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
Also I do not want to see a bunch of bullshit threads and comments in threads if it is a mandatory pay site that say " I DO NOT PAY FOR THIS CRAP OR PAY TO SEE THIS KIND OF CRAP." I say do a seperate page of ad's and links to the companies we already use links for like Amazon and NR etc.., have that cover some costs and fundraising drives every 4 months/1 week out of that 4th month. That way you will cover the entire year in 3 quarters...4th month,8th, and 12th. Everyone has money coming to them in April,the summer is around the 8th and people have extra dough for vacations, and the 12th month you have Christmas. What better gift to yourself than to pay for FR?
I plan on giving my gift right around Christmas. A 2yr old and a morgatge must come first, but my visa is on standby for a nice healthy donation to ring in 2002.
Well you can be as small and impotent as you wish but please refrain from bothering me any further. I find it distracting.
Precisely.
What kind of person keeps two browsers open day in and day out, so they can use one to watch THIS site and the other one to COPY AND PASTE what people over here say???????
We're talking MAJOR losers. Hell, they damn near had a riot over there; they can't even get along with themselves........ROFLMAO.
no points, it was a fumble. We GAVE them money, what they do with it is their business.
If people only knew how much work goes into this forum and how many people work their hearts out. Then, there are others who just want a free ride.
Jim, I agree with the statement above. Make people just a little uncomfortable (like you are all the time!) and see how many would dig into their pockets to turn the lights back on!
People, I've been told that just a small fraction of FReepers even bother to contribute to FR. If what I was told is true, let's change the dismal percentages. JimRob deserves it for all he does to keep this site operating.
DIG DEEP AND THEN DIG DEEPER!
All that aside, I'm so sorry you feel like I'm being mean to you because I said you're cheap because you don't want to help with the upkeep of FR.
If we do go to subscription, I hope we get to blackball one person.
I just wanted to say thank you for all the great conversations we've had on the threads!
Even though we rarely agreed, you were always kind and polite to me and gave me a chance to get a word or two in.
Hugs!
Alamo-Girl
I second that one!
How good can a pamphlet be when it's free?
Sometimes, pretty damn good.
The poor are always with us---HAVE MERCY!
JimRob, frankly there is no other internet site even close to the FR forum, and as liberals conduct their endless battle against free speech, free press, and literally freedom of assembly, There are no substitutes.
This is the only forum where news is reported honestly, not spun, and not really controlled by an organization with any specific agenda. Yes we have flame wars, Yes, we have disruptors, but so does any discussion board on the 'net. This is one of the few that keeps the BS to a minimum.
Jim Rob, FR is now more important than ever! We may be entering an era of repression and censorship such as America has never known, under the guise of "security". For the sake of the Constitution, for the sake of this Republic, we must keep this avenue of discussion and debate open. Whatever it takes, I say go for it. To quote the immortal words of the passengers of flight 93: "LETS ROLL". Follow the words of our President when he elequently stated "You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists". Nuff said by me...Lock and Load, I'm with you 100%
Keep the Faith for Freedom
MAY GOD BLESS AND PROTECT THIS HONORABLE REPUBLIC (AND FREE REPUBLIC AS WELL!!)
Greg Moore
Well you can be as small and impotent as you wish but please refrain from bothering me any further.
Bothering you? I'm FREE to bother you as long as this place IS free.
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