It's nice to see how many people you can count on here!

[Carotio]

Okay, this is one of the negative posts, but I'm sorry. I can't give you anything this time around. It's not like that I have never given anything before. Years ago, I gave a small donation and shortly after that GWX donation thingy, I gave 50$. But it ain't happening this time.
As some people know, I run SHMF: a forum and host about Silent Hunter alone, but with support for numerous languages. Recently, I received a large extra fee, and only two people donated, so I had to eat most of the expences myself, which sucks. And then Christmas time ain't exactly cheap, so no, not this time. Maybe sometimes next year...
But I hope Subsim receives enough donations, so it won't hurt the economy of Neal too much. So good luck.

Originally Posted by Carotio

Okay, this is one of the negative posts, but I'm sorry. I can't give you anything this time around. It's not like that I have never given anything before. Years ago, I gave a small donation and shortly after that GWX donation thingy, I gave 50$. But it ain't happening this time.
As some people know, I run SHMF: a forum and host about Silent Hunter alone, but with support for numerous languages. Recently, I received a large extra fee, and only two people donated, so I had to eat most of the expences myself, which sucks. And then Christmas time ain't exactly cheap, so no, not this time. Maybe sometimes next year...
But I hope Subsim receives enough donations, so it won't hurt the economy of Neal too much. So good luck.

Hi Neal!
Would you please be so kind as to credit half of my donation to Carotio?
He does much to keep me coming back to subsim.

Side note to Carotio:
Hvem kan sige nej til Dannebrog?
Det er helt i orden.
Tusind tak for billederne fra snevejret!

[Letum]

How much did we raise?
I'm not asking for numbers, but...

Enough to cover the cost of hosting this post for a day or two?
Enough to buy Neal a pint?
Enough to keep SS going for a month? 6 months? a year?
Enough to keep SS going for a while plus a bit extra?
Enough to commission the building of a new VIIC?

[horsa]

Any thoughts on a long term solution ?

What does everyone think ? Come on you marketing gurus out there.

It may seem like a site that just started quietly in 1996 but Subsim is a brand - any ways that can make a permanent income ?

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Letum

How much did we raise?
I'm not asking for numbers, but...

Enough to cover the cost of hosting this post for a day or two?
Enough to buy Neal a pint?
Enough to keep SS going for a month? 6 months? a year?
Enough to keep SS going for a while plus a bit extra?
Enough to commission the building of a new VIIC?

Enough for a pint and a few lightbulbs for the conning tower of a VIIC, and Subsim's continued survival. A lot of great people stepped up and delivered, but I sure won't get rich running a sub game website.

Originally Posted by horsa

Any thoughts on a long term solution ?

What does everyone think ? Come on you marketing gurus out there.

It may seem like a site that just started quietly in 1996 but Subsim is a brand - any ways that can make a permanent income ?

I've given a lot of thought to this over the years. Naturally, I favor the methods that cost the members here zero dollars--that is the Google ad and commissions through sales of books and games through Amazon. Unfortunately, a lot of people block the one Google ad I have here, so that's null. And while some people make a point to start their Amazon shopping throught the Subsim store, it's pretty easy to forget (and I don't wanna shill constantly).

The other big revenue streams in the past are Subsim Battle Gear and donation mods, like Pacific Aces and the week long exclusive GWX3 donation download (ah, those were the days). Fred has throughtfully offered to let me use some of his radio mods as a second DVD with the Subsim Super DVD mods collection, so after the first of the year, we will try that. And I make a little money off the Subsim Almanacs, but you cannot imagine how much time and work one of those babies entails

Other than that, I hope the members who enjoy the website will put up with an annual fundraiser. There's no membership fee, it is 100% voluntary. You give what you want, when you can. And if someone wants to chip in throughout the year, the Make a Donation button is right under one's name and PM notification in the top right corner of this page.

[Onkel Neal]

PS: sorry for the server disruptions this morning. I've hired an experienced MySQL server tech to help me locate and fix damaged tables in the forum database which we think is causing the ocassional server lockups. (The forum db is huge now, 3.2GB ).

Your donation money in action!

[Letum]

Regarding long term, low input fund raising...

Another forum I frequent uses the vBulletin software to raise funds.
There is a user group called 'subscribers'. It's membership is dependent on
regular donations. When donations are given via paypal one automatically
becomes a member for 1-6 months, depending on the amount donated.
The perk of membership is the ability to chose ones own signature and
avatar.

As it is clear who has donated and who has not, a culture of regular
donation has formed.



I know we have a somewhat informal arrangement like this already, but
I think it could benefit from streamlined, automated integration with the
vBulletin software.

[SteamWake]

Nah none of this "I donated so I have more rights" kind of stuff.

I'm glad to see the money being put to good use and salute those that did donate.

[Reece]

Originally Posted by Letum

Regarding long term, low input fund raising...

Another forum I frequent uses the vBulletin software to raise funds.
There is a user group called 'subscribers'. It's membership is dependent on
regular donations. When donations are given via paypal one automatically
becomes a member for 1-6 months, depending on the amount donated.
The perk of membership is the ability to chose ones own signature and
avatar.

As it is clear who has donated and who has not, a culture of regular
donation has formed.

I don't like that idea, some people here are finding it hard to make ends meet with a lot of other compulsory commitments, it should remain purely voluntary unless funding for Subsim gets more desperate!
I donate when I can but some reminders every few months would be a good idea to jolt (or prick) the memory!!

[Méo]

Originally Posted by horsa

- any ways that can make a permanent income ?

I'll do my part, I'm gonna subscribe 5$ each month.

Bah! 5$ each month... much less expensive and much more useful than cable.

I guess a more stable income is the best solution.

[d@rk51d3]

For the ads to generate income, do we need to click them, or just allow them to run on screen?

[Aramike]

I know we have a somewhat informal arrangement like this already, but
I think it could benefit from streamlined, automated integration with the
vBulletin software.

I think a lot of people enjoy the informal way this community is ran. I donated because I wanted to, not because I was compelled to, and I will continue to do so occassionally. Should there become some sort of membership dues involved, I think that a lot of the people who make this place great would disappear simply because they can't afford it. And that would make a lot of other people disappear simply because the community is diluted.

So long as its feesible, I hope it stays just the way it is.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by d@rk51d3

For the ads to generate income, do we need to click them, or just allow them to run on screen?

I also would be interested in the answer to this question.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by d@rk51d3

For the ads to generate income, do we need to click them, or just allow them to run on screen?

Just allow them to show, you don't have to click them