Donation Drive

g/re/p said:
I would have donated in response to a more friendly, less "in-your-face" promotion or request.
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Ditto.
My feelings exactly!
Reason why last year, instead of donating - I (and others) left in disgust.
I would have donated to a friendlier request.

I consider myself "gone" again as of the repeat of this stunt - I'm just voicing my feelings about it this time instead of just disappearing again to hopefully get the message across that THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT!

It's not like this is the ONLY / BIGGEST / BEST Mac Forum out there... :confused:

It's just sad that it's killed the community feeling... at least for me and some others I know.
But then again, it's all about money - not the people, I guess. :(
 
Why don't you make use of vB3's subscription system and let people pay a monthly/yearly fee to have extra features? Like $50 per year get's you a bigger avatar, a longer signature, one free tech support incident or something...i don't know. But I think that's a lot less annoying and a lot more practical.
 
Saying you would have donated to a more friendly request is crap. Everyone saw the Donation button on all the pages, but you chose NOT to make a donation.
 
bobw said:
Saying you would have donated to a more friendly request is crap. Everyone saw the Donation button on all the pages, but you chose NOT to make a donation.
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Well, i will never donate to this site because of the shutdown stunt - it WAS crap!
 
No one was being forced to make a donation, just given the option. The site doesn't run for free. Some people that find the site useful, may want to make a donation, others, not.

But I guess you won't having any problem coming here when you need some help.
 
I tend not to feel much guilt about not donating to a site that has
become as commercial as this site appears to have become.
 
bobw said:
No one was being forced to make a donation, just given the option. The site doesn't run for free. Some people that find the site useful, may want to make a donation, others, not.

But I guess you won't having any problem coming here when you need some help.
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On sites like this, I pretty much help other people much
more than i ask for help myself - so when i do need help,
i certainly do not feel obligated to donate because of it.
 
g/re/p said:
I tend not to feel much guilt about not donating to a site that has
become as commercial as this site appears to have become.
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What are you talking about? Commercial? They don't even have advertising minus that freeminimacs.com banner and I wouldn't even consider that "advertising."
 
g/re/p

You do help others here quite a bit, and no one has asked you personally to donate. It's a general request for anyone that wants to donate. Anyone that doesn't want to donate, doesn't have to. No one should feel obligated to donate.

A lot of people come here for help, that would otherwise cost them money, some feel they want to donate, others don't, and that's fine. But, the site needs money to run.

And this site isn't anywhere close to being a Commercial site.

http://www.macosx.com - isn't a forum page. It's offering services from Macosx.com to help with the site costs. Scott doesn't make a living from this venture.
 
Bobw, I mean a "nag screen" asking for donations.

And for those who somehow missed all the ads, look at my attachment. I highlighted them and placed red text next to them.
I just noticed that google ad is gone. Weird.
 

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JPigford said:
I've never thought of macosx.com as just a forum. I was first introduced to it as a "tech support" site that happend to have an active community.
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It was the other way around when I joined.
A Mac community that contributed by helping eachother out.

I used to think I contributed by helping others out as much, if not more than I asked for help.

Oh well...
 
Sogni said:
And for those who somehow missed all the ads, look at my attachment. I highlighted them and placed red text next to them.
I just noticed that google ad is gone. Weird.
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I think some people have their mind set on the fact that it's possible to have an ad free world when in actuality there's no way...life isn't free. I think macosx.com's use of what you call "ads" is the most un-intrusive way of advertising I've ever seen and you should be grateful and instead of whining.
 
Sogni said:
And for those who somehow missed all the ads, look at my attachment. I highlighted them and placed red text next to them.
I just noticed that google ad is gone. Weird.
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Just to make myself clear - I am NOT complaining about the ads or donation button (hey, make money however you can without interrupting the site). I'm just pointing them out.
 
Okay.. I *LOVE* these discussions....

Let's see.... in past years, I have setup "nag" screens that come up every 15 page views or so asking for donations (granted, only for a few days) and boy, did I get the heat on that. If ONLY I had put a "donate now" or had WARNED people it was coming, they would have felt much better about that.

So, the following year I make a big TODO about WARNING everyone it was coming up, giving people the option to meet our goals or risk the site shutting down for a few days. I even gave those who donated the option of visiting the board or those who did donate, never saw a closed board. Once again, that didn't work and we did shut it down for 48 hours or so to take in donations.

So, this year, I thought... okay... everyone complained the last time, let's do something different. Instead of showing FAVORITISM to those who donated, the board would just be shut down except for specific hours in the day, to help raise funds. This way, you still have the ability to browse the board and post during specific hours, and other hours we run the donation drive. This method seems to be best IMHO. Like someone posted earlier in this thread, the Public Broadcasting Network didn't just go dead air, but did a donation drive and aired SOME regular programming.

BUT... AGAIN, the whiners come out in force. IF ONLY I had money, IF ONLY you had notified me, IF ONLY you had whispered sweet nothings in my ear... THEN I WOULD HAVE FELT BETTER ABOUT IT ALL.

The truth is... the facts speak for itself. You can't deny that...

From December 26th - Feb 7, $330 where brought in by the TOP OF THE PAGE donation button. In TWO DAYS during our donation drive, we brought in $494.

Those who don't like it, can leave. If the kitchen is too hot, then get out. :)

Of course, people will be upset that I "think" that way. How can I think that way they say. Should I be bowing down before them, whispering sweet nothings in their ear for the wonderful mature presence they bring to the board.

:)

Gotta love appreciative people. But one thing is certain... there is nothing new under the sun.
 
When i opened the site and saw it was closed due to fund raising i closed the page and tried the next day. I would have considered to help out, but you have ad space on the site, which i am assuming you sell. I could be wrong about that, but that is why i did not donate. I am not going to pay to look at an ad.
 
ScottW said:
BUT... AGAIN, the whiners come out in force. IF ONLY I had money...
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I'm assuming this is in reference to my post, as i didn't read any others saying they simply didn't have money. I would have hoped you read the entire post (and following few), but either way this comment still kinda hurts.

It saddens me how you throw the people who don't have money to donate in with people who simply don't want to...
 
I want to voice my support for your donation drive.

It's amazing how people become so accustomed to getting valuable things for free that they start to feel entitled, and even become angry when either the freebies go away (even temporarily) or when they are asked to pay for them. I catch myself doing it too; getting angry with a delayed update to a free site or some such.

It's true enough that the community spirit here is a big part of its value, but spirit don't keep the lights turned on. I don't grudge PBS their pledge drives, and they aren't half as useful as this site.
 
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