Server upkeep donations

[TheNicofabi]

The button comes up blank in mobile view but worked fine in normal mode. I think that with small donations, we may need around 50 people. Please keep us updated.

Pretty sure we donated more than 2 month already thou... lol

[Martijn Meerts]

Well we did kick kim-Jong and ayatollah Khamenei off the admin team, does that count? They were a hoot, but tough to work with. We had to keep bringing Rodman in to keep kim-Jong from shooting moderators.

 

Jeff

 

Wait.. What did I miss this time? All the good stuff happens when I'm not around ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

As for the amount of donations, we're currently close to 400 USD, so many many thanks to everyone :)

[Alemino]

sent something, thanks for the admin works

[Oz_Paul]

Likewise. Thanks for the good work to all the administrators.

[Martijn Meerts]

Just a quick update. We easily have enough donations now to pay for server upkeep for the coming year, probably longer once I look into possible price reductions and discounts. It's great to see that everyone appreciates the forum, definitely makes the job of the admins/mods feel more worthwhile.

 

 

As for the funds remaining after paying for the servers... Part of that will be used to have a bit of funds on hand when needed, and part will most definitely be used for a project party. Considering summer is coming up, and summer generally being a bit of a slow season for model railroading, the project party is probably going to be some time after summer.

[bnicolas1987]

Hi,

I'm a bit late sorry, but I also donate a little, thank you very much for this great forum!

[Martijn Meerts]

As many have noticed I haven't been very active on the forum recently. This is mainly because work is keeping me very busy, and my model train motivation has been in a bit of a dip the past months. After my Japan trip however, I feel like working on the layout(s) and the forum again.

 

I have of course been maintaining the forum and server software, and I've recently also paid for the server for the coming year. However, after that payment the forum's funds have pretty much dried up.

 

I don't really like asking people for money, but still, it would be great if some people could make a small donation towards the upkeep of the forum. Again, it is NOT required to donate, and we will NOT lock any access to content if you have not donated.

 

Hopefully the button in the original post still works for donations. If it doesn't, please let me know ;)

 

 

(Also, I will try to spend some time in organising a project party this year, most likely towards the end of the year since spring/summer is often not a great time for a project party. We will use part of the donated funds to get a nice little prize for the winner and possibly the runners-up)

 

[kvp]

I can confirm, that the links works fine and paypal registers the donation.

[Martijn Meerts]

Thanks :D

 

[marknewton]

The button works for me here in AUS as well, Martijn. Thanks!

 

Mark.

[tossedman]

Button works from Canada as well. Haven't posted much lately but I'm still lurking. Chipped in a few more dollars. Thanks Martijn for providing such a great site.

 

Cheers eh,

 

Todd

Edited March 14, 2018 by tossedman

[cteno4]

Works fromthe us!

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

Button works perfectly as well here in Sillypore, and have sent a small token of appreciation over. Thanks for the hard work in the up-keeping of the forums, Martijn! Much appreciated! 

[Kiha66]

Thanks for all the hard work Martijn!  Maybe mention this every few months or so, so people are reminded to support regularly. 

[chadbag]

1 hour ago, Kiha66 said:

Thanks for all the hard work Martijn!  Maybe mention this every few months or so, so people are reminded to support regularly. 

 

Good idea!  I did not realize this was here until now.

[Martijn Meerts]

We try to keep the requests for donations to a minimum, it’s really just to cover server and licensing cost. If we post a reminder every few months we’ll end up with too much funding, which will make PayPal angry :)

 

That being said, thanks everyone for the donations, we’re back up to a level where we can keep things running for another 2 years at least :D

 

[Pauljag900]

Hi Martijn,

to be honest Martijn I think most on here are happy to contribute to therunning of this forum but I for one have an awful memory and have no problem with being given a gentle reminder ha ha😂😂,i m sure others are the same.Keep up the good work all of you 👍👍

[Martijn Meerts]

We need to be a bit careful with the donations. The PayPal donations button is normally only for actual registered fund-raisers, not for asking for donations to keep a website up. Usually PayPal is fine with it as long as you don't go above a certain amount, but once you do go above it, they're quick to close down your account.

 

So, while we appreciate the willingness of people to donate to keep the forum running, if we do this more than say once a year, we'll end up getting into trouble with PayPal :D

 

[Yavianice]

3 hours ago, Martijn Meerts said:

We need to be a bit careful with the donations. The PayPal donations button is normally only for actual registered fund-raisers, not for asking for donations to keep a website up. Usually PayPal is fine with it as long as you don't go above a certain amount, but once you do go above it, they're quick to close down your account.

 

So, while we appreciate the willingness of people to donate to keep the forum running, if we do this more than say once a year, we'll end up getting into trouble with PayPal :D

What about just posting your own paypal link to accept donations?

Edited March 15, 2018 by Yavianice

[Martijn Meerts]

That's another option, but we went with the donation button to make it obvious the money goes to the forum. Another nice option is that it allows for easy recurring donations, for those who'd want to donate a few dollars each month instead of a larger amount all at once.

 

Also easier to keep track of the funds with a dedicated account, since I use my own PayPal to pay for things very often.

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, it's that time again... I really don't like asking for money, so I'm pretty much dreading these donation posts, as can be seen considering my last one seems to have been almost 2 years ago. However...

 

We're currently down to around 45 USD left, but the only reason for that is that I've picked up the monthly upkeep bill myself for the past many months. With the whole corona situation I know a lot of people are tight on money, so please only donate if you have the money to spare. Luckily I'm in a position where I can afford to keep everything running, but obviously any donations would be very much appreciated.

 

The button in the first post in this thread should still be functional. Many thanks!

 

 

[Yavianice]

42 minutes ago, Martijn Meerts said:

The button in the first post in this thread should still be functional. Many thanks!

 

I can confirm it’s still working. Thanks Martijn and JNS Mods!

[serotta1972]

Thank you Martijn, glad to be able to contribute a little something.

Edited January 30, 2021 by serotta1972

[cteno4]

Thanks folks, lots of little donations are fine and spread it out. If items are tough don’t worry at all, take care of your life! the forum won’t go poof!

 

cheers,

 

jeff