We're approaching the forum's 11th birthday. In the time it’s been running, a lot has changed. Some have left, some have passed away and some have joined and we've had more than eleven million hits.
DaveR has–sadly–been unable to devote much time, because of family and other commitments, so we’ve seen a lot fewer of his excellent photographs and missed his wry sense of humour. Although the forum has become largely self-managing, in August (19th, to be precise) we have to pay the annual costs of maintaining the hosting and retaining the domain name. Together, these come to roughly £200.
Because most of our long-time members are ad-free members, we now get very little from advertising revenue and, although our hit rates remain very high, it means that if we want the place to remain in existence we have to make the payments when they become due.
I have already PM’ed some of our most active and long-serving members, and one member has suggested that perhaps 20 members could contribute around £10.00 each. I would be able to set up a non-profit bank account which would exist purely for the annual renewal fees, and those members who wished to contribute would be able to pay into that account if they so wished.
In return those who contribute would become associate owners of the forum and would have a special board, inaccessible by anyone not in the group, where discussions could be held relating to the forum. They would also become able to modify and create aspects of the forum. In effect they would become moderators.
However, this all depends on whether there’s enough interest in keeping the forum going. We have some time to consider it, but please do let us know how you feel.
Thanks.
