Annual Hosting Fund Drive. -- myArmoury.com

Craig Peters · Posted: Fri 04 Sep, 2015 10:28 pm Post subject:

So far we've collected $2,755.00, but that's just barely enough to cover the annual hosting bill. Let's see what else we can do.

Daniel W. Holayter · Posted: Sat 05 Sep, 2015 12:52 am Post subject: Site Fund Drive

I have lurked so long but have been visiting myArmoury almost daily. My compliments to Nathan and all of you who bring such a wealth of knowledge. Is there any other way to contribute other than paypal? Paypal and I had a falling out several years back and I won't use it again.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Mon 07 Sep, 2015 1:47 pm Post subject:

Just a " BUMP. to keep the Topic on the opening page.

As far as donation total we are doing O.K. as the donation goal has been reached, but remember all the unpaid time Nathan has put into the site for 12 years I would guess that his hourly rate of pay for the site would be less that one cent a day .... Wink

No, I don't have any statistics about what total donations Nathan has gotten over 12 years above the yearly hosting costs totals, but if Nathan was doing all this work for a salary he would be barely have enough to pay for a weekly coffee.

( With out of pocket cash he is probably way underwater in deficit having spent a lot more on the site that has even been raised as revenue from all sources for the site maintenance, and this without counting a single billable hour for all the work needed in designing the site, debugging the site when something goes wrong with the software, adding content, moderating the site, and keeping the site free of spammers ).

All, this is why any extra money raised is well deserved by Nathan and he mostly uses any extra funds to apply to the site anyway.

The number of people donating is sort of lower than in previous years and why I'm not pushing for any large donations but I would want to see more people making a small financial contribution mostly as a concrete way to show appreciation for the thousands of unpaid work Nathan has put into the site over more than a decade: He is obviously only continuing to keep the site up out of love and passion for history and the history of arms and armour, he is certainly not paying the rent or mortgage with the money. Sad

At the moment I type we have 33 individual donations and in previous years the total was closer to 75 to 100 people making a donation.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Thu 10 Sep, 2015 10:42 am Post subject:

The usual every few days " BUMP ".

A few more donations trickling in and I've pretty much exhausted the arguments about why to donate that boil down to showing appreciation for the existence of the site and to encourage the continuing existence of the site.

For more reasons why to contribute I guess one could read all of the previous posts above, not all by me, if one hasn't done so already. Wink

We are not too far from having a nice round number like $3,000 and I'm counting on sone OCD people disliking odd numbers and contributing to achieve a nice round number. Razz

( Joking, but if it brings in more donations my " EVIL " methods will have worked ).

Leo Todeschini · Industry Professional

Come on people - 33 donations? That number should be massively higher. There are so many of you out there who come here everyday.

If you give only $10, that is a whopping 3c a day

Every last one of us can afford to give something.

Tod

Roger Hooper · Posted: Thu 10 Sep, 2015 4:11 pm Post subject:

If it hadn't been for Mr Anonymous contributing $1000.00, this drive would be woefully short of the goal. Come on, folks, this doesn't mean you shouldn't pitch something in. One of these days, this site will go away. I'd prefer it is later rather than sooner.

I don't contribute much to the dialogue here, but I do visit every day, and greatly value myArmoury.

Daniel Sullivan · Posted: Fri 11 Sep, 2015 7:44 pm Post subject: Annual Hosting Fund Drive

Good grief!! Have you non contributors taken leave of your senses? Been dabbling in this area for over fifty years, and do think this Site is by far the best thing that has happened to arms and armor afectionados.

Granted the economy is bad, but most assuredly we can do better than averaging less than a penny per member!

Dan

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Sat 12 Sep, 2015 10:50 am Post subject:

Mikko Kuusirati · Posted: Sat 12 Sep, 2015 1:42 pm Post subject:

Craig Peters · Posted: Sat 12 Sep, 2015 7:59 pm Post subject:

I agree that the participation has not been as good as it might be. However, besides being frustrated with people who are not donating, we might consider what more we can do to get the message out.

As far as I know, this is the only thread or post about the subject in all of myArmoury. Anyone who is not interested in reading the Off-Topic forum may not even see it. Equally important, the more visible a campaign is, the more likely people are to donate. If Nathan were to put a link up in the "Latest Additions" on the myArmoury landing page, I guarantee more people will donate.

I know, Nathan, that you have expressed that you don't like asking for money. I would invite you to explore this more deeply. Consider investigating for yourself: "What makes me feel so uncomfortable about asking for money?" You might also consider: "What does it mean about me as a person if I ask for money? What precisely is it that makes me feel not okay asking for money?"

There has to be something going on if you don't feel comfortable asking. Investigating further might help you to see what it is that blocks you from making a request.

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

I've intended to post more in this topic, run a giveaway, and do other things... but the last several weeks have had some things needing my attention. There's been a death of a loved one and I've not been myself. Discussing that here is not something I'm wishing to do, though.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Wed 16 Sep, 2015 5:54 pm Post subject:

Nathan my condolences about the loss of a loved one.

Giving the Topic it's periodic " BUMP .

We seem to be stalled at $2805 for a good long time, and I'm hoping that another " BUMP " will wake some people up.

I myself look at many different sites daily and I haven't felt the need to contribute any moneys there because I mostly just read entries or watch Youtube videos on those sites and I don't participate actively in posting comments.

Realistically speaking supporting every site one visits financially would end up making a person sort of poor !

My point being that those that lurk on this site and just read/view the content may not feel compelled to contribute financially, but those who visit the site daily, participate in discussions, take advantage of " The Marketplace Forum ", makers who get their work viewed, discussed and appreciated by knowledgeable people who may end up buying their work, " ALL " have an interest in keeping this site healthy and present for years to come: The desire to donate should be roughly proportional to the benefits received and the level of engagement with the site.

Again at this point I'm not pushing for any large donations, but I am trying to get more people to participate in keeping this great site going. ( Skipping a couple of expensive cappuccinos would be enough to give $10 Wink

)

So, at this point we have 35 individual donations compared to previous averages of 75 to 100 in previous years.
: No guilt tripping here, just facts.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Thu 17 Sep, 2015 7:43 pm Post subject:

Not so much another " BUMP ", as a thank you to a few people who have gotten the donations moving again above the $2805 mark. Big Grin

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Fri 18 Sep, 2015 11:14 am Post subject:

Like many here money has been very tight lately, but this site has meant a lot to me for many years, so I'm glad that I was able to afford a small contribution. As Jean has pointed out this years drive has had far fewer contributers than in previous years, and I suspect that the lack of a giveaway had a part to play in this.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Sat 19 Sep, 2015 3:09 pm Post subject:

Roger Hooper · Posted: Tue 22 Sep, 2015 10:29 pm Post subject:

I got tired of seeing it stuck at $2,975.00, so I bumped it to an even $3000.00.

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

Thank you again, everybody.

Much of the last 18 months has been complete garbage. Your support with this site really helps, financially... that's important but obvious. What's less obvious is the encouragement that it provides that I've done something worthwhile that still means something to some folks out there. I have that "builder personality" and so it's nice to know that I've made something that people care about.

Cheers to you all.