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Mark Griffin
Location: The Welsh Marches, in the hills above Newtown, Powys. Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 802
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 Posted: Mon 19 Sep, 2016 2:24 am Post subject: |
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Donation on the way Nathan! Thanks for keeping it going, its much appreciated.
Currently working on projects ranging from Elizabethan pageants to a WW1 Tank, Victorian fairgrounds 1066 events and more. Oh and we joust loads!.. We run over 250 events for English Heritage each year plus many others for Historic Royal Palaces, Historic Scotland, the National Trust and more. If you live in the UK and are interested in working for us just drop us a line with a cv.
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Mon 19 Sep, 2016 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Nathan Robinson wrote: | Thanks Jean and Tod.
Tod, I don't know why, but very few of the Industry Professionals people who have benefited from this site over the last 13 years have really given much back.
I've considered making the group require a quarterly payment to participate, but that would limit the value to the members here and somewhat open the can of worms of bias. |
Re-reading this post made me think of another option where you would just send an e-mail to all the registered Industry Professionals making sure that they know about the current or any future year fund drive: This can be done without requiring a quarterly payment, but it's very possible that many of the industry Professional haven't visited the site recently and are unaware that there is a fund drive and asking for a small yearly voluntary donation would seem reasonable to me.
When one looks at the total view numbers for any Topic one can from the total know that the maximum number of people who have seen the posts is the current total, but the individual people who have seen the Topic can be much fewer since many people will come back to a Topic when they see a new posting.
Things have picked up a bit, and to be positive about it I could say that I contributed some cash because I love and enjoy the site, and that others should consider giving a small donation because they also love the site.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Alan Schiff
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Mon 19 Sep, 2016 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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I'll echo Tod (and others) here and say that more industry professionals should be donating. I checked the donations for the last 3 months and I'm surprised that only a handful of professionals have donated. I wasn't able to give a lot, but every little bit counts, so I urge others in the industry that use this site to please donate, even just $5 or $10 as Jean said.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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| Posted: Mon 19 Sep, 2016 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Jean Thibodeau wrote: | | Re-reading this post made me think of another option where you would just send an e-mail to all the registered Industry Professionals making sure that they know about the current or any future year fund drive: This can be done without requiring a quarterly payment, but it's very possible that many of the industry Professional haven't visited the site recently and are unaware that there is a fund drive and asking for a small yearly voluntary donation would seem reasonable to me. |
I've thought about this, too. I try not to bug people with emails and stuff. I'd like to think of myArmoury.com as being a very anti-bothersome type of website. Maybe I'll do a mailing in the Spring.
.:. Visit my Collection Gallery :: View my Reading List :: View my Wish List :: See Pages I Like :: Find me on Facebook .:.
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David Kelly
Location: Petersburg, Virginia Joined: 18 Apr 2009
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Mon 19 Sep, 2016 7:16 pm Post subject: Thanx for the reminder |
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Did my bit for the cause. Forget too often. Not this year. So you can keep the flame burning and nag me about my bed. 
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Wed 21 Sep, 2016 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks to those who have already made a donation, and another " BUMP ".
Note that on average each year we get something around 75 to 100 people making a donation but this year we are somewhat below that number of people participating, but the fund drive may be only half way in duration so there is still time for the numbers of people making a donation to match previous years.
Remember that a small donation from a lot of people means a wider degree of support for the site by more people and I always think that this is another way to show appreciation and respect for Nathan's work keeping the site going.
There are always a few people who go the extra mile with some donations being in the 3 figures, and these few seem to represent something like 1/3 to 1/2 of the total sum raised.
A few people even come back and make a second or third donation to keep the momentum going .....   ( And yes I do put my money where my mouth is ..... )
A $10 donation for 365 days = 2.73972603 cents per day ..... So, how much is your monthly cell phone bill or your cable bill, or how much one spends on coffee in a month ? Are you getting 2.7 cents of value a day from this site .....
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Sun 25 Sep, 2016 3:24 am Post subject: |
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Time for another " BUMP ", I try to not overdo bump frequency, but the donation drive needs another light push to keep the momentum going.
The amount left to raise to get to the objective is now less than $400 so 20 people giving $20 or 40 people giving $10 would get us over the top.
Now the objective is the minimal amount needed to cover the yearly servor costs meaning that Nathan isn't paying for it out of pocket. So, basically it just means not running on a deficit and it doesn't mean that Nathan is making any personal money from this site, any extra money he usually funnels back into the site by having prizes given randomly to those who have made a contribution and sometimes prizes offerer by just joining a contest with no conditions.
Nathan would probably like to do this more often, but not if he is running a financial deficit and also has no small extra cash available to give back to the membership.
So just to say, if and when we reach the objective it doesn't mean that any extra money raised is not needed or useful.
As I've mentioned before any extra cash is also a reserve in case of unexpected costs related to running the site that might occur.
In past years I think the record amount raised was somewhere around $4000, and by some " coincidence ", Nathan would have these prize offerings more frequently ..... Hard to do as a self employed freelancer when there is a slow month and no money coming in .... or at least hard to know in advance if it's going to be a bad month, a good month or a great month financially.
In other words if Nathan has to chose one month between paying for the servor or paying his rent it can be a life saver if his " myArmoury " account as some extra cash in it.
Nathan mentioned in one of his posts that instead of paying yearly he was currently paying monthly because of lack of cash flow ..... and that this is more costly annually than paying a single yearly fee, so I assume that his servor costs might be a bit higher than the $2400 he gave us as the donation goal.
Nathan | Quote: |
It all helps, Terry! I couldn't afford the annual server fee this year so I switched to a monthly payment instead. It costs more annually but it was what I could manage. Still, every month when they take that money out is like a thorn in my side.
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If anybody needs more reasons or motivation to give just read the entire Topic thread posts if you arrived late and just read this current post ..... lots of people benefit from this site who could or should consider making a small yearly contribution be it Industry Professional who became better known due to this site, to people buying or selling on the Market Place Forum who have found something they wanted to buy, or where able to find someone willing to buy from them who knew that they where getting a good price because they where/are knowledgeable collectors who have a clue about the value of some pieces.
It's hard to sell a high end sword to people clueless about what is a high end sword versus a cheap wall hanger, on this site we have access to a large audience of other collectors ....
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Mon 26 Sep, 2016 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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Just a regular " BUMP " as the Topic is off the home page showing the most recent posts.
I seem to have to do these bumpings more often because there seems to be a lot of activity on the Forums pushing down the donation topic off the home page rather quickly ..... well, in a way that is a good thing because it means that people have a lot to write about various Topics and that they actually get something out of the site and want to discuss a great variety of stuff ... 
So, we are fairly close to meeting the objective, so it shouldn't take too many more donations to get there.
Keeping this one short as all or most of the arguments to convince people to give some financial support to the site are in all the above posts, and I'm running out of creative ways to try to motivate people .....
Now, if some of you have things to say that you think will motivate people please feel free to do so.
( Keep it nice, polite and as guilt-trip light as possible .....  )
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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J. Helm
Location: WA, USA Joined: 17 Jun 2011
Posts: 33
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| Posted: Tue 27 Sep, 2016 10:50 am Post subject: |
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| Jean Thibodeau wrote: |
Now, if some of you have things to say that you think will motivate people please feel free to do so.
( Keep it nice, polite and as guilt-trip light as possible ..... ) |
I don't know what else to say other than you had me at your first post. Since I registered five years ago I've benefited greatly from the knowledge of others while having nothing to contribute myself. For someone who is not well researched, this is a great place to learn, or at least to use as a springboard into getting more information about a specific topic. The site has been around for many years, and there is such a plethora of topics already covered that my questions are often answered in a search without having to start a new thread. There are so many knowledgeable people that make their way here, and I can tell as an observer that many get enjoyment out of comparing notes and sharing sources. There are other historical arms sites/forums, but I feel that not just the moderators, but the users, the community itself, holds this place to a higher standard, and I appreciate that.
So what is my use of this site worth? Well probably a lot more than my meager donation, since I'm a stingy bastard like many people, which means it's a bargain. And if more members even gave less than what they think the site is worth to them, then the goal could be met, and then Nathan wouldn't have to worry about being able to keep it going without suffering personal hardships, and we won't have to worry about the unthinkable happening to this site.
Anyway, I'm more just trying to get people to think about it than guilt trip them but I'm probably failing. We all have our own preferences, priorities and judgements of value and that's understandable. There are many other sites I use that I am NOT donating to, so I can't expect everyone to agree with my own personal assessments of this particular site.
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 29 Sep, 2016 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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| J. Helm wrote: | | Jean Thibodeau wrote: |
Now, if some of you have things to say that you think will motivate people please feel free to do so.
( Keep it nice, polite and as guilt-trip light as possible ..... ) |
I don't know what else to say other than you had me at your first post. Since I registered five years ago I've benefited greatly from the knowledge of others while having nothing to contribute myself. For someone who is not well researched, this is a great place to learn, or at least to use as a springboard into getting more information about a specific topic. The site has been around for many years, and there is such a plethora of topics already covered that my questions are often answered in a search without having to start a new thread. There are so many knowledgeable people that make their way here, and I can tell as an observer that many get enjoyment out of comparing notes and sharing sources. There are other historical arms sites/forums, but I feel that not just the moderators, but the users, the community itself, holds this place to a higher standard, and I appreciate that.
So what is my use of this site worth? Well probably a lot more than my meager donation, since I'm a stingy bastard like many people, which means it's a bargain. And if more members even gave less than what they think the site is worth to them, then the goal could be met, and then Nathan wouldn't have to worry about being able to keep it going without suffering personal hardships, and we won't have to worry about the unthinkable happening to this site.
Anyway, I'm more just trying to get people to think about it than guilt trip them but I'm probably failing. We all have our own preferences, priorities and judgements of value and that's understandable. There are many other sites I use that I am NOT donating to, so I can't expect everyone to agree with my own personal assessments of this particular site. |
Another " BUMP ", and also some thanks to J, Helm for a very eloquent post, basically the type of posts I was hoping for.
Not much to add, but by " QUOTING " his post in it's entirety I'm just keeping it up there for more people to read.
As I write this we are at $2195 so very close to the objective ..... anyone want to give that $5 to bring it to a nice round number of $2200 ? I wont complain if other people follow up and get us to the objective ......
There are many sites I visit that I only lurk on, but " myArmoury " is special to me and basically the only one I registered too as a member because even in 2004 it was already a great resource and a place I felt motivated to become active on: I understand that one can't give money to every site one might occasionally visit and lurk on, but I would think that any who visit the site daily or almost daily might want to be sure that this site remains healthy and active for many years to come.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Neil Melville
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| Posted: Sat 01 Oct, 2016 9:13 am Post subject: |
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Just back from a holiday and was caught by the funding drive. Have made my contribution in recognition of the value of Nathan's work. Can't really add to what others have said - regular topics of enormous interest and information. Thanks to everyone and especially to Nathan, the founder and funder.
Neil
N Melville
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J. Nicolaysen
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| Posted: Mon 03 Oct, 2016 10:39 am Post subject: |
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Bump it up! Almost there. Put yer money where your mouth is, cmon brothers and sisters of the Armoury!
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Wed 05 Oct, 2016 5:26 am Post subject: |
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| J. Nicolaysen wrote: | | Bump it up! Almost there. Put yer money where your mouth is, cmon brothers and sisters of the Armoury! |
Thanks for the bump and here is another " BUMP ", the donations seem to have stalled like a Montréal car stuck in a 3 foot snowbank after a Winter storm and it needs some nice neighbors to help shovel it out and give the car a push .....
We are just shy $153 from reaching the objective which is really the minimal amount to keep the site operating without Nathan being out of pocket for the yearly hosting costs ......  
Every year before this year the donation goal has been reached and even surpassed and any extra money is reserved for the site: How many of you would spend the time, energy and certainly some loss of income putting a site like this together and keeping it going  
It's not as if this site was structured as a " Revenue Raising Cash Cow " by Nathan, but I don't think he is happy with spending his own money on it considering that currently he is " Self Employed " doing freelance work with unpredictable cash flow !
Compared to the average number of people making a donation we are approximately at the 3/4 mark with 58 individual donations ..... usually the total is around 75 to 100
So, to round out the numbers: If 10 people donate $15 each we reach the objective  If 30 people gave $5 each we would also reach the amount plus equal the average number of people contributing. ( Or one generous person embarrassing some of you with a single $153 donation .....  )
So, if the site closed down tomorrow would you be shocked or sad ? I'm not predicting anything or have any special knowledge, but if you where Nathan the thought would have at least passed through your mind .... the site might remain as an archived site or completely disappear... I really don't know which, but if " TERMINATED " no more new content or POSTS, no more Market Place Forum, no more Industry Professionals Forum getting free access to potential buyers and useful feedback, plus a place to show their work.
Any amount is welcome and appreciated.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Jon Makar
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| Posted: Thu 06 Oct, 2016 9:05 am Post subject: |
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Hello All,
The number of things that the members on this site have taught me over the years is astounding! I recently broke my seal of silence of being a forum lurker, as some of you may know from the comment I made about it in my first ever post, and I'm glad to say that this community has received me with open arms, and even before that, has always been there when I needed them.
If I, a poor *** Masters student, who makes $8.00/hr in CAD Monopoly money, can afford to donate twice, then so can you!!! The total of my donations was equivalent to me not buying Starbucks 5 times, or not eating out for dinner once...not that big of an investment seeing as one can just make coffee or cook a meal at home for much less. Anyway, my point is that, like stated by others above, this site provides me with much more entertainment than things that I have been willing to pay much more for, like Starbucks too often, Netflix, etc... And so if all of us made a small conscious descisions to save for just a FEW days for the upkeep of this site, I'm sure that ends can easily be met!
Thanks again myArmoury,
Jon Makar
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Sun 09 Oct, 2016 12:17 pm Post subject: |
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Time for another " BUMP ", we are so close yet so far as donations seem to happen in short bursts where a few people step up and then the donations go to sleep again.
Reaching the $2400 is at least the minimum because it represents the annual hosting costs, but this year Nathan had to opt for a monthly plan that ends up costing a bit more than when paid as an annual fee: I don't know how much more it cost Nathan per month but it should motivate us to exceed the goal by at least a few hundred dollars I assume.
To me reaching the goal is also a psychological finish line where this community shows respect and appreciation for Nathan's work setting up the site and keeping it running: I don't know exactly how much daily work just maintaining the site takes but I can tell you that I personally wouldn't have had the will, energy and commitment to put in so much effort in creating and maintaining the site over more than a decade.
Lots of things to do to just moderate the site and delete attempted " Spam " and other nuisances .....
Have you noticed that we don't often get those scamming and aggravating posts where one reads " How my uncle Bob made a fortune working from home selling ,,,,,,, whatever " ..... I've seen a few attempts here on this site that ended up deleted within hours ....
To keep a site spam and hacker free takes work and constant attention, so my point is that Nathan can't just let this site fly on " Auto pilot " for any extended time, so at least he shouldn't have to pay from his pocket the hosting costs.
And any extra money raised he has given back in contests and prizes, or as ways to enhance the site. ( At minimum banked extra money to cover any unexpected expenses ).
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Collin D
Location: Upper Peninsula, MI Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 25
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| Posted: Sun 09 Oct, 2016 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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I'm quite an avid gamer in my tiny bit of free time, so I think of donating in the way that I think of buying a video game: Will I get $X of enjoyment out of it? Or in this case, have I gotten $X in enjoyment, entertainment or education from the site?
As a student I don't have a whole lot of liquid funds, but I have gotten well more than the dollar amount that I gave worth of enjoyment from this site. If I were to buy a game for, say, $20, I would expect to get $20 worth of fun from it: If I put 20 hours into the game, I've enjoyed it for only $1 per hour. Would I pay $1 for an hour's worth of the knowledge and education found on this site? Abso-friggin'-lutely.
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Mon 10 Oct, 2016 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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Not so much another " BUMP " but a thanks to all who have donated as he reached the donation goal of $2400 + $2 at the time of my writing this.
I'll keep bumping the Topic until Nathan decides to close the fund drive, as I've mentioned above in a previous post any extra moneys above the objective goes to the site.
Also, even after the annual fund drive is closed people can still make donation throughout the year to help keep the site active.
One can also upgrade to a paying membership and/or become a benefactor.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Fri 14 Oct, 2016 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I'm glad that Nathan is relieved that the goal was achieved but until he decides to close the fund drive I'll keep " BUMPING " the Topic every 3 or 4 days.
Any extra money will permit Nathan to be able to afford having a contest for a prize .... at least this is what he has done in the past when there are enough funds to permit it.
Keeping this post short because there are plenty of reasons given in the previous posts to continue to add to the donation drive.
So we are close to having 70+ people making a donation although a few people have donated twice I think .... maybe some of the " anonymous " donors ?
In previous years the total number of donors has averaged about 75 to 100.
And thanks again to all those who have been generous in helping keep the site running.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Sun 16 Oct, 2016 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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Just a special thanks to those who care enough about the site to continue making a donation even if the official goal has been reached: I see it as a way to show appreciation for the site and a show of support for all the work that Nathan puts into the site.
To me even the smaller donations trickling in are encouragement to keep the site going and good for Nathan's morale in knowing that his work is appreciated.
So, again thanks every dollar helps and every extra person giving is a great morale boost .....
There as so few sites where the quality of information and quality of participants are so high in my opinion, where it's also a nice friendly place to visit and ask questions knowing that many people will be pleased to reply in a polite and courteous way: No need to be shy participating in discussions even if one is new to learning about the history of Arms & Armour.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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