SOFTWARE UPDATE AGAIN and an update from me

[jar546]

It is official. The move will happen this Saturday when we are at our slowest.

 

[fatboy]

Thanks for the hard work and initiative Jeff, payment is on the way.

So........forgive my ignorance, will my bookmark for the forum remain the same, or is it a different site??

 

[jar546]

Bookmarks should not be affected, nothing should be affected except speed of the site and more usability/customization on our end.

 

[pwood]

jeff,

i am happy to donate out of my own pocket like many others. what amount would be suggested?

 

[cda]

What do you think a good monthly donation would be??

I got lost on some of the math

Thanks

 

[jar546]

There is no set amount whatsoever as it is a donation which is completely voluntary. It can be any number between lets say $5. and $5,000,000. No one has to donate and anything whatsoever is appreciated. It can be a one time donation, it can be a monthly donation.

 

[TJacobs]

Subscription down payment on the way...congratulations for starting this site and the success it achieved that now requires user support!

I pay subscriptions for numerous websites and newsletters based on how valuable they are to me. I am proud to say this website falls in that category.

 

[Jobsaver]

jeff, i am happy to donate out of my own pocket like many others. what amount would be suggested?

What do you think a good monthly donation would be??I got lost on some of the math

Thanks

There is no set amount whatsoever as it is a donation which is completely voluntary. It can be any number between lets say $5. and $5,000,000. No one has to donate and anything whatsoever is appreciated. It can be a one time donation, it can be a monthly donation.

For those more comfortable making a donation decision based on what another regular user of this forum might decide, I am considering a $60 annual donation. This is based on my ability to pay, perception of the overall cost, and perception of the number of regular "daily" users. It is my hope that the donations will be sufficient to fully fund the expenses associated with the site, and that the administrative team will keep us posted otherwise, or in the event the site becomes grossly overfunded.

 

[Yankee]

I donated $20 but would not be adversed to putting more in later especially if there were a thermometer goal to see. A lot depends on how many participants there are.

 

[north star]

& & & &

"or in the event the site becomes grossly overfunded."

" ...overfunded"?....I don't think so! FWIW, I think that your guestimate of the $60.00 annual "love offering" is an appropriate

amount.

& & & &

 

[fatboy]

I tossed in $50 for now......(I figured, that's pretty close to what you can spend for a decent lunch out w/drinks)

I'm sure jeff will let us know if he not getting enough funding, when he has to go the advertising avenue.

FWIW, the Ford Truck Enthusiasts site I hit charges $20 a year to be one of their supporters.

 

[jar546]

I can only hope that we are grossly overfunded.

I will reassess the situation in 3 months. At that point, I should have a better idea of the actual costs involved. I am expecting an initial inrush of donations within the first week or two then I expect it to slack off significantly. If it does not look like we are going to hit our target for this year I will send out an alarm unless we are so far behind that it won't be fair to those that have already donated.

If we do have excess, which I doubt, the money will be used for marketing the site. Right now I am concentrating on getting enough to reimburse me first then raise enough to prepay for next year, as you save more money when you prepay for the year with servers. So this first year we will need to raise double what the average year should realistically cost. After year 1 it should be a breeze.

If the site grows large enough, which it should, and we have enough supporting members, a simple $5-$10 annual donation should do it.