Posted on 11/28/2001 7:31:29 PM PST by Jim Robinson
Free Republic has had one helluva run over the last five years or so. We helped impeach one president and helped get another into office. We've been active in demonstrations and protests in nearly every city across the nation. We've participated in conventions, petition drives, activism campaigns and projects for dozens of conservative causes.
We've grown from a tiny web site with a few hundred posters and readers from the time of inception in 1996, to one with tens of thousands of participants today. Along the way we've made lots of great friends and, unfortunately, also made lots of bitter enemies.
We've grown from a small web site that I could manage myself on a part-time basis to a huge monster that has totally consumed all of my time and resources plus nearly all of John's time, plus the time and resources of many dedicated FReepers who volunteer or contribute large amounts of their own time and money.
The site is now consuming all of a 10 mbps dedicated line with two servers and we're still growing, and it consumes large amounts of money to keep all this running. In the early years, it only took a few thousand dollars per month to keep Free Republic on the air, but it is now costing over $20,000 per month to cover all expenses.
The major costs include approximately $8,000 per month for bandwidth, 3,000 for systems management and programming services, 7,000 for management, operating and administrative services, plus two or three thousand per month for miscellaneous office expenses, telephone, communications, repairs & maintenance, travel & lodging, postage, rentals, insurance, legal fees, accounting fees, etc., etc.
We anticipate a reduction in bandwidth costs next year as we renegotiate our contract (the market price for bandwidth has fallen recently), however, that will be more than offset by an expected increase in costs of our legal expenses. As most of you know, our pro bono attorney has left us and we've hired a new attorney to continue with our case, plus we have the suit against eschoir to pay for. My projections are that our regular monthly expenses for next year will be running in the neighborhood of $22,000 per month, or approximately $264,000 total for the year. This means we will need to raise approximately $66,000 per quarter.
Talking about making enemies, we've got several ex-FReepers and other detractors who are claiming on their anti-freeper web sites that I am ripping off the donors and that Free Republic is a fraud. Now, Free Republic is what it is, and it is definitely not a fraud. It is a conservative news discussion forum that encourages participation in politics and activism projects. It is not being billed as anything else. We are not selling or promising anything. And I am being up front about our operating costs. The costs of running Free Republic are what I've stated above and they are necessary to keep FR on the air. I do not have the financial wherewithal to operate this site without your help. If the majority of the FReepers feel that these costs are out of line or too much to bear or that Free Republic is no longer wanted or needed, then we will either cut it back or shut it down or do something altogether different.
I've also been criticized about not making our financials public. Well, the reason I do not want to do this is that I have been sued, both personally and as Free Republic, LLC. The people suing us want to bankrupt us and shut us down. They subpoenaed our financial records, but we refused to turn them over. The judge agreed that the plaintiffs have no right to the information, thus I have no intention of making any more of it public than I absolutely have to, until this lawsuit is resolved. You all know the amounts of money we raise if you follow the fundraising threads. It is all above board and out in the open. The totals posted by BadJoe are usually pretty close to the actual cash received and the amounts expended are pretty close to the amounts projected. No one is getting rich here and no one is being ripped off. The funds raised are being used for the purposes stated, and that is keeping this website on the air and that's it. Nothing fraudulent about it. Those who want to help fund us freely do so with nothing expected in return. Those who do not want to contribute do not have to.
There was a thread running this morning where people were making all kinds of accusations about Free Republic "hiding the truth" or whatever. These accusations are being made by Chuck Allan and others and fall along the same line with the accusations being made by some of the earlier banees or AFers including Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan, Arator, keep U.S. Sovereign, TKEman and others. Some of these people are existing FReepers and some are banned. I am going to reinstate Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan and Arator's accounts so they can join Chuck Allan, TKEman, K.U.S.S. and whomever else wants to get involved, and I invite them to come onto this thread and make their accusations public. As long as they do not go onto other threads and make a nuisance of themselves, I will let them have their say.
Like I said above, if it is time for Free Republic to go away so be it. Those who want to keep it going speak up. Those who want it to go away, tell us why. But if those who want it to be gone lose out in the debate, then I'd say they should just go away themselves, or, in the very least, shut up and quit whining about it.
Thanks,
Jim
Nice to see you posting again.
Please, repent and apologize and for heaven's sake send Jim a bottle of Malox.
I, for one, have missed you, and hope you stick around.
Like old times, eh?
www.delphi.com\frureform
Go to the start tab and look over the links to other web sites that contain information.
Do yourself a favor, and help out the conservative movement. Look over the information with the same critical eye you gave to Clinton and his dealings.
http://pub41.ezboard.com/faferswithanattitude36385frm6
After all, Jim wants the Freepers to understand the concerns of the AFers, as his post clearly indicates.
www.delphi.com\frureform
Check out the start tab, and go and look at the other web sites. Take a look at the Talkspot thread.
I know it's been mentioned before, but it may be time to think seriously about having a "membership fee" in order to post. I think I read that if every member only gave $1/month, (one small dollar) it would be enough to keep FR up and running. $1/month - that's so meager, it's ridiculous to think that there are those who wouldn't be willing to do their small part in order to keep this forum. I also know how hard MANY, MANY FReepers work during the quarterly fundraisers, and how MUCH of the financial load a few carry.
Please, let's all pull together and keep FR online.
www.delphi.com\frureform
Go to the start tab, and click on the links to the other web sites. The answers to your questions will be found there. Look over the Talkspot information.
I want to reiterate how glad I am that I "discovered" FR. It has given me a forum where I feel comfortable discussing opinions about the Constitution and government issues. Especially in the wake of 9/11, it has given me a place to rant with others who have been affected as deeply.
Please don't go away. I will pledge my meager financial support and only wish that it could be many times more because I think FR is priceless.
Sincere best wishes and good luck!
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Oldtimer, newbie, "lurker since," whatever, I've shared $15 of my money every month since my "member date." Detractors can go join Lucianne.com for all I care. Quotes that come easily to mind: Freepathon at Gephardt's office Sat. am. "Thank you for your support." - John Robinson |
Will contact Joe about upping my monthly contribution, too.
I would encourage you to visit the following site:
www.delphi.com\frureform
Lots of information is contained there. Go to the start tab and then go to some of the other sites.
that being said, i just like to come here to argue with the wingnuts--at least one non-lemming in this echo chamber. we'll see if my posting privileges are revoked. again.
Good Luck, God Bless and Semper FI,
Marine Inspector
Hey Gargantua! How on earth have you remained unbanished? I saw Pardek and Poohbah hunting you down like hounddogs on a thread not so long ago and I only assumed that they had snuffed you out. I'm glad to see that they somehow couldn't bring themselves to pull the trigger...yet.
Good to post alongside you again. I am somewhat puzzled by this JimRob post... which is to say, if FReepers decide the time has come for the FR jig to "be up", JimRob will be the first to know it by the drying up of the donated cash.
If, on the other hand, this thread is merely a more-subtle-than-some-of-the-recent fundraising drives, I applaud the marketing strategy employed.
Well, I think Jim Rob was hoping to invite the worst sort of AFing behavior onto this thread to gin up and "us vs. them" hysteria and spook the herd into a stampede of mindless reflexive donating.
Unfortunately (for Jim Rob), I think that perceptive FReepers are realizing that us "AFers" are really just FReepers like themselves who have been mugged (or watched their FReeper friends be mugged) by FR's abusive management far too many times and, though banished, had the resourcefulness to maintain contact with our FReeper friends rather than slip quietly into post-banishment oblivion like so many others.
Anyway, Happy Holidays, Arator! Hope to be seeing you around!
Same to you, G!
www.delphi.com\frureform
for more information. Click on the start tab and look at the linked sites.
NO ! He's NOT.
Rush Limbaugh is the "Jim Robinson" of Talk Radio.
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