Posted on 02/04/2012 6:36:26 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
As many of you know, and as many of you don't know, this Freepathon is to raise money for the current quarter, not one down the road. We need to get this one over with and now.
November brings the most important election in our lifetime. FR must be up and running and healthy if we are going to make a difference.
If you have donated in the past, please donate again. If you give something every quarter, try to give something every month. If you are a monthly donor, give dollar-a-day a shot, if you can.
John needs some new equipment to stay on the air and we all understand that. Equipment gets old and wears out, just like you and me ;-)
Please help FR in any way you can.
We need to be here in November for reasons that should be obvious to all.
I'll shut up now, I've said my piece.
God Bless,
3
I love Free Republic and have donated several times in the past....but any dissenting opinion from JR or anything less than being a rabid Newt supporter gets you zotted... probably not a great strategy for getting donations
Ive seen a budget posted a few times that I think hasnt been updated in years, but never an actual accounting of how the donations are actually spent. FR is not a charity so I guess they really dont have to account for it, but I agree with you, Im not going to donate to any organization that doesnt give its donators a yearly full and accurate accounting of where and how the money is spent.
My nephew BTW recently bought a very nice powerful commercial, e-commerce grade, used but relatively recent server from e-bay for only a couple hundred bucks. There seems to be a lot of overhead in this operation and I dont think its too much for donors and potential donors to ask for some accounting.
Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free paid for by others?
Excuses excuses.......
Free Republic Monthly Budget. Once we get our monthly donations to the point where they will cover all of our expenses, we will not need to have fundraisers.
Est. Recurring Monthly Contributions $11,708
Monthly Expenses Bandwidth and Colocation $2,430
System Administation and Programming 7,000
Administrative and Taxes 13,500
Legal and Accounting 1,000
Bank Fees, Credit Card Fees, Processing Fees 900
Equip, Maintenance and Repairs 600
Office Expenses, Rents, Insurance, Telephone, ISP, Supplies, Misc. 2,500
Travel Expenses 1,200
29,130
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Est. Monthly Shortfall ($17,422)
There are salaries for several people. That eats up money quick. This thing takes more than a few people to run smoothly.
Theres been a my way or the highway mindset around here for a while now. Quite a few have chosen the highway, taking their support with them.
I was moved to toss in $100 just because Jim, who really supports Gingrich, was so very nice and tolerant of my pro Santorum posts. This is my favorite website. I feel terrible when it’s down. Go ahead, give something.
24/7 moderating would eat up a lot of that in a for-profit.
If the Robinsons are charging $7 G per month for sysadmin they are getting only a fraction of what they would get if FR was a for-profit with advertising.
And foregoing it would still not cover the shortfall.
I have seen very little of the niceness and tolerance you cite during the past month.
The tone has reminded me of a pack of hyenas viciously turning on anyone who speaks truth, however unflattering, of the candidate de jour.
Attacks on the truth and calls for censorship from any side of the political spectrum are not healthy.
I do give, but I’m not giving one dime more until I see the tone change around here.
Many have decided not to wait for the tone to change. They’re gone and they’ve taken their support with them. Why should they put up with the abuse?
I hope some lessons will be learned through this.
There is truth in what you both say.
I have never felt that I was about to be forcibly 86ed from FR before, as I did last week or 2.
But I gave because as strongly as JimRob felt, he must have respected me enough to let me support, loudly, a different candidate. But I admit to being scared!
I don’t like the nasty voices of some newt supporters here, but we must remember that speech is free, according to jimrob’s principles, so there are all kinds here. There are too many wonderful likemindeds here to worry about a few noisy nasty ones.
I'm in for that. Will put a check in the mail tomorrow.
ditto and I have been here a looooooong time. I’ve never understood why they can’t take ads or pay for the site like other sites do....
Ditto.
Maybe all those “IBTZ” people will step up
Or the trolls for that matter, thanks for your inspiring input.
Up to 74% - thanks for posting this.
Anybody know how many active FReepers there are?
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I’m not sure that it’s possible to put a number on that. Some people don’t post much of anything for months but read what’s here, some post all the time. I know I’ve never heard a number of active members.
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