Donations

[lullabi]

I don't know how much I should donate.

[Nick]

quote:
Originally posted by lullabi

I don't know how much I should donate.

Folks,

It was a very hard decision to ask for donations via PayPal. No one needs to feel obligated. Up until now, the entire costs of running this fine forum have been borne solely by Adrian. In my view, perhaps it's time we lend a hand.

The question arises: "How much?". Nothing if you can't afford it. However if you can, and if you value the uninterrupted and continued operation of the Astral Pulse as much as I do, you'll consider helping out. Any sum will be greatly appreciated, if you click on the link you'll be taken to a PayPal site. Those of you familiar with ebay will recognize PayPal. It is a trusted and secure method of transferring funds. If you are not already registered with them, you can do so easily.

Thanks for your support,

[lullabi]

Argh. I really would donate, but I can't because my
family has gone bankrupt and the bank account we
used for PayPal has been closed down. Sorry []

[Adrian]

Greetings everyone,

Thank you very much indeed Nick for clarifying the situation.

The very last thing we want is for anyone to feel under any sort of obligation, because there are, and never have been any obligations whatsoever. This is a free resource provided willlingly for the benefit of its members, and that is the way it will always continue.

It was an extremely hard decision to provide the facility for donations, but the fact is, if another hard disk crashes on the server, the entire Astral Pulse and everything else on the server will crash as well. The data is backed up of course and the Astral Pulse itself would not be lost, but rebuilding a server from the start and configuring everything would involve weeks of work, even if the server was repairable and the funds available. Clearly we need to avoid that situation.

Again however, there are no obligations whatsoever, your membership and contributions to these forums are valuable in themselves.

Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions, and thank you all very much, and most sincerely for your ongoing support.

With best regards,

Adrian.

[Parmenion]

Hi everyone,

I agree fully with what Nick has said here.

If you feel that you would like to donate and do not know how much to give in support of these excellent forums may I offer the following advise. Remember please that it is only advise offered by a member like everyone else here.

Consider the following...

1> How much disposable income do you have?

2> What value do you place on these forums? If they were gone how would you feel?

For many people here these forums are just that, forums. For many more this is not just a website, it is a community, and more. Friendships are formed and information exchanged in an atmosphere of friendliness, willingness to help, and respect for each other (for the most part).

Many people giving a little makes a big difference. The whole world could be changed if everyone would just make a small effort.

How important are these forums to you and are you in a position to take action to reflect this?

With very best regards,

Dave

[Euphoric Sunrise]

Ugh, every time a forum starts asking for donations it usually leads to that forum's downfall, i sincerely hope this isn't the case with The Pulse. If i had a job and actually had a steady income i would most certainly donate money.

As it is i do not have a job (i'm still in school), and i don't have any income so i can't help at the moment.

However, when i do get a job (i don't know when) i would be more than happy to hand some money over.

This is the greatest forum of this or any kind i have come across so i'll do what ever i can to help in the future.

[mattrox]

I donated like 4 pounds if I remember correctly because thats all I have in my paypal account at the moment, but it should do the trick [|)]

[Kerrblur]

with the comment concerning sites leading to downfall when asking for donations, isnt quite true, "http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/psychoactives.shtml" has profitted alot by there donation sessions.


On the other hand, On the 6th of Febuary when I get paid I will donate 10 dollars to you people.

And to the people who are reading this, and just pass it by as if its a pop-up add that comes up when you go on yahoo, dont....

You come on here as much as anyone else, and 1 dollar, yes, 1 dollar is all you need! that affect your income, doubtful....

if everyone threw in just 1 dollar, its be quite profitable, thats what the people at erowid did, and it was great, people didnt want a site that was a websters dictionary for drugs to be lost, like a this site with the supernatural world ect.

1 dollar. . .

[delure]

This is my first posting in this forum, therefore I will start with sticky one.
I have always appreciated time, hard work and financial support of peoples who do it, especially as a non profit org...
I think it would a lot easier to decide for some of us  if there is somewhere a small page witch would indicate  and this is strictly example.
Running expenses: ( web hosting fees etc...)
Material expenses: ( broken HD....)
Wages, resp. salary  (if any...)
How much money is on the account , how much is needed
And so on..
Now this post is as a general concept, as I see it, and it is not aimed on any particular site.
[|)]

[The Humble Master]

how much money is considered worthwhile?

[Adrian]

Greetings Delure,

quote:Originally posted by delure

This is my first posting in this forum, therefore I will start with sticky one.
I have always appreciated time, hard work and financial support of peoples who do it, especially as a non profit org...
I think it would a lot easier to decide for some of us  if there is somewhere a small page witch would indicate  and this is strictly example.
Running expenses: ( web hosting fees etc...)
Material expenses: ( broken HD....)
Wages, resp. salary  (if any...)
How much money is on the account , how much is needed
And so on..
Now this post is as a general concept, as I see it, and it is not aimed on any particular site.
[|)]

All of the above is myself, I do not get paid []

I never, ever think of the costs involved, because the costs that are involved are totally trivial by comparison with being in a position to provide a resource which hopefully benefits many people.

Money is a characteristic of this material world in which we live for the time being, and is unfortunately required to repair tangible things such as Internet servers upon which this resource resides.

The Astral Pulse is not a service which can be hosted just anywhere; it consists of many hundreds of thousands of lines of very complex code, all communicating with an SQL Server database which is huge and takes alot of management as does the service generally for numerous reasons that I will not go into now. There are also all of the supporting services such as DNS, email and others to consider.

The request for donations is not something that needs to be justified; it should hopefully be self-apparent.

I can absolutely state that I will continue to place my maximum efforts into providing, managing and maintaining the Astral Pulse for the benefit of all concerned. But the reality is my friends that if the server becomes faulty it needs fixing, and that requires money.

All donations, however large or small are most welcome, and I am extremely grateful to those who have donated so far and allowed things to keep running smoothly. I am also grateful to everyone for contributing to the Astral Pulse just by being here, posting your valued messages and generally helping each other and making this resource what it is today, and just as importantly what I know it will become in the future.

With best regards,

Adrian.
 

[SpectralDragon]

You guys have your own server don't you?...wow that's a lot of time and love.[:O]

Going to donate soon, won't tell how much of course []

[Adrian]

Dear Astral Pulse Member,

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this message.

Maintaining and operating the Astral Pulse for the benefit of its members involves considerable ongoing time and resources which have always, and most willingly have been financed exclusively by the site Administrator.

Unlike most other sites, we have avoided displaying advertising on the Astral Pulse, and this is a policy that we would very much like to continue in the future.

Recently however the server suffered a major hard disk failure. Fortunately the disk sub-system functions across a number of disks, however if another disk fails the Astral Pulse will cease to be available. Although we would do everything possible to restore the Astral Pulse, it would not be certain that it would be possible to do so if the funds were not available to restore the server to full operation.

We have therefore made this page available for the purpose of accepting donations which will go towards repairing the server, and maintaining and enhancing the Astral Pulse resources in the future.

To donate by means of a credit or debit card, simply click the
link below:

http://www.astralpulse.com/donate.html

Thank you very much indeed for your valued contribution.

With best regards,

The Astral Pulse.