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This is a message to all Freepers. There are over 70,000 of us registered since Free Republic's inception. Probably half of us are gone by now or visit so irregularly, it hardly matters. That leaves 35,000. Out of that number, maybe only half visit this site on a semi-regular basis. That leaves 17,500. I'm being conservative here by the way.

Out of that, maybe only 10% of that number are "hard-core" Freepers. That is, Freepers who visit here practically every day and post quite often. That number would be 1,750. Now you know and I know that far more than 1,750 people visit this site every single day and benefit from what Free Republic has to offer on a constant basis. But I want to be really conservative in order to make my point.

Now let's imagine if we asked those 1,750 "hard-core" Freepers if Free Republic was worth $20 a month to them. They would all say absolutely. In a heartbeat. To us hard-cores, and I am certainly one of them, we would certainly rather pay $20 a month to Free Republic than to see it go away. Not all of us are wealthy, certainly not I, anyway. But $20 a month is very affordable to me. It's the cost of a couple of pizzas. An HBO subscription. Or a movie with the kids. Certainly Free Republic is worth that much a month to me.

Now imagine if myself and the rest of the 1,750 "hard-core" Freepers were to donate $20 a month through Free Republic by having it automatically deducted once a month from my debit card? That would provide Free Republic with $35,000 per month of revenue. That would more than cover the expenses that Jim Robinson just laid out for us. Not only would we keep Free Republic running, but we would have extra left over as well to fight the lawsuits and maybe do some fun things every once in a while.

You know what? I've BEEN giving $20 a month for the past year now through my debit card. I set it up in five minutes using this link. Since then, my $20 has painlessly been going to Free Republic automatically. I can ignore the fundraiser threads guilt-free. Furthermore, I feel good about my monthly contributions. Makes me not feel like a freeloader.

Now I've never said this before but if you are a regular Freeper like me and you do not give to Free Republic to help it stay running, then I am ashamed of you. How dare you come here each day to reap the benefits of this most excellent forum and expect Jim Robinson to pay all the bills! Now my $20 a month doesn't exactly make me a heavy hitter around here. There are others who give far more, not to mention their time as well. But if every regular Freeper gave $20 a month, or even $10 a month, then we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Instead, this website would be growing by leaps and bounds and we would soon be rivaling the major media in influence.

My estimate of 1,750 "hard-core" Freepers is damn conservative and you all know it. It's probably closer to 5,000. And if we have 5,000 people giving an average of $20 a month, that would be over $100,000 in contributions every single month.

Think about what I just said. If you have been giving regularly, good for you. If you haven't, please consider how valuable this website is to you and give at least something to help keep it running!

Thank you.

The term is FReeploaders. And I too am ashamed of folks who can afford to pay and are too cheap to contribute. It's worse than the liberal welfare system because they are conservative.

About the monthly contributions, I went to the page, and it calls for donations of $50 and up in various sizes. It also has a space for 'Other', and that would be the one I'd have to go for, but I haven't done so because I don't want to make a contribution so small that it wouldn't be worthwhile to FR, but at this time it would have to be only a few dollars/month. Is there some guideline as to what is the appropriate lower limit on contributions (other than $0, which is what I've done up to now.

Thanks for breaking it down(reply #384) so nicely.

Great post Sam, and I was ashamed to say I never donated before today, but read this site at least 3 times a week. That has now changed. I am now a regular monthly contributor.

Something you should note....I've rarely posted, but have elected to simply read and enjoy the many thoughful articles and comments. So, there may be many more lurkers then you think.

The next two years will be the defining life or death time for many dot-com web-sites. Can this model succeed and flourish when thousands of others will be going bankrupt? I believe it can, because the model is sound, and the dedication of Jim Robinson and fellow freepers is tremendous.

But let's not just survive, let's flourish, grow and take on many other endeavors via the internet! Take Care, Mike