hi all. i was reading the thread in the cruise section titled "SA cruise, mid-september". Somehow it got turned into a -ummmm- 'discussion' on the topic of donations to the forums. all the usual stuff was covered, not all of us can afford it, etc etc. so while i was dodgedly welding commodores together at work today, i came up with an idea. i don't know if it has been thought of before, so please dont hassle me if it has.
MYEL8 mentioned that we use the forums to organize our cruises. well, we do with our major ones. so i was thinking, when we all rock up at a cruise, everyone could (completely voluntarily of course) chuck in a few bucks towards a group donation for the forums. i mean, on the average cruise i spent quite a bit on drinks and munchies etc, i'd be more than happy to throw in $10, $15 or whatever. if we had a cruise with 20 cars, and $5 from each car was thrown in, theres $100.
like i said, it'd be COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY, as i know there are alot of us that have to scrape together the cash to fuel their beasts to attend the runs.
anyways, what do you all think?
Yeah, sounds good. If you can make it work at one of your cruises, that'd be awesome. It wouldn't have to be $10, $15... it could just be 5, or 2. When you have 20 people, 5 bucks each goes along way..
Wait a minute.
This is all good and stuff... but they're not going to score a donating member tag... meaning ppl like you yagz are still going to have a go at them becuase they're not donating.
No one should be forced to donate, the forums is a great place to be, and if you've got some spare cash then donate, but don't be forced to do it.
IMO, if you're going to donate, do it the proper way.
Gives you the advantages of actually being a donating member (even if it is only $2-$5 or what ever)
I believe MCCR along with CCC both have the system working in a great way - it's simple - when you rock up at a cruise, to get the map for the cruise, it's a gold coin donation.
Obviously the club is not that huge - but if it grows over time like clubs do - you'll end up like CCC and MCCR which get hundreds of cars - if you've got 100 cars at a cruise with a gold coin donation you've just made at least $100. A nice donation really...
To help organise events, fund the forums (FordForums more so, as E-Series is just space on FordForums), etc. I'm sure Thanatos or John could enlighten you a little more.
the current discussion is aimed @ Fordforums donations.
E-Series donations currently can not be taken since the club is yet to be registered.
At this point actions could be taken to make eseries donations a possibility.
The 'profits' at this point would basically goto the funding of fordforums.com as do any donations made to the forums themselves.
CURRENTLY: E-Series stickers etc are extremely cheap (compared to the aufalcon.com and fordforums.com counterparts) which is due to part of the cost going to the funding of the site itself.
I like the user-pays idea, but would have a couple of concerns:
- As stated above, might have a detremental effect of cruise numbers. I'd be more than willing to throw in a few bucks but it's dangerous to make assumptions about other people's financial situation. I know the first meet I attended wasnt a great week for me, I stuggled to put juice in the tank. If i'd known a majority of attendees would be donating I porbably would have passed.
-Also, the more serious effect of people putting themselves down because they simply dont have a spare cent. Noting that the suggestion is to keep donations purely voluntary, I still think there may be a thought in the back of some people's mind "geez, I feel like crap because Im broke and cant chip in".
-Contradiction to FF policy. I realise the proceeds would obviously be forwarded to the site administrators but I think this would require some form of "sanction" from the powers that be. There may be reasons unthought of which would lead the admins to discourage the idea.
But yeah, I like the principle - Im just unsure of how well this would work in practice.
The E-series Owners Club can't yet take donations because we are not yet registered.
But what is being referred to here is actually Fordforums donations (which I used to do myself, too).
I don't like the idea of people having to make donations at meets. Regardless of whether they are referred to as 'voluntary' or not, they will put pressure on people to donate.
People should donate because they want to, not because they have to. Fordforums is a great resource, which we all love, so donations should be made to keep it running. But forcing people isn't the way to go.
And to put it bluntly, NOBODY (incl. Yagz) has the right to pass judgement on somebody who has/hasn't donated. Simple as that.
yes indeed, all very valid points. i didn't think about the people feeling pressured bit. the idea was only a very basic one, i realise it would need a lot of work. I just thought i'd put it forward and see what you thought about it.
the sa guys are having a small gathering this weekend, so i'll talk to them about it. i've already spoken to a couple of them about it, and got positive comments back.
Phil
yes indeed, all very valid points. i didn't think about the people feeling pressured bit. the idea was only a very basic one, i realise it would need a lot of work. I just thought i'd put it forward and see what you thought about it.
the sa guys are having a small gathering this weekend, so i'll talk to them about it. i've already spoken to a couple of them about it, and got positive comments back.
Phil
If the club gets registered then a small fee for cruises (ie gold coin, $5) would go a long way to help the club out. But until then if you want to show your support donate through the FF channels that have been setup.
No one should pass judgement on if someone donates or not.
Everyone has there own reasons for donating. For some people money is very tight and can afford to as they have to pay rent, bills etc.
If and when someone wants to they can do so in their own sweet time and not feel pressured.
So can we leave it at this!
i hope no-one thinks i am in any way presurring or expecting ppl to donate, thats not what this thread is about. hell, when i first came to oz, (im a kiwi), i was supporting myself, my partner, and my xa coupes v8 on under $350 a week, so i do know what its like.
my reasoning behind the idea was, yeah, i could donate $20 every 6 or so months. (and i will tomorrow), but, thats only $20. id love to be able to donate alot more. theres usually a fairly large cruise on in most states each month or so, a group donation from each cruise (wether it be $20 or whatever) would help out more than one or two ppl donating $20 every 6months.
ok, looking at what i've just written, and earlier posts i have written, it does look like i'm trying to force this upon everyone . But, its merely a suggestion. if no-one likes it, then thats cool. at least the idea is out there for everyone to look at.
Phil
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