Don-o, we appreciate you and all of our monthly donors and ALL of our donors very, very much. FR could not survive without your loyal support.
But here’s what’s happening. We have about 800 loyal monthly donors who contribute a good portion of our funding needs. And then another 1500-1600 donors who make up the rest. And many of our monthly or regular donors end up donating twice or more during the FReepathons too.
And the FReepathons are taking longer to complete. And for many reasons. One is the economy. Many of our members have had to cut back on expenses just to get by. Another is lack of enthusiasm. As the godless liberals take more and more control over our government and our society, and as the Republican party continues failing to slow it down, and worse are actually becoming part of the problem, our members are getting discouraged.
And the members who are not super pissed at the Republicans lack of ability to get the job done, get super pissed at me for no longer supporting the obviously failing, ineffective RINO candidates.
So, even though we’ve always been able to raise the funds we need, it’s taking longer to do so. Out of the 200,000 or more people who visit FR every day, sometimes many times a day, we have less than 2% of them who actually donate to help keep the site going.
It does get very discouraging at times. This fundraiser happens to be running a couple days ahead of the pace set by the prior fundraisers this year, and I hope the pace continues.
We’re getting real close to the yellow right now and then we’ll be on the home stretch. The “300 FReepers with $50 challenge” issued by I_be_tc last week was hugely successful and I suspect the next batch of checks received at the PO Box will have several more of those. When Amy next picks up at the PO Box, it’ll be the first batch received since that challenge was issued.
God bless our monthly, dollar-a-day, and mail-in donors. When we process their batches of contributions as received, they keep our FReepathons bumping along nicely.
And the efforts of our dedicated FReepathon teams on the threads help urge new members to become donors. If more of our members who use and enjoy FR daily would help support the site, these fundraisers wouldn’t take so long.
Plus, we have the New Monthly Donor campaign going strong. TheOldLady and her team of generous NMD Sponsors and our dedicated FReepathon teams are doing a terrific job of keeping the number of monthly donors from falling off as discouraged people drop out of that program.
So, please do not give our hard working FReepathon team members a hard time. As I said, if we had to depend on commercial advertising, we’d probably have to have 5 or 6 ads on every page. And that would be 24/7, 365 days per year.
And commercial advertising is very intrusive. I’m noticing lately that when I visit news sites and the blogs that are posted here I’m seeing more and more ads that are personally aimed directly at me. I’m noticing that if I search for something on google, or look at something on Amazon, etc, they’re placing tracking cookies on my computer and whenever I visit news sites or blogs, even the friendly conservative sites, I’m getting ads for the products I just viewed.
Now, a lot of people are not going to like that. They’re going to turn off the cookies or find ways to block the ads in the first place, then the revenue falls off. And don’t even want to talk about the demands the advertisers will put on us regarding content and commentary. Chick-Fil-A, anyone?
It’s a never ending vicious cycle. Thank God for our loyal FReepers!!
OK Jim, I am mailing you a check for $50.
Thank you and your team for their very hard work and thanks
for keeping this site ad-free. Facebook ads annoy the heck
outta me!
Keep the faith! FReeRepublic will survive and become stronger!
Jim, I only wish I could give more. If I could invest in some securities and have the gains each month go straight to you, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’m changing jobs and living arrangements in the next few weeks - when the dust settles, maybe I can ratchet things up.
Monthly contributor here who is pissed that your annoyance at the Republicans is providing aid and comfort to our one true enemy: Obama. Sure, you live in California and can safely vote for whom you please. But, you are encouraging Freepers in Virgina, Florida, Ohio, etc. to do the same. If we do not defeat Obama, we will not live to fight another day. Let's get rid of the Communist in the White Hours, that's job 1.
Looks like it’s time to double down. Will send another check. FR is worth it.
Twice this month was that last month.....let’s look to our future. In for $50, Jim.
I don’t have a problem with the way Freepathons are conducted, but I also think that it might help to have a permanent banner (?) or something asking to help keep the lights on (not to be confused with a Freepathon campaign). I wouldn’t mind seeing this at the top of FR home and the forums. It seems that once a Freepathon is over, there is little or no suggestion of donations.
Jim I will be writing out a check for 40 dollars tomorrow. Thanks for everything you do. Sometimes I ‘need a gentle tap on the shoulder.
It’s travelling to you Jim Rob. I use snail mail. Bless you for all you’re doint.
As new people come on the board they will go through this learning curve. FR provides a good and valuable service. I believe you will be able to keep the good fight going. Good luck to you and us, and God Bless America.
$20 from Texas Jim.
What you said...
Yeah, the minority of FReepers carry this place.
The rest read the Drudge Report and post all day long, never actually taking a couple of minutes to read what has been ALREADY posted a half-dozen times here.
Makes me crazy...
Blogs? Oh my.
I mean, it's always good policy to just stay OUT of crack houses. ;-)
Out of the 200,000 or more people who visit FR every day, sometimes many times a day, we have less than 2% of them who actually donate to help keep the site going.
BTTT
Please folks, donate something, even just $5.
Hi, Jim, ‘Ace’... any chance of a ‘back door’ in any of this security hardware? ...especially that supported by USGvt?
Ya gotta help me out here - "already posted" (my one comment) is giving "our hard working FReepathon team members a hard time"? Really?
That's a comment that is regularly posted when a duplicate thread is found. As I was scrolling the latest posts, I saw the same graphic on several threads and the "already posted" seemed a semi-humorous throw away line.
Otherwise, I appreciate your taking the time to post your thoughts. I have heard it said that every man worth his salt thinks he can do a couple of things better than any other man -
1. Cook a steak
2. Coach a football team
I'd add a third
3. Run FR better that Jim Robinson.
All of can take a fair shot at the 1 & 2, #3 is not up for grabs.
Thanks for the ping to your strategic deliberations, Jim. It’s your creation. Do what you think best. But be sure to have a succession plan so you can eventually enjoy some years of retirement, trusting that your core values will be protected.
Jim, I have a suggestion, but I don’t know how to implement this. I am a monthly donor via credit card. My credit card has been compromised TWICE in the past six months. Unless I am prompted, I forget any yearly or monthly payments/donations I have on the card until and unless I am reminded. You need a reminder system for credit card people so that if/when their cards are compromised, go into expiration, etc. that you don’t lose their intended donations. When my card was compromised I never received a reminder from FR that my contribution was overdue. I don’t know how much you lose from this problem, but it could be significant.
Thanks for all you do.
SFMom
