Forum Supporter Membership

[fishmom]

I too feel like Orchid Board is a big part of my life, and I want to support it. I would feel better about that, though, if there was any responsiveness coming from the site administrator. What actually happens to the money that is donated? An annual accounting would be very welcome!

[estación seca]

My take is...
It undoubtedly costs money to operate the site;

Somebody is paying to keep the site open;

The administrator set up a method for accepting payments;

The same method of payment is still in use;

The money was deducted from my credit card account: Oct. 14, 2016 PAYPAL *FORUMSUPPRT 402-935-7733 CA

So it seems likely my payment is going to support the site. Of course I can't be sure. It could be going to a secret Canadian charity and then into the Clinton Foundation. But I don't think so.

I know the administrator isn't responsive, and I don't know why not.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Originally Posted by estación seca

My take is...
It undoubtedly costs money to operate the site;

Somebody is paying to keep the site open;

The administrator set up a method for accepting payments;

The same method of payment is still in use;

The money was deducted from my credit card account: Oct. 14, 2016 PAYPAL *FORUMSUPPRT 402-935-7733 CA

So it seems likely my payment is going to support the site. Of course I can't be sure. It could be going to a secret Canadian charity and then into the Clinton Foundation. But I don't think so.

I know the administrator isn't responsive, and I don't know why not.

[estación seca]

I renewed my membership again. I encourage other readers to become supporters. Just think of the cost of all the orchids you've saved reading Orchid Board.

The link is in the very first post of this thread. I will repost it. Click the big green words:

Become an Orchid Board Supporting Member

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I renewed my membership again. I encourage other readers to become supporters. Just think of the cost of all the orchids you've saved reading Orchid Board.

The link is in the very first post of this thread. I will repost it. Click the big green words:

Become an Orchid Board Supporting Member

I'm more and more on the fence about supporting orchidboard financially. Yes it's important to donate to keep the forum we know and love up and functioning, but I'm more and more questioning WHAT we are supporting. Marty has all but vanished, maintenance of OB and vBulletin behind it is down to the barest of minimums, tapatalk doesn't work properly anymore... If I knew that my donation would go towards improving on these points, I'd do it again without hesitation.

I feel sad saying this, especially as today is my 10 year anniversary on Orchidboard. It has meant a lot to me over the years. Maybe I'll just limit it to a one time donation, and consider the recurring one at a later date.

[fishmom]

I have to agree with Camille on this one. I believe somewhere that someone (Marty?) said that the cost of the website was combined with the cost of his business internet activities. If so, then a contribution is supporting the business. I've always wished that an accounting be provided for the Board itself, as I would be a willing long-term supporter.

[PaphMadMan]

Originally Posted by fishmom

I have to agree with Camille on this one. I believe somewhere that someone (Marty?) said that the cost of the website was combined with the cost of his business internet activities. If so, then a contribution is supporting the business. I've always wished that an accounting be provided for the Board itself, as I would be a willing long-term supporter.

Frankly, if I was Marty and I thought that was the general attitude of board users, I would pull the plug today. Supporting a forum like this is a legitimate part of a for-profit business. It is also an expense and a time investment, and it is not unreasonable to solicit donations since it is a huge service to the orchid growing community. Is maintenance perfect? Of course not, but every page could be filled with annoying paid advertisement that takes forever to load, and is unrelated to orchids, to cover expenses. Suggesting we deserve an accounting for something that in fact does not cost us anything unless we feel like donating is rather short sighted.

[estación seca]

What is wrong with somebody making a profit selling something useful? Find out what it costs to buy and maintain a domain, pay for hosting and bandwidth, servers, storage and platform software.

[greenpassion]

It'd be interesting to 'hear' from Marty...

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by PaphMadMan

Frankly, if I was Marty and I thought that was the general attitude of board users, I would pull the plug today. Supporting a forum like this is a legitimate part of a for-profit business. It is also an expense and a time investment, and it is not unreasonable to solicit donations since it is a huge service to the orchid growing community. Is maintenance perfect? Of course not, but every page could be filled with annoying paid advertisement that takes forever to load, and is unrelated to orchids, to cover expenses. Suggesting we deserve an accounting for something that in fact does not cost us anything unless we feel like donating is rather short sighted.

I agree entirely. If bundling the forum with his business is what keeps OB going, I'm all for it. OB is free for us, but not for him, there are a lot of costs involved in keeping a forum going. My 'problem' was more that I wish that my donations would go to actually updating and improving the forum instead of simply keeping it afloat (which is important, but OB deserves better than that).