Explanation for new patrons on how my Patreon works

Hey,

I have gotten a couple messages from new patrons who were a bit confused on how my Patreon works, so I decided to make a post about it. (There's a TL;DR recap at the end)

Since my Patreon is a "per-Art Pack" project and not a "per-month" project that means that I open pledge windows for a limited period of time and then close them once I make the Rewards post for an Art Pack.

People that are pledged for a Tier when the Rewards post goes live get put automatically by the site on a billing list for the next billing cycle (Which happens on the first of the next calendar month), after the billing cycle has begun and 48/72h have elapsed I get a list of all the approved pledge payments (with matching emails) and then, on the 3rd, I send the rewards.

This means that if you're not pledged when the rewards post goes live I have no way of retroactively adding you to the rewards/billing list for that specific post if you miss it.

It also means that if you pledge for a pack and then unpledge before the Rewards post goes live then you're not put on a billing list and thus you're not charged anything, as my Patreon project only charges people if and only if they're part of a billing list for an Art Pack.

Pledge windows are as follow:

• First pack of the month: From the 1st to the 15th
• Second pack of the month: From the 16th to the last day of the month.

Rewards posts go live the 15th and the last day of the month during the morning.

The rewards/art packs are then mailed the 3rd of the following month in the afternoon and I make a post notifying you once I have sent the rewards. If there was an Extra Pack in that month it's sent alongside the base Art Packs/Rewards that same day, in the same batch of mails, for pledges T1 and above as stated on the Extra Pack posts themselves.

To recap the process here's a streamlined version of what happens during a pledge cycle:

1) 1st day of the current month:

• Pledge window for Pack #1 of the month opens.

2) 15th day of the current month:

• Pledge window for Pack #1 closes.
• Rewards post for Pack #1 goes live. (Creation of rewards/patron list)
• Billing list for Pack #1 is automatically created by the site.

3) 16th day of the current month:

• Pledge window for Pack #2 of the month opens.

4) Last day of the current month:

• Pledge window for Pack #2 closes.
• Rewards post for Pack #2 goes live. (Creation of rewards/patron list)
• Billing list for Pack #2 is automatically created by the site.

5) 1st day of the next month:

• Global billing site of the website begins.
• People pledged for and part of the Billing lists for Pack #1 and #2 get billed.
• This process takes 48-72h on average.

6) 3rd day of the current month:

• Rewards are emailed to patrons.
• Post is made on Patreon to notify patrons that the rewards have been sent.

I hope this clears up how it works, if you have any other additional questions don't hesitate to contact me.