If every FReeper gave $1 a month, the FReepathons would only last a couple of days. Much less than the cost of a daily newspaper and much more informative!
C'mon people pony up!
Click the pic!
There’s no free lunch.
I’m assuming that the 320k goes into power, servers, to pay Jim’s bro etc. A sizable chunk probably goes to the state of California.
Freedom is not free.
I think most of it goes toward popcorn, which JR provides free, for threads like this.
Where’s my popcorn, Jim?
Where does it go? It makes FR available to all of us for about 61 cents a minute.
If money is so tight that you can’t contribute $10 to the FReepathon, then why are you on the internet instead of working?
If I had cable TV or a daily newspaper, I’d pay for it, but I don’t. I have FR instead, and I’m willing to pay for it.
I’m not certain, I think the mods are also on salary. Then there’s the cost of bandwidth, for all the traffic FR gets it must be fairly hefty.
Sites like The Kos don’t have fund raisers ‘cause they have a sugar daddy to pay all their bills. I imagine Soros is probably paying more than $300k a year to keep the place running, which is pocket change to him.
From the FR home page:
Who runs FR?
Free Republic, LLC is a non-commercial, limited liability company founded and operated by Jim Robinson, a private citizen of Fresno California.
Free Republic is not a for profit commercial enterprise in the sense of a traditional business selling a product or service at a profit for its shareholders. We sell no product or service. We have no clients, customers or employees. We do not accept paid advertising. Free Republic is not affiliated with any political party, group, news source, government agency or anyone else.
Free Republic is not a traditional business. We are a political discussion forum and independent grassroots conservative activist group supported by donations from our readers and participants. When and if our participants decide we are no longer needed or viable, we will close down shop and go away.
Free Republic operates on an approximate $300,000 annual budget (click for breakdown) which includes equipment costs, bandwidth fees, consulting and labor costs, administrative costs, license fees, insurance, rents, communications costs, office expenses, advertising, travel, professional fees, banking and credit card fees, taxes, etc.
Free Republic is not a charity or IRS non-profit organization. We do not raise funds for charitable purposes or causes. We raise funds solely to cover our operating costs, labor, and all applicable state and federal income and payroll taxes.
If you check the profiles you will find that a lot of people have been here for years, it's like a family, it's a brotherhood. It's a 24/7 support system, shoulders to cry on, friends to pray for you, Free Republic is unique.
Here’s a link to the home page, which has become a little difficult to find. http://www.freerepublic.com/home.htm
Lots of info here, including a link to a general budget. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/budget I’m not sure how up to date this is, but the general outline wouldn’t change much. When you consider the massive volume of posters and posts here, and the really comprehensive mederation and troll control, it’s really pretty impressive that it can be done for so little money.
Part of being a true conservative is believing in pulling your own weight. Money is tight for a lot of people and probably for many thousands of FReepers (there are over 300,000 registered users.)
Running a 24/7 site online is expensive (check it out for yourself), Free Republic does not accept advertising and Jim and staff have a right to earn a living, too. That’s capitalism. Paying what you can supports capitalism and the private enterprise Free Republic before the govt regulates FR out of business and you are stuck with all the “free” govt run media you can stand.
Also, Jim often posts a brief financial summary that tells where all the money goes. It was this openness about the finances that made me decide to put part of my SSDI towards the Free Republic. I’m sure an Admin Moderator can post the financial summary here.
These are just a few reasons. There are more. But paying your own way in the world, to the best of your ability, is always the best and most conservative way to go IMO. :0)
That means the physical servers (note the plural) for Freerepublic. This site is run by a handful of people.
It is David against Goliath.
The Democrats/liberals/brain washed friends of Obama/Soros probably pump $1 million a quarter into the Huffington Post in trying to come up with a site that might compete with Freeperland...
No. $80,000 a quarter is small change compared (1) to the stakes we are playing with (huge national debt, flushing the constitution down the toilet. Also, fighting the Democratic controlled Congress is not easy.
Since tomorrow is the Fourth of July, just think of the amount blood shed for this country.
I think that blood is a lot more expensive than $80,000 a quarter...
Dear Fellow Freeper, good question, and here is my long winded answer written with kindness in case it is not evident. My 2 cents worth:
Everyone has 20 bucks. How about not buying that expensive coffee for 5 days if that is an indulgence one has? How about laying off the fast food and having a home made sack lunch for 2 or 3 days to make up the 20 bucks? Look under the couch cushions and car seats, see what’s there!
If everyone who reads FR actually gave 20 bucks, the Freepathons would be very very short. There are a lot of FReeloaders, and that is their choice. If they’re not moved to contribute, others contribute more to make up for them.
As you know FR is a valuable resource to those of us who care about America and are active in fighting for her survival. I was never in the military literally fighting, but my husband spent 26 years in the WI Air National Guard, rising to the rank of Chief Master Sgt before retiring Feb. of 2008. He was there in the war zone before it started in 2002 and when it started in 2003, he took on scud fire at the air base he was on. We civilians can fight with our words and actions using the info on FR. For now we do not have to actually fight like soldiers, but if the politicians are allowed to run rough shod over our rights, it is possible there will be fighting in the streets right here instead of in Iraq and other places.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been alerted to a governmental situation on FR, and then have contacted the politician slimeballs involved, and put them on notice that their anti-Amercian deeds are not going un-noticed.
As you know, those who rely on the alphabet media have no idea what is going on.
A large majority of Americans have no real interest in the details of the governmental sausage that is being made, which is exactly why the governmental sausage IS being made in the unConstitutional unAmerican way it is being made.
I never gave to a website until I joined FR after reading FR for 10 years. Now I enjoy giving. First time was not a lot. Second Freepathon I gave twice, this time one big check is on the way TODAY. I like to mail in my donations, since putting the CC on the internet is not my favorite thing to do : )
Mail it in today with me Freepers! God Bless America, and have a wonderful Independence Day tomorrow!
I am a monthly donor, and it’s worth every penny. This is the first website that I ever seriously considered contributing to.
It’s that important.
As several other posters have already said:
1) Freedom is not free
2) There is no free lunch.
Where else in the wide, wide world of political discussion groups can you get something like FreeRepublic?
In addition to lively commentary by some of the smartest conservatives on the planet (present company excluded - just read some of my dumb posts... ugh), FreeRepublic is a cyber-social organization. We first post as strangers. Over the years, however, we develop lifelong friendships with people we may never meet.
Every now and then, however, we DO meet. It’s like meeting old friends for the first time. The best example was the March for Justice in October, 1998. Four thousand - FOUR THOUSAND - of us met for a common purpose, and had one hell of a good time.
And Bill Clinton was, in fact, impeached.
But the MFJ was only the first national event. There was the House Managers Dinner, co-sponsored by the Heritage Foundation (I think), and thousands of state and local “Freeps” all over Our Nation.
Your monthly donation provides the backbone, the central station, for fun loving conservatives to meet, discuss, argue, disagree and, in general, enjoy each others’ company as we stand against the tide of runaway liberalism.
We’re going to win this thing, and Free Republic will be standing in the front row.
I’m going to be there, and I hope you will be, too.
Enjoy!
There is nobody that I trust in this world more than JimRob ... including my own family. I say this because I hosted the Free Republic donation form for the first couple of years (thrown up in a rush on Friday when the site was about to be brought down by the ISP for excess bandwidth usage), and even though large dollars passed through it, the form didn't become part of the Free Republic site for many, many months. That tells me all I need to know about JimRob's integrity.
In my book there's God, then Jesus Christ, and then JimRob ... in that order, and I don't come to trust people lightly.
If every FReeper gave $1 a month, the FReepathons would only last a couple of days. Much less than the cost of a daily newspaper and much more informative!
C'mon people pony up!
Click the pic!
No offense, but all the questions you have are answered right on FR’s Home Page - just scroll down a bit.
I'm direct with people about giving since I'm pastor of a church. Everyone has 10 bucks. You will blow 10 bucks in the next 24 hours.
So far as where it goes, here's the link: budget
If the question is really, "Do I trust these people?", then only you can answer that question.
Other sites probably use paid advertisements or are funded by news media or other big bucks activists. Who controls those sites?
That's really above-board here: Jim Robinson owns and operates FR. Type his name into the search window, punch "users", and get all his postings. REad them and see what you think.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1378851/posts?page=338#338