NGF Funding

[Tank]

A couple of things:

1) By keeping it free it encourages more people to join and share their knowledge.

I couldn't agree more.

2) I offer my knowledge (as sparse as it is) for free. If the forum is going to gain from my contributions then why shouldn't I, as a contributor, be paid royalties?

The idea of membership would be for the forum to pay for itself, which is why a measly £5 or £10 for an entire year is suggested.  If people are to be paid royalties for their contributions, then myself and the moderators should be paid for our time.....  Then the £5 doesn't work! 

Good idea about the monthly targets.  I don't like asking anyone for money, and I wouldn't want members to feel like they have to contribute.  In the past I've dipped into my own pocket to pay for upgrades and modifications if the money hasn't been there.  I'd love it if the forum would just be run from N Gauge advertisers, but businesses that seem keen just don't commit to it.  I'm grateful to the current three advertisers for continually supporting us.

[Flakmunky]

I'll make a donation, as I do enjoy the forum... Is £10 ok?!

[Newportnobby]

I'll make a donation, as I do enjoy the forum... Is £10 ok?!

Very generous, FM. Thank you very much

[Alex]

Hi,

I've been watching this thread with interest. At the moment the only annual subs I pay are for the NGS. When I wrote my aviation books I had numerous subs to various magazines, forums etc just to keep up to date with the latest research. In the end it was too much and I cancelled the whole lot.

Nowadays I tend to be choosy on what my money goes on. I drift in and out of several railway forums but this is the only one I spend most of my time on. It has a great atmosphere and everyone is very friendly and freely give hints, tips and general info on what they know. I for one am extremely grateful for all the help I have received since I joined, and I try to pass on what little info I have to others.

Not sure if this would continue if subs introduced. It may stop people from joining and existing members may just drift off elsewhere. I know this has happened on some of the aviation forums I used to be in. Small groups would break off and start their own forums.

The monthly target sounds a good idea as it may encourage more donations. I've seen a couple of forums that show a yearly target and how much donations have been made to date.

Anyway I'm off to log into paypal to help out.

Alex

[scotsoft]

Other forums I frequent have a graphic bar at the top of every page showing target contributions and current contributions for that month. These forums invariably make the target in the last few days when members realise it is falling short. I would suggest something similar for this corner of the Internet. If members could see NGF might go off air I think we would all be more inclined to donate...

There is nothing more effective than a simple graphic to get your point across.

In 1986 I worked for Amoco, my director attended monthly meetings with other directors and one month he asked me if I could use our newly acquired desktop PC's to make his monthly figures less boring.
I purchased a new graphics program call Harvard Graphics and created pie charts, bar charts all sorts of charts in glorious colour for him.  That changed how all their meetings were held after that, it also meant I was not considered for further promotion as he would not let me go, so I eventually let them go.

Flakmunky's idea of a sliding graphic sounds ideal.
This would hopefully do away with the need for an annual subscription, which should please everyone, encourage members to chip in as the month nears its end and our forum to expand to worldwide domination     

[galway]

Other forums I frequent have a graphic bar at the top of every page showing target contributions and current contributions for that month. These forums invariably make the target in the last few days when members realise it is falling short. I would suggest something similar for this corner of the Internet. If members could see NGF might go off air I think we would all be more inclined to donate...

There is nothing more effective than a simple graphic to get your point across.

Flakmunky's idea of a sliding graphic sounds ideal.
This would hopefully do away with the need for an annual subscription, which should please everyone, encourage members to chip in as the month nears its end and our forum to expand to worldwide domination     

This sounds like a great idea , especially if everytime you log on you see the stats in graphic form, would be a great reminder of state of play etc

[Tank]

Thanks for the donations chaps.

I'll certainly look into these ideas.  Paid membership is not something I wanted to do, but this thread has certainly shown different ideas and different views on looking at it.