Fundraising

Blackflag: How would that raise money for edeb8, it would just bring in new members

ButterCatx: Maybe you need to reread the OP

Blackflag: So to clarify - you'd be willing to donate towards paying for advertisements on other sites?

I'm also going to casually bump this thread because it's actually relevant and important. What would people debate towards. What sort of milestones should there be. That sort of thing.

admin: Sure, if it worked and others were in on it.

.... more casual yet futile bumping ...

admin: ... and again. This thread needs to stay on top haha.

admin: ... I ... will not ... give up ...

Haha, ok I'll bite. I already pay to belong to several sites on the interweb. IN GENERAL, pay sites tend to attract a better, more positive, class of people than the non-pay sites - although admittedly, these are technical, rather than social forums I'm talking about.

I'd be willing to donate, even pay a regular sub to belong to Edeb8, and I don't really care what the money is used for.
I know that's not really useful for you, so here's a few random thoughts...

1. I feel very strongly that I don't want Ads on this site. As such, I'd happily pay to keep them off. Yes, I understand that I can use an Ad-blocker, but it offends me that I would have to.

2. I'd very happily pay, purely to renumerate Admin for the work you do. You've created a cool site that works - I don't see why you shouldn't get paid for that.

3. I'd pay to offset any costs that might be incurred in maintaining/improving the site. I don't think anyone here buys it when you say it doesn't cost much to maintain this site. Time is money too.

4. My personal preference would not be to have "building the membership" as an end goal, I'm much more of a "build it and they will come" kind of guy. As such, placing Ads on other sites to attract members wouldn't be my first preference, but I don't feel very strongly about this at all. I would not contest this in any way, and if Admin decided that this fell into point 3, then I'm fine with that.

5. I know that for a social site, attaching a regular cost to it could be considered suicide. For this reason I think setting up a simple donation box type deal would be the obvious answer. It's probably not going to cost you anything or make you much, but it DOES give a means for people to show their appreciation in a practical manner.

5a. If the membership ever gets even half as big as DDO's though, you need to absolutely institute a fee to belong. That will cull the herd from all the deadwood and time wasters. I think for a debate site, the optimal number is probably around 200 with about a 40% debate participation rate.

nzlockie: I agree with number 5, but not 5a because I will not be able to continue because I do not have a credit card.

ButterCatx: I get that. It is easier to pay for stuff with a credit card - but there are lots of ways to send someone money. You could do it if you wanted to badly enough.

Which is kind of my point. Having a fee reduces it to only those people who REALLY want to be there.

And even if you couldn't, it would only be a matter of waiting until you COULD get a credit card - which is not a bad thing. Patience is a virtue my son!

nzlockie: 4 years, maybe more if I'm busy. That is a lot of waiting. Plus sending it through the mail it could get stolen. Wiring it to him would work if I knew my bank account number and didn't have a helicopter mom watching my account. I wish I could but I can't.

nzlockie: Thanks!

ButterCatx: It's fine, I won't be introducing a paywall anytime soon haha.