It's Time for our Second Quarter FReepathon - Thread 3

Click here to donate via secure server or PayPal ^

[Mo1]

It's Time for our Second Quarter FReepathon - Thread 3

Posted on 04/07/2003 6:33 PM EDT by Jim Robinson

Howdy everyone,

Are you ready for another FReepathon?

Good news:

John and Tami negotiated a new contract with our bandwidth supplier and got our bill lowered a couple thousand per month! Our monthly expenses are now totalling just under $20,000, so we're setting the target for this Freepathon at $60,000. We have approximately $18,000 (and growing) per quarter coming from our monthly donors so we will only need to raise a little over $40,000 this time. Hopefully, we can do this in a week to ten days.

We went over the goal last quarter and we used part of the extra money to purchase and install two new servers. We now have a total of five servers running Free Republic. John can post the details, but basically, we have two servers being used as web servers, two as database servers and one for the search engine. There may be some sharing and overlapping of duties, but that's the general configuration.

John also found a way to compress the files before serving them so we are able to effectively move 20mbs of data through our 10mbs line. In other words, we've doubled our capacity and halved our bandwidth cost!

Way to go John and Tami!!

(Just in time too! We hit the 10mps X 2 capacity a few times during the peak periods of the last couple of weeks).

And finally, we've added two new high capacity disk drives (I believe they're 72 gigabytes each) and just as soon as John gets the upload and file management programs ready to go, we'll be able to offer our donors directory space on their accounts to upload pictures, graphics, and music files, etc. I believe this is going to be a very popular feature!

Looking forward to another great fundraiser!

Thank you all very much for your continuing support and dedication to the cause!

Jim

[Grampa Dave]

A lot of your old material is still appropriate as we have so many new Freepers without the sense of history of why we have these Freepathons and what Free Republic does with these fund.

Of course those funds depend on the donations of Freepers.

JustShe's current ad insert was great, and I think that it really helped get us up and over the top.

Again we had a large number of new monthly donors sign up. This is so important to the future of Free Republic. The monthly donors provide a predictable and dependable base and a monthly flow of donations. Rotti Biz does such a great job updating and maintaining those lists.

MO1, gabz and the others who keep the Freepathon rolling on and alive did a great job.

A discussion a week or so before the next Freepathon would be good.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks Ed for the kind words and your hard work pushing the monthly donor concept.

When people give their time, talent and treasure on a regular basis to an organization, they buy into that organization. They want to see that organization survive and do well.

Our monthly donors give all three of the big T's on a regular basis. They are invested in making sure that organization survives.

[Mo1]

So we will have a viable Free Republic to make life miserable for the liars of the left for another 3 months.

This puts a huge smile on my face:0)

[Gabz]

$7,009 per month, up $1,159 (plus 20%)
416 Monthly Donors, up 86 (plus 26%)

We're getting there. Great work everyone!

GREAT NUMBERS!!!!!!!

[NormsRevenge]

Who let the dogs out?

Wed Apr 16, 1:49 AM ET

A military helicopter carries soldiers and military dogs from the Special Force Corp (Kopassus) during celebrations to mark its 51st anniversary at their headquarters in Jakarta, April 16, 2003. Indonesian defence minister Matori Abdul Djalil on Tuesday issued one of Jakarta's starkest warnings yet that a pact aimed at ending decades of conflict in Aceh province was in danger, with military action inevitable if it fell apart. REUTERS/Supri

[Grampa Dave]

Keeping Free Republic viable to make life miserable for the liars of the left, the Baathist Party of America, is why all of us work so hard during these Freepathons.

[EdReform]

Careful - I still have a picture of the goat! ;o)

[Grampa Dave]

Yes these are great numbers!

$7,009 per month, up $1,159 (plus 20%)
416 Monthly Donors, up 86 (plus 26%)

We're getting there. Great work everyone!

[Gabz]

You've got that right!!!!!!!

[Mo1]

Thanks for the coffee & donuts Fiddlestix ...

[Mo1]

Oh sure .. threats don't scare me

[justshe]

Thanks.....and I think a pre-meeting is a good idea too. But a pre-meeting, requires, as Rotti pointed out, a few days notice before the fundraiser (hint hint, Jim).

I answered several FRmails, generated by that last grannymoon ad insert, from new Freepers who had read the ad out on the boards, asking if this was a monthly fundraiser...or if they could donate annually etc. In other words....they didn't understand the structure.

Besides the fact that a war was going on......this was ALSO tax time...so I think the freepathon went VERY well, considering.

Thats the end of my random thoughts. :-)

[Grampa Dave]

Yes, when you consider that we had a war going on full tilt, and yesterday was tax day, we did very well.

I think that last year, during the tax season, it took a lot longer.

We have so many new Freepers who have no idea of how Free Republic is funded and why Free Republic needs money from Freepers to stay up and alive.

This is why we have to bring out the history of why we are having a freepathon each quarter.

[NormsRevenge]

Is it just me or did this one fly by at a pretty good pace considering the amount raised? I count about 10 days or so to hit the goal.

Very impressive in light of all the goings on..

Great Job by All of you fine FR folks.

[NormsRevenge]

9 Lives .. Greyham goes Gafarfanugen.. I'm jealous! :-)

Wed Apr 16,10:08 AM ET

Nine lives for a cat. Greyham, travelled thirty kilometers under the hood of a van.(AFP/Nature/File)

[justshe]

****Is it just me or did this one fly by at a pretty good pace considering the amount raised? I count about 10 days or so to hit the goal.****

It's Time for our Second Quarter FReepathon
Posted on 04/07/2003 6:33 PM EDT by Jim Robinson

Start to finish....I count 8 days and a few hours.

[Mo1]

Morning all .. I need to run and do a few things and will pop back later .... But I want to say thanks y'all and give y'all a

BIG {{{HUG}}}

[GiveEmDubya]

""What we need is some moneybags to endow Jim with a trust to keep the site cutting edge""

Don't worry, if I go to the college I hope to go to, dinero should be no problem afterwards :) I promised myself if I ever got into 6-figures at a law firm or something like that (and the school keeps telling me that I will) then I will write FR a big fat check.

[Gabz]

Hugs back at ya!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to go back to cleaning the oven.

I'm counting hours now - not days!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be locking the door on this place in less than 24 hours!!!!!!

[justshe]

Here is to a safe, sane move for you.

May your bed rails go together quickly...and your pillows be quickly found!