate, we suggest looking to local charities in your area. Many other organizations are set up to accept these donations and can make excellent use of your gifts. If you are unsure where to look, try contacting your Regional Representative; they may be able to suggest a suitable organization.

Tracy, Random Acts’ treasurer, has all the details for our financial transactions and will keep everyone updated on the website. Exchange rates for online donations are calculated automatically based on the rates for that day.

We sell t-shirts and other items in our Random Acts shop on CafePress.

On September 5, 2010, our Cofounder, Misha Collins, ran a one-man marathon for charity. In the weeks preceding the run, supporters were encouraged to donate and pledge (per kilometer) through our site. Misha ran for over 11 hours, covering a distance of 83 kilometers (approximately 52 miles), and raised $84,664.62 from a total of 1,795 donations.

The funds raised were split between Random Acts (52%), flood relief efforts in Pakistan (15% – donated to Mercy Corp), and three orphanages we support in Haiti (33% – to provide supplies to the Faith and Love Orphanage in Jacmel, Espoir des Enfants, and a small, unnamed orphanage in the village of Cyavidier, outside of Jacmel).

Regional Representatives are part of the Random Acts staff, acting as the crucial links to the local communities in each region. They help volunteers develop project proposals, organize and coordinate official Random Acts occurring in their region, and generally look after Random Acts at a local level. You can find out more information about your region on the Region Page – Done Gone Global.

Though on occasion Random Acts may support an existing non-profit organization, such as our donation to Mercy Corp to aid in their flood relief efforts in Pakistan, it is not Random Acts policy to formally partner with any other non-profit organization. However, if you wish to share information about your organization with our supporters you may do so on our forums, in the General Discussion (off-topic) folder.

To meet Misha, you need to buy a ticket to a convention and then buy a ticket for an autograph or picture with him, just like everyone else.

Misha sets our overall direction and works with Lisa on individual issues as needed. His name and celebrity are tied to this charity, but he is a busy, hardworking actor. We’re all here for the same reasons and that’s to help Misha achieve his dream – to achieve worldwide domination through random acts of kindness. No more, no less.