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
Hope that isn't the same as "I don't want to contribute to it." How much is it worth to you other than $0.00????
I am asking the same question in the same tone.
This is my main source of news, and am very grateful to know I have a "one-stop" site for information. This week I sent a link to my mom, recommending the site (I included a warning to please not post, as it would embarrass me).
I don't mind your constant begging for money, because I know that I only have to give if I want to, and it certainly isn't unreasonable to put up with constant begging in exchange for free news. Fair is fair.
I stopped getting mad at all the flyers you send via regular mail, asking me for money, because I suddenly remembered I didn't have to open them. Now I just throw them in the trash on the way up to my apartment. (But is the cost of postage and printing worth it? Do you realize you're wasting money every time you send the same thing three times?) I do wish the phone calls would stop (I said that the nicest way I know how, Jim). Boy, do you ever keep late hours! Being woken up at 2 AM Eastern is the price I pay for free news.
Even the porn has stopped bothering me, since I figured out how to block that category. I did notice a lot of revenge porn spam in my e-mail after deselecting that category of posts, so I stopped using that e-mail address since then. Of course, I have lost contact with everyone else using that address, but the free news is worth it.
Inspector Harry was always hitting on me, anyway -- either he refuses to believe that I'm a guy, or he's "funny" that way. Please rethink your reinstatement.
I hate the itching, but I don't mind the swelling.
The one thing I do mind is the scandals. I go white every time I read about your threats to Lucianne, your collection of erotic kitsch art, and your massive illegal gun collection (I hope you get them back). I'm just glad the press hasn't yet figured out the connection between you and FreeRepublic.
Keep up the good work, and try a little harder to stay out of the tabloids.
Your good friend,
Silly (just being)
I like this idea. 24 dollars a year, 2 dollars a month, is also a reasonable, affordable cost if this user fee is what it has to come to.
Lots of us spend more than 2 bucks on newspapers every week alone.
Jim...... We love you here and will continue to support you and this website, if you dont believe me, start a fund raising thread and you will see :-)
It is not worth however the restricted nature that is allowed by your screeners who yank threads at their whim.
I would gladly pay for a site that has less restrictions on what gets posted. In fact, if you develop better guidelines that will prevent watchdog interpretation on pulling posts, I would gladly start off by pledging $100.00 right now. However, I wouldn't give you a penny the way posts are being pulled right now.
I don't doubt administating this site is a major headache, but I also have no doubt FreeRepublic is more important now than it has ever been in the past.
I continue with my commitment to "dollar a day" for FreeRepublic.
The rules would still apply. You get a warning or two, then a time out for a week or a month, then banned permanently. No refunds will be issued, as per the agreement when you sign up.
I think that the Freedom Medal would be in order, for Jim and John both. They not only "talk the talk", they "walk the walk".
Agreed. My comments about any pop up ads would get me banned for life! LOL!
Sorry I couldn't Resist! : ^ )
Badjoe Please send me freepmail when the Freepathon starts (I missed contributing last time)
Damn the Liberals! FULL FREEP AHEAD!
Gummy, thanks for the heads up. :( The distractors on this forum, as well as the one we frequent reminds me of this dude that walked around us in kc when we were protesting Gore's visit. He had this disgusting looking on his face like we were piles of crap... (ROFL) and he was trying to harass us by constantly belittling what we were doing. (Troutstalker probably remembers him)... Those people really have small minds, small hearts and lots of mouth.
Most Sincerely,
Christine
~~~~~~ LONG LIVE FREE REPUBLIC ~~~~~~
You deserve to take a salary, and the complainers deserve to take a hike!
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