by stu » Sun 21 Aug 2005, 19:23:19
I'm not sure if any of you are aware but in the Board Kiosk forum is a thread related to the financial situation of the site. Aaron has recently provided us with an oversight of the situation and here's how it goes.
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We are trying hard to meet our growing traffic requirements, but it's an uphill battle.
Donations have been anemic, and advert revenues are not meeting our hard costs. I do web design & hosting solutions for business, and donate all my hosting fees, but it's not allot. Dan pretty much pays the difference out of pocket, which is painful of course.
Worst of all, we are hitting a CPU boundary, and need to upgrade again. And we have dual processor box now! Next upgrade basically doubles our hard costs...
ouch!
I'd sell some blood, but they don't do that anymore.
We could further commercialize the site, but want to avoid that.
In truth, we would prefer to have NO advertising at all... or a bare minimum.
You would think that 3 or 4 thousand folks could pony up $400 per month between em, to keep things rolling... but it ain't so.
And we feel funny about begging for $'s
I even feel funny explaining this in here... like pointing out the obvious ya know?
I suppose many people see the site, & assume it's connected to some business or other interest... when nothing could be further from the truth.
So I do post threads like this one on ocassion... because some things are more important than my pride.
Bottom line - We are still short of our hosting fees this month, and nowhere near what we would need for a sustained upgrade.
Ain't savin the world a bitch?
Here's how I see things.
This website is the primary source of information for me on an issue that is going to affect the human race in the next couple of decades and beyond. If I want to see what is happening in the world of energy I will come to this site first. If I want to know how to live off the grid then this site is my first port of call. If I want to debate with people as to how we got into this mess then I come to this site.
You get the picture.
Basically this website should end up being the primary source of information for people who want to learn and debate about PO and it's impacts. You can learn the basics from another site like Savinars or Wolf at the door but eventually the need for information will lead you here.
As most of us are aware this website is a non-profit site that wants to primarily not have to rely on advertising to meet it's funding needs. Therefore the need falls on us to help provide the funds for it's existence and continued growth.
This is where you come in.
As Aaron mentions above there are more than 3000 members on this site. A certain portion of those don't post reguarly but if a certain amount donated $10 or even $5 a month to the site then funding would not be a problem.
I've decided from this month onwards to donate $10 a month to this site and even more if I can in order to help it expand and run. If another 39 people done the same then we could easily pay for the upgrade and keep things running. Also with a weak dollar it means I'm paying less than others.
The way I see it is that if TSHTF in the next decade then no amount of individual preparation will get us through. It requires a huge team effort to get us through the changes that need to be made. That applies to Pollyannas and doomers alike.
So in the spirit of community and teamwork I feel I have to invoke the immortal words of Bob Geldof at Live Aid 1985.
"Give us your fucking money".
"The age of excess is over. The age of entropy has begun"
Wait another couple of hours and it'll be enough to send Aaron for his well deserved holiday 
