Olnick Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Where is that Donation page anyway? I don't think I've ever seen it. Or I don't remember it at least. Fairtax brings up a good point. It should be made clear to all that donations are appreciated and encouraged--"and here's how you can do it!" Then give payment options: Paypal, check (and where to send it), credit/debit card (?). Maybe a sticky with a catchy title, something subtle . . . like, DONATE HERE! (Or use a dancing banana. Yeah, dancing bananas are good. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 but it seems way too difficult to regulate. it wouldn't need regulated or have to be "required". first attempt could just go on the honor system and see how it goes, i'd do it. if it flops then scrap it. set up a one or two week time frame for folks to do it - a trial. i see your point though, it sounds like a pain on some levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlWithALegacy Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 (edited) Where is that Donation page anyway? I don't think I've ever seen it. Or I don't remember it at least. I'm in the same boat... I've seen that people are donors but I've never noticed anywhere to donate. Maybe having something on the home page or the User CP would be nice. On the note of color coordination, idk if I like that, I guess in a sense it seems like rewarding people for maybe being in a better financial situation than others... but idk maybe thats just me. I really like the WCSS raffle idea as well as the Subaru Bucks 500 $1 thing. Also, although $5 isn't much in the scheme of things.. every little bit counts, just like coupon clipping, it adds up. I would fear if you discourage little donations, it may backfire and cause people to not donate at all instead of donating larger amounts. As for Twitter, frankly I think that would be time consuming in general. Just because followers expect updates etc. And although I would totally follow USMB, with Twitter it seems you have to already know about something to follow it. We could all do our duty and tell people about USMB when they ask us about our kickin ride at the gas station. and of course having USMB bumper stickers. Places like CafePress that sell products, I'm pretty sure do the shipping etc for you, but you get less money from the sales. And seems the first thing that always comes up no matter what search engine I use is Yahoo! Answers. So maybe we could have a joint effort conspiracy between like 5 members. Have someone ask "Where's a good place to find Subaru information" and include key words such as legacy, engine... idk. then another member answers the question with "UltimateSubaru.org of course!" lol. and then the others vote that it's a good answer. Just an idea to get some traffic. Best of luck. Edited April 10, 2011 by GirlWithALegacy Grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarutex Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 The $5k/year number is a bit high, and I feel a bit unrealistic. I just don't think we have many cases of 300+ people online all at the same time. For 175 users, the cost is $1500/yr or so. Not much more than we are running now. Reading through IPboards system, I bet we could get by on that... they don't cap the users. Sounds like they would only charge more if we had an ongoing user overage, not just a peak once or twice here and there. I feel that Facebook is more important than twitter, but i see both of them being somewhat of a value to the user base. I would also hope that with the new software, a mobile viewable site would be do able (which through my research, seems possible). As head of WCSS i'd like to pledge $300/yr of our budget to the USMB to keep it up and running, as well as relevant to the community. The USMB and its users are an important part of WCSS and we want to keep it that way! I think that a tiered donation/privilege system could be used to great advantage here. I would do small step donations... Its a lot easier to give a dollar than it is 5, than it is 10. Example: Free User - 10 PM max, 5 pics max $1 User - 25 PM Max, 10 pics max $2 User - 50 PM Max, 15 pics max $5 User - 100 PM Max, 25 Pics max $10 User - 250 PM Max, 50 Pics max (this is under the assumption we use the gallery feature of IPboard...) On a lot of boards I frequent, the For Sale section is restricted. You cannot view it unless you create an account. Most also make you have a certain post count to view it (RCCrawler.com is 30) However... If you donate, you can get instant access. Also Shawn, I'd be happy to do the shirts! I have a local printer i work with, and don't mind the hassle of shipping stuff out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subeman90 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 there are some really great ideas here. The tiered donation thing for perks is a great idea and subaru-svx.net does something similar. I will say I have been here longer then most people in this thread (not bragging) and I still have a hell of a time finding that thing to donate money here. I really think this needs to change. No matter what I just wanted to pop in and say that I support you in whatever decisions you make and I plan to continue donating to this place. This was my first "home" for talking about Subarus on the internet and I plan to help it keep going strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I like the paypal idea. What % do they get? From another board I understand you can "gift" through Paypal and apparently no (or less) commissions are taken out. On this particular forum the kid talks folks into "gifting him the money" for parts, never ships the parts, and the folks are screwed because it was a gift! The sender can't ask Paypal to refund money for items not sent. Or I guess you can ask but they are pissed because they didn't get their cut and how can you want money back on a gift? Of course a gift to USMB would be in excellent hands. I'll have to reread this thread. I'm thinking it wouldn't be hard to sponsor one month (atleast at the old rates) in addition to my yearly donation after I receive payment from a few members that I expect shortly. Perhaps some members can step up and sponser a month occasionally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NV Zeno Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I just made a donation by way of my "User CP". Click User CP. On the dropdown, click on "Paid Subscriptions"(near the bottom)..many choices and donation levels will appear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutem Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 looks great, I am new here however and am having trouble seeing how to post a thread/question. Is there a tab to hit? Thanks very helpful site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 While i would love to donate $100 or more to this fabulous source of information about all things Subaru - my reality is unemployed and very limited funds. I do try to give when i can, even $5 bucks helps a little, but i also understand that if not enough people are sparing even $5, it just isnt enough. that said here are a couple of my thoughts... I kind of agree with the "for sale" sections of the forum being restricted to "donating" members of the community - trying to enforce any kind of '% of sales" thing would be a logistical nightmare, one I am sure no one really wants to take on. I belong to another forum (airbrushing) that has very basic info available for free, but a paid "membership/subscription" gets you access to a TON more "stuff" and it does seem to work for the owner of that site, as once someone finds out about all the "extra" stuff (there is a page dedicated to advertising what would be available and it has several subscription options) more people seem to sign up for the paid portion. My thought here would be to go for blocks of time 3 months, 6 months, a year, etc. also, if one were to go the tiered levels thing - not real sure about showing the various level colors in the general forums - I have an issue with that sort of thing - it's kinda like rubbing it in others faces that one can afford to donate at the highest level, while someone else cant. it can be shown to the user in thier control panel what level they have paid for, but i dont feel it is something that needs to be "advertised" to everyone and anyone. Raffles are nice if you have the extra to buy tickets, but again, some of us have very limited cash flow, and as a result, can not afford to buy raffle tickets - at any price. :-\ just my 2 cents worth from the "cant afford to pay attention" corner.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Ignore myspace/facebook/twitter Agreed. They are just a fad. I would be interested in purchasing another shirt. Just certainly NOT in yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2manetoys Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I think that a Stickied thread in ALL forums with a donations link would help. It would at the least make it easier to find and therefor donate to the site. I would be perfectly willing to do a subscription to the site especially if it were a monthly rather than annual subscription. not sure how hard or expensive that would be to set up though. A tier level among the donors would be nice, but not at the expense of information sharing. Perhaps something like a written instruction on how to do something for non-donors, but instructions with Pics for donors or maybe a chat function for donors only (if that's not too expensive/troublesome.) I did like someones suggestion about a "Search function" tutorial as I struggle with that one as well. I don't think Twitter is such a good idea, but I think that Facebook would be nice if simply so that those of us who have accounts there could find out if others are online and use FBs chat function to communicate more quickly. Having it as an option would be nice, but certainly is NOT a deal breaker for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subruise Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 perhaps this isnt the right spot for this but i do believe it to be relevant: i work at a signshop and have been wanting to do usmb bumper stickers/graphics for awhile now. i know some other users do the same thing. how do i go about gaining any needed permission to use usmb. i want to make these things and sell them to benefit usmb partly because i dont feel ive payed my dues yet and partly because this is much to valuable a place to not preserve and nurture. any mods/ people concerned please pm me, i wanna help. RV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 it wouldn't need regulated or have to be "required". first attempt could just go on the honor system and see how it goes, i'd do it. if it flops then scrap it. set up a one or two week time frame for folks to do it - a trial. i see your point though, it sounds like a pain on some levels. How many people go out of their way to avoid paying taxes? Someone or multiple someones will abuse the system and not send in the donations to the board. I think it's just far too involved to try to get a percentage or flat fee out of a private sale for a item listed on the board. The way I see it, it ends up working more like an online store, where transactions have to be handled through the board. That could work very well for the board if the volume of board based sales was high enough. But for a somewhat small board such as this, I think the cost will outweigh the benefit of having the infrastructure setup to work like that. For the tiered donation status suppose we don't use the typical Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc. Go with an approach that focuses less on monetary value, and come up with something more Subaru oriented? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarutex Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 For the tiered donation status suppose we don't use the typical Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc. Go with an approach that focuses less on monetary value, and come up with something more Subaru oriented? RCcrawler.com uses stars. They have different stars for vendors, etc... Doesn't seem monetarily based to me, aside from the fact that you need to donate in order to get one... but it doesn't denote the value of your donation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlWithALegacy Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I kind of agree with the "for sale" sections of the forum being restricted to "donating" members of the community - trying to enforce any kind of '% of sales" thing would be a logistical nightmare, one I am sure no one really wants to take on. I also agree with this. Like perhaps all members can VIEW what is for sale, but only donors can POST things for sale. And have a limit to how many things you can post for certain donation amounts? for example: $5 donors are allowed 5 postings in 3 months. $10 donors are allowed 10 postings in 3 months. etc. in addition to the current benefits of being a donor. And just curious.. has this thread resulted in an increase in donations the last couple days? I would imagine so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 And just curious.. has this thread resulted in an increase in donations the last couple days? I would imagine so... At least one.... I dont use this board nearly as much as I used to, but I threw $10 at it If I get promoted to route manager... i am happy to throw more $$ the boards way Hey where is my donor thingie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I wont be able to donate till July as that is a spare cash month for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I dont think any of the stuff mentioned for the For Sale forum will work. Mostly because if people find it a pita or dont want to donate, they will go someplace else to sell. You know that most of us are cheap and want something for nothing. There has to be a better way to increase donations and get a kitty growing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlWithALegacy Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 At least one.... I dont use this board nearly as much as I used to, but I threw $10 at it If I get promoted to route manager... i am happy to throw more $$ the boards way Hey where is my donor thingie I did too.. where's mine? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Another site I frequent that is now running vbulletin 3.8.5 used to have a great search feature - a radio button for "bolean". They appear to have lost that ability somewhere with an upgrade or software options. But I really miss it. You could search for 'clock spring' lets say and that's all you would get. Posts with BOTH words in them. So you wouldn't see any with just the word clock, or just the word spring. To me that would be way more useful than linking to social media. Again to me useful searching so folks don't need to keep starting threads about the same thing would help everyone. So while you're thinking about features please consider this one. Or if there is a way to do this here now please advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksjeep Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I 've been free loading for some time now,:eek:I didn't realize how these sights work thanks for the cost breakdown. ALSO Thanks for your efforts in keeping this sight up it truly has some great information. :grin:Hopefully you got my donation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 At least one.... I dont use this board nearly as much as I used to, but I threw $10 at it If I get promoted to route manager... i am happy to throw more $$ the boards way Hey where is my donor thingie Donor badges for the last 3 donors added. If anybody didn't get theirs please let me know. I am having to do them manually these days due to crappy software. This thread has resulted in a few donations and they are truly appreciated. It wasn't the intention of the thread but its loud and clear that people are willing to help out around here and I can't say enough thanks for that. I am really amazed at the recent donations for the people that have less than 20-40 posts and are new around here. Really like to see new "faces" coming in. I think this is proof of the patience and helpful nature of people here to newbies. Lets keep that going. I know some of you get annoyed with people that don't search but try to grit your teeth for a second before snapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hocrest Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I'm not here as often as I used to be. I have no idea how long since I chipped in so thanks for the reminder. This is what I found to donate; http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14367 When I clicked the link in the first post, it showed as "denied access" and I had to log in again? Is that normal? And I haven't had a clean, hole-less "Our world is Flat" shirt for years. I would definitely get a couple. I also like the raffle idea, and the tiered donation. I assume that raffle tickets and shirt purchases would chip a portion into the tier level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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