Donations to cover the forum's costs

[peteracs]

Hi All
Two points

1) Just tried to make a donation, but on pressing the Paypal button, just a blank screen. Could one of the admins take a look at this please? I am using latest Firefox on Windows.

2) Never seen any specific request on here for donations from members, so thought I would start the ball rolling on it. From what Matt tells me it costs around £200 a year to host and looking at the recent shown donations, Matt and Rossacorsa have covered this recently + any anonymous doners. So thought I would just throw out the discussion to see if we can spread the cost more evenly. Given that the forum is run in a pretty laid back way, but is really useful to many from looking at the postings, can I suggest that if folk were to chip in a few pounds each, the £200 would be easily acheived without any one person really noticing it, maybe a suggested start is £5 each (1 or 2 drinks for most of us). If the total raised is sufficient to keep it going for more than one year, all the better.

So what do you all think?

Peter

[MattNoVAT]

Hi Peter,

Firstly, the problem with the Paypal Donation feature is a known issue and strangely enough I said to Tony last night, that when I get back from fishing in a weeks time can he and I get this resolved.  As I have monies from parts donated to the forum that I have subsequently sold on via here or Ebay that should go into the forums coffers.  As the donations were not covering the costs I decided to take the parts the Forum was donated and sell it, then then stick that in the forums funds minus the postage.

Secondly, two or three years ago I did pop a thread up kind of rallying folks to make a small donation towards the running costs for that year because we were close to covering the whole £200, it worked but I do not want members to feel like they are being hassled.  Alas, sadly it seems to be the same handful of people who donate :-(

If the forum went subscription based then things get a little more complicated from an Admin perspective, but not beyond the realms of possibility.  It may have an effect on membership, but I guess we will not know unless we make that transition.

Yes, it's laid back, although we have had to put down a few democratically agreed rules. Now that the membership has grown significantly, the economic climate changed and there were some that just wanted to take advantage of the free advertising + targeted audience without contributing anything at all.

I think this sounds like time for a "Poll" that is open for a couple of months - as we have some members who visit infrequently.

We certainly don't want members to feel like they have been drawn in for free then hit with a subscription.  I have my own opinion, but I have to keep it to myself because everyone is entitled to express their own, free from any perceived pressure.

I will set up a Poll when I return from my fishing trip,

[rodney3010]

For what they are worth and in no order of importance here are my thoughts:
I wasn't aware of the cost and how the site is funded (accept that that is my fault and maybe I should have enquired) and it is totally unfair to expect 2 people to shoulder the burden of paying for a facility that many find invaluable.
I am a member of the LMC and being honest I don't use it for much more than access to the forum. Logically therefore it is reasonable to view this forum as a 'club' and membership of any club should be subject to a membership fee.
I understand the issue around admin perspective and maybe we should consider an 'honesty box' approach. Whilst there will always be those who will abuse the system and not contribute I'm a half glass full kind of chap and believe that the majority who use this forum are decent folk and will recognise the need to put thier hand in their pocket.
Rodders

[thecolonel]

I agree that the burden should not be left on the shoulders,of a few,
although not being a beta owner, I do take part in the forum  and
therefore should contribute to the cost involved.



Put me down for 20p ;~})


Seriously I'd be happy to add to the coffers.

[rossocorsa]

just to clarify in case of confusion I only chipped in a tenner and that was ages ago! Please correct me if I am wrong but I think we have to thank Matt and Tony for most of the hard work and unrecorded expenses made. The rover 75 and Zt club have a policy of free membership but a smallish fee to annually become a subscribed member which gives access to a few more facilities, whilst it may seem a bit mean perhaps some sections could be restricted to subscribed membership and maybe if there is enough take up to cover a short production run something  a car sticker could be sourced as a freebie each year? 

[Tony B]

Hi,

For what it's worth, I think that £5 for what the site and its members give us is frankly a steal. I know I'm in, is Paypal playing yet?

I know that Matt and and few learned others maybe (occasionally) feel like they plough a bit of a lone furrow keeping the ship off the rocks and 'tipping up' is I feel a very appropriate show of support.

Just my two penneth'.

TB.

[droptop]

I've sold a few unwanted items to members here courtesy of the site and obtained a few choice items from members, not to mention the help and encouragement I've received since joining about two and a half years ago so I figure it's certainly payback time from me anyway.
It does no harm to put the financial side of this forum in the public domain every now and then just to shake us out of our complacency.
Thanks to all for everything mentioned above and rest assured, "the cheque is in the post"

[Zagato]

Happy to contribute but not a Paypal user ... so would need to know who to make cheque out to and where to send it

[slowe]

I'm more of a cheque sort of person (bit old hat I'm afraid). Am happy to contribute though

Regards

[peteracs]

Hi All

For those who want to use cheques, then I am happy to accept them and convert into Paypal payment or happy if someone else wants to take on this task.

As to the subscription model. Other forums that I subscribe to have a members section where content is limited to those whose subscribe and others who limit access for a number of days to sections such as items for sale for a certain number of days before offering to the general public.

Also I think that limiting any downloads to subscribers makes sense.

Technically I do not know what can be achieved with the forum as it stands, so that would be down to Matt etc to let us know if any of this is feasible or desirable.

Peter

[Ammy]

Peter, Can you provide details for cheque payment please.  To whom payable and address etc.,  I don't use paypal either.

[carl59862]

Just to say that I am also more than happy to contribute financially, not just as a one-off, but as an annual donation. I am also a member of LMC and I too don't really get anything from it apart from access to the forum, which rarely has anything Beta-related.

Carl.

[TonyLanciaBeta]

Hi All

thanks for all your support for the Beta forum over the last 10 years, it's nice to know it's appreciated

when Matt comes back from holiday we will have a chats over coffee, as to where we go with the forum, and like Matt said post a poll

Also thanks go to Mark Wastnidge (www.lanciabetaparts.co.uk) who started the forum all those years ago, and continues to supports us, this year he gifted us the new Beta Forum flag (cost price to him £270) thanks Mark  

I will try to look at the Paypal donation plug-in tomorrow, and keep you posted
We can take cheque donations, again will speak to Matt and get back to you

thanks again
Tony and team

[mtulloch]

Count me in for a contribution.

[peteracs]

Hi All

First, on the cheque front happy to see what Matt et al decide on them, but happy to accept and convert into Paypal or bank transfer if it takes some weight/time off others.

Second, agree on the LMC point, been a member for a couple of years now, enjoy the monthly mag, but suspect the lack of Beta stuff on the forum is direct result of this forum, similar to lancisti.net which only normally has US Beta stuff on it.

Also happy to have annual subscription for the forum. If there is money over each year then suggest it goes towards items which can be shared with the subscribers such as special tools etc, or towards conversion of old paper records to electronic etc.

Peter

[rossocorsa]

This is the only Lancia forum I contribute to these days, not a fan of LMC and not been a member for some years anyway I would be happy with an optional full membership for this forum for me I think 10 quid per annum seems about right it's enough to make a difference but no so much that you'd really miss it. These days even if I wanted to I couldn't afford to rejoin the LMC as the sub has become ridiculous

[Ammy]

So pleased to learn that so many folk feel the same way as me.       I gave up L.M.C membership purely because,  little ,  if anything,  on the Beta, which wasn't regarded by L.M.C as  Lancia.   I get great enjoyment,  every day,  reading this Forum and whatever the cost feel it's worth it.

[peteracs]

Definitely my first port of call on the forum front, always sad if there are no new posts......

A fiver to a tenner per year sounds reasonable to me.

Peter

[Zagato]

Thought this thread was about who was willing to contribute ... rather than comparing forums?

I use both ... because I like Lancias ... and if its got a Lancia badge on it then that's fine by me ...

Yes the company has changed over the years ... but what hasn't?
Not all change is for the good ... but in business sometimes change is necessary for survival

and I'm not really sure that you should even try to compare two forums that are really very different ...
One tries to cover every model ever made ... and the other a very specific series ...

 

[rossocorsa]

Apologies I got carried away with my distaste for the   LMC, you are quite right it's not the place to be airing such stuff