Donations (server bill 22nd each month)
 

Hi all.

I wanted to give a rundown of where Alizée America stands financially since the change in management.

The short version is that we still depend on member donations to pay for the server each month.

Here's the long version:

I've managed to cut our dedicated server bill down from $200 USD per month to $170. The reason it's so high is because things like the video section and podcast require a fast uplink speed. That is, bandwidth at any given moment. Yes, shared servers are a dime a dozen these days and ofter plenty of bandwidth per month, but get a handful of high-speed users trying to stream from them at once, and watch their sites come screeching to a halt. A major reason I took over Alizée America was because it didn't make sense for Brad to be paying a premium when he didn't have enough time to add new content. That's why one of the first things you've seen me do here is improve and expand the video section.

In addition, this month we've had to pay for domain renewals and software license fees. These expenses don't come around as often, but are still common. Last, not to make this too personal, but I'm also moving to a new apartment in Manhattan, where living ain't cheap. So that leaves two options: banner ads, which I'd rather not do because they're ugly and probably wouldn't cover our expenses anyway, or donations. The link for the later, with a new lower $10 subscription option, is below and at the top of every page. If we could just get a handful of people subscribed at the listed amounts each month, I think we'd do fine. Of course you can still send in one-time donations of any amount at any time. Every cent helps.

One important notice: if you had a PayPal subscription with Brad, please be sure to cancel it and re-subscribe so that the funds come to the right place! Right now we're only accepting PayPal because it's fast, easy, secure, and can be sent directly to our server provider, SingleHop. Reset assured, everything goes straight to our expenses. We never turn a profit from this site. Though it would be nice to break even for once!

Finally, I really want to thank those who have already donated without my even asking. Brad had talked in the past about offering perks to you guys, like a special title, ftp space, or something. Let me know if you have any suggestions, because I'd really like to follow through on that!

Please click here for more information on donating.

Thanks for reading!

Ben

Just subscribed to a monthly donation Ben.

I encourage everyone to subscribe if possible, it is nice knowing exactly what will be coming in and when it will be coming each month. The donations from you guys have always been awesome in the past, keep it going for Ben.

I'm now on the monthly option too. I hope everyone who is able to, will help keep this site up and running. With a new album coming from Alizée soon, I'm sure this site will be very active and helpful to all.

I'm in... Just showing a little love & appreciation. ;)

if I may

Google ads aren't a good idea for two big reasons
1. they ruin the site, you try to go to one thread and end up having to wait for an ad gets quite annoying and would most likely drive people away

2. with the traffic that comes through here you will get very little support from them you need traffic in the thousands to make it worthwhile not in the hundreds

in my opinion that is not an option for you at all

basically your options are donations or allow someone else to host the server

what ever way you go best of luck

I agree Jung. Though our traffic is enough for ads to pay something, I'd still rather avoid them for those other reasons.

But the donations have been great this month. Thanks so much everyone, I hope we can keep it up! Still room for one or two more subscriptions if anyone else feels like getting in before the deadline. ;)

Again, I'm interested to hear what kind of "perks" you'd all be interested in. Through them and continued site updates, I hope you will all feel that every cent's been worthwhile!

Bump for this month... and a thanks to those who've already sent something in! :)

Like I told you in PM how much u need each person to send, tell me and Il send. eather write it here on Pm me dont matter.

yea, im with srbski, how much is required?
i've never had a site, or knew anyone who did, so i have no idea as to what amount is appropriate. :blink:

Check out the donate link. The $10 and $25 monthly subscriptions are the best because then I know how much is coming each month, or you can send any one-time amount. $1 or $100, literally every cent counts.

The server is $170 each month, though there are other expenses along the way. So far we've received about $100 in donations this cycle, which is great, but there's always room for more. We've never come out with a surplus, though it's no problem if we do as we'll just carry the funds over to the next bill.

So the answer is... however much you want. Nothing's too small or too large. We'll use everything we get, or deal with it if we don't get much. Thanks again!

As soon as I get settled in at college and get my own credit card, you can count on a monthly subscription from me. (if I have any money left over, tuition is crazy high for out of state students like myself.)

Well u can exspect $20 buck or so from me each month.

that seems good. now i can't wait to get my grubby hands on my paycheck. :D

There u go Ben just donated.

Bump for this month - we've been a bit low on donations lately. Thanks to all those who have sent something in though!

sorry its not as much as last time.. but im at school, and thus outta of work. :(

Hey guys. I hate asking for donations now since I haven't been around much lately (very busy). But if I don't, I may need to shut the site down for a couple months until I can move it to a cheaper server. I'll send a free item of your choice from our shop for any donation of $100 or more. Thanks.

Donation Link

I'm not sure about exactly how much support Ben is recieving with donations, except for the fact that it's been lower than earlier. I hope that you all consider helping the site in all possible ways.

As asked about perks in first post, I would suggest Ben to add a separate title for all donators.

We need to come up with something to bring the donation situation to everyone's attention on a daily basis by having something posted in either the home page or the forum page.

Agreed on both counts. The way Alizee Forum does it with "Donator/Supporter" in red under thier avatar is nice. I didn't even notice the "Donate" button here until I found this thread when I was looking for things to necromance a couple of months ago.

hey Ben... do you actually read these?

Hey TDA. I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. Ben hasn't been busy in here for a while. I think the last time he logged in was November. Could it be he's reached that wall we're Alizee doesn't mean as much to him as she did years ago? Could be. If you look through some of the threads from years past, you see so many names of people who used to post, now you don't hear from them any more. I think in many cases, they wanted music similar to Gour and MCE and lost interest when they didn't get it witht the last 2 albums.

Or maybe it's a case if they did like the last 2 albums, that after so many years of Alizee, they started yearning for something new.

I know Ben's been extremely busy with his work, so maybe it's a case of 1 of the 3 or 2 of the 3, but the thing we have to be extremely thankful for is that he has kept this forum going. For so long, I'm sure he paid more than his fair share of the burden himself. Lately I think that burden has lessened quite a bit, especially since we got rid of the video section, but we still owe him a quite a lot for what he has done and what he continues to do. We also owe MerciAlizee a huge dept of thanks for running this forum in his absence and I think he's done a tremendous job along with all the other mods and admins except for me who continues to be somewhat of a loose cannon.

I enjoy this forum much better than AF and I'm tremendously grateful for Ben for keeping it going.

Well, the only really I ask is because I noticed that the site has not been kept up. I know it's only been a short time for me being here... it's been almost a year if you count the 3 months I browsed the forums as a guest. But in any event. I am willing to help and donate as well... I don't mind. But I really think we ought to try and update the site... perhaps make the front page more news friendly and update friendly with articles and blogs and what not... that are posted by Mods on a daily basis... and we should change the colors from red and black to something more Alizéeish... such as light blue, or even yellow from her concert.... Heck... we just might bring in more visitors that would be willing to help donate!

I, too, own a web domain and I know just how much it is to keep it going!... But I also know that they need to be updated a lot (visually) to show a presence and entice new visitors.

While I do like the red and black, I do agree that some more "fun" colors would seem a bit more alizeeish.

I second this...even though I think only Ben can make changes :(

Until you guys put your money towards the site instead of merchandise you don't need, causes that make you feel noble, and some that is just thrown away you shouldn't complain at all.

As it is this site has to cut back on features and we are lucky to even have it at all. All you need to do is pool your money up like you do for other things and hire someone. This place could be or have anything you want with enough money.

Although the site may still lack funding, some of us already do donate what we can... it is pretty presumptuous of you to say that we don't.

I didn't mean for it to look like I said you or anybody else haven't donated to the site. I'll specify.

You, Aaronius, Scruffy and Brian are over in the Les Enfoire 2012 DVD thread pooling money together right now. I have no problem with that, but you are the same guys (excluding Scruffy) who complain here and in the suggestion thread. You most of all.

I understand that a donation to the site isn't gonna yield any visible results which is why few people want to and they'd rather buy merchandise. I mention Scruffy because he is able to organize and bring in lots of money for a common cause. He and I believe the site is very important and he could do something about it. If people really wanted change to this site they could pool together a large amount and know that it would have a specific purpose. But instead you guys are off getting Les Enfoire DVD's which are in my opinion completely irrelevant in comparison to this site itself.

My point is don't be in here complaining about changes that require money when you are in another thread buying plastic.

Seems like you are the one complaining. Anyone has the right to buy whatever they want, and we aren't ungrateful in making suggestions as to how thesite could be changed. Not once have I seen anyone make any suggestions ungratefully. Amd it doesn't matter if people donate or not, they don't need to donate to have a say in what "should" happen to this site. We run a democracy here, not some system where only the donators get to suggest any modifications to the features of this site. Plus, you can't even tell who donates and who doesn't, unless you are running off of some bias because of people you don't like. For all I know, you could be donating every month, but its not my business to know.

First, i think that this thread needs more visibility. I never saw a donation thread so well hidden in a forum before...

And second, it looks that some decisions need to be made. I have no doubts that many people here are willing to help with what they can, and that desire to help and improve the forum maybe could be better managed with a little more of communication.
It is not an ideal situation that Ben can not log in that often anymore, because obviously the presence of an admin with power to change things that a majority of members would agree, would be a good stimulation not only for donations, but for increasing the number of people posting.

This is just the opinion of someone who is quite new here but really likes this place.

Thanks SpanishFan for your input! And sorry, but we didn't mean for this thread to become well hidden, it just doesn't get many posts because it isn't that significant. But yes, we're going to try and contact Ben soon because once the new album comes out, we will have to have the home page updated anyway.

SF makes a good point. The new page should have a donation box on the front page. I have one on mine.

I never said anybody was ungrateful. I never said it matters whether people donate or not. I never said anything about the people who donate only being able to suggest things. This is mostly to address TDA and I can't recall a reason to dislike him aside from this and I suppose I will have to prove this by quoting all his posts.

You won't see me in other threads throwing in money for Les Enfoire DVD's or something frivolous with insane shipping costs and then asking for changes to the site in here. It's a nice group effort but doing that while complaining about the site in this and the other thread is rude in my opinion. If I was Ben I'd do more than tell you off. He's had to cut back and listen to this stuff for much longer than I've been here. This place is the reason you are all even able to coordinate.

You could raise money the same way to improve the site and somebody like Scruffy or an admin on here could list the amount raised so people can see an actual number rather than not knowing if anybody else is donating or how much of a difference it makes.

Well honestly I think anyone who is a member of this forum should have the right to "complain" or make suggestions to better this website. I also feel that obviously the people who donate should have the final say but that doesn't mean people who do not donate should not be allowed to say anything!
Now respectfully Mr. Helix; was is not you who made the suggestion of making the new Alizee pictures thread pictures only with little to no text? http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6503 Well that happened to be a good idea on your part but should we not follow your good idea just because you do not donate?

I think I understand the point Helix is making. But I would still point out that buying a DVD and donating is not an either/or proposition. One can buy a DVD AND donate, or just choose one option, or neither option. I really don’t think that if someone chose not to buy a DVD, they would necessarily donate that money here instead. I think these are two separate decisions people make. In any case, suggestions are always welcome. A good idea is a good idea, regardless of whether the person who came up with it is willing/able to fund it.

I agree.... purchasing Alizée products and making a donation to this site are two different things... They are two different financial buckets in the budgeting system.

With all due respect to Helix, we all have different bank rolls and different levels of interest in Alizée's music. What may seem to be a waste of funds to you, may not be to somebody else. It is well worth it to me to purchase an Alizée DVD because I can afford it and I am in a situation where I can spend money on things that I like an enjoy. I am also, however, able to make donations, so don't assume that I am choosing one thing over the other to begin with! In any event, if given a choice, I would rather have the Alizée DVD and her album over making a donation to the site if I couldn't do both... but that doesn't make me, nor does it make anybody else, a bad person for making suggestions to the site. In fact, if we were to go by that philosophy than we would have to ban Scruffy for going to Les Enfoirés to See Alizée! lol!... (On a side note: I am still jealous because I could have gone to Lyon but I didn't know I was able to go until it was too late!!!.... but next year I am going!!!)

btw, I was not "complaining" as mentioned in earlier posts... I was leaving a suggestion. After all, the posts were in a suggestion forum!

I am also willing to fund and help update the site, as lefty suggests and as I have mentioned before; not just "complain" ... But it's not my world it's Ben's... I just haven't been able to get a hold of him. :(

If I may make another suggest... I think Ben should empower some of the mods to make some of the web site changes while he is away!... domain hosting sites allow for delegation accounts to do that.

I think we should make our site more competitive to other sites such as Alizée Italia and the Alizée forum ...

btw... I have no hostility towards you, Helix... :beer:

I agree that anyone should have the right to complain. I don't understand where people are getting the idea that I think people who don't donate are less important. Heck I've made the argument against that before.

The first issue is with the 3 people who are in here asking for changes while at the same time flashing their money around in the Les Enfoires 2012 DVD thread. I'm not applying this to anybody else.

The second issue is that the dvd thread is community organized. The same people could pool money together and address issues in here but they choose not to.

I think it sets a rude example of going against your words (or appearing to) whether you donate or not. I would be surprised if Ben wasn't at least a little offended that you guys organize funds for merchandise and events while he is left alone taking in complaints.

I still don't see where you are getting this "complaint" word from. If anything, we are benefiting the site by making suggestions, which in the end will have a better chance of drawing in potential members, rather than sitting back and doing nothing.

In fact, the argument can be made that sitting back and not suggesting possible improvements should be shunned upon since they aren't doing anything at all!

And for those that shun people for trying to improve the forum to draw in potential members...well...

Here are TDA's "suggestions" so far in 2012 about the front page and colors. These are all separate posts and don't include ones made about other aspects of the site.

I guess if I think that is complaining, rude or annoying I'm wrong. And wrong to consider that someone else might feel similar seeing you exact same guys making it rain in the DVD thread.

Helix, we are all on this site because we are fans of Alizee. It only makes sense to me that they would choose to pool money over Alizee merchandise, the singer this forum is dedicated to in the first place, before donating to the forum itself.. and that's IF they're choosing one over the other. Everybody has different priorities and logic that goes into how they choose to spend their money.

As for your point about the constant suggestions, or complaints, if you feel that way, well... can those not also be considered contributions to the website? They're giving feedback on ways to improve the website for everybody as a whole. In the case of the requests for a layout change, well, TDA is certainly not alone. If I remember correctly, there have been many suggestions in the past that we should have options to change the appearance of the website, updates to the front page (which will indeed be needed very soon), and other things.

I understand your point, and I appreciate your concern for donations to the site and such, but I don't really see why this needs to be brought up, especially in public. I'm also not sure why you feel like you can speak on Ben's behalf. Just keep in mind that everyone has a different agenda. :)