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Thread: Putting money aside for Geocaching Maine

  1. #21
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    Jun 2004
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    We have never been set with the donations we get from the Geocaching community for the web site. We barely make enough to cover the software cost, but I do not beg or plead for money from the members and I never will. The server cost over $4,000 per year. We have 27 donating members and the average donation is $5 which turns out to be about $135 a year. Most of the money comes from donation from my other web site that we are piggy backing off. I am not going to go into the details of what it cost just to host the Geocaching Maine web site and comparing it to the other web site because that is not what this is about. It was never about bringing in money for the web site. It was about bringing in money for the group.

    This was just a suggestion anyways and that was all it was. It seems like people always want to turn it into something more. So I will leave this alone and then in the future if we want to try and raise money then someone else can do it. I am not going to drag a dead horse into the ground on this. So if no one agrees with me or wants to do this then so be it. I am not going to get mad or upset because of it. I was just trying to help.
    Blazing Troll

  2. #22
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    Jun 2004
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    Brewer, Maine
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    Rick, I think that part of the problem MAY (I'm not sure here) that most people, you included, hate to ask friends for money. It's a hard, undesirable thing to do. You have minimized the costs of the site since the start and we accepted that, but if more money is needed for the site we need to know. We've known that we are a small part of another site, but if we are taking more than our share of the bandwidth or other server costs it needs to be made public. I know that I'd hate to see this site go away and would be willing to pay more if needed.
    I think that if a fee system is mandatory, we would lose a very large percent of our members, as (I think) a small percentage use the site a large amount of the time. I don't like the idea of a 'tax' on the coins, but if the site costs are excessive, and we all know that, we may be able to address it (either with the coin or another means)

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sudonim View Post
    Rick, I think that part of the problem MAY (I'm not sure here) that most people, you included, hate to ask friends for money. It's a hard, undesirable thing to do. You have minimized the costs of the site since the start and we accepted that, but if more money is needed for the site we need to know. We've known that we are a small part of another site, but if we are taking more than our share of the bandwidth or other server costs it needs to be made public. I know that I'd hate to see this site go away and would be willing to pay more if needed.
    I think that if a fee system is mandatory, we would lose a very large percent of our members, as (I think) a small percentage use the site a large amount of the time. I don't like the idea of a 'tax' on the coins, but if the site costs are excessive, and we all know that, we may be able to address it (either with the coin or another means)
    Thank you Sudonim, but no I am not saying we need more money for the server. I probably should have not thrown that into the conversation. We tread on thin water with the other web site and if I need more money for server cost I will not be afraid to ask in the future as I am sure that day will come.
    Blazing Troll

  4. #24
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    Sep 2005
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    what about making a section of the site for financial stuff??? Post what we need money for and where money would be most useful/appreciated? (kinda like what's done for city fundraisers, they put out those big thermometer signs and keep filling it in to show how much money they've raised) that way those of us that are willing to donate don't sit back and say "well I put in my $5 that's all" but we can see that more is needed elsewhere and can help out when we can, and know where it's all going.
    Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

  5. #25
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    Jun 2004
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    Bangor, ME
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hiram357 View Post
    what about making a section of the site for financial stuff??? Post what we need money for and where money would be most useful/appreciated? (kinda like what's done for city fundraisers, they put out those big thermometer signs and keep filling it in to show how much money they've raised) that way those of us that are willing to donate don't sit back and say "well I put in my $5 that's all" but we can see that more is needed elsewhere and can help out when we can, and know where it's all going.
    Talking with Rick last night in chat and reading the opinions here, it seems that's the way it will be. If the group decides they'd like to have something we will start getting donations through various methods and if it takes two years to make the money to buy it so be it.

    I will back Rick up and remind people that his post was not about money for the site, only for something physical the group might want to purchase as a whole. In theory, people who bought coins last time paid extra for the cost of the dies, which now pretty much belong to the group. I know, the dies are more directly related to the coin, but comparisons can be made. One thing we can do to help the site end of it out is to help promote the site when we can. More members means more input and ideas from more cachers as well as a better chance of donations. So when you see someone find your cache as one of their first, be sure to invite them here!
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    One thing we can do to help the site end of it out is to help promote the site when we can. More members means more input and ideas from more cachers as well as a better chance of donations. So when you see someone find your cache as one of their first, be sure to invite them here!
    Or putting the GCM.org banners on the cache page...

    What about doing some promotional stuff that's low overhead??? Like selling gcm.org stickers, or some kinda swag items, or maybe find some place that makes hats real cheap??? and put an GCM.org Store on the site, (and have that explaining that all profits go to benifit the site and such things???) (or would that again dip into a legal situation selling things on the site?)
    Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

  7. #27
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    I think the board has brushed through those ideas, but decided we needed to work on a few core issues first. But, if you think of or find any good products that might help, by all means mention it. It might actually help if there was a few members that looked into this for the group...
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  8. #28
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    Jun 2004
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    Brewer, Maine
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    I know that some sites do "on demand" printing for 1 or two t-shirts. If someone knows of one of those sites that can collect a portion of the proceeds to go to a fund, that would work. (If the stuff was good quality)

  9. #29
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    Jun 2004
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    Gainesville, Georgia
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    I believe the CafePress does just that type of thing.

    http://www.cafepress.com/?CMP=KNC-Y-...WID=6030297011
    Just smile it won't crack your face

    The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is
    suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best
    friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

  10. #30
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    Jul 2004
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    Portland, Maine
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    [quote=attroll;33274]This was just a suggestion anyways and that was all it was. It seems like people always want to turn it into something more. [quote]

    Suggestions are important and will very likely prompt discussion. It's disappointing to think that after having been asked if there is interest in something and sharing an opinion that one is met with resistance for having expressed his/her opinion.

    The points raised are the concerns of people with interests in the website and willingness to present their ideas. I have found that most of the suggestions or questions presented over the years have not been simple enough to warrant a yes or no response. Healthy discussion is important. If the result of the discussion is that people are not interested in the idea (for whatever their reason), then that is the result.

    Suggestions will not always be met with automatic and enthusiastic agreement.
    ~ Beach Comber ~

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