Support the Forum

[BrianM]

This forum costs me a considerable amount of money.

I am faced with various options:
1. Cover all the expenses on my own.
2. Receive contributions from forum members.
3. Place Google Ads on the site to generate ad revenue.
4. Charge for forum membership.
5. Shut down the forum.

I'd rather not do option 1, 4, or 5.

I'd appreciate it if you all would contribute to the costs of keeping it running, ad free.

You can contribute any amount via this page: http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/support/

Or I can place Google Ads throughout the forum, in hopes of generating revenue through those ads. If I don't start receiving a sufficient amount of contributions soon, and on a regular basis (to cover the associated server/hosting/domain costs to keep the forum running) I'll take that as a sign that I need to start putting Google Ads on the site... or figure something else out.

Thanks.

Feel free to comment below with your thoughts...

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UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who contributed to support the forum in 2010... it covered those expenses for the 2nd half of 2010.

For now, I've decided (as you've probably seen) to try out advertisements as another method of supporting the site... If users can tolerate the ads, and if the ads do their job, it will probably turn out to be a good option (and won't cost you anything - though you can still contribute via the link at the bottom).

[shadowcaptain of 1,000]

What's a good amount to donate? I have no idea what it costs to run a site like this.

[BrianM]

What's a good amount to donate? I have no idea what it costs to run a site like this.

Actual hosting costs are almost $50/month...

[Henmashercaptain of 1,000]

I would rather see a fee than have ads all over the place.
Maybe throw some options together. It may sift the problem causers. But if so I will front the fees for Col. and Mark
I definitely receive enough inspiration from this place to pay!
Maybe you could convince the brethren to sponsor

[mattctrcaptain of 100]

You might also consider a few well-targeted web ads from relevant vendors, as opposed to Google ads. When I find a new income source (unemployed as of last week), I'll try to pitch in again. In the meantime, do whatever you feel inspired to do.

One idea, make this thread a sticky thread on the "View active topics" list, if you can.

[e-eyecaptain of 100]

Sounds like we need a bailout to me. I am sure the government would be happy to help out

I would suggest a tax for every post that way people would think twice before posting first. Although a tax may force Wiik off this forum

[BrianM]

I would suggest a tax for every post that way people would think twice before posting first. Although a tax may force Wiik off this forum

LOL

Based on the current amount of posts on the forum (131,369), if I had been charging 2 cents per post that would about cover the expenses.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

the annual membership fee wouldn't be much and it would cover all of the costs. 120 posters @ $5 a year would cover it. Spend twice that just buying lunch on one afternoon.

[jnjnelsoncaptain of 100]

Feel free to comment below with your thoughts...

How about if all those who would be willing to pay a fee simply donate? I think if 40% of the people who actively participate and/or enjoy reading the posts on this forum donate $5 every now and then, it would more than pay for itself. I think since this is a "freedom forum", those who participate, and are financially able, should be honored to freely donate to support the forum.

I work for a non-profit organization, and, though only about 40% of the people who are asked to donate actually donate, we raise billions of dollars for children's hospitals, most of which is raised $1 at a time.

[NoGreaterLovecaptain of 1,000]

Brian

Do you have the ability to monitor IP addresses? If so, I would suggest allowing X amount of free posts per IP address. Then once that limit is reached, require a yearly fee. This would still attract new folks to the forum and allow us who are dedicated members the opportunity to help you with the fee and continue this great forum. You are only talking about 700 per year. I think you would be able to recoup about 30% of that right of the bat if you charged $10 per year. It is worth it to me. The forum is getting great google search hits and it is one of the most popular forums of it kind. You have a steady stream of faithful followers.

[loveoneanothercaptain of 50]

I am in! What ever it takes!

[BrianM]

I think if 40% of the people who actively participate and/or enjoy reading the posts on this forum donate $5 every now and then

Yes, that is the ideal solution. I really want to avoid membership fees because that automatically limits who's going to join and participate on the forum.

Do you have the ability to monitor IP addresses? If so, I would suggest allowing X amount of free posts per IP address. Then once that limit is reached, require a yearly fee

The forum does keep track of users IP addresses... but not in a way that make it easy to do what you are suggesting. It's also more of a passive system, not something to be actively monitored. It mainly serves of being able to block the IP address of any user that gets themselves banned... and to be able to see if multiple users are logging in from the same IP address.


Thank you... to those who have already contributed. Already raised enough to cover 2 months.

[LDSNZcaptain of 100]

Kiaora Brian,

Have you considered transferring to a less expensive web host?

[BrianM]

Thank you very much to all who have contributed to support the forum. I've put that money towards advanced payments on the hosting costs.

Kiaora Brian,
Have you considered transferring to a less expensive web host?

Yes, I've considered it... (and have done so) but the typical $5 to $10 shared hosting, while it was sufficient during the first few years of the forum, is not sufficient for the demands of the forum today at it's current activity level... In fact, last year I was paying $100/month for a dedicated server with another hosting company. That was more than necessary so I did some research and decided to make the switch to MediaTemple's Grid-Service hosting (which I am pleased with) which at first was $20/month and was sufficient... after a while the demands of the of forum required some extra MySQL processing power (MySQL is the type of database all of the forum data is stored on), which bumped the cost up to $40/month... And then there are other expenses like domain name renewals.

[Original_Intentcaptain of 1,000]

I would suggest a tax for every post that way people would think twice before posting first. Although a tax may force Wiik off this forum

LOL

Based on the current amount of posts on the forum (131,369), if I had been charging 2 cents per post that would about cover the expenses.

NICE! It would really give meaning to "That's my two cents worth".

[LDSNZcaptain of 100]

Yes, I've considered it... (and have done so) but the typical $5 to $10 shared hosting, while it was sufficient during the first few years of the forum, is not sufficient for the demands of the forum today at it's current activity level... In fact, last year I was paying $100/month for a dedicated server with another hosting company. That was more than necessary so I did some research and decided to make the switch to MediaTemple's Grid-Service hosting (which I am pleased with) which at first was $20/month and was sufficient... after a while the demands of the of forum required some extra MySQL processing power (MySQL is the type of database all of the forum data is stored on), which bumped the cost up to $40/month... And then there are other expenses like domain name renewals.

OK.

the annual membership fee wouldn't be much and it would cover all of the costs. 120 posters @ $5 a year would cover it. Spend twice that just buying lunch on one afternoon.

Sounz good to me!

[BrianM]

Thank you to everyone who contributed to support the forum in 2010... it covered those expenses for the 2nd half of 2010.

For now, I've decided (as you've probably seen) to try out advertisements as another method of supporting the site... If users can tolerate the ads, and if the ads do their job, it will probably turn out to be a good option (and won't cost you anything - though you can still contribute via the link at the bottom).

[BrianM]

Haven't had hardly any forum donations this year (thank you to those who have contributed)... The google ads to help but your contributions are still appreciated and helpful: support/

Thanks.

[iamse7encaptain of 1,000]

Thanks for the reminder Brian. Things are a bit tight this month, but I have a few dollars to spare, with a few more to spare in the coming months.

[coachmarcMy own worst enemy]

I'm glad I found this site! I'll pitch in this weekend!

[BrianM]

Thanks for the contributions... Every little bit helps.

[Ben McClintockcaptain of 100]

Other forum's (that shall remain nameless) charge a lot every year just to comment. So this site, that allows us our "agency" to choose to help or not, is a huge benefit not only for it's content, but for the proving it gives us to put our resources where our mouth is

Will we live by the principles we espouse of voluntarily giving, or are the statists right and if any "good" is to be done, it will have to be through the force of government?

[BrianM]

I appreciate all those that have contributed last year and those who will contribute to assisting with the costs of maintaining the LDS Freedom Forum this year as well... Every little bit helps.