Support Maple Leaf Up!

[Bob Carriere]

Geoff

You need to copy or paste your message to each and every thread of MLU..... for everybody to read the full string and make a contribution.....

Asking for a voluntary annual quasi membership fee of $20 dollars is not asking to much.......

Guys it is YOUR MLU site we are talking about.......

Geoff let's have a current ongoing posting of all those paid up a contribution......


Bob C.

[hrpearce]

Geoff,
Instead of just sending a PM this time I'll ask in public, if the 546 regulars were to pay for the upkeep leaving you only with the countles hours of work to worry about, how much per member would it come too. This information would help me and the rest understand if we are generous or only throwing a token gesture your way.

[Rick W]

Its a tough call for Geoff I think. You cannot count the hours. But I think if you could give us an indication of what you need from members it would help. I for one dont know how much the contributions need to be. So maybe a sub is the answer?

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by hrpearce

Geoff,
Instead of just sending a PM this time I'll ask in public, if the 546 regulars were to pay for the upkeep leaving you only with the countless hours of work to worry about, how much per member would it come too. This information would help me and the rest understand if we are generous or only throwing a token gesture your way.

Robert,

Ideally, I think that $20 per year from each of our core membership is proper and appropriate. It would not only allow me to keep the bills paid, but keep the software up-to-date and allow me to invest in good stuff like hats, t-shirts, golf shirts, coveralls, mugs etc. Stuff like this needs thousands in advance and can sit on shelves for months. I simply can't afford it, regardless of how desirable stuff like this might be to all of you.

As it stands now, a precious few members send a few hundred dollars, year after year, but it's always the same guys and never enough to make a difference... and making a difference is what I really want to do! It's not fair to any of us.

After 12 years, I don't think it's too much to ask. You'll certainly get it back in spades! There's only so much one old guy can do by himself.

Thanks,

Geoff

[cliff]

Geoff did you get the money I sent from the small number of calendar sales?

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

(1) Cliff: check your PMs.

(2) Gentlemen: Let me use this as a comparison. I don't know how many have used these over the years, but any decent dating site on the internet will demand $30 per month just to participate. I'm only asking for $20 per year, which is peanuts by comparison (and likely more useful in the long run! ).

Cheers,

Geoff

[Mark W. Tonner]

I’m curious Geoff, what is the approximate monthly operating expense of the forum, I think that would give people a better understanding of the monetary requirements that are needed to keep MLU up and running. A membership fee of $20.00 dollars a year works out to approximately $ 1.67 a month per member.

Cheers

[aj.lec]

Originally Posted by Mark W. Tonner

I’m curious Geoff, what is the approximate monthly operating expense of the forum, I think that would give people a better understanding of the monetary requirements that are needed to keep MLU up and running. A membership fee of $20.00 dollars a year works out to approximately $ 1.67 a month per member.

Cheers

Well that is mighty good value then
One way of looking at that equation is it is less than half the price of one cup of store coffee per month .Imagine the amount of cups of coffee or tea that have been consumed going through the threads of mlu each year

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Mark W. Tonner

A membership fee of $20.00 dollars a year works out to approximately $ 1.67 a month per member.

Cheers

Originally Posted by aj.lec

Well that is mighty good value then.
One way of looking at that equation is it is less than half the price of one cup of store coffee per month.

Another way to look at it is that it is the cost of enough petrol to drive a CMP about 3mi/5km.

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Mark W. Tonner

I’m curious Geoff, what is the approximate monthly operating expense of the forum, I think that would give people a better understanding of the monetary requirements that are needed to keep MLU up and running. A membership fee of $20.00 dollars a year works out to approximately $ 1.67 a month per member.

Cheers

Sorry Mark, I missed this earlier.

You're really missing the point here; whether my costs are $35 per month or $135 per month - USD, BTW - is irrelevant. I've had to pay both extremes and regularly in between. There are domain charges, software charges, bandwidth charges and much else.

The point is that I want to make MLU better, and I can't do it by myself. I want to streamline the whole operation and I want to offer you all things which I know you want. For better or worse, having been pensioned off last year I haven't the resources... and part of that is because of the time and money which go into MLU every damned year.

As I said before (and no doubt will again), all but a handful of you have gotten a free ride for twelve years. It's been a pleasure and a privilege to bring this unique entity to you, but we can't grow without your help.

In short, it's your turn. I can only repeat that MLU doesn't run and fund itself. How much is all of this worth to you? 18,000 posts a year, on average? A cup of coffee a day too much? Entities like ours, so unique in their own right, do not grow on trees.

Thanks,

Geoff