| Free Republic 4th Qtr 2024 Fundraising Target: $81,000 | Receipts & Pledges to-date: $18,941 | |||
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| Woo hoo!! And we're now over 23%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless. | ||||
Posted on 04/19/2012 1:22:35 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
I've checked with an ad agency. We can probably raise the funds we need to operate FR at our current level and at the current market price for online advertising if we run a banner ad at the top of every page and at least one rectangular ad in the above the fold body of the page and a couple rectangular ads in the sidebar. If that doesn't generate enough revenue, we can also run pop ups or pop unders and we can even run audio and video ads if need be. But of course, if we go full bore commercial, we'd have to insure strict copyright compliance with very brief excerpting of all articles to avoid lawsuits. And the agency would require that we install a filter to censor out any bad or unacceptable words in our posts.
Or, of course, there's always the membership model. We could setup a members only system where paying members get full access and non-paying members get throttled back, etc.
I don't like either of the above models and think we'd soon lose a lot of our readers and participants. Of course that may happen anyway if we can't fund it and if we cannot get our equipment problem under control, or if my refusal to vote for or support an abortionist/homosexualist/statist who has plans to install ObamaCare, er, I mean RomneyCare into all 50 states runs everyone off.
The donation model has served us very well since 1997 when we first started using it. It's very clean, uncomplicated and we attract participants who perhaps can't afford membership dues but do want to join the discussion and join our rallies, protests, prayer sessions, etc. And the advertising model would probably bring in the revenue, but it comes with strings attached.
I'm sure there are other ways and ways to combine features of various models, sell books, cds, gear, etc, offer no ads for paid subscribers, etc, even ISP services, but all of these also complicate matters.
I'm an old dog and I like to avoid new tricks, new complications, additional overhead, additional accounting, additional rules and regulations, etc, wherever possible. I like to stick to simplicity and with what works.
Thank you all very much for your continuing participation and support.
Whatever works best for you, I'm on board.
However, I might recommend that vanity posters pay a small fee of $5 per vanity thread they start.
No fee, of course, for monthly contributors above $10/month.
I vote for a $10 per month membership. All others see ads.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it...
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Is 22% in 19 days really working?
Are there any like me who donate plenty but still the freepathons make us feel somehow bad? I don’t like that they are so long — I don’t like that some don’t even feel guilty because I feel guilty during them even though I contribute enough.
Maybe membership with stars on our bellies would get every regular freeper to pony up? Sounds silly. But I’d always allow free participation. This is how we get the insiders and famous here, for full anonymity.
-Cajun-
That said...I don't pay much attention to advertisement anyway.
I'd just as soon...see the non-paying FREEPER's pony up...$3 a month.
FWIW-
How ‘bout Ads, with an option to pony up a subscription for Ad-Free...
However, I might recommend that vanity posters pay a small fee of $5 per vanity thread they start.
Then members should pony up to improve and keep this site going strong. I am member 5 hundred and something, give with paypal each month so I don’t have to worry about the fund drives
God bless you for putting this out for our membership.
As a member of your FReepathon Team, please know that I am willing to keep Free Republic just like it is: completely member funded and totally independent of ads and outsiders!
I know that our FReepathons are taking a longer than in the old days, when our THONS would only take one week, but in those days our financial needs were at the amount of our Monthly Donor donations = $40K!
Whatever y’all decide, will be A-OK with me. I would prefer to keep us completely independent, but if that’s not possible, then go for the least intrusive.
Pop-ups are the pits!
I have heard it said that $5 per month per user would cover things well. Come on people, get up off of it. Donate monthly.
Thank you for your incomparable vision and uncompromising conservatism.
Technical question - how do I change my monthly subscription amount?
It costs almost $2.00 to process a donation.
Except we'd already be bankrupt by the time we find out it doesn't work. We have zero surplus capital, but do have plenty of debts that must be paid on every month. We don't live hand to mouth, but we do live quarter by quarter. We have no financial cushion to fall back on and cannot afford to experiment and lose.
But I thank God for what we have and what we have accomplished as a group anyway. We were never supposed to have gotten this far. Just a group of amateurs and disgruntled citizens banding together on a simple little website to protest against Clinton's abuses. Miss him yet? He was scandal a day, but almost a comical character compared to Obama. Now we're having to fight outright Marxist/communist totalitarian tyranny in our White House!!
Damn the LEFTist bastards!! They'll have to pry my keyboard from my cold dead fingers!!
Same with me,don't even see adds on facebook.
I'm for sticking with what ya got but it is your site,your decision.
Sweetest you, Jim can better answer your question. Thanks very much, Mygirlsmom!!!
One dollar per month would cover everything if 10% of our readers would reliably put it up.
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