Standing the test of time - i.e. the site needs help

Unread post by **Sapphire** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 4:57 pm

Hi all,

I'm not sure how to put this, so I'll just say it as it comes to mind.

I have been running this site for five years. Almost every weekend, I have spent countless hours working hard to create an exciting update. I read every single fic entry, thought up new polls (til WW took over), invented new things like competitions and new sections, wrote toy and episode reviews and for a long time I uploaded all the art, as well. For the most part I enjoyed it; I loved the weekend chats where I got to watch people excitedly talk about the updates, fics and competitions. I knew it made a lot of people very happy, because it was such a friendly, warm community and also (most probably) the largest purely Beast Wars site on the net. However, I spent a huge amount of my free time in high school in front of a PC reading fics and working on updates. There were times it was so stressful I'd spend 12 hours working on it on a Saturday and end up in tears. But even though it was a heck of a lot of work, I soldiered on, because it made people happy, and that made me happy. I did it out of love.

Five years on I have distributed some of the workload to some good friends who have kindly offered to help. I am busier than ever now, with a full time job and several projects and commitments. I am trying to save up for higher education. I am trying to be a writer. And I am trying to run this site. I am prepared to keep running it as long as there is an interest in it and enough people want it to remain active. I'm prepared to put in the work, but I am still sticking to my guns on one thing, and that is money. I do NOT have horrible sponsored advertisements all over the site - they would ruin the look and feel of our site and I know people would dislike them. I make no profit whatsoever from running the site. All I ask is that, in return for all I do, the visitors pay the annual web hosting renewal fee of $120. In the past, people have pitched in and reached this target. I am grateful to these people, but I am keeping to my policy. If the site doesn't get enough donations, then there's not enough interest and I am shutting it down. As much as I have loved doing this, I am not working every weekend on it AND paying for it.

The site needs to be renewed in a few weeks time and, despite the addition of a store (which I was nagged for for years) it has received just one donation. No one so far has bought from the store. Two people have bought from Entertainment Earth, but the profits come to only $6 and we don't see any of that money until the income is at least $20. No one (except that person) has donated. Time is running out, and I'm not going to beg. But I am going to at least let everyone know what will happen if it doesn't get the support it has received in previous years.

I hope this doesn't sound like self-pity or whining - I don't mean it that way. I have also enjoyed a lot from the site, but there is only so far I am prepared to go for it.

That's really all I have to say. I shall probably post something like this up next update, so the rest of the site's visitors can see.

The shop and donations links are on the site's main page, if anyone is interested.

Unread post by **Razor One** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:16 am

How much more money is required to meet our needs?

I may be able to donate but it will have to come in via snail mail since I dont trust paypal.

Unread post by **Sapphire** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:37 am

That's a kind offer, Razor One. As it stands, we need to raise $100.

Beastbot · Unread post by **Beastbot** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:05 am

I can give $15, I've been meaning to help out with this site's yearly payment anyways. (I haven't bought anything from the store 'cause I just... don't really having a thing for chibi stuff. No offense.) I have to leave for a bit of a trip in a few minutes, I'll look into it more when I get back tonight...

Unread post by **Sapphire** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 12:00 pm

Thanks, Beastbot. Someone else has pledged a generous donation, so that means the site is $42 short of target. Hopefully a few more people will pitch in and the site will be paid for.

Outtsyder · Unread post by **Outtsyder** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:20 pm

I've just posted an announcement over in the Hangar, in case anyone over there (however poor we may be) might be able to help as well. And expect a PM from me fairly soon, Blue Jewel.

Outtsyder, who's owing a NUMBER of PMs lately....

Unread post by **Nurann** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 8:23 pm

So how much money does the site see if you sold, say, that really awsome bag at the store?

Mom suggested that while I'm paying her for the plane tickets, I might as well pay her for that too ^_^ If there is still need after that, though, I've emailed Hacker about possibly making a donation as well.

Unread post by **Sapphire** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 8:46 am

I tried to keep everything reasonably priced at the Bwint store (hoping that people would be encouraged to buy from it, then) so I only put up a $5 markup on every item there. So for each sale, the site gets 5 bucks. Not much, but then, after all the nagging I had in the past from people wanting a Bwint store, I thought en masse it would pay off nicely. So far I've sold one mug to a guy from Auto Assembly. :/ Thank you for the offer, though, Nurann.

Btw, if you want any of the other chibi designs on the bag, I can swap them over.

Vampyerba · Unread post by **Vampyerba** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:21 pm

I will be purchasing a shirt from the store within the next few days, whenever my cheque comes in.

Beastbot · Unread post by **Beastbot** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:14 pm

Alright, $15 has been sent via Paypal (it's likely under my dad's name, Gary Weckman). You should get it, let me know if you don't.

Lord Skyfire · Unread post by **Lord Skyfire** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:14 pm

How much is left that must be donated to meet the requirement Sapph? I can try and convince my parents to let me send some... I have tried in the past with little luck tho lol But theres no harm in me trying again, but with all the scams and dangers of the internet, they're just very nervous about sending money like this... so how much is needed again?

Skyfire

Lady Venom · Unread post by **Lady Venom** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 1:59 pm

Okay Sapphire, when do you need the money by? And how much is left to be raised? Could you post those and let us know?

Outtsyder · Unread post by **Outtsyder** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:45 pm

Just a little heads-up that, as has been announced in this thread...

viewtopic.php?t=450

... Sapph's on a (much-needed) vacation until late Saturday night, so she won't be able to reply until around Sunday or so. I don't want to speak for her, but I'm pretty sure she'd have a "thank you for your patience" note dropped in here for now.

Outtsyder

RobotInDisguise · Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:19 pm

Just wondering, is there any way for those of us who don't have Paypal can help? All of my money is in cash, unfortunately.

Unread post by **Sapphire** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:36 pm

If anyone wants to send money by snail mail, all you have to do is email Hacker (www.bwint.net/contactpage.htm) and ask for an address to send it to.

And I have good news - we have enough money now to pay for the web hosting. Thank you to all who helped, it is appreciated and I am glad to see Bwint surviving another year (if a little nervous about updating another year, so much to live up to!) Anyway, if you wanted to donate, it would be great if you still did, so we don't have this problem next year. Also, having money in Bwint's Bank means we can do other things, like afford to award prizes for Fan Fiction competitions etc. (something I would LOVE to do.) So basically, the more money, the more potential the site has to expand and improve, and it also might secure it for another year after this. Something to consider...

Again, thank you for the support, either in money sent or money pledged. It's great that in its 10th year, Beast Wars still has so much love from its loyal fans.