I remember before I became a monthly donor, I’d dread seeing that it was time for another FReepathon. I’d always feel like the guy whose picture gets posted all the time with the caption “ah geeze, not this again”.
The longer it took to reach the fundraising goal, the more irritating they became. I hate that it takes so long to reach the goal and seemingly no sooner than one ends, another begins.
As it turns out, the FReepathons were bothering me so much because I felt guilty for not doing my part to keep Free Republic on line, independent and free.
Go ahead, become a monthly donor. Sure, you’ll still get annoyed when it’s FReepathon time, but it’s a lot easier to take when you can know in your heart that it’s not your fault it’s taking so long to reach the goal.
I’m proud to be a FReeper and I put my money where my mouth is.
Given that I’m not privy to any of Free Republic’s financial records, please know that I am guessing, when I tell you that think, that were even 10% of our regular, daily users to donate exactly like you -— $1.00-A-Day++Donor & 300 Club Member, THIS FReepathon and ALL FReepathons would be events of the past, and if not events of the past, Freepathons would last up to 3 days tops.
IIRC, another wonderful, fabulous, awesome FReeper, just like you, xzins, conducted a study of sorts and determined that only 2% - 5% actually donate and carry the load for the rest of Free Republic’s participants. I’ve pinged him because I have a nagging suspicion the percentage might be just 2% and that is utterly shameful.
ALL I know for certain, is that our FReeper-Donors are truly the very finest and that a sufficient number of loyal FReeper-Patriots always come through.
In the old days, we prided ourselves in completing FReepathons as quickly as possible -— within DAYS and sometimes within a week or two!!
Thank you so much again, dearest Nacho Bidnith!
Thank you also, for permitting us to add your name to our Monthly Donor, Dollar-A-Day Donor and 300 Club Lists!
God bless and keep you and everyone you hold precious.
Good post. Astutely discerns what is the root cause of annoyance with FReepathons. And the more people address this root cause with the solution, paradoxically the less time FReepathons will take.