Final Decision on Forum Monetization

b.loree

Administrator
Staff member
Friends: I will not be monetizing our forum, we will go back to voluntary donations as in past years. A couple of reasons for this...I have talked to my accountant and he has advised against it due to possible income tax issues, which I do not need. I only considered this move because donations were not meeting expenses and it seemed that the loyal few who did donate year after year were bearing the load. My hope is that in the future, more members will contribute so I do not have to revisit this again. I would also like to thank Skipper John again for a lengthy PM he sent letting me know what had happened to a couple of clubs he belonged to when this was attempted. We do not need lawyers involved here or governments. So, let us carry on as before and enjoy our hobby. My best to you all.
 
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How much are standard donations for the forum? I imagine its just fees for the domain name?
 
Friends: I will not be monetizing our forum, we will go back to voluntary donations as in past years. A couple of reasons for this...I have talked to my accountant and he has advised against it due to possible income tax issues, which I do not need. I only considered this move because donations were not meeting expenses and it seem that the loyal few who did donate year after year were baring the load. My hope is that in the future, more members will contribute so I do not have to revisit this again. I would also like to thank Skipper John again for a lengthy PM he sent letting me know what had happened to a couple of clubs he belonged to when this was attempted. We do not need lawyers involved here or governments. So, let us carry on as before and enjoy our hobby. My best to you all.
Great.
All we need now is for everybody who anxiously replied to this thread that they would gladly donate to do so.
Get those donations in so we can keep this wonderful forum going.

John
 
How much are standard donations for the forum? I imagine its just fees for the domain name?
No, domain name is about $35 USD if Brian is the same as mine. That's not the expense.

It's the storage which is the platform and images that runs into the many $.

Pet peeve: If people would not upload 5MB + raw cell phone images from their phone, and crop them (easy) to about 500 kb like I do, that would help everyone with storage. Whatever.

Plus as known, Joel who is doing a brilliant job, is the Admin Tech and he is paid for his work. We benefit from his work, and Brian pays for it.

So Neil it's several things that Brian pays for to keep this site open. With no personal gain other than to keep this Forum alive.

Did I mention Brian you need a clear and obvious DONATE button linked to PayPal?
 
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Donate button absolutely a good idea. I will be setting a reminder on my phone to donate again right after Christmas, as I do for another group I belong to. Plus, put a 'sticky' thread in bold type right at the top of the menu explaining the situation to all new members - just so they can't say they didn't know.
 
That’s a good idea. I have seen those on several sites and should be easy to implement near the news and statistics…
I think it should be a quick and easy thing to add to our forum. Our Dutch motorcycle-forum of which I am also a member also runs on Xen-foro, and has a donate button too. Usually I donate each year on Brian's Paypal account, like most other guy's who donate. But a donate button should work better, also for members who do not use Paypal.
 
No, domain name is about $35 USD if Brian is the same as mine. That's not the expense.

It's the storage which is the platform and images that runs into the many $.

Pet peeve: If people would not upload 5MB + raw cell phone images from their phone, and crop them (easy) to about 500 kb like I do, that would help everyone with storage. Whatever.

Plus as known, Joel who is doing a brilliant job, is the Admin Tech and he is paid for his work. We benefit from his work, and Brian pays for it.

So Neil it's several things that Brian pays for to keep this site open. With no personal gain other than to keep this Forum alive.

Did I mention Brian you need a clear and obvious DONATE button linked to PayPal?
Good comment on the photos and something I never thought about. It might be good to have a standard e-mail sent to new members explaining this, talking about donations and why the site needs them and something about "respectful" posting.
 
Brian, I just made a donation using the donate button on the home page so you should get it soon. Thanks for this awesome forum
 
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