FReeloaders - banner ads
(ala Drudge)
Subscribers - no banner ads
(donation of any amount = 12 month FR membership)
This way everyone contributes - and FR lives on!
The reason FR has an impact is because ANYONE can come here and read the truth. That will not happen with a closed board.
That has always been my thought. I normally send, but not necessarily during FReepathon periods.
But I would see no harm at all if people who were not subscribers in a sense saw banner ads.
Subscribers - no banner ads
(donation of any amount = 12 month FR membership)
This is the Delphi Forums business model.
If I recall correctly, they offer two levels of annual subscription. Their premium membership comes with all sorts of cool user features. Their standard membership comes with fewer bells and whistles. Their basic membership is free, and simply allows one to post and read. Basic (unpaid) members also see all of the banner ads, where paid members do not.
I think that Proud's suggestion would be a perfectly logical evolution for FR, and wouldn't change the site for donating members. Perhaps as time goes on, the owners of FR could offer a few bells and whistles to paid subscribers, like Delphi Forums does.
This is a good capitalistic solution to a problem that has been plaguing FR for far too long. Given that FR is the number one gathering place for conservatives on the internet, the potential revenue that could be generated from banner ads is probably considerable.