It's the last ever DU fund drive! What? Why?! (Skinner)

[gore_bites]

DUmp Link

Dear DUers,

Every three months for the last eleven years we have come to you with hat in hand and asked for donations to keep DU running. And every three months for the last eleven years, you have come through. DU continues to thrive and we are eternally grateful for your support.

So why are we no longer going to ask for donations?

The truth is that DU isn't the scrappy underdog that it was when we first started asking for your support. Back in those days you could see where your money was going. Our single server would crash constantly -- eventually we brought in enough money to buy a new one (we're up to seven now). Database errors took ages to fix because we couldn't afford to pay Elad, so whenever we needed him we'd have to call him at his job at the local health food store (true story) -- eventually we were able to pay him a full time salary.

But that was then, and for a long time now DU has been the largest liberal discussion forum on the Web. Since 2005 we brought in a good chunk of our revenue by serving ads to our visitors, which is why we haven't had to increase our 1,000 donation goal since we started doing fund drives. But as DU approaches its teenage years, we've decided it's time for us to grow up too and stop asking for handouts. We don't want this to be the future of DU.

Don't get me wrong -- we still need money. Running a website the size and scope of DU is no small endeavor. It costs a ton of cash to cover server storage, bandwidth, rent, legal fees, and everything else that comes with running a small business. This is a full time job for three people. But while you may think of DU as many things -- a community, a confessional, a place to organize, have fun, argue, make new friends and (of course) unite against the right-wing -- the Admins no longer want you to think of us as needing charity.

Many of you have probably heard that we've been working on a big new update to the site -- codenamed DU3 -- for some time now. At this point DU3 is not just on the doorstep but banging on the door and rattling the handle, and as part of the myriad changes we're making to the site we've decided to switch to a different fundraising model. On DU3 you will still be able to buy a star which will remove all of the ads from the site and provide you with access to special functions and features -- and you'll still be doing your part to keep DU running -- but we are ending our traditional quarterly fund drives. Instead, stars (and the benefits that come with them) will be available for purchase on a monthly or yearly basis for as little as $3.50 a month. And as always, those who choose not to purchase a star will still be able to post and participate free of charge.

This is our last ever fund drive because DU3 will be launched before the end of the year. And here's something important to know: anyone who is a DU donor when we switch over to DU3 will be grandfathered in to the new system and retain their donor star and privileges for one full year from the time they donated. So if you don't currently have a donor star, or if you already have one but would like to extend for a year at the price of your choosing, now is the time to donate.

Thank you all very much for your past, present, and future support as we look forward to providing you with THE best discussion forum on the Internets!

Skinner, EarlG, and Elad
DU Administrators

Interesting....

[franksolich]

I don't believe it.  Not one word of it.

[NHSparky]

*cough* bullshit *cough*

[GOBUCKS]

Another hint that DU3 will simplify things enough that he can lay off one of his two scatterbrained flunkies.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Ummm, biggest?  Did KOS and about a dozen other sites all go Tango Uniform last night...?

[Evil_Conservative]

But as DU approaches its teenage years, we've decided it's time for us to grow up too and stop asking for handouts.

And it would be fabulous if all of your members stopped asking for handouts too.

[Revolution]

Please delete. Repeat topic. Couldn't get to it first.

[franksolich]

Please delete. Repeat topic. Couldn't get to it first.

Sorry, sir, but in the interests of keeping historical records accurate, I don't delete.

I however do move, leaving all material as it originally appeared.

<<am not Skins.

[Revolution]

Skinner ADMIN  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-13-11 07:11 PM
Response to Reply #7
18. I think it's going to be:  
 $5/month, OR
$3.50/month when you purchase a yearly recurring membership (for $42).

arikara  (1000+ posts)      Sun Nov-13-11 07:19 PM
Response to Reply #18
29. Unfortunately thats unaffordable
 at my income level. I liked to be able to help out someone else without a star when I could and that will be out now too.

Awww...$42 bucks in one lump sum for 12 months of premium access a bit too much for ya, darlin? Poor baby...

I see a lot of stars going by the wayside in the coming months at DU. That is, unless the CalPig primitive shows pitty on the masses, and buys them subscriptions.

Skinner ADMIN  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-13-11 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #51
58. PayPal provides an option to pay with a credit card without creating a PayPal account. 
 Other than that, I'm not sure how we will handle mail payments. We need to hammer out the details soon. 

Tell me you're not THAT thick, DUmors.

[Evil_Conservative]

So we can charge our DU donations and pay interest on top of it?  Sweet. 

[Revolution]

And they wonder why America is in trouble with debt.

Not things like this, couldn't be. Has to be those evil Repigs.

[zeitgeist]

So we can charge our DU donations and pay interest on top of it?  Sweet. 

What's the prob?  The Cheeto eatin lambie-kins puts the boost on mommies or daddums plastic, sends skinflute the numbers, and the bill shows up as "Telly's Tonsorial Parlor".  The folks get a little hair cut and no one's the wiser.  You know, same as any other porn site.

[GOBUCKS]

I wonder how many of these whining DUmpmonkeys are paying monthly fees to porn sites. Gay porn, of course.

[miskie]

$3.50 a month --

The short version is DU doesn't pay like it used to, does it Skins ? People were paying a few bucks a quarter to lose the ads, and frankly most were giving the minimum required.

Even though there has been no publicly available donation records, we here have learned how to reasonably guesstimate your donation earnings based on other anecdotal information (such as counting stickies) and have watched DU's coffers (and membership) dwindle.

[thundley4]

I wonder how many of these whining DUmpmonkeys are paying monthly fees to porn sites. Gay Child porn, of course.

FIFY

[diesel driver]

Skinner ADMIN  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-13-11 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #51
58. PayPal provides an option to pay with a credit card without creating a PayPal account.
 Other than that, I'm not sure how we will handle mail payments. We need to hammer out the details soon. 

IOW, Skins is either too lazy to take the checks to the bank for deposit, or he doesn't trust his paid lackeys to make it to the bank with the checks for deposit.   

[Boudicca]

So, how much of a kickback are we at CC looking at here from Skimmer?  Half of the DUmmie traffic is probably generated by the DUmpster.

[whiffleball]

Their stats: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/democraticunderground.com#

"Democraticunderground.com has a three-month global Alexa traffic rank of 4,138. The site is particularly popular among users in the cities of San Angelo (where it is ranked #7), Phoenix (#415), and Atlanta (#672). The site is located in the US. We estimate that 68% of Democraticunderground.com's visitors are in the US, where it has attained a traffic rank of 1,059. This site has a bounce rate of approximately 51% (i.e., 51% of visits consist of only one pageview"

They passed Kos by a fraction for the time being, but I don't know how Alexa makes the comparisons.  They describe the DUmp as "political satire (what??) and Democrat commentary."  Kos description "political analysis on US current events from a liberal perspective."

[Karin]

Political satire?  Oh too funny.

At this point DU3 is not just on the doorstep but banging on the door and rattling the handle

P.J. O'Rourke:  "In America, opportunity not only knocks, it bangs on the door, jiggles the knob, and checks the windows" 

Plagairist.  But they all are. 

[USA4ME]

arikara
 
29. Unfortunately thats unaffordable at my income level. I liked to be able to help out someone else without a star when I could and that will be out now too.

At $42/yr that's 11.5 cents a day.  You can't afford 11.5 cents a day you certainly don't need to be lecturing anybody about how politics and the economy should be operating.

.

[GOBUCKS]

IOW, Skins is either too lazy to take the checks to the bank for deposit, or he doesn't trust his paid lackeys to make it to the bank with the checks for deposit.

Well, of course the dense Lord Marblehead and the enigmatic, elusive, but harebrained Elad would steal Skimmer blind if given the chance, but I think his main concern is not wanting to publicize a mailing address.

[Tess Anderson]

LINK

Actually, it's not - his stupid star system is going to a monthly/yearly basis other from a quarterly one:

Skinner ADMIN  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-13-11 07:01 PM
Original message
It's the last ever DU fund drive! What? Why?!
 Dear DUers,

Every three months for the last eleven years we have come to you with hat in hand and asked for donations to keep DU running. And every three months for the last eleven years, you have come through. DU continues to thrive and we are eternally grateful for your support.

So why are we no longer going to ask for donations?

The truth is that DU isn't the scrappy underdog that it was when we first started asking for your support. Back in those days you could see where your money was going. Our single server would crash constantly -- eventually we brought in enough money to buy a new one (we're up to seven now). Database errors took ages to fix because we couldn't afford to pay Elad, so whenever we needed him we'd have to call him at his job at the local health food store (true story) -- eventually we were able to pay him a full time salary.

But that was then, and for a long time now DU has been the largest liberal discussion forum on the Web. Since 2005 we brought in a good chunk of our revenue by serving ads to our visitors, which is why we haven't had to increase our 1,000 donation goal since we started doing fund drives. But as DU approaches its teenage years, we've decided it's time for us to grow up too and stop asking for handouts. We don't want this to be the future of DU.

Don't get me wrong -- we still need money. Running a website the size and scope of DU is no small endeavor. It costs a ton of cash to cover server storage, bandwidth, rent, legal fees, and everything else that comes with running a small business. This is a full time job for three people. But while you may think of DU as many things -- a community, a confessional, a place to organize, have fun, argue, make new friends and (of course) unite against the right-wing -- the Admins no longer want you to think of us as needing charity.

Many of you have probably heard that we've been working on a big new update to the site -- codenamed DU3 -- for some time now. At this point DU3 is not just on the doorstep but banging on the door and rattling the handle, and as part of the myriad changes we're making to the site we've decided to switch to a different fundraising model. On DU3 you will still be able to buy a star which will remove all of the ads from the site and provide you with access to special functions and features -- and you'll still be doing your part to keep DU running -- but we are ending our traditional quarterly fund drives. Instead, stars (and the benefits that come with them) will be available for purchase on a monthly or yearly basis for as little as $3.50 a month. And as always, those who choose not to purchase a star will still be able to post and participate free of charge.

This is our last ever fund drive because DU3 will be launched before the end of the year. And here's something important to know: anyone who is a DU donor when we switch over to DU3 will be grandfathered in to the new system and retain their donor star and privileges for one full year from the time they donated. So if you don't currently have a donor star, or if you already have one but would like to extend for a year at the price of your choosing, now is the time to donate.

Thank you all very much for your past, present, and future support as we look forward to providing you with THE best discussion forum on the Internets!

Skinner, EarlG, and Elad
DU Administrators


 
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^ Asskissers

[zeitgeist]

As I wandered back through this thread I was struck by the thought hey, what if Skinner worried about losing his DLC subsidy what with all the blowing of the Progressive dog whistle that has been going on.  Is it possible the DLC doesn't want to pay for a site that will shortly become DSA lite?  Then too, what trap doors have been put into the DU3 software?  Hummmmm???  Methinks there is more up Skinhead's sleeve than an arm.   

[GOBUCKS]

No one has asked if DUnumber will support or revitalize the DU Activist Corps.

I miss all those powerful DUAC actions.

[Boudicca]

No one has asked if DUnumber will support or revitalize the DU Activist Corps.

I miss all those powerful DUAC actions.

They were certainly as noisy and irritating as the AFLAC commercials.

I think the DUAC mascot should be a turkey though, not a duck.