Forum Suggestions & User Assistance - Donation Renewal

Joe,

Isn't it about time for another round of donations? Maybe you should set up a general schedule for the donations. I see no reason you should have to pay out of your own pocket for this forum. If you could figure out how many people would be willing to donate and then divide that by the cost of the server, we could all donate that every month.

Just an idea.

Joe,

Donations??? What's the scoop on donations. I stumbled back to the BikeForums after I thought you were gone forever. I've heard snippets about donations, members, red stars etc... I have been unable to get the gist of the happenings and have not wanted to show my ignorance by asking (sorry). I would be willing to help. How does one go about making a donation?

Joe,

Oops, I just saw the donations page link, I'll check it out.

I agree. Joe should not have to pay out an extradonary share. If possible, like to not have ads.? SOme commercial websites, can get a bit oppressive. Should take pledges and donate at frequency needed to share costs. We all miss each others cycling advice and appreciate Joe's dedication.

With the current donations, I'm paid up on hosting until March. I still receive a donation or two a month that take care of the majority of hosting costs.

However, that said, im still thinking about getting a forum sponsor to help pay for the forums. I could do wonders with a $200 a month sponsorship. Including sponsoring contests for new members, active members, surveys and advertising on other sites. Donating members would have the option to turn banners on or off, non-donating members would see banners at the top of each thread... Just a thought for now!

Originally posted by HardBall
Joe,

Donations??? What's the scoop on donations. I stumbled back to the BikeForums after I thought you were gone forever. I've heard snippets about donations, members, red stars etc... I have been unable to get the gist of the happenings and have not wanted to show my ignorance by asking (sorry). I would be willing to help. How does one go about making a donation?

Just a quick run down.... My old webhost closed my account, and formatted my server hard drive when I was a few days late on a payment. Setting up a new server is quite expensive, however the month to month payments are not bad. I couldn't pay for the new server, so that's where donations came in. Currently, donating members receive a "red star" next to there username, however I hope to add additional features for donating members in the near future. :)

originally posted by Joe Gardner
im still thinking about getting a forum sponsor
Whatever happened to Performance Bikes from the "old" BikeForums?

Ron

Originally posted by Joe Gardner


However, that said, im still thinking about getting a forum sponsor to help pay for the forums. I could do wonders with a $200 a month sponsorship. Including sponsoring contests for new members, active members, surveys and advertising on other sites. Donating members would have the option to turn banners on or off, non-donating members would see banners at the top of each thread... Just a thought for now!

Sounds like a good idea to me :)

Richard

Originally posted by RonH

Whatever happened to Performance Bikes from the "old" BikeForums?

Ron

The Performance Bikes banner was an affiliate program; I was paid 5% per sale... With under $750 in sales a month, they really didn’t pay the bills, I think if they ran the affiliate program better, with longer cookies and better tracking, I could have done a lot better with them.

I think the forums would be better off with a branding sponsorship, due to the high levels of repeat users, and high page views per visitor. Something on the lines of Topeak, Camelbak, Timbuk2, Aardvark Cycles etc... I think $200 a month would be a steal for these companies. :D