Important change to the Site Supporter program

I've been meaning to do this for a while and Tim did add a sidecar section for us.. Signed up. Thanks Tim and everyone else that keeps this site going so well.
 
Re: Re: Re: Important change to the Site Supporter program

cyclefreak said:
Give Tim a hug? Justin you do realize that Tim is NOT someone else's wife don't you?
great stuff jared

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
 
That's a really cool idea, Tim. I like it, as long as you're not paying the hosting fees out of pocket. ;)
 
We're good for hosting fees now thankfully. Although you guys move a LOT of data. We're topping 600GB a month which will push us into another tier of hosting fees :) But I look at that as good news. It's been a long time coming (almost 6 years now) but we're on good solid hosting ground with a scalable service. It's a Virtual Private Server which means I had to learn Linux, Apache, MySQL etc. to set up the server and keep it maintained.

We can even relocate the site to different points around the world if need be, and add load-balancing sites when we get to the point that a single server isn't big enough.
 
I have learned a bunch thus far from the site and everyone on it. Glad to see this post so I can give back to Tim and help keep it running.
 
How is the money allocated to the different areas(getting guys to meetups, parts, site maint., etc.) are there different "accounts" for those? The reason I ask is in my mind it could be like at church(tithe, missoins, etc). You could specify general(so the site uses desgression(sp?) on where to put money), or I could say just for meetup account, or if I just want to donate money to parts or site maint. or whatever it would go to those. Just a thought.. I know that makes things more complicated, but its an idea if/when this gets big enough to support that.

Either way it is a great idea, and I didn't realize it went to more than just site/server dues.. Awesome and thoughtful idea!
 
ronnie said:
How is the money allocated to the different areas(getting guys to meetups, parts, site maint., etc.) are there different "accounts" for those? The reason I ask is in my mind it could be like at church(tithe, missoins, etc). You could specify general(so the site uses desgression(sp?) on where to put money), or I could say just for meetup account, or if I just want to donate money to parts or site maint. or whatever it would go to those. Just a thought.. I know that makes things more complicated, but its an idea if/when this gets big enough to support that.

Either way it is a great idea, and I didn't realize it went to more than just site/server dues.. Awesome and thoughtful idea!

Sorry, meant to respond to this a while ago.

Honestly the idea of using the Site Supporter funds for the 'greater good' was about as far as the thought process went :) It will get complicated as you suggest trying to segment the funds and take direction from each Site Supporter on how they would like their $10 used.

I'd estimate we're talking about maybe $800-$1000 per year in funds. So while not a trivial sum of money, it becomes much less meaningful the more it gets divided up.

In my mind the most appropriate and universally acceptable use of the money would be for charitable donations that reflect our values as a group. No political or religious groups - think along the lines of Children's Hospitals, UNICEF, Red Cross, Cancer research etc.

As we progress and encounter situations where a particular member is in need, I'm confident all of us, myself included, will reach out and do what we can to help. And if there's a particular initiative that there is clear and unanimous support for, we can use Site Supporter funds towards that as well. I just want to be transparent about the use of the funds where possible, without jeopardizing the anonymity of a member we're trying to help.
 
And of course with all the 'Ride For XXXXX' events out there, it would be great to have DO THE TON represented by our members in different areas and we can make contributions that way. Ride for Sight etc.
 
$1000 'ish ............... that's 100 'ish of us contributing a very small amount towards management / a charity / whatever.

What's happened to the others ...... I'm guessing more than 100 members / contributors.

I just came to renew my BM Riders online membership - $45 this year. 8)
 
Tim said:
And of course with all the 'Ride For XXXXX' events out there, it would be great to have DO THE TON represented by our members in different areas and we can make contributions that way. Ride for Sight etc.

I don't think this is the way to go. We should be charitable within the DTT community and it's members, not some mega-corporate professional charity. They have plenty of donors with deep pockets. Our funds would be a pittance compared to their overall donations whereas a few dollars spent helping a member would have a more direct affect. Not to mention a large percent of donations to large charities go to administrative costs. Also, if you donate to a charity, they pressure you into giving regularly and pass your name to other charities. Charities are run like any other big business, counter to what DTT is all about.
 
For my 2 cents, I agree with DrJ.

I believe the charity should remain within. No doubt there are great organizations out there to contribute too. I've done it for many years and will continue to give.

I still thing it's "our family first". I think the small amount we generate would go farther and be more appreciated right here. 8)
 
Not to quibble, but

> So from this point on, 100% of any Site Supporter contributions is going to go directly to supporting our members, not paying the bills of running the site.

is not the same as

> In my mind the most appropriate and universally acceptable use of the money would be for charitable donations that reflect our values as a group.

That said, I have used this site for inspiration and troubleshooting plenty of times - so you can take my money and do with it as you please. Thanks for keeping the lights on.
 
Thanks for the feedback - will need some input on how to determine who to help and when and how much. Making charitable donations to organizations/fund raising events keeps things open and transparent, and does in many cases directly impact our members.

To extend a helping hand to our members is a different ball of wax, one that I've been struggling with in terms of logistics and transparency since I suggested it. These sorts of situations are typically going to be largely private affairs depending on the wishes of the member(s) in question and the situation.

It's one thing to start a fund raising campaign for a member who runs into a bad situation and the efforts are posted on the board and DTT can make a contribution. That's pretty easy. It's a little different when it's a more private situation that isn't published on the board for all to see. In those cases I'd probably suggest members reach out to me directly with recommendations on how to help and we'll keep it private.

There are approximately 130 Site Supporter subscriptions active, with many of those expected to renew in the coming weeks/months. I don't expect all of them to renew, hence my suggestion that we're talking about somewhere in the $1000 per year range.

Honestly if it becomes too big a number for me to feel comfortable with, we'll potentially scrap the idea, cancel the Site Supporter program and simply encourage everyone to do what they can to help each other out whenever situations arise. I don't want to get into managing a $3,000 fund and worry about keeping everyone happy with how the money is used.
 
Why don't you just use the subscription funds to crank out more DTT swag?
 
Rich Ard said:
Not to quibble, but

> So from this point on, 100% of any Site Supporter contributions is going to go directly to supporting our members, not paying the bills of running the site.

is not the same as

> In my mind the most appropriate and universally acceptable use of the money would be for charitable donations that reflect our values as a group.

That said, I have used this site for inspiration and troubleshooting plenty of times - so you can take my money and do with it as you please. Thanks for keeping the lights on.

No question this is an evolving idea - those two quotes are 3 weeks apart.
 
Honestly, I think that most of us usually are agreeable on where the charity is spent. I have seen a lot of generosity out of this place over the years. I for one love to see how people react when there is a person in need. I am excited to see how this stuff transpires because I think that it will make a huge display of what we are about as a community. I love this bar.
 
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